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Antarctic could become home to world’s largest marine sanctuary
Proposals will go before a commission next month to help protect thousands of species in Antarctic waters An extraordinarily big thing might happen in the world of marine conservation next month at a meeting in Germany of a little known international commission. And while you probably haven’t read much about…
Australia cracks down on synthetic marijuana and other ‘alternative’ drugs
Australia imposed an interim ban on 19 synthetic cannabis and cocaine-like drugs as part of a crackdown on the psychoactive substances which mimic the highs of their illegal counterparts. Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said the 19 products would be banned from sale and supply for up to 120 days under…
Australia defends decision to leave bodies of dead asylum-seekers in ocean
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard defended her government’s decision to leave the bodies of drowned asylum-seekers in the ocean following criticism more would have been done had they been Australians. An extensive three-day air-and-sea search for an asylum-seeker boat, which is presumed to have capsized near Christmas Island with at…
Climate shift killed Australia’s giant beasts: study
Gigantic animals which once roamed Australia were mostly extinct by the time humans arrived, according to a new study Tuesday which suggests climate change played the key role in their demise. For decades, debate has centred on what wiped out megafauna such as the rhinoceros-sized, wombat-like Diprotodon, the largest known…
Australia’s Barrier Reef set for heritage downgrade: UNESCO
Australia insisted it was committed to protecting the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday after the UN warned that the natural wonder’s world heritage status could be in downgraded in 2014. UNESCO said little had been done to address concerns about rampant coastal development and water quality raised a year ago…
Australia originally settled by 1,000-3,000 people 50,000 years ago
Australia was first settled by between 1,000 and 3,000 humans around 50,000 years ago, but the population crashed during the Ice Age before recovering to a peak of some 1.2 million people around five centuries ago, a study said on Wednesday. Estimating the early population of Australia is a source…
Rupert Murdoch blasts Australian government over ‘disgraceful and racist’ language
Global media baron Rupert Murdoch accused the government of his native Australia of “disgraceful and racist” language over a crackdown on visas for skilled migrants. The Australian-born News Corporation chief condemned the centre-left Labor government’s rhetoric about the tightening of the 457-class skilled visa programme amid claims of abuse by…
Australia apologizes for nearly 225,000 forced adoptions after WWII
Australia on Thursday formally apologised for the forced adoption of tens of thousands of babies born mostly to unmarried mothers between the 1950s and 1970s. The adoptions, driven largely by religious groups in the post-war period, “created a lifelong legacy of pain and suffering”, the national apology delivered by Prime…
Australia gambles on move to tackle slot machine addicts
It’s just after morning opening at Sydney’s Randwick Labor Club and already a few regulars are at the slot machines, or “pokies” as they are better known, for a quiet flutter. Electronic poker machines are the most popular form of betting in Australia, but concerns about problem gamblers have prompted…
Australia ‘deeply involved’ in Israeli ‘Prisoner X’ case: report
Australian intelligence had detailed knowledge of the case of a Melbourne man thought to have been an Israeli spy well before he died in a Tel Aviv jail in 2010, a report said on Saturday. “Every day that goes by you see how deeply involved they were,” a senior Israeli…
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