Australia

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Sydney Now in 'Scariest Period' of Pandemic

Delta variant has infected dozens, including New South Wales government minister

(Newser) - Sydney is going through one the "scariest" times of the pandemic as a cluster of the highly contagious Delta variant infects more people, an Australian state leader said on Thursday. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she tested negative for the coronavirus after state Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall...

Mouse Plague Forces Prison Evacuation

Rodents have chewed through wires at rural Australian facility

(Newser) - As a maximum security prison, the Wellington Correctional Center in New South Wales is good at keeping prisoners in—but it has completely failed to keep rodents out during the mouse plague the region is experiencing. The prison says more than 400 inmates and 200 staff members will be relocated...

Tasmanian Devils Wipe Out Penguin Colony

They were introduced to Maria Island as insurance against extinction

(Newser) - A plan to protect Tasmanian devils from extinction came at a hellish price for penguins and other birds on an Australian island. Researchers say that after a small number of the carnivorous marsupials were shipped to Maria Island, east of Tasmania, in 2012, the island's population of 3,000...

Australia Finds Its Biggest-Ever Dino
Dinosaur Found
in Outback
Was as Big as
Basketball Court
in case you missed it
Jun 13, 2021 5:13 PM CDT

Dinosaur Found in Outback Was as Big as Basketball Court

Australotitan is biggest dino ever found in Australia

(Newser) - "This is a fantastic beast. Imagine something the size of a basketball court walking around on land," says Scott Hocknall, part of a team of paleontologists that confirmed the discovery of the biggest dinosaur ever found in Australia. Australotitan cooperensis was between 80 and 100 feet long and...

Swimmer Opts Out of Olympic Trials, Slams 'Perverts'

Australian swimmer says no more 'exploit[ing] young women and girls'

(Newser) - "Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their boot lickers," said Australian swimmer Madeline "Maddie" Groves on Wednesday in her announcement that she would not be competing in her country's Olympic trials, which start Saturday. "You can no longer exploit...

This Is the Most Livable City in the World

Auckland, NZ, takes top spot in Economist's rankings, though Kiwis give honor the side-eye

(Newser) - The pandemic has caused a major upset on the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual list of the most livable cities on the planet. Thanks to their relative isolation from the rest of the world, the island nations of New Zealand, Australia, and Japan all had strong showings in the top...

Teen in Coma After 'Headbutt' From a Whale

Family describes freak accident off Australia's east coast

(Newser) - They were, in a word, unlucky. A young Aussie fisherman is fighting for his life, and another is recovering from a concussion after a breaching whale fell on their boat Sunday. "They had no warning, and no time to react," family members say in a statement, per CNN...

In Photos, Soldiers Drink From Dead Man's Prosthetic Leg

Lawyers say hundreds of photos exist

(Newser) - Images of of Australian soldiers drinking from what was allegedly a dead Afghan's prosthetic leg in an unauthorized bar called the Fat Lady's Arms may play a big role in an upcoming trial. Lawyers for former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith say they are still working to process hundreds of...

Another Cyberattack in the US: 'Why Would They Stop?'

JBS, the world's largest meat supplier, is hit in US and Australia

(Newser) - First a gas pipeline was the target of a cyberattack. Now, the world's largest meat company. JBS Inc., which has more than 150 locations around the globe, announced it was the target of an "organized" attack against some of its servers, affecting IT systems in the US and...

'Chocolate Frog' Discovered in New Guinea Swamp

Beautiful brown amphibian is likely related to Australian tree frogs

(Newser) - No, it's not Harry Potter magic invading the world of muggles. It's just a surprisingly cool skin color. Some frogs, possibly a new species of tree frog, have been found in New Guinea. Tree frogs are usually green, but these look like they've been dipped in...

Australia Tormented by Plague of Ravenous Mice

Numbers are 'absolutely unprecedented'

(Newser) - Vast tracts of land in Australia's New South Wales state are being threatened by a mouse plague that the state government describes as “absolutely unprecedented." Just how many millions of rodents have infested the agricultural plains across the state is guesswork, the AP reports. At night, the...

7 Momentous Births, First in 3K Years

Endangered Tasmanian devils reproduce on Australian mainland

(Newser) - Wildlife officials trying to preserve Tasmanian devils have announced a long-awaited milestone: Seven have given birth on mainland Australia for the first time in about 3,000 years, reports the BBC . The babes have been found in their mothers' pouches in a sanctuary set up in 2020. There, the devils...

Light Plane Carrying Baby Makes Emergency Landing

Pilot, wife, and 1-year-old son were unharmed after plane experienced engine trouble over Sydney

(Newser) - Beachgoers along the northern Sydney shoreline got quite a surprise Wednesday as they strolled along the sand. Per the Guardian , one eyewitness told a radio station it was around 2pm local time at Collaroy Beach, with "not a cloud in the sky," when an odd sight suddenly floated...

Australia to Try to Solve One of Its Greatest Mysteries
Australia to Try to Solve
One of Its Greatest Mysteries
in case you missed it
May 23, 2021 1:25 PM CDT

Australia to Try to Solve One of Its Greatest Mysteries

Somerton Man's remains exhumed in hopes of creating a DNA profile

(Newser) - Australian authorities are hoping to get to the bottom of one of the 20th century's most intriguing cold cases : that of the still-unidentified Somerton Man, a suit-clad, 40-something man who was found dead on a beach near Adelaide—possibly by poison—on the morning of Dec. 1, 1948. Now,...

Shark Attack Victim Tried 'to Warn Others'

Australia victim is first in country since November

(Newser) - A surfer was killed by a shark on Tuesday off the east coast of Australia, police said. The man, said to be in his 50s, had been surfing off Forster, 190 miles north of Sydney, when he was attacked late in the morning, a police statement said. Onlookers pulled the...

After Tonsil Surgery, She Gets an Irish Accent

TikTok's Angie Yen describes suspected case of foreign accent syndrome

(Newser) - Angie Yen grew up in Australia, but she doesn't sound like it. For the last two weeks, the 27-year-old has been speaking with an Irish accent , and not out of choice. Indeed, the Brisbane dentist, who's never been to Ireland, couldn’t have told you what an Irish...

Ugg: Australian Company Loses Trademark Case

US seller owns the name, but the term is generic Down Under

(Newser) - A US appeals court is not buying what an Australian company is selling, letting an American company keep its trademark on the word "Ugg." The name not only is synonymous with a type of sheepskin boots, but it's a symbol and point of pride for Australians. Deckers...

Sydney Man's Surprise Case Prompts New Restrictions

Man tests positive for a variant linked to India, but how that happened is unclear

(Newser) - After a month without local transmission, Australia's largest city is warning of undetected coronavirus cases after a man in his 50s tested positive Wednesday. Authorities don’t know how the Sydney resident became infected with a variant first detected in India, per Reuters . The sample matches that of a...

6 Years After Shark Attack, Man Who Lost Leg Allowed to Keep Tooth

Australian authorities decided to make an exception

(Newser) - Under South Australian state law, great white sharks are a protected species and it is illegal to possess any part of them—but authorities decided to make an exception for a surfer who argued that since a shark got his leg, he should be allowed to keep its tooth. Chris...

Miles From Shore, He Found a Deadly Snake in His Boat

'I didn't like the bugger,' Aussie man says after lucky escape

(Newser) - A bite from a tiger snake can cause a victim to collapse within 15 minutes, so Australian man Bob Thatcher was understandably nervous when he spotted one just inches from his feet when his tiny fishing boat was 30 minutes from shore. The 80-year-old retired banker tells the Guardian that...

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