Angry scenes as Chinese MH370 relatives meet airline staff
A meeting between relatives of Chinese passengers aboard missing flight MH370 and Malaysia Airlines staff descended into chaos Thursday, with police stepping in to separate both sides amid angry scenes in a Beijing hotel.
Australia boosts air power with $11.6bn purchase of 58 F-35s
Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Wednesday the purchase of 58 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters costing Aus$12.4 billion ($11.6 billion) in a major defence upgrade to maintain Australia's regional edge.
Two-thirds of underwater search done, no sign of MH370
Two-thirds of the planned underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been completed, with no signs so far of the jet, Australian officials said.
William and Kate tour town ravaged by bushfires
Survivors of last year's devastating Australian bushfires met with Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate on Thursday as the royal couple visited the Blue Mountains.
Australian state premier quits over wine 'memory fail'
A leading Australian politician resigned Wednesday after admitting to a "massive memory fail" when he told a corruption inquiry he never received a bottle of wine worth Aus$3,000 (US$2,780).
Lock of Napoleon's hair stolen in Australia
A lock of Napoleon Bonaparte's hair and other "priceless" artefacts linked to the French emperor have been stolen from a museum in Australia, police said.
Fish losing survival instinct in acidic oceans: study
Fish are losing their survival instinct -- even becoming attracted to the smell of their predators -- as the world's oceans become more acidic because of climate change, new research.
Japan says no decision on 2015-16 whaling
Japan on Monday insisted it had made no decision on whether to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean next year, after a militant environmental group said Tokyo intended to evade an international court ruling.
Australia's far north battens down for major cyclone
Australia's sparsely populated northern tip was Thursday preparing for the largest cyclone to hit the area since Cyclone Yasi smashed into Queensland in 2011, ripping homes from their foundations and devastating crops.
Australian charged with murder of young French woman
A young Australian man appeared in a Brisbane court on Wednesday charged with the rape and murder of 21-year-old French student Sophie Collombet, reports said.
Baby Prince George heads Down Under for first tour
Baby Prince George was heading from Britain to New Zealand and Australia on Sunday, with parents Prince William and his wife Catherine taking the eight-month-old on his first ever tour.
Planes, ships deployed to investigate Chinese signal
Planes and ships were being diverted Sunday to the area where a Chinese vessel detected signals consistent with a black box beacon in the hunt for missing flight MH370, the search chief said.
Cap, goggles found from Australian shark attack victim
The swimming cap and goggles of a woman taken by a shark in Australia have been found along with a small amount of human remains, police said.
Woman killed by shark in Australia
A woman was taken by a shark on Thursday while swimming with her husband in Australia, authorities said, in an attack which horrified fellow swimmers.
Japan cancels next Antarctic whaling hunt after ICJ ruling
Japan said Thursday it was cancelling its annual Antarctic whaling hunt for the first time in more than a quarter of a century in line with a UN court ruling that the programme was a commercial activity disguised as science.
Australia's top court recognises 'neutral' third gender
Australia's highest court on Wednesday recognised the existence of a third "non-specific" gender that is neither male nor female, in a landmark ruling campaigners said will help end years of discrimination.
Frenchwoman latest foreign student murdered in Brisbane
A Frenchwoman has become the fourth foreign student to be brutally murdered in the Australian city of Brisbane in almost as many months, police said Wednesday.
Mining giant BHP mulling demerger
Global mining giant BHP Billiton is considering spinning-off its aluminium, bauxite and nickel assets into a single entity that would be worth about Aus$20 billion ($18.5 billion), reports said Wednesday.
William and Kate star in Kiwi April Fools' gags
The impending royal visit by Prince William, his wife Kate and their baby son George provided ample fodder for April Fool's Day pranksters in New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday.
Whaling ban applauded despite fears of Japan sidestep
Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday hailed a landmark court decision that Japan must halt an annual Antarctic whale hunt, despite fears it may try to sidestep the order.