Australia
Insurer QBE sets aside immediate needs payouts for Spain train victims
MADRID - Australian insurance group QBE said on Thursday it had set aside 2.75 million euros ($3.64 million) for the immediate needs of those affected by last week's train crash in Galicia in northwest Spain, which left 79 people dead.
Bush tucker on the menu with Australian border patrol unit
THE ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS, Australia - A group of soldiers start to unload from two inflatable boats after a long, bumpy night-time journey off Australia's northern coast, torches scanning the shoreline for the telltale red eye reflections of saltwater crocodiles. | Video
Bulgaria names two suspected accomplices in Burgas bus bombing
SOFIA - Bulgaria named a citizen of Canada and one of Australia as suspects in a bombing on a bus that killed five Israelis and their driver in Burgas last year and that authorities say was the work of Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
Former Australian PM calls refugee camps 'Gulags'; opposition eyes military fix
CANBERRA - A former Australian prime minister denounced offshore refugee detention camps as Soviet-style "Gulags" on Thursday and the opposition proposed empowering the military to stop boats of asylum seekers days before a national election is to be called.
Australia tells Britain not to forsake the European Union
LONDON - Australia has told Britain it hopes it will remain part of the European Union, becoming the latest country to intervene in an emotive domestic debate that may culminate in a referendum to decide if Britain leaves the 28-nation bloc.
Australia slams door on refugees with tough new measures
CANBERRA - Australia announced tough new measures to stem a dramatic increase in refugee boats from Indonesia on Friday, with a deal to send all boat arrivals to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for assessment and eventual settlement.
Russia, China block U.N. condemnation of Iran missile tests
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. Security Council committee is split over whether Iran's missile tests last year violated U.N. sanctions imposed on Tehran because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Australia's U.N. envoy said on Monday.
Australian gored at Spain bull run in 'very serious' condition
PAMPLONA, Spain - A 23-year-old Australian woman gored in the chest on the final day of Spain's annual San Fermin bull-running festival was in a "very serious" condition, local authorities said on Sunday.
British police pass royal hoax call file to Australian officers
LONDON - British police said on Wednesday they had asked Australian colleagues to consider criminal action against a Sydney radio station and its DJs who made a hoax call to a London hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate.
Australian navy rescues troubled boat as Indonesia, Australia talk refugees
SYDNEY - An Australian navy vessel came to the aid of a suspected asylum seeker boat in distress south of Indonesia on Friday, as leaders of the two countries met to discuss refugees, one of the key issues in Australia's upcoming general election.
Italy's top court upholds Berlusconi prison sentence
ROME - Italy's supreme court on Thursday upheld a jail sentence against Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud in a devastating blow to the former prime minister that could throw the country's fragile coalition government into crisis.
Ethiopia and Eritrea: An elusive peace on the cards?
Ethiopia and Eritrea are still at each others’ throats. The two neighbours fought hammer and tongs in sun-baked trenches during a two-year war over a decade ago, before a peace deal ended their World War I-style conflict in 2000. Furious veRed Sea, UNrbal battles, however, have continued to this day.


