Hundreds of Australian students and union members have held nationwide protests against the government’s proposed plans to cut higher education budget. Student protesters descended on the streets of Sydney’s city center on Wednesday, setting fire to an effigy of Australian Education Minister Christopher Pyne as a sign of protest against the government’s proposed changes to higher education. “We... 

Tens of thousands of Australians are out on the streets nationwide to condemn the government’s envisaged budget cuts in the education sector. On Sunday, tens of thousands of Australians hit the streets in several cities to show their anger at the government’s economic and social policies. The protest rallies were held in Sydney, Adeline, Brisbane and Melbourne. They slammed the government... 

A solar eclipse that occurs on average only once every 73 years may be perfectly witnessed only by penguins in Antarctica, while watchers in Australia had a shot at seeing the sun as a “super-fat banana”. The crescent sun, an annular eclipse meaning that the moon is too far away to completely block out the sun, instead creating a perfect ‘ring of fire’ could be witnessed in Perth, Australia,... 

Image from NO McDonalds in The Dandenong Ranges Facebook page. The Australian state of Victoria’s parliament passed a bill giving police power to suppress protests, including ordering a rally to move on based on a suspicion that it may turn violent. Opponents call the powers excessive and undemocratic. The Summary Offences and Sentencing Amendment Bill passed through the upper house of the Victorian... 

Australia has just gone through a lackluster election, where a change of government took place. Tony Abbott will be Australia’s next prime minister. However this change in government appeared to lack the euphoria of past elections that delivered new governments like ’72, ’75, ’83, ’96, and ’07. Many fear that an Abbott government will bring Australian public policy... 

The Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS), South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Ex-NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden has disclosed his first set of documents outlining Australia’s role in NSA surveillance programs, picking out four facilities in the country that contribute heavily to US spying. The locations of dozens of the US’s and associated countries signal... 

A heat wave that has already caused devastating fires on the Island state of Tasmania, with 100 people still missing, has now moved to mainland Australia and is reaping havoc in New South Wales, as the heat wave looks to smash records. ­In some areas temperatures have shot up by as much as 20C in three hours and combined with 50 mph winds have created disastrous fire conditions. Right across Australia... 

For the first time ever, scientists have given a previously blind woman sight by way of a bionic eye. The Australian-designed implant, which resembles the model worn by Arnie in The Terminator, is likely to transform the lives of millions worldwide. Dianne Ashworth, who is suffering from the incurable condition retinitis pigmentosa, had lost almost all vision when surgeons at the Royal Victorian Eye... 

Hundreds of sheep lying on the Princes Highway after a livestock truck overturned on an overpass It has been raining sheep in Australia after a truck carrying about 400 animals overturned on a highway overpass outside Melbourne. The flock of sheep fell to their deaths on to stunned drivers below, injuring several people. ­The truck crashed above the Princes Highway in southern Australia on Thursday... 

A paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics argues that abortion should be extended to make the killing of newborn babies permissible, even if the baby is perfectly healthy, in a shocking example of how the medical establishment is still dominated by a vicious mindset. The paper is authored by Alberto Giubilini of Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied... 

Associate Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh (L) and Professor Michael Strano have discovered a new power source through nanotechnology. Australian professor Michael Strano and Iranian associate professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh have discovered a new power source for energy storage and power generation. Associate Professor Kalantar-Zadeh, from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at RMIT... 

A government biosecurity officer at Golden Duck Farms in Victoria after birds tested positive for avian influenza. A national disease emergency plan has been activated to prevent an outbreak of deadly bird flu in Australia after the discovery of infected birds at two free-range duck farms north of Melbourne. All 25,000 ducks on two Golden Duck Farms properties at Gisborne and Mickleham were being gassed... 

Police have been criticised after tearing a tent being worn as a dress by an Occupy Melbourne protester. The Ethical Standards Department is investigating a physical assault complaint over an incident in which police stripped an Occupy Melbourne protester down to her underwear. The incident happened in the Flagstaff Gardens this morning when police moved in to remove tents being worn by a couple of... 

A mounted policeman pursues an Occupy Melbourne protester, as hundreds were forecibly evicted from City Square in Melbourne today. Police are arresting protesters who took part in the Occupy Melbourne demonstration after more than 100 officers moved in to clear city streets. Riot and mounted police broke up a group of several hundred protesters who blocked the intersection of Swanston and Collins streets... 

Asian-born Australians may soon outnumber whites, says government study. The number of Asians in Australia has almost doubled in a decade, from 1.03 million in mid-2000 to 2.1 million in the middle of last year, according to government statistics. Pramod Kumar is part of a wave of immigration that has changed the face of Australia over the past decade. Mr. Kumar is from Hyderabad in India’s northwest....