Australia

WHEN the chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank, Ralph Norris, recently caught up with investors in New York, talks soon turned to the topic of the heady Australian housing market.

SYDNEY — Australian real estate prices are rising strongly and show no signs of abating, analysts said Monday, after weekly sales in one state hit a record 1.025 billion dollars (920 million US).

Australia's runaway property market is refusing to slow, with the average home rising almost 2 percent in value last month.

A grandmother told yesterday how she fought off a shark that bit chunks from her legs and buttocks as she was snorkelling near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

SYDNEY — Australia on Monday axed 20,000 migrant applications in a major overhaul aimed at clamping down on foreign students gaining permanent residency through courses such as hairdressing and cookery.