The Latest Breaking News from Australia

Germany and Portugal to cut restrictions – as it happened

Germany and Portugal preparing to axe most curbs as cases stabilise; Israel’s PM says ‘green pass’ system to be suspended as cases decline

The Guardian - UK · Feb 17, 2022

The Loop: Fake vaccination certificates gaining prominence, Peter Vickery QC names himself in harassment investigation, Aussie school student gets Billie Eilish's help

Get in The Loop with this quick wrap of today's headlines.

ABC News · Feb 17, 2022

Sydney beaches shut after swimmer dies in first fatal shark attack in decades

Sydney beaches including Bondi and Bronte have been closed as a precaution by Australian authorities as the hunt continues for the great white shark that killed a swimmer on Wednesday

Daily Mirror · Feb 17, 2022

Olympic boxer charged with weapon offences

Victorian boxer Jason Whateley, who represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, has been charged with weapons offences.

AAP · Feb 17, 2022

Finch to continue batting lower in T20s

Aaron Finch is one of Australia's finest-ever limited-overs openers but the captain is keen to give others an opportunity at the top of the order.

AAP · Feb 17, 2022

Australia's largest coal plant will close 7 years early – but there's still no national plan for coal's inevitable demise

In a major step forward for Australia’s clean energy transition, the country’s biggest coal-fired power station Eraring is set to close seven years early in 2025, Origin Energy announced this morning.

The Conversation · Feb 17, 2022

Australia and New Zealand to finalise deal to resettle refugees in ‘next few weeks’

Australia’s insistence that refugees must not be able to enter ‘the backdoor way’ via NZ remains a sticking point in negotiations

The Guardian - AU · Feb 17, 2022

Explainer: how are chief justices appointed and how can the process be improved?

Next month we will see a significant shake-up in courts across Australia’s eastern seaboard. Three chief justices – Tom Bathurst, of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Catherine Holmes, of the Supreme Court of Queensland, and Helen Murrell of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory – are…

The Conversation · Feb 17, 2022

Australia to List Hamas as Terror Group

Australia on Thursday said it would list all of Palestinian Hamas movement as a terrorist organization, the latest Western nation to do so. Canberra had previously listed Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades as a terror group, but the new designation will list the organization in its entirety. Hamas currently controls the Gaza…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Feb 17, 2022

Ash from Tonga volcano explosion linked to crippling power failure on HMAS Adelaide

Volcanic debris around Tonga is considered the likely cause of an initial power outage that crippled Australia's largest warship, HMAS Adelaide, at the end of last month.

ABC News · Feb 17, 2022