- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
Albanese claims victory as Australian right falls to climate backlash
Centre-left leader Anthony Albanese claimed victory in Australia's general election Saturday, as voters angered by climate inaction pulled the plug on a decade of conservative rule.
"The Australian people have voted for change" said the 59-year-old Labor leader, promising a less pugilistic form of leadership and a raft of reforms to make the country fairer and greener.
With almost two-thirds of the votes counted, Albanese was set to lead the largest party in parliament, but had yet to secure an outright majority.
The election was a stinging rebuke for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who admitted it was a "difficult" and "humbling" night for his conservative coalition.
His Liberals lost seats to Labor across the country, but they suffered the most painful defeat at the hands of climate-focused independent candidates in a string of once ultra-safe conservative urban seats.
The so-called "teals" -- mostly women -- ran on pro-environment, anti-corruption and pro-gender equality tickets.
"What we have achieved here is extraordinary," said Zoe Daniels, an independent who claimed victory in a once safe Liberal seat in Melbourne.
The teals tapped into deep seated anger in wealthy suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne at Morrison's unbridled support for the coal industry, despite three years of climate-worsened bushfires, drought and floods that upended life for millions.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was in danger of becoming their biggest scalp -- all but conceding as his seat in Melbourne was projected to fall to teal independent Monique Ryan.
- 'Fires and floods' -
"People are saying the climate crisis is something they want action on," said an elated Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt.
"We have just had three years of drought, and then fires and now floods and then floods again. And people can see it, that this is happening and it's unfolding."
Albanese has vowed to end Australia's "climate wars", adopt more ambitious emissions targets, introduce a federal corruption watchdog and extend to indigenous people a constitutional right to be heard on national policy-making.
He vowed to transform the country a renewable energy "superpower".
But he has refused calls to phase out coal use, or to block the opening of new coal mines.
He may now have to cut deals with independents demanding deeper commitments that would risk the ire of the pro-coal and mining union factions of his party.
Albanese said he was "humbled" by victory.
Official projections indicated Labor had won 72 of the 76 seats it needs for a majority. With many votes still to be counted, it could yet secure a majority on its own.
"It says a lot about our great country that that a son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing... can stand before you tonight as prime minister," Albanese said.
"My mother dreamt of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey in life inspires Australians to reach for the stars," Albanese said, before trying to calm some of his more exuberant fans.
"I didn't think we'd get here tonight,” said Joan O'Donnell, a Labor member for 21 years, embracing her fellow branch members.
"The right wing has had power for too long."
- 'Fair dinkum' -
Earlier Saturday, Albanese asked voters to give his centre-left party a "crack" at running the country, and urged people to spurn a "divisive" prime minister.
Australians "want someone who is fair dinkum, someone who will 'fess up if they make a mistake," said the Labor leader.
Albanese often notes he would be the first Australian with a non-Anglo or Celtic surname to be prime minister.
Voting in Australia is compulsory, enforced with a Aus$20 (US$14) fine but also rewarded at many booths that fired up barbecues to offer people a "democracy sausage".
The election decides who controls the House of Representatives, the Senate and who lives in the prime minister's "Lodge".
S.Gregor--AMWN