THOUGH they have a long way to go before they reach the dizzying heights – or depths – of Italian post-war political instability, Australians can be forgiven if they have become a little confused by the musical chairs in their prime minister’s office. 

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott could face a second challenge to his position this year after a senior minister called for a vote on his party leadership.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Investigators are working to identify whether a wing part that washed up on a remote Indian Ocean island came from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

In a solemn procession, residents of the Ukrainian village where a Malaysian airliner was shot down with 298 people aboard a year ago marched to the crash site. Half a world away, Australia’s prime minister remembered the “savagery” of the attack as he unveiled a plaque in Canberra set in soil from the field where the wreckage fell.

The heritage committee of Unesco has said the outlook for Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is poor due to threats including pollution and climate change but stopped short of listing it as “in danger”.

Reports that an Australian terrorist, notorious for holding up the severed heads of Syrian victims, has been killed fighting in Iraq have raised the potential for his young family to be repatriated from the Middle East, Australia’s foreign minister said.

It came from Down Under and was certainly below the belt when an Australian political adviser launched an anti-Irish tirade during a TV debate about marriage equality, spurred by the referendum here.

Opposition party MPs in Australia hope to harness momentum from the Irish marriage equality referendum after proposing a law that would recognise same-sex marriages.

Opposition MPs in Australia hope to harness momentum from Irelans's same sex marriage referendum after proposing a law that would recognise gay marriages.

Australia plans to pass a law within weeks to give the government power to strip citizenship from dual nationals who are suspected terrorists, even if they are not convicted of a crime, the prime minister said.

A 17-year-old boy arrested after police foiled a suspected bomb plot in Australia’s second-largest city has appeared in court charged with terror offences.

Police in Australia have arrested a 17-year-old boy suspected of plotting to detonate three home-made bombs in Melbourne.

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott’s chief business adviser has accused the UN of using debunked climate change science to lead a new world order, provocative claims made to coincide with a visit from the top UN climate negotiator.

Europeans grappling with mass migration from Libya were seeking information about Australia’s controversial success in stopping asylum seeker boats reaching its shores, the Australian prime minister said yesterday.

The eight prisoners executed in Indonesia refused blindfolds and sang Amazing Grace and Bless The Lord O My Soul, before their singing was silenced by gunfire.

Indonesia brushed aside last-minute appeals and executed eight people convicted of drug smuggling, although a Philippine woman was granted a stay of execution.

Australia wants corruption allegations against Indonesian judges investigated before their death sentences against two Australian drug traffickers are carried out, the foreign minister has said.

Australia will adopt a “no jab, no pay” policy to block parents who refuse to vaccinate their children from some government benefits.

The personal details of world leaders such as US president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, including passport numbers and visa details, were accidentally leaked to the organisers of a football tournament last year.

Australia’s gaffe-prone prime minister took back his second Nazi-related comment in a month after he compared the opposition party leader to German World War II-era propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has rejected international perceptions of Ireland’s drink culture ahead of his St Patrick’s Day meeting with US president Barack Obama in the White House.

We’ve already seen Tourism Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day promo, using Liam Neeson’s voice over skills, and it wasn’t too bad.

There are new fears for an Irish teenager imprisoned in Egypt after the first execution of a pro-Morsi protester.

An official report a year after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has done little to solve the mystery of the missing Boeing 777, aviation experts have concluded.

Indonesian officials said they will reject an Australian offer to swap prisoners as part of a last-ditch attempt to save the lives of two Australian drug smugglers expected to face a firing squad within days.

Indonesia has postponed the transfer of six convicted drug smugglers to a prison island for execution.

One of two men charged with planning to launch an imminent terrorist attack in Australia appeared on a video threatening to stab the kidneys and necks of victims, the prime minister has said, accusing the pair of "monstrous extremism".

Australia’s beleaguered prime minister Tony Abbott survived an internal government challenge to his leadership, despite a revolt by dozens of colleagues that leaves him politically damaged.

Australian PM Tony Abbott has survived a leadership ‘no confidence’ vote.

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has brought forward a challenge to his leadership to tomorrow in the interests of ending uncertainty about his government’s direction.

The fight over conservative Australian prime minister Tony Abbott’s leadership broke out into the open today, with a member of his party triggering a potential challenge next week.

An Al-Jazeera reporter who spent more than a year in an Egyptian prison has returned home to Australia.

A freed Al-Jazeera English reporter and his family have called on Egypt to release his two colleagues who remain behind bars, in a case widely condemned as a sham by human rights groups.

Indonesia will not order the executions of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran for at least another week.

The Australian prime minister has defended his decision to honour the Alexis Tsipras with a knighthood, despite a social media backlash in which many said they thought the news was a joke.

The Australian prime minister has defended his decision to honour the Duke of Edinburgh with a knighthood, despite a social media backlash in which many said they thought the news was a joke.

Police have used a Taser to subdue a man who brandished a knife near the prime minister's entrance to Australia's Parliament House.

There is “insufficient evidence” that objects spotted in the sea are from the missing AirAsia plane, Indonesia’s vice-president has said.

Two victims of a deadly siege in Sydney were remembered at private memorial services, one week after a gunman took them hostage inside a downtown cafe.

Two victims of the deadly siege in Sydney were being remembered at private memorial services, a week after a gunman took them hostage inside a city cafe.

An Australian woman has been charged with murder over the deaths of seven of her children and her niece, whose bodies were found inside her home.

An Australian woman has been charged with murder over the deaths of seven of her children and her niece, whose bodies were found inside her home.

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the deaths of eight children in an Australian home.