Australia announced a significant boost to its military air power on Friday, committing to buy up to 100 new Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, as it shifts its focus back to the Indo-Pacific as China and India beef up forces.

A South Korean spy ring has been uncovered in Australia trying to cultivate public servants to obtain trade secrets, a report said Thursday, but officials insisted relations with Seoul remained robust.

T-Mobile USA, the country's fourth-largest cellphone carrier, is set to complete its acquisition of MetroPCS after the stock market closes on Tuesday.

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, the tycoon who is building a replica of the ill-fated Titanic, on Friday announced he was forming a political party and would run in this year's elections.

Tens of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders turned out Thursday to honor their war dead, with moving tributes to fallen mates and calls not to forget those injured in conflict.

Australia was first settled by between 1,000 and 3,000 humans around 50,000 years ago, but the population crashed during the Ice Age before recovering to a peak of some 1.2 million people around five centuries ago, a study said on Wednesday.

Australian combat troops have for the first time taken part in annual South Korea-U.S. joint military drills, a South Korean defense ministry spokesman said Saturday.

Free trade talks between Australia and China are deadlocked over Beijing's insistence on removing investment limits for state-owned enterprises, Trade Minister Craig Emerson said Thursday.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard vowed not to alter her stance on same-sex marriage despite New Zealand giving it the go-ahead, with hundreds of couples expected to make the journey to tie the knot.

Australia paid tribute on Monday to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews during World War II, by making him the country's first honorary citizen.