Complaint filed to Human Rights Commission against WA child protection department

A law firm has lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) against Western Australia’s Department of Communities over the allegedly discriminatory removal of First Nations children from their families.

It is the second of four complaints…[Read more]

Drizzle breaks Adelaide’s 46-day dry spell

Adelaide went 46 days without a single drop of rain until a light shower this morning broke the streak.
The city’s official weather station on West Terrace recorded 0.4mm about 8.30am, which broke the dry spell according to Weatherzone.
By midday about 1.2mm had fallen in the city and the Adelaide H…[Read more]

Australia marks national day that stokes patriotism and anger

“Australia Day is Dead!” Indigenous activist Gwenda Stanley chants into the loudspeaker, as a crowd of thousands breaks into applause.

It’s Australia’s national day, but the crowd in central Sydney seethes in anger and cheers in solidarity with Indigenous Australians, many of whom vi…[Read more]

Australia unveils plan for largest navy buildup since World War II

Australia on Tuesday announced plans to build its largest navy since World War II, allocating more than $35 billion for the defense project over the next 10 years, in a move analysts said pointed to heightened tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific.

According to a government…[Read more]

Former Australian bishop charged with historical sex offenses

A senior Australian Catholic clergyman has been charged with historical sex offenses allegedly committed while he was serving as the bishop of Broome, a remote diocese in Western Australia.

Emeritus Bishop Christopher Saunders was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Broome, where…[Read more]

Kishida questioned over scantily clad dancers at LDP party

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was grilled by lawmakers on Wednesday about a gathering of ruling party members at which scantily clad female dancers were reportedly told to use their mouths to receive cash tips.

Footage leaked from the event in November organized by a regional…[Read more]

Man arrested for cutting high school girl’s skirt with scissors while on bus

Police in Fukuoka City have arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of property destruction after he cut a high school girl’s skirt with a pair of scissors while they were aboard a bus last November.

Police said Daisuke Iwamoto, a company employee, is accused of sni…[Read more]

IAEA chief reassures residents that treated wastewater discharged from Fukushima nuclear plant is safe

The head of the U.N. atomic agency observed firsthand the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s ongoing radioactive wastewater discharges for the first time since the contentious program began months ago and called it an “encouraging…[Read more]

U.S., Japanese forces to resume Osprey flights in Japan following fatal crash

The U.S. and Japanese militaries will resume flights of Osprey aircraft in Japan after completing necessary maintenance and training following a fatal crash in southern Japan last November, officials said Wednesday.

The Osprey aircraft, which can take off like a…[Read more]

Court orders gov’t to hand over Aum founder remains to daughter

A Japanese court ordered the government on Wednesday to hand over the hair and cremated remains of the executed Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara to his second daughter after a top court ruled in 2021 that she can take them into her possession.

The government had urged during…[Read more]

Japanese solid-fuelled rocket explodes shortly after launch

The 18-metre (60 feet), four-stage solid-fuel rocket called Kairos exploded into pieces seconds after liftoff at 1…[Read more]

French journalist detained in Ethiopia released after a week

Antoine Galindo was “freed after a week in prison and was able to leave Addis Ababa to return to Paris,” Paul Deutschmann, an editor-in-chief at the publication, told AFP.

Galindo, who heads the publication’s East Africa section, had travelled to Ethiopia to cover the African Union…[Read more]

French police arrest activists after break-in at ‘forever chemicals’ plant

Around 300 people from the Extinction Rebellion and Youth for Climate groups cut through fences to reach the Arkema site at Pierre-Benite factory near Lyon in southeast France, a spokesman for the organisers said.

Once inside they deployed banners and spray-painted…[Read more]

Paris Olympics unveils ‘joyful’ art deco-style posters inspired by famous landmarks

The posters were unveiled on Monday at the Musée d’Orsay — a former railway station transformed into an imposing museum stretching along the Seine River — in the presence of Paris 2024 director of design Joachim Roncin and the artist behind them, Ugo Gatton…[Read more]

French troops limited to non-combat role, minister says, after Macron remarks on Ukraine

“We must consider new actions to support Ukraine. These must respond to very specific needs, I am thinking in particular of mine clearance, cyberdefence, the production of weapons on site, on Ukrainian territory,” Stephane Sejourne told lawmakers.

“Some of…[Read more]

Sydney asbestos scare: How a mulch discovery has sent a city scrambling

In January, an Australian child innocently brought home a couple of handfuls of garden mulch from near a playground in Sydney’s inner west.

Looking at the mulch, the child’s parent was horrified to spot what looked like chunks of bonded asbestos.

Their call to authorities…[Read more]

Police banned from Sydney Mardi Gras after gay couple murder case

A decision to uninvite police from Sydney’s iconic Mardi Gras parade this weekend has divided Australians.

Organisers said the call was made to give the LGBT community “space to grieve”, after a New South Wales Police officer was charged with murdering a gay couple last…[Read more]

Former politician became foreign agent, nation’s spy boss says

A former Australian politician “sold out” the country to a foreign spy network, the nation’s intelligence chief has alleged in a speech.

Outlining the activities of the group dubbed the “A-Team”, Mike Burgess claimed the MP had offered it access to the then-prime minister’s…[Read more]

Australia jails first student for a school shooting

A teenager has become the first student to be jailed for carrying out a school shooting in Australia.

The 15-year-old from Perth fired three shots with two rifles at the Atlantis Beach Baptist College last May.

Staff and students were left cowering in cupboards and under desks before police…[Read more]

Elite Sydney school says sexism, bullying claims ‘unfounded’ after ABC program

Parents from the prestigious Sydney boy’s school Cranbrook School have refused to speak to the media after “devastating’ allegations of sexism were revealed on ABC’s Four Corners last night.
Former teachers described the prestigious school based in Sydney’s Rose Bay a…[Read more]