OCEANIA

AUSTRALIAN PM TO VISIT FRANCE TO 'RESET' RELATIONS AFTER SUBS ROW

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Photo Credit:AFP

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is to meet President Emmanuel in France next week as his new Labor government looks to repair relations strained last year when Australia scrapped a French submarine deal.

Albanese travels to Europe on Sunday for the NATO summit in Madrid on 29-30 June, and will make a detour to Paris to continue mending fences after a major diplomatic spat with France over a submarine deal.

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SYDNEY FLOODS: TENS OF THOUSANDS TOLD TO EVACUATE

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Photo Credit: AP

Roads have been cut off, with 18 evacuation orders in western Sydney alone and warnings of more to come.

"This is a life-threatening emergency situation," Stephanie Cooke, emergency services minister for the state of New South Wales, said.

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AUSTRALIA HONEY BEES PUT IN LOCKDOWN DUE TO DEADLY VARROA PARASITE

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Photo Credit: Getty Image

The varroa destructor was first found at a port near Sydney last week but has since been spotted in hives 100km away.

The outbreak threatens to cost the honey and food production industries millions of dollars.

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AUSTRALIA'S NEW CLIMATE PROMISE MEETS MINING REALITY

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Photo CRedit:AP

Centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese swept to power in May promising weary Australians that he would tackle climate change.

He followed through on a key plank of that promise Thursday, nearly doubling the country's 2030 emissions reduction target to 43 percent.

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AUSTRIAN JAILED FOR HELPING CULT LEADER ISOLATE CHILDREN ON FARM

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Photo Credit: AP

A Dutch court on Tuesday jailed an Austrian handyman for helping a cult leader to isolate his own children on a farm for a decade, in a case that shocked the Netherlands.

The man, identified only as 61-year-old Joseph B., played an "essential role" in depriving the six children of their liberty in the remote northeastern village of Ruinerwold, the court ruled, jailing him for three years.

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