Australia

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Police May Have Answer to Perplexing SOS Message

A man called them to say his brother constructed it in 2013

(Newser) - It had police scratching their heads—and wondering if they should be searching for missing persons: an SOS message spotted by helicopter in a part of Western Australia so remote the nearest city of note is more than 600 miles away. Now police may have their answer, thanks in no...

Man Acquitted of Terror Plot Carries Out Another One

Australia gunman died in shootout with police

(Newser) - A gunman who killed a man and took a woman hostage before dying in a police shootout had been acquitted of plotting a terror attack at a Sydney army base years earlier, police in Australia said Tuesday. The siege Monday at an apartment building in a Melbourne suburb was being...

Man Threatens to Blow Up Plane, Gets Tied Up by Passengers

Cops say he had an 'amplifier-type' device

(Newser) - A Malaysia Airlines plane returned to Australia after a mentally ill passenger threatened to detonate a bomb and attempted to enter the cockpit before he was tackled and tied up by passengers, police say. The 25-year-old Sri Lankan man bought a ticket on the late-night flight to Kuala Lumpur after...

Cops Prove They're 'Bloody Legends' With a Selfie

Photo on drunk Tasmanian man's phone was only way he knew how he got home

(Newser) - Reece Park didn't remember getting home after a night of drinking Saturday. Luckily, his phone held the evidence in the form of a selfie snapped by police. The photo , which has since gone viral, shows two Tasmanian police officers smiling in Park's bedroom as Park appears barely awake...

Australia Plans 'World-First' Move Against Pedophiles

'The existing passport legislation was not working'

(Newser) - "No country has ever taken such decisive and strong action to stop its citizens from going overseas ... to abuse kids." So declares an Australian official in discussing a bold "world-first" plan that would see passports denied to convicted pedophiles who had served their time but remained a...

'There's a Shark in My Boat!' Fisherman Gets Big Surprise

The 440-pound visitor was nearly 9 feet long

(Newser) - An Australian fisherman was nearly the catch of the day when a great white shark leaped into his boat. Terry Selwood, 73, was moored off New South Wales on Saturday afternoon when the 440-pound, 9-foot uninvited guest landed in his 15-foot boat. "I caught a blur of something,"...

Ben & Jerry's Makes Unusual Rule to Back Gay Marriage

In Australia, you can't get 'same-flavor' servings until same-sex marriage is legal

(Newser) - "Love comes in all flavours," says socially active ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's, which is putting their scoops where their mouth is in a new protest. In a move supporting gay rights, the company’s 26 stores in Australia have “banned” servings of two scoops...

SOS Message Has Australian Police Scratching Their Heads

It's unclear if someone is in need of help or was playing a prank

(Newser) - Police are searching for answers—and possibly missing people—after an SOS signal was spotted recently in a remote part of Western Australia, the BBC reports. A helicopter spotted rocks spelling out SOS in an area called Swift Bay. According to the Sydney Morning Herald the rocks are 75 miles...

Rebel Wilson Breaks Down in Court in Defamation Suit

Actress sobs on stand, accuses magazine of printing lies about her

(Newser) - Rebel Wilson told a courtroom Wednesday that she's not a "glamorous actress" like other Australian exports such as Nicole Kidman or Cate Blanchett, and thus had to work harder to make her name in Hollywood. She's now alleging that all her hard work was nearly thrown away...

Australia Behind Latest Hipster Coffee Drink

Introducing the avocado latte

(Newser) - We don't anticipate Keurig coming out with guacamole pods anytime soon, so in the meantime, we'll have to make do with a new concoction brewed up by Australia's Truman Cafe. That concoction, per BuzzFeed , is the avolatte, or avocado latte, which is pretty much exactly what it...

Potentially Record-Setting Cat Has a Taste for Kangaroo

Omar may be the world's longest cat

(Newser) - What's it take for a cat to grow so long it's in contention for a Guinness World Record? Good genes, a good home, and lots of raw kangaroo meat, apparently. "It's the only meat we could find that he actually wants to eat," Stephy Hirst...

This Chanel Boomerang Is Preposterously Expensive

And drawing accusations of cultural appropriation

(Newser) - Sometimes you put something out into the universe, and sometimes the universe throws it right back at you. If only there was a word for that. Anyway, Chanel is under fire from social media and activists after including a $1,325 boomerang in its collection of new spring and summer...

Aussie Travelers Urged to Check Shoes for Dead Toads

A sniffer dog found a hitchhiking amphibian in one man's shoe

(Newser) - Australian quarantine authorities have urged travelers from Asia to avoid bringing in hitchhiking amphibians after a passenger arrived at an airport with a dead Indonesian toad in his shoe. The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources issued the warning on Thursday for travelers to check their luggage and other belongings...

Breastfeeding Aussie Senator Makes History

Larissa Waters is first to feed baby in country's Parliament

(Newser) - Australian Sen. Larissa Waters made history with her 2-month-old daughter Alia Joy on Tuesday. The Australian Greens party member became the first mother to breastfeed a baby in the Parliament chamber, winning praise for setting an example for mothers in the workplace, the Telegraph reports. Other lawmakers in countries including...

'Irreplaceable' Rare Flowers Burned Due to Paperwork

Biosecurity officials in Australia destroyed collection from Paris

(Newser) - A priceless and "irreplaceable" collection of pressed flowers from France encountered biosecurity officials in Australia recently—and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris is not happy about what happened next. The box of rare daisies collected in the 1850s—which was being shipped to the Queensland Herbarium...

Suit Claims Man Injured by 14-Hour Flight Next to 'Obese' Passengers

An Australian man is suing American Airlines for more than $100K

(Newser) - A 67-year-old Australian man is suing American Airlines, claiming his seat assignment next to two "grossly obese" passengers during a 14-hour flight to Los Angeles left him with permanent injuries, News.com.au reports. Michael Taylor claims the body of the passenger seated next to him "spilt over...

Lawmaker Laughs at Veep, Knocks Self Unconscious

The stars of the show are responding

(Newser) - A testament to how funny Veep is: While watching the first episode of the latest season, an Australian lawmaker laughed so hard he ultimately ended up unconscious. Member of parliament Graham Perrett was eating sushi while watching the episode in which (spoiler alert) the character Jonah shaves his head to...

Australian Man Jailed 90 Minutes After Visa Expired

Baxter Reid had been turned away at Canadian border

(Newser) - The family of an Australian man says he's been jailed in the US because he got delayed at the Canadian border and missed a visa deadline by a measly 90 minutes or so. Baxter Reid was legally in the US on a five-year visa that stipulated he leave the...

Girl, 8, Describes Escape From Sinking Car as Family Drowned

Chloe Kabealo's mother, sister, and brother drowned after car went into river

(Newser) - Chloe Kabealo unbuckled her seatbelt after the car her mother was driving slid off a muddy Australia road into a flooded river and tried to "go up for air," then "just kept floating up out." That's how the 8-year-old survived the crash as the car...

Elon Musk, Amber Heard Step Out
Elon Musk,
Amber Heard Step Out
Apr 24, 2017 7:28 AM CDT

Elon Musk, Amber Heard Step Out

Couple makes it Instagram-official, gets 'cheeky' in Australia

(Newser) - As Elon Musk toils away on linking human brains to computers , he apparently has Amber Heard by his side to bounce ideas off of. The 45-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO was spotted with the 31-year-old actress, formerly married to Johnny Depp, taking a stroll in Australia's Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary—...

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