Oceania

By Lucy Craymer New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party chose former COVID minister Chris Hipkins on Sunday to replace the charismatic Jacinda Ardern as its new leader, and become the ...

By Lucy Craymer Chris Hipkins, who played a significant role in New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister after emerging ...

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement she had “no more in the tank” to continue leading the country and would step down no later ...

Players at this month’s Australian Open will not be required to take COVID-19 tests and could play even if they had the virus, tournament director Craig Tiley said on ...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday his government was ready to provide whatever support was needed to residents of Western Australia state as record-breaking floods isolated far-flung communities ...

Australia said on Sunday that travellers from China will have to provide negative COVID-19 test results from Jan. 5, joining a growing number of nations that have implemented similar restrictions as ...

Future generations of New Zealanders will be banned from purchasing tobacco as part of a package of new anti-smoking laws that passed parliament on Tuesday and are among the most ...

Six people, including two police officers, were killed in a gunfight at a remote property in Australia’s Queensland state, authorities said on Tuesday, after police visited a home there ...

Australia’s foreign minister said on Saturday the government would place targeted sanctions on Russia and Iran in response to what it called “egregious” human rights violations. Foreign Minister Penny ...

Indonesia’s release of convicted Bali bomb maker Umar Patek will be a “difficult day” for Australians who lost loved ones and relatives in the attacks, Australia’s Deputy Prime ...

WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, who is battling extradition from Britain to the United States where he is wanted on criminal charges, has submitted an appeal to the European Court of ...

A Tokyo court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday but said a lack of legal protection for same-sex families violated their human rights, a comment welcomed by plaintiffs ...

Australia’s largest state will withdraw or refund tens of thousands of fines issued during the COVID pandemic after government lawyers conceded on Tuesday that some fines were invalid in ...

The progressive government of Australia’s Victoria state won re-election on Saturday, clearing the way for spending on infrastructure, education and healthcare. After eight years in power in the country’...

New Zealand’s highest court ruled on Monday that the country’s current voting age of 18 was discriminatory, forcing parliament to discuss whether it should be lowered. The case, which ...

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday that landed just 200 kilometres (130 miles) off Japan and had sufficient range to reach the mainland of the United States, Japanese ...

A swathe of hacks on some of Australia’s biggest companies has made the country a target for copycat attacks just as a skills shortage leaves an understaffed, overworked cybersecurity ...

The cryptocurrency industry said on Wednesday it was disappointed with Australia’s decision to continue treating digital currencies as assets for tax purposes, and not as foreign currency. The government ...

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spent an extra night Friday at the country’s research station in Antarctica after the military aircraft she was meant to be travelling ...

Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at the Australian Open as neutrals while Novak Djokovic would also be welcome to play if he can obtain a visa, ...

Australia will set aside at least 30% of its land mass for conservation in a bid to protect plants and animals in the island continent famed for species found nowhere else ...

Australia will end the mandatory five-day home quarantine for COVID-infected people on Oct. 14, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday, even as some doctors warned the move would put the ...

Australia’s weather forecaster warned on Saturday of potential heavy flooding in parts of New South Wales, as much of the country braces for unusually heavy rains in coming months ...

An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck eastern Papua New Guinea on Sunday killing at least four people, injuring others and damaging property and essential infrastructure. The quake hit about 67 km east ...