Australia

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that starting in 2016, welfare payments and child care rebates will be cut off to families that take a "conscientious objector" exemption to avoid immunizations.

It's being called a landmark ruling in Australia, where delayed film release dates are blamed for helping create one of the highest rates of Web piracy in the world.

An Australian immigration official accidentally exposed passport details, dates of birth and other personal information for 31 world leaders during last year's G-20 summit in Brisbane.

It said the battery had expired 15 months prior to the Malaysia airliner's disappearance. The report also said there was no evidence the plane's crew acted abnormally ahead of the flight.

Norfolk Island, home to descendants of sailors who mutinied on the HMS Bounty in 1789, will be administered from Canberra beginning next year.

Roars of disapproval rang out in Australia's Parliament on Thursday, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott called Labor leader Bill Shorten "the Dr. Goebbels of economic policy."

"Good."

In many photos from an Australian island, the marsupial appears front and center, adding its enigmatic smile to images of happy tourists.

Under the proposed new measures, Australia can revoke citizenship to any dual national if they travel overseas to fight alongside jihadis.

Cyclone Marcia made landfall north of Brisbane as a powerful Category 4 storm but has since been downgraded. Cyclone Lam hit in sparsely populated Arnhem Land.