Topic: Australia

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Energy Voices Chevron explores Morocco oil, undeterred by Algeria crisis

Chevron has signed agreements with Morocco officials that give the US company rights to explore for oil in three offshore sites, Alic writes. Chevron and other oil majors are hardly shaken by recent events in the North African Sahel, she adds, including the Algeria hostage crisis.
Murray outlasts Federer in Australian Open semis

The reigning US Open champion gets two-time defending Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic in the Grand Slam final.
Mass extinction? Man may still have time to catalog Earth's species.

A trio of respected biologists and zoologists concludes that Earth's sixth mass extinction may be unfolding slower than feared, giving time for the valuable work of cataloging the planet's species.
Reader recommendation: The Light Between Oceans

Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.
Protection from wildfires

A Christian Science perspective: Fires have destroyed homes and farms in many parts of Australia. Here's how one resident is praying.
Suffix rush: the rise of 'dot whatever'

Why we'll see hundreds of new site names in 2013.
Lance Armstrong admits to lying for years about doping (+video)

Lance Armstrong was direct, matter of fact, and unemotional in his confession about drug use during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Armstrong, a former cycling champion, said he lied repeatedly for years and verbally and legal attacked his accusers.
Joining hearts and hands in prayer

A Christian Science perspective: Reflections on the way forward after the shootings in Newtown, Conn.
Wildfires uncover drug lab in Australia, but miss big telescopes (+video)

Wildfires uncover drug lab in New South Wales, Australia. The illegal drug lab was revealed, and 28 homes were destroyed, by more than 140 wildfires burning across Australia.
Swatch to buy jeweler Harry Winston in $750M deal

Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, will buy jeweler Harry Winston for $750 million in cash in an effort to expand Swatch's luxury offerings. Made famous by Marilyn Monroe, Harry Winston lends out hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of jewels to be worn by movie stars at events like the Oscars.
Python on plane wing captured on video

Python on plane wing: Passengers on a Qantas flight from Paupa New Guina to Cairns, Australia, videotaped a 10-foot python on the wing of their plane during a nearly two-hour flight.
Australia's milder temperatures aid firefighters (+video)

Four of Australia's hottest 10 days on record have been in 2013. Cooler conditions brought relief to firefighters, who were battling around 200 fires across Australia's southeast.
Wildfires, aided by hot conditions, rage across southeast Australia

With temperatures soaring above the 100 degree mark, firefighters battle the heat as well as high winds. National parks have been evacuated, as well.
Mom rescues baby from python: Finds six-foot snake in bed [+video]

An Australian mom rescues her baby from a six-foot python that had curled up in bed with the two of them during the night: A cat's hiss warns her, and her cellphone light helps her see the culprit.
Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones star in 'Driving Miss Daisy'

Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones are currently appearing in an Australian production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
Australia fires burn 50,000 acres of farmland and forest

Prime Minister Julia Gillard warned today during a visit to wildfire-ravaged Tasmania that climate change could make such events more common in blaze-prone Australia.
Energy Voices Shale oil and gas predictions for 2013 and beyond

North America will continue to show the world the way on shale gas and oil, Grealy writes, but we're only at the first baby steps of shale.
Sports in 2012: here are some Monitor highlights

It’s impossible to list all the records set in 2012, but here’s a short rundown of some heralded highlights, plus 20 of our favorites, including some you might have missed.
The World Until Yesterday

Relying on his vast knowledge of New Guinea, Jared Diamond asks what moderns like us can learn from traditional societies.
Despite looming 'fiscal cliff,' world markets calm

Although 'fiscal cliff' talks go down to the wire, many investors confident a deal will be reached. World markets in Asia, Europe mixed. US stock futures point to a higher open.
Newtown inundated with support, consolation on Christmas

Residents of Newtown Connecticut and out-of-towners alike came together Christmas Day to comfort families grieving after the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Could the US learn from Australia's gun-control laws?

As the US debates its gun laws in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shooting, some Australians are urging the US to consider modeling its laws after Australia's.
Modern Parenthood iPads and YouTube: Are digital tools in classrooms a student asset or distraction?

Tablets and cell phones in the classroom could be changing students' attention spans, but long-term studies have yet to prove the two are linked.
The top 25 celebrity baby names of all time

Many celebrities are creative people, but seldom does their creativity get more free rein than when they’re naming their own offspring. From Beyonce and Jay-Z's firstborn Blue Ivy to Frank Zappa's daughter's avante-garde moniker Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen, there are plenty of unusual names.
Four planets in 'habitable zones' spotted within spitting distance of Earth

Astronomers say they used a new statistical technique to find four possible super-Earths orbiting in the habitable zone of two stars within 22 light-years of Earth, Gliese 667C and tau Ceti.