Two powerful cyclones pounded Australia Friday and left a trail of destruction with houses ripped apart, trees uprooted and power lines torn down, cutting electricity to thousands of people.

Tropical Cyclone Marcia, a category five storm, slammed into the Queensland coast just after 2200 GMT Thursday with its landfall coming just hours after Cyclone Lam hit further north.

Australia returned four Sri Lankan asylum-seekers approaching the nation's waters by boat, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Thursday, three weeks after the government secured a major legal victory for its tough immigration policy.

Customs officers intercepted the boat northwest of the remote atoll of Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean on February 9, Dutton said in a statement.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott Thursday denied threatening Indonesia over the fate of two Australians on death row by linking their fate to aid, insisting he was simply pointing out the depth of ties between the neighbors.

As tensions mount in the bid to save Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Abbott on Wednesday said Jakarta should remember the significant monetary aid Canberra supplied in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 tsunami.

Tougher food screening measures could be introduced in Australia with frozen berries from China linked to a growing number of hepatitis A infections, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said Wednesday.

Nanna's and Creative Gourmet brand raspberries and mixed berries were recalled after they were linked to four infections in New South Wales and Victoria states, with poor hygiene or contaminated water at their packing factory thought to be responsible.

Indonesia's foreign ministry told Australia Wednesday that nobody responds well to threats as tensions mount over the looming execution of two Australian drug smugglers.

As diplomatic efforts intensify to save Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Prime Minister Tony Abbott asked Indonesia to remember the one billion dollars in Australian aid in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that killed 170,000 Indonesians.

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has conducted what is reportedly the world's first political emoji interview, using an angry red face to describe Russia's Vladimir Putin and a running man to depict her boss Tony Abbott.

Buzzfeed, which on Thursday released a video with U.S. President Barack Obama doing "things everyone does but doesn't talk about" such as posing in front of a mirror, interviewed Bishop by sending her text messages.

Millions of Australians are "sickened" by the imminent execution of two of its citizens by Indonesia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday, warning of a tough diplomatic response.

His comments came as the families of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran made emotional last-gasp pleas to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott Saturday pleaded with Indonesia to heed Australia's call for clemency for two death row convicts, and warned that Canberra would make its displeasure known should the executions go ahead.

No date for the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran has been released but an Indonesian official said governments with death row prisoners had been invited to a meeting with the foreign ministry on Monday.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott came under fire Friday over controversial comments on the arrest of two terror suspects and for referring to a "holocaust" of job losses, capping a horror week.

Abbott began the first parliamentary week of the year fighting for his job after poor poll ratings, a series of policy backflips and perceived high-handed decision making saw MPs from his conservative Liberal Party force a confidence vote.

Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste said Friday he was overjoyed that two colleagues have been released from an Egyptian jail but said that with a retrial pending, it was too soon to celebrate.

Mohamed Fahmy, who is Canadian, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were freed on bail Thursday after more than 400 days in prison after an appeals court ordered a retrial.