Australia

Insurer QBE sets aside immediate needs payouts for Spain train victims

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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

World, Tony Abbott 31 Jul 2013

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.

World, Israel, Lebanon 25 Jul 2013

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.

World, Tony Abbott 25 Jul 2013

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.

World, 23 Jul 2013

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.

World, Indonesia, Africa 19 Jul 2013

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.

Lifestyle, World, Spain 14 Jul 2013

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.

World, Royal Wedding 10 Jul 2013

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.

World, Indonesia 05 Jul 2013
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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.