
Australia & Oceania
Reuters - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard came within grasp of a return to power on Thursday after one of four "kingmaker" MPs backed her Labor Party's bid to form a minority government following last month's dead-heat elections.
AFP - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard won the support of a key independent MP on Thursday, leaving her close to breaking the worst political deadlock in decades after elections failed to produce a winner.
AFP - A key independent MP Thursday backed Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to form a government after deadlocked polls, leaving her just two seats short of a parliamentary majority.
AFP - Passengers on a Sydney-bound Qantas jet rocked by an exploding engine Thursday described how the plane felt like it had hit a "speed bump" and showered flames and sparks like fireworks.
AFP - An Australian school was under fire Thursday after erasing the word "gay" from iconic song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" to stop children tittering.
AP - An Australian school principal has asked students to stop using the word "gay" when singing a classic children's song, but said Thursday no offense was intended — he was simply trying to keep the kids from laughing.
AFP - Australia's economy surged 1.2 percent in the three months to June, the biggest jump in three years, data showed Wednesday, boosted by a surprise recovery in consumer spending and soaring mining exports.
AFP - More than 80 asylum-seekers broke out of an Australian immigration detention centre on Wednesday after days of riots and staged a seven-hour protest outside, police said.
AFP - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard pledged on Tuesday to work towards a minority government and rejected a quick return to the polls after national elections failed to produce a clear winner.
AFP - More than 100 alleged people-smugglers from Indonesia launched a second day of protests at an Australian immigration prison Monday, defying police negotiators and remaining on the roof, officials said.
AFP - Up to 16 women could take part in a 33 million US dollar sexual harassment case involving David Jones, Australia's most exclusive department store, lawyers for the chief complainant said Monday.
AFP - Australian police confirmed Monday that bones found in a forest where serial backpacker killer Ivan Milat dumped his victims were human but said they were keeping an open mind on the investigation.
AFP - A French climber known as "Spiderman" was arrested on the roof of a 57-storey Sydney skyscraper on Monday after scaling the building without ropes or a harness to raise climate change awareness.
AP - A French skyscraper climber nicknamed "Spiderman" was arrested Monday after scaling a 57-story building in Sydney with his bare hands.
AFP - Support for Australia becoming a republic has slumped to a 16-year-low, according to the results of a poll released Sunday which found that one-in-three people never want to break ties with Britain.
AFP - Masked men, some armed with long poles, are standing on the roof of an Australian immigration centre in which a fire broke out Sunday, reports said.
AFP - One of two Canadians arrested after police in Australia cracked an alleged pedophile porn ring operating on Facebook was a teacher at a prestigious school in Vancouver, police said Friday.
AFP - Australian police warned social networking sites on Friday to be alert to illegal child sex activity, after cracking an alleged paedophile porn ring operating on Facebook.