More than a million pieces of ancient rock art have secured World Heritage status in a bittersweet listing for environmentalists and traditional custodians fearful nearby industrial activity is damaging the engravings.

The Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site on Friday after intense lobbying by the federal government.

“Achieving World Heritage status ensures stronger protections under Australian legislation and will allow the world to celebrate this unique cultural landscape,” Environment Minister Murray Watt said while visiting the organisation’s headquarters in Paris.

The federal environment minister was accompanied by representatives from the Western Australian government and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation.

Murujuga contains the world’s largest, densest and most diverse collection of Indigenous rock art engravings – known as petroglyphs.

Some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.

They depict animals, plants and human figures and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks.

The site was previously put forward to UNESCO for World Heritage listing in 2023 but Australia’s application was referred back in May.

UNESCO recommended state and federal governments address concerns that nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside’s Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.

The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities.

Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for a Woodside project on the peninsula to continue operating until 2070.

Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who was at the UNESCO meeting, welcomed the World Heritage listing but criticised the removal of recommended protections, including halting industry expansion. 

“Today, Australia rewrote the World Heritage listing in the interests of the gas industry,” she said.

Environmentalists were also concerned the Woodside project extension could cause further damage.

“The world is now watching,” Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution.”

WA Greens Fossil Fuels spokesperson Sophie McNeill called on the state and federal governments to reverse the draft approval for the North West Shelf extension.  

“It’s absolutely disgraceful that Labor put in so much effort to get those protections removed,” she told AAP.

Australia has 21 properties on the World Heritage list, which includes the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.

UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates. 

Environmentalists fear the extension of a gas project could jeopardise the future of an ancient Indigenous rock art collection after it was listed as a World Heritage site.

The Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia was listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a heritage site on Friday after intense lobbying by the federal government.

“Achieving World Heritage status ensures stronger protections under Australian legislation and will allow the world to celebrate this unique cultural landscape,” Environment Minister Murray Watt said while visiting the organisation’s headquarters in Paris.

Murujuga contains the world’s largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings – known as petroglyphs – and some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.

They depict animals, plants and human figures, and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks.

The site was previously put forward to UNESCO in 2023 but Australia’s application was referred back in May.

UNESCO recommended state and federal governments address concerns that nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside’s Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.

The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities.

Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for a Woodside project on the peninsula to continue operating until 2070.

While environmentalists welcomed the heritage listing, they warned that the Woodside project extension could cause further damage.

“The world is now watching,” Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“The onus is on the Australian government to make sure the values recognised by UNESCO are not jeopardised by ongoing industrial pollution.

If the federal government is serious about protecting Murujuga and making sure it is not moved to an “in danger” list, Senator Watt should reject the gas hub’s proposed expansion, Ms O’Shanassy added.

Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who was at the UNESCO meeting, also cautioned that industry could still harm the rock art site.

“Fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years,” she said.

“We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against.”

Greens Leader Larissa Waters joined the chorus of advocate voices in urging Senator Watt to cancel the approval for the North West shelf.

“UNESCO had warned that Woodside’s gas plant threatened the longevity of the rock art prior to the listing, but Minister Watt successfully lobbied other nations when he should have simply rejected Woodside’s climate bomb extension in the first place,” she said.

Senator Waters added that world heritage laws should be bolstered to better protect listed sites.

Australia has 21 properties on the World Heritage list, which includes the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.

UNESCO added several other sites to its list, including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates. 

An ancient Indigenous rock art collection has been recognised as a World Heritage-listed site after a renewed bid by the federal government.

Environment Minister Murray Watt hailed the designation by UNESCO while visiting the organisation’s headquarters in Paris as part of a push to get the Murujuga rock art landscape in Western Australia listed.

“Achieving World Heritage status ensures stronger protections under Australian legislation and will allow the world to celebrate this unique cultural landscape,” Senator Watt said.

Murujuga contains the world’s largest, densest and most diverse collection of rock art engravings – known as petroglyphs – and some are estimated to be more than 50,000 years old.

They depict animals, plants and human figures, and are visible due to the colour and contrast between the removed varnish layer and the underlying brighter weathered rind of the host rocks.

The site was previously put forward to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 2023 but Australia’s application was referred back in May.

UNESCO recommended state and federal governments address concerns that nearby acid emissions, including those from Woodside’s Burrup gas hub, were degrading the art.

The peninsula in northwest WA near Karratha is home to two gas plants, a fertiliser plant and iron ore and salt export facilities.

Senator Watt recently gave provisional approval for a Woodside project on the peninsula to continue operating until 2070.

“For more than 50,000 years, the Ngarda-Ngarli people have protected and managed this significant land and seascape – and today, I am proud to announce that Murujuga will receive another level of protection via the World Heritage system,” Senator Watt said in the French capital overnight.

“The Murujuga nomination had the free, prior and informed consent of the five language groups who all come together to care for Murujuga today.

“They were represented by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, who I am delighted to stand alongside in Paris to oversee this historic moment for our country.”

Mardathoonera woman and Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who is at the UNESCO meeting, said she welcomed the global recognition of Murujuga but cautioned that industry could still harm the rock art site.

“Fertiliser plants are still being built around our sacred sites and polluting gas plants will emit toxic acid on our rock art for another 50 years,” she said.

“Global scrutiny will now be applied to what is happening at Murujuga.

“We will continue to fight for protection for this very special place, and the world is now aware of what we are up against.”

Australia has 21 properties on the World Heritage list, which includes the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.

UNESCO added several other sites to its list overnight including the Xixia Imperial Tombs in China and the Faya Palaeolandscape in the United Arab Emirates. 

The prime minister faces a precarious task navigating Australia’s complex relationship with its most important trading partner as he embarks on a week-long voyage to China.

Collaborating on new technologies and building inter-personal ties will be the focus of Anthony Albanese’s second trip to the Asian powerhouse as prime minister.

The visit will centre on the annual Australia-China leaders’ meeting with Premier Li Qiang, while he will also have a one-on-one with President Xi Jinping – the pair’s fourth formal meeting.

Mr Albanese flies out of Sydney to the financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday morning, before visits to the capital Beijing and Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan, known as the home of giant pandas.

After relations between China and Australia soured during the COVID-19 pandemic, Labor’s election in 2022 precipitated a normalisation in trade and dialogue, with a return to regular high-level meetings.

But tensions remain fraught.

China’s military assertiveness in the region is an increasing concern for Canberra.

A People’s Liberation Army navy vessel ruffled feathers among Australian security circles in February, when it circumnavigated the continent and conducted live fire drills, causing commercial flights to be diverted.

The plight of jailed Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who is serving a suspended death sentence in China over espionage charges, is also straining the relationship.

Meanwhile, Beijing has taken issue with Australia’s commitment to end Chinese-owned company Landbridge’s 99-year lease of Darwin Port early on security grounds.

Mr Albanese said he would raise the full range of issues with his Chinese counterparts.

“We co-operate where we can, we disagree where we must and we’re able to have those honest conversations about some of the disagreements that are there,” he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

But the main focus of the trip will be growing business links.

China is far and away Australia’s biggest trading partner.

Two-way trade between the nations in 2024 was valued at $312 billion, more than the nation’s three next-biggest partnerships combined.

The prime minister will be accompanied by a high-powered delegation of business leaders, including from mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue, steelmaker BlueScope, universities Monash and UNSW, and Macquarie Bank.

Mr Albanese’s first term focused on removing trade restrictions on several of Australia’s traditional key exports to China – including beef, wine and barley.

This trip will look to build on those areas while developing new economic opportunities.

The prime minister was coy on whether he backed Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian’s calls for an expanded free-trade agreement encompassing artificial intelligence, healthcare and clean energy.

“We’ll engage constructively across the range of issues and the range of potentials that’s there,” Mr Albanese said.

“But certainly, in the areas such as green energy, for example, there is a real prospect of further engagement.”

Green steel, in particular, will be the topic of much discussion.

“Chinese policymakers and steelmakers are serious about decarbonising the steel sector, because they have to be,” said Australia China Business Council president David Olsson.

“For Australia, this presents a generational opportunity. We’re one of the world’s largest iron ore suppliers, and we have the renewable energy, industrial capability and investment capital to move further down the value chain.”

Rio Tinto’s Australian chief executive Kellie Parker said it was a valuable opportunity to deepen collaboration between suppliers and steelmakers in developing the technology.

Mr Albanese will also aim to highlight the people-to-people links between the two nations.

On Sunday, he will meet with former Socceroo Kevin Muscat, who now coaches Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port FC, and will visit the headquarters of online travel agency Trip.com to help promote Chinese tourism to Australia.

Walmart is recalling about 850,000 stainless steel water bottles because the lid can “forcefully eject” and unexpectedly strike consumers – resulting in permanent vision loss for two people to date.

The recall covers Walmart’s “Ozark Trail 64 oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles,” which have been sold at the chain’s stores across the United States since 2017.

According to a notice published by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, these products pose “serious impact and laceration hazards”.

That is because when a consumer attempts to open the bottles “after food, carbonated beverages or perishable beverages, such as juice or milk, are stored inside over time,” the lid can eject forcefully, the CPSC notes.

Walmart had received three reports of consumers who were injured after being struck in the face by the lids when opening their bottles.

And two of those people “suffered permanent vision loss after being struck in the eye,” the CPSC added.

Consumers are urged to stop using the now-recalled Ozark Trail bottles – and contact Walmart for a full refund.

Shoppers can also bring the products to their local Walmart store for that compensation.

The European Union is bracing for a possible letter from US President Donald Trump outlining planned duties on his country’s largest trade and investment partner.

The EU initially hoped to strike a comprehensive trade agreement, including zero-for-zero tariffs on industrial goods, but months of difficult talks have led to the realisation it will probably have to settle for an interim agreement and hope something better can still be negotiated.

The 27-country bloc is under conflicting pressures as powerhouse Germany urged a quick deal to safeguard its industry while other EU members, such as France, have said EU negotiators should not cave into a one-sided deal on US terms.

After keeping much of the world guessing his intentions, Trump has outlined new tariffs for a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50 per cent tariff on copper and a hike to 35 per cent on Canadian goods.

Trump’s cascade of tariff orders since returning to the White House has begun generating tens of billions of dollars a month in new revenue for the US government, and data due later on Friday is expected to show collections since inauguration day in January through June have shot past $US100 billion ($A152 billion) – equal to or greater than the largest annual take ever from customs duties.

“We remain locked and loaded to sign an agreement with the US. Let’s see what happens when our friends in Washington wake up a few hours from now,” EU spokesman Olof Gill told a briefing.

A source with knowledge of the US-EU negotiations said an agreement was close but that it was hard to predict if the EU might still get a letter announcing more tariffs or when any agreement might be finalised.

An EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the EU was strong when it acted together. 

“It is important that the pain or gain is distributed equally. We cannot have just one country or sector that takes the win.”

Trump’s 35 per cent tariff on Canada is an increase from the current 25 per cent rate he had assigned and is a blow to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was seeking to agree a trade pact with the US.

According to Trump, the new rate will take effect on August 1 and could go up further if Canada retaliates.

“Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1,” Carney said on X.

The EU has drawn up countermeasures against Trump’s tariffs but has not imposed them. 

An initial 21 billion euros ($A37.2 billion) of levies on US imports due in April was suspended before taking effect. 

Another package, on 72 billion euros of US imports, could also be applied.

“Basically, if a political decision is made to extend the suspension, then we’ll extend the suspension,” Gill said.

“If we need to unsuspend it, we can do that, you know, at the drop of a hat,” he added.

Elsewhere US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, as the two powers vied to push their agendas in Asia.

Both sides described the meeting as constructive.

China this week warned the United States against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month and China has also threatened to retaliate against countries that strike deals with the US to cut China out of supply chains.

Global stocks have fallen after US President Donald Trump ramped up his tariff war against Canada, leaving Europe squarely in the firing line, sparking a modest investor push into safe havens such as gold, while bitcoin hit a new record high.

The Canadian dollar fell after Trump issued a letter late on Thursday that stated a 35 per cent tariff rate on all imports from Canada would apply from August 1, adding the European Union would receive a letter by Friday.

The US president, whose global wave of tariffs has upended businesses and policymaking, floated a blanket 15 per cent or 20 per cent tariff rate on other countries, a step up from the current 10 per cent baseline rate. 

This week he surprised Brazil, which has a trade surplus with the United States, with duties of 50 per cent, and hit copper, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips.

Aside from pockets of volatility in target currencies, stocks or commodities, markets have offered little in the way of reaction to the onslaught, leaving the VIX volatility index at its lowest since late February.

In Europe, the STOXX 600, which has risen 2.2 per cent this week, fell 0.7 per cent in morning trade on Friday.

Futures on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell 0.6 per cent, pointing to a retreat from this week’s record highs at the open later.

“The market is becoming a bit numb to these (tariff) announcements, and perhaps it’s not until we see hard data showing an impact that we (will) start to see the market reacting,” City Index strategist Fiona Cincotta said.

“Obviously, we’re getting more information through that does bring with it an element of clarity. Because there is so much uncertainty, there is still this idea that Trump could be open to negotiation, nothing feels ‘final’ still,” she said.

The dollar rose 0.3 per cent against the Canadian dollar to $C1.3695 . 

The euro, which has lost nearly one per cent in value since the start of July, was/ down 0.2 per cent at $US1.1683.

Earlier in the week, Trump pushed back his tariff deadline of July 9 to August 1 for many trading partners to allow more time for negotiations, but broadened his trade war, setting new rates for a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50 per cent tariff on copper.

Wall Street indices posted record closing highs on Thursday as AI chip maker Nvidia made history, bagging a market valuation above $US4 trillion ($A6.1 trillion).

Gold rose for a third day in a row, up 0.6 per cent to $US3,342 an ounce, bringing gains for July so far to 1.2 per cent. 

Treasuries got less of a safe-haven boost as investor concern about the fragility of long-term US government finances prompted a sell-off that pushed yields up.

Benchmark 10-year yields rose three basis points to 4.38 per cent, adding to Thursday’s rise on the back of data that showed jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week.

The yen, which also typically behaves like a safe haven, has been steadily weakening as the prospects dim for a US-Japan trade deal. 

The dollar was up 0.4 per cent on Friday at 146.76 yen, set for a weekly gain of 1.6 per cent, the biggest of 2025.

Bitcoin jumped 3.8 per cent to $US117,880, the highest on record.

Oil prices fell, extending the previous day’s losses to leave Brent crude down nearly two per cent at $US68.88 a barrel.

Fire ant alarm is hitting new heights after the invasive pests were found in a new region hundreds of kilometres from their main infestation site.

Nests of the damaging insects discovered at mining giant BHP’s Broadmeadow coal mine in central Queensland were destroyed on Wednesday.

The discovery at the mine near Moranbah, about 150km inland from Mackay, is the first in central Queensland and concerns are escalating the ants are no longer restricted to their southeast Queensland epicentre.

An immature nest of the insects was found on July 2 on a property in Tweed Heads on the NSW far-north coast and a 5km containment zone was established.

The Invasive Species Council said the breach of biosecurity controls in Queensland was a “spectacular failure” caused by delays to funding increases.

“‘This outbreak at Broadmeadow is almost 800km from the known infestation zone – that’s simply unacceptable,” the council’s advocacy manager Reece Pianta said.

“Australia’s last chance to eradicate deadly fire ants is being destroyed because Australia’s governments are dithering and delaying critical funding increases.”

Known for their painful stings, fire ants attack livestock, people and pets.

They are considered one of the worst invasive species to reach Australia, potentially causing more economic damage than cane toads, rabbits and feral cats combined.

Fire ants travel in materials such as hay and soil and high-risk materials from the southeast Queensland epicentre are restricted.

The ants are projected to slash agricultural output in Australia by 40 per cent if left unchecked.

Queensland Minister for Primary Industries Tony Perrett said an incident response team was immediately sent to the mine site.

“Program staff are working diligently to destroy the nests in question and determine how the ants reached this location,” he said

BHP and the National Fire Ant Eradication Program have been contacted for comment.

A plan to combat anti-Semitism including suggestions funding may be stripped from arts bodies and events amounts to overreach, a pro-Palestinian writer says.

The recommendation to axe support for publicly funded institutions and festivals that promote or fail to effectively deal with hate speech is part of Australia’s anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report.

The federal government is considering the advice as it examines ways to combat a surge in discrimination against Jewish Australians.

Writer and activist Omar Sakr said adopting the recommendations would lead to further silencing people who supported the Palestinian cause.

The report’s suggested measures were so wide-ranging they amounted to “extraordinary overreach”, he said, arguing pro-Palestinian artists were already treated unfavourably by the sector.

“It’s beyond clear that the end goal of this strategy is a kind of cultural apartheid and it aims for a total stigmatisation and erasure of Palestinian culture,” Sakr said.

He was one of a group of writers contracted to provide teen workshops at the State Library of Victoria in 2024 before their agreements were cancelled following an examination of their political views, including his criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Ms Segal’s report, released on Thursday, also suggested deporting and cancelling the visas of people involved in discrimination against Jewish people.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was already taking those steps, pointing to the decision to block controversial US rapper Kanye West from entering the country after he released a song titled Heil Hitler.

“We screen people … when they apply for visas it’s something that we make sure that we represent Australia’s national interests,” he told reporters on Friday.

Criticism of the report has also focused on Ms Segal’s recommendation Australia adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism.

Some detractors – including the original author of the definition, Kenneth Stern – argue it conflates anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel and Zionism.

Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Max Kaiser labelled the report a “blueprint for silencing dissent”, saying the emphasis on surveillance, censorship and punitive control over funding was “straight out of Trump’s authoritarian playbook”.

Ms Segal said those criticisms misunderstood the definition.

“(It) clearly says if Israel is criticised, that’s absolutely fine – and indeed, so many Israelis are criticising the policies of their own government,” she told ABC Radio.

She said the Jewish Council of Australia, a progressive organisation, was a small group that did not represent the nation’s broader Jewish community.

Several other Jewish groups called for her recommendations to be adopted in full.

They include embedding Holocaust education into school curriculums and strengthening legislation against hateful conduct, in addition to terminating or withholding funds from universities, broadcasters and cultural institutions that fail to address anti-Semitism.

National Union of Students president Ashlyn Horton questioned the way widespread pro-Palestinian student encampment protests were portrayed as targeting Jewish people.

“Conflating actual anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel is a massive, massive concern,” she said.

Universities Australia has committed to considering the report’s recommendations.

Walkley Award-winning journalist Jan Fran said Israel had killed nearly 200 people in Gaza since Tuesday, while it was also ordering Palestinians into what critics have labelled an internment camp.

“If the anti-Semitism envoy’s plan stifles criticism of Israel for these actions, particularly at public broadcasters and in media organisations broadly, then we are headed down a very dark path,” she said.

Ms Segal’s report found threats, vandalism and physical violence against Jewish Australians tripled between October 2023 and September 2024.

Australia’s government-appointed envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, said he would soon provide “comprehensive” recommendations to the prime minister.

US President Donald Trump is ramping up his tariff assault on Canada, saying the US will impose a 35 per cent tariff on imports in August and plans to impose blanket tariffs of 15 per cent or 20 per cent on most other trading partners.

In a letter released on his social media platform, Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney the new rate would go into effect on August 1 and would go up if Canada retaliated.

In a post on X late on Thursday, Carney said his government would continue to defend Canadian workers and businesses in their negotiations with the US as they work towards that deadline.

The 35 per cent tariff is an increase from the current 25 per cent rate that Trump had assigned to Canada and is a blow to Carney, who was seeking to agree a trade pact with Washington.

An exclusion for goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade was expected to stay in place, and 10 per cent tariffs on energy and fertiliser were also not set to change, though Trump had not made a final decision on those issues, an administration official said.

Trump complained in his letter about what he referred to as the flow of fentanyl from Canada as well as the country’s tariff- and non-tariff trade barriers that hurt US dairy farmers and others. 

He said the trade deficit was a threat to the US economy and national security.

“If Canada works with me to stop the flow of fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” Trump wrote.

Canadian officials say a minuscule amount of fentanyl originates from Canada but they have taken measures to strengthen the border.

“Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries,” Carney said in his X post late on Tuesday.

The prime minister said in June that he and Trump had agreed to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days.

Trump has broadened his trade war in recent days, setting new tariffs on a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50 per cent tariff on copper.

His latest salvo rattled investors anew, with US and European stock futures dipping in Asia on Friday as markets nervously awaited word on what tariff Trump would assign the European Union later on Friday.

In an interview with NBC News published on Thursday, Trump said other trading partners that had not yet received such letters would likely face blanket tariffs.

“Not everybody has to get a letter. You know that. We’re just setting our tariffs,” Trump said.

“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20 per cent or 15 per cent. We’ll work that out now.”

Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, and the largest buyer of US exports. 

Carney, who led his Liberal Party to a comeback election victory earlier in 2025 with a pledge to tackle trade challenges with the US, had been aiming to negotiate a trade deal by July 21.

In June, the Carney government scrapped a planned digital services tax targeting US technology firms after Trump abruptly called off trade talks saying the tax was a “blatant attack”.