Timelapse Video Of The Total Solar Eclipse In Australia

A timelapse video taken from Palm Cove beach in Queensland as the clouds part and a total solar eclipse darkens the Australian sky.

Australians donned protective glasses as the clouds parted to allow them to witness one of nature's greatest phenomena -- a total eclipse of the sun.

All eyes and cameras turned to the heavens over tropical north Queensland as the moon began moving between the Earth and the sun, like a small bite which gradually increases in size.

Cloud cover threatened to spoil the party and huge cheers erupted when they parted to give tens of thousands of eclipse hunters a perfect view of totality -- when the moon completely covers the sun and a faint halo or corona appears.

The path of the eclipse got under way shortly after daybreak when the moon's shadow, or umbra, fell in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in the Northern Territory, about 155 miles east of Darwin.

The umbra then moved eastward before alighting in north Queensland -- one of the few places it could be viewed by humans and where tourists and scientists flocked to witness the region's first total solar eclipse in 1,300 years.

Australia Closes Doors To North Korean Refuges

Song Dong Park has already seen her son sent to a pre-deportation centre, what she believes is the first step on the road back to North Korea, and she doesn't want herself or her husband to be next.

Song is one of around 70 North Koreans who have fled their troubled country for Australia, where they've found that the country's restrictions - that no one with dual citizenship may apply for an Australian passport - means they might soon be forced to leave.

Since South Korea considers all North Koreans citizens of its own country, conceiving of a future unified Korean peninsula, Australia does as well. But Song says moving to South Korea risks falling into the arms of North Korean agents who will find ways to force or smuggle them back.

"We should kill ourselves. No one here cares about us or accepts us," she says.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from Sydney.

Snow Falls In Australia Blue Mountains

Spring snow falls in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, surprising residents and leaving Kangaroos hopping around in the town centre. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Sea Water Reuse Solves Australia Water Crisis

Water is one of the world's most precious resources.

But in many countries, climate change and growing populations are making it increasingly scarce.

A large number of countries are ranked as having a high level of water stress, including Australia, who are easing the shortage to take water from the sea.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from the state of Victoria.

World's Fastest Radio Telescope Starts Up In Australia

In the remote Australian outback, scientists commission world's fastest radio telescope that will vastly increase astronomers' ability to survey the universe. Sunita Rappai reports.