Australia

    Australia's first same-sex wedding has taken place following the country's vote to legalise gay marriage. Welsh-born Lauren Price, 31, and Amy Laker, 29, tied the knot in Sydney where they were pronounced "wife and wife" in front of 65 guests. It had been thought that the first possible date for same-sex weddings would be 9 January because of a four-week waiting period after the ground-breaking legislation was passed earlier this month. But the brides had special permission to marry without giving a month's notice to the New South Wales registry of births, deaths and marriages under a special exemption on financial grounds. Ms Price's family had already making the trip down under from Wales as the couple had planned to marry at the British consulate under UK law b...

    The UK and European Union’s plans to share out quotas for cheap food imports from countries around the world after Brexit have come under fire from Australia. Restrictions on how many products can be imported into the EU on favourable rates are set across the bloc and concerns have been raised internationally that exporters could take a financial hit when the UK quits. The Government has agreed with Brussels to divide up the numbers of goods that can be brought in on low or zero tariffs based roughly on current rates. It would mean products imported into the UK in higher numbers than other parts of the bloc would continue to be traded in similar numbers. Steven Ciobo Australian trade minister Steven Ciobo said the move would impose unacceptable restrictions on nat...

    The World Solar Challenge began on Sunday with 42 solar cars crossing Australia’s tropical north to its southern shores, a grueling 3,000 km (1,864 mile) race through the outback. The race from the northern city of Darwin to the southern city of Adelaide is expected to take a week for most cars, with speeds of 90-100 kmh (55-62 mph) powered only by the sun. The fastest time was achieved by Japan’s Tokai University in 2009, completing the transcontinetal race in only 29 hours and 49 minutes. Belgian team Punch Powertrain started first on Sunday after recording a trial time of 2:03.8 for 2.97 km (1.78 miles), hitting an average speed of 83.4 kmh (51.5mph). But reigning 2015 champions Nuon from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands believes it has a good ...

    Woman wearing burkha A ban on full-face coverings, which includes Muslim veils such as those worn in burkas, comes into force in Austria today as anti-immigration parties look poised to win national elections later this month. The new law states that faces must be visible from hairline to chin in public places and includes off-slope ski masks and surgical masks outside of hospitals. Austrian police are allowed to use force to make people show their face and can impose fines of €150 (£132). Austria’s ban comes after France and Belgium introduced a similar bans in 2011 and the Dutch parliament also debating a similar law. Muslim groups have condemned the law saying only tiny minority of women in the country wear full-face veils. Carla Amina Bhagajati of the Islamic ...

    A koala in Australia survived a lengthy trip while clinging to the axle of a four-wheel drive vehicle. The driver was unaware of the koala clinging to his wheel throughout the 10 mile journey through Adelaide until he stopped his car after being flagged down by other motorists, reports UPI. He then heard the animal’s cries coming from underneath the vehicle and called the Koala Rescue Hotline, which sent rescuer Jane Brister to the scene. Brister then contacted Metropolitan Fire Service to help remove the vehicles wheel to free the koala. I could smell her burnt fur, Brister told The Guardian. It would have been hot in there. Don Bigham, from Fauna Rescue of South Australia’s Koala Hotline, said the female koala was relatively unharmed. The koala was taken into ...

    A plot to blow up a plane with explosives hidden inside a large Barbie doll was foiled thanks to Lebanon's security services. The country's interior minister revealed a flight from Australia to Abu Dhabi was targeted by plotters, who hoped to smuggle a bomb on board. Nouhad Machnouk, speaking to a Saudi Arabia-owned TV channel, said four Lebanese-Australian brothers, including one being held in Lebanon, were behind the plan. He added two other brothers have been detained in Australia while a fourth is a senior Islamic State (IS) member living in the terror group's de facto capital Raqqa, northern Syria. Earlier this month, Australian police described how an IS commander based overseas ordered a group of Australian men to build a bomb to smuggle onto a 15 July Etihad Airway...

    A woman who was warned that she would die by the age of 40 because of her weight has revealed how she lost 115kg by beating her addiction to fast food. At her heaviest, Elena Goodall, 29, from Queensland, Australia, weighed 184kg and would almost exclusively eat meals from McDonald’s and KFC. Aged 26, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea. Speaking about her fitness journey on Australia’s Today show, she said: It wasn’t just one large meal each sitting, it was about three I would get through plus some extra chips as well. I just couldn’t stop. It was an addiction. Goodall decided to transform her lifestyle after her doctor warned she would die in ten years if she didn’t change. © Instagram I couldn’t even tie my own shoes up — things that most people take f...

    More than three years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, Australian scientists are claiming they can find it. In a report out Wednesday, released to the public by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization said, It is possible to identify a most-likely location of the aircraft with unprecedented precision and certainty. Drumroll, please: The bureau said that location is 35.6°S, 92.8°E. And if it’s not there, MH370 may be at 34.7°S, 92.6°E. Or 35.3°S, 91.8°E, according to a news release. Trending: White Supremacist Who Boasted About Being 'Ready for Violence' Cries Over Possible Charlottesville Arrest Warrant All are off the western coast of Australia in the Indian Ocean, which is where the Boeing 7...

    The leader of the far-right One Nation party in Australia turned up to parliament wearing a burka to call for the traditional Islamic clothing to be banned. Pauline Hanson entered the Senate chamber for the daily question time in the black garment, drawing audible shocks from those inside. Ms Hanson’s stunt came as her party called for burkas to be banned in Australia over concerns about national security. However, attorney general George Brandis, the leader of the government in the Senate, told Ms Hanson that there would be no burka ban. Ms Hanson’s stunt did not go down well inside the chamber. He said: No, we will not be banning the burka. Senator Hanson, I’m not going to pretend to ignore the stunt that you have tried to pull today by arriving in the chamber dressed in...

    Thousands of people including tourists were evacuated Monday as northeast Australia braced for a monster cyclone packing destructive winds, with warnings of major structural damage and dangerous tidal surges. Cyclone Debbie has been forming off the coast of Queensland state over recent days, the Bureau of Meteorology said, and is expected to make landfall as a category four storm on a scale of five after daybreak Tuesday. Residents, who have been sandbagging and boarding up homes, were told to prepare for the worst weather to pummel the state since Cyclone Yasi in 2011, which ripped houses from their foundations and devastated crops. This is probably the largest evacuation we’ve ever had to do, said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, adding that structural damage an...