Australia

by Charles Happell

CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Scott Morrison rode a wave of late momentum to become Australia's 30th prime minister on Friday, as his colleagues in the ruling Liberal Party deciding that the Sydney member of parliament (MP) represented a greater chance of electoral success than his main challenger, Peter Dutton.

At the end of a dramatic week in Canberra, Morrison defeated Peter Dutton, 45 votes to 40, for the Liberal Party leadership, with the third challenger, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, eliminated in the first round of voting.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on his government to unite behind him after he survived an internal leadership challenge Tuesday. But several ministers who backed the failed challenger offered their resignations in a move that widens the rift in government ranks.

Melbourne, Aug 20 (PTI) Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistani-origin woman today became the first Muslim female Senator to be sworn-in to Australia's Parliament.

Greens senator Faruqi was sworn-in less than a week after crossbench senator Fraser Anning called for curbs to Muslim migration and a "final solution" on immigration policy, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"I'm here to shake up the status quo," the 55-year-old Faruqi told reporters in Canberra.

15 Aug 2018; DW: Australia's prime minister and politicians from across the political spectrum on Wednesday condemned a speech by a freshman senator calling for only white immigration and a "final solution" to end Muslim immigration. 

14 Aug 2018; AFP: A former Australian archbishop convicted of concealing abuse by a notorious paedophile priest in the 1970s was confronted by enraged victims outside a courthouse Tuesday after a judge spared him jail and ordered he serve his sentence at home.

Philip Wilson became one of the highest-ranked church officials convicted of covering up child sex abuse when he was found guilty in May of concealing crimes by priest Jim Fletcher in the Hunter region of New South Wales state.

14 Aug 2018; AFP: Austria's capital Vienna has beaten Melbourne to be ranked the "world's most liveable city" in a new annual survey released Monday, ending the southern Australian city's seven-year reign.

It is the first time a European metropolis has topped the annual chart compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit which identifies the best urban playgrounds to live and work in.

A Woolworths customer in Cairns was charged 8 cents for bringing his own bags to carry his shopping.

Woolworths charged him 1 cents per bag, which his docket shows as ‘BYO Bag’ at $0.01 each, totalling 8 cents for 8 bags.

Tehran, July 28, IRNA - US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis dismissed a recent report suggesting the Trump administration was preparing to launch attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities as “fiction.”

CANBERRA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Property prices in Australia have fallen over the past 12 months for the first time in six years, a report has revealed.

The national median property price fell one percent in the 12 months to the end of June 2018, according to a report published by property group Domain on Thursday, the first time prices have fallen in a 12-month period since June 2012.

It comes on the back of falling prices in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two biggest and most expensive cities.

Brisbane, Jul 7, 2018; An extremist New Zealander pastor, who trespassed a mosque and abused the worshippers in .. last Wednesday has been arrested, and is set to be deported.

Three men, including 31-year old pastor Logan Robertson, are being charged with public nuisance and trespass at the Kuraby Mosque and the Darra Mosque.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the New Zealand national was taken into custody yesterday evening and has been placed in immigration detention.