Australia

Mystery unfolds over 1870 Paris siege letter discovered in Australia

International — Link

The son-to-mother letter, sent to Normandy by balloon from a Paris beseiged by Prussians, was inexplicably found in Australia's National Archives.

French to lead initial probe of suspected flight MH370 debris

International — Link

Officials from Malaysia, China, Australia and France hold meeting in Paris to discuss progress of investigation into missing plane.

Barbary and bloodshed: the horror reserved for Australia's asylum seekers

International

Last year, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Amnesty International denounced the appalling conditions at an Australian immigration centre in Papua New Guinea, one of two offshore Pacific camps used by Australia to detain and process migrants' demands for asylum. But the alarm went unheeded, and in February this year a revolt by the detainees led to a bloody confrontation that left one 23 year-old Iranian asylum seeker dead, and 77 other people injured, some by gunshot and machete blows. Mediapart has gained access to a series of photos of the injured detainees and witness accounts of the tragic events on February 16th and 17th which received little coverage outside of Australia. Carine Fouteau reports on the inhumane and humiliating treatment Australia reserves for asylum seekers, one of whom, an Iraqi national aged 43, told Amnesty International that, given their fate, “if we had died in the ocean, that would have been better.”

Hollande to be first French president to visit Australia

International — Link

The visit, in recognition of 'key role' Australia is playing in the world, will take place around the G20 summit in Brisbane in November 2014.

Australia WWII agent Nancy Wake's ashes scattered in France

France — Link

The woman who inspired novel 'Charlotte Gray' wanted her ashes to be left in the forest where she played a key role against German occupation.

French yachtsman rescued in Southern Ocean

France — Link

Round-the-world sailor had been in a life raft in the ocean for three days after his yacht lost its mast and its hull was damaged in rough weather.

Revealed: French plot to invade Australia

International — Link

French explorer who visited British colony in 1802 advised Napoleon to annex Sydney to make Australia a strategic military site in the Pacific.