Australian

Australia’s prime minister will back any move to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession to the British throne, according to a letter shared by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office, underscoring the potential constitutional ripple effects across the Commonwealth after the former prince’s arrest. The letter, released by Starmer’s office, said the Australian government supports “any proposal” to alter the succession in light of the criminal investigation involving Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, who is…

Leaked Liberal immigration plan aimed to ban migrants from conflict-held regions across 13 countries and sharply tighten visa rules, but the party’s former shadow immigration minister says he never proposed or agreed to the measures and has “serious concerns.” The draft was prepared under ousted Liberal leader Sussan Ley and slated for release on Feb. 16 after an earlier delay following the Bondi terror attack. It was not taken to shadow cabinet before last week’s leadership change, and new Opposition Leader Angus Taylor had…

QUINDALUP, Australia — A 13-year-old boy swam for four hours through rising swells off Western Australia to raise the alarm for his family, a feat rescuers called “superhuman” after his mother and two younger siblings were found alive offshore. The ordeal unfolded Friday afternoon near the tourist town of Quindalup, where a family outing in kayaks and on paddleboards turned into a fight for survival. The boy, identified by local media as Austin Appelbee, set out with his mother and two siblings when the wind and waves built…

Snapchat says it has blocked or disabled 415,000 accounts in Australia tied to users under 16 since the country’s world-first social media crackdown took effect, while warning that some minors may still be slipping past age checks. The platform urged Australian authorities to require app stores to verify ages before downloads as an “additional safeguard” for the law, which compels major platforms to stop underage users from holding accounts. The measures took effect on Dec. 10 and apply to Snapchat, Meta, TikTok and YouTube,…

12-year-old boy dies after Sydney Harbour shark attack, family says SYDNEY — A 12-year-old boy who was bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour has died of his injuries, his family said, following an attack that has intensified concern over a spate of shark incidents around Australia’s largest city. Nico Antic suffered critical injuries last week when a large shark attacked him as he and friends were jumping from a six-meter rock in Vaucluse, an eastern Sydney suburb on the harbor. He was pulled into a police boat while heavily…

SYDNEY — An Irish doctor out for a jog on Sydney’s Manly beach helped save the life of a surfer mauled by a shark, racing alongside lifeguards and a helicopter medical team to restart the man’s heart and rush him to surgery amid a spate of shark attacks along Australia’s east coast. Brian Burns, a clinical professor of emergency medicine and emergency physician at Royal North Shore Hospital, told RTÉ’s News at One that his “training just kicked into gear” when he saw professional lifeguards performing CPR on the sand on…

Australia bushfires razed hundreds of buildings across southeast Victoria as authorities confirmed the first death from the disaster and warned of more dangerous conditions to come. Temperatures surged past 40C (104F) under a searing heatwave that blanketed the state, driving dozens of fast-moving blazes that have scorched more than 300,000 hectares combined. Officials declared a state of disaster a day earlier; on Saturday, they began tallying losses as winds eased and crews gained access to hard-hit communities. Emergency…

Australia will establish a royal commission — the country’s highest form of public inquiry — into the Bondi Beach mass shooting that killed 15 people, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, bowing to mounting public pressure for answers about an ISIS-inspired attack and the rise of anti-Semitism. “I’ve repeatedly said that our government’s priority is to promote unity and social cohesion. And this is what Australia needs to heal,” Albanese told reporters, adding that the decision followed community calls for a comprehensive,…

SYDNEY — Australian surf lifeguards lined the shoreline of Bondi Beach on Thursday and fell silent to honor the 15 people killed when gunmen opened fire at a seaside Hanukkah celebration last week, one of the deadliest mass shootings in Australia’s history. Hundreds of rescuers in red-and-yellow uniforms formed a human ribbon along the surf, facing the Pacific as they observed three minutes of silence. Similar tributes were held by surf lifesaving clubs nationwide in solidarity before morning patrols began, turning beaches…

Albanese vows sweeping hate-speech crackdown after Bondi Beach mass shooting kills 15 Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised a sweeping crackdown on hate, division and radicalisation after a mass shooting killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach. “Australians are shocked and angry. I am angry. It is clear we need to do more to combat this evil scourge, much more,” Mr Albanese told a news conference, outlining a suite of measures aimed at extremist preachers, hate speech and those who spread…