Australia

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Qantas Grounds Entire Fleet in Labor Dispute

Surprise move in Australia strands passengers around the world

(Newser) - Be glad you're not booked on a Qantas flight. The Australian airline abruptly grounded its entire fleet today because of a nasty labor dispute, reports the BBC . The move came so suddenly that some planes turned around while taxiing on the runway, notes AP . Qantas is paying for people...

Australia Mints One-Ton Coin
 Australia Mints One-Ton Coin 
Oct 27, 2011 2:36 PM CDT

Australia Mints One-Ton Coin

Face value is $1M, but it's worth more than 50 times that

(Newser) - Australia's Perth Mint has created the world’s biggest gold coin—more than a ton of 99.99% pure gold, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The coin’s face value is $1 million Australian dollars—just over $1 million American—but it’s worth more like $57 million American....

Why Aussie Sharks Are Attacking

They're probably after whales, not human flesh

(Newser) - Australia has seen a slew of shark attack deaths lately, with three killed in the past two months, giving rise to fears that a “rogue shark” has developed a taste for human flesh, and is now relentlessly attacking Jaws-style. But that’s preposterous, scientists assure LiveScience . “The chance...

Australia Man Greets Queen by Mooning Her

...and there was a flag involved

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth saw more of Australia than she bargained for during her visit to Brisbane today. A construction worker gave the queen and her husband a long look at his rear end—which held an Australian flag between the cheeks—as he reportedly ran beside her motorcade for about 150...

Shark Kills US Diver in Australia

It's the third fatal attack there in two months

(Newser) - Australia may have a shark partial to humans on its hands: A great white killed a 32-year-old American diver today just 11 miles from where another fatal attack occurred 12 days ago, reports AP . The unidentified American, in the country on a work visa, was killed by the 10-foot shark...

Island Nation's Water to Run Out in Days

Australia, New Zealand join forces to help Tuvalu

(Newser) - As a drought continues to ravage Tuvalu , only a few days' supply of fresh water remains on the tiny Pacific island nation—so Australia and New Zealand are bringing over a desalination plant. Air force planes from both countries are hauling the gear to rescue Tuvalu's residents, who face...

Plane Hits Ferris Wheel: Everybody's OK

Four people were trapped for a while in Australia

(Newser) - Precisely the last thing you want to see while on a Ferris wheel: an incoming plane. An ultra-light craft crashed into a ride in Australia, and somehow nobody got seriously hurt, reports AP . The Cheetah S200 smashed into the top of the wheel and got stuck there, trapping two kids...

Australia Opens Combat Jobs to Women

Becomes fourth developed country to place no restrictions on women in military

(Newser) - Another step for women's equality : Australia's military has become the fourth in the world to allow women to take on front-line combat roles. Announced today, the move opens some of the country's most dangerous combat jobs to women, including Special Forces positions in Afghanistan and some army...

New Dolphin Species Found in Australia

Creature was 'right under our noses': researcher

(Newser) - For just the fourth time in more than a century, researchers have identified a new species of dolphin—and the Aussie scientists didn’t have to look far. Two dolphin populations in Australia, numbering about 150 in total, were once believed to be bottlenose dolphins; turns out they’re genetically...

Aussie Passports Get a Third Gender: X

Male, female joined by one more option

(Newser) - Australians applying for new passports now have three gender options to choose from: Male, female, or "X." The government says the option for indeterminate gender has been added to remove discrimination against transgender people, some of whom had faced questioning and detention at airports, the AP reports. Applicants...

12-Hour Aussie Standoff Ends, Girl Safe

Police forced their way into law office after negotiations faltered

(Newser) - A 12-hour standoff has ended in Australia after police forced their way into the Sydney law office where a man, who claimed he had a bomb in his backpack, was holding his daughter hostage . The move was made after negotiations began to break down, say police. The 12-year-old girl has...

'Backpack Bomber' Has Daughter in Aussie Standoff

He's holed up in law offices near family court

(Newser) - A ranting Australian claiming to be armed with a backpack bomb is holding his daughter hostage in law offices near a courthouse in a Sydney suburb. Workers in nearby offices have been evacuated, and police and rescue workers are standing by as officials negotiate with him. The unidentified man earlier...

Aussie Dies After Shark Bites Off Legs

Officials still searching for killer shark, bodyboarder's limbs

(Newser) - An Australian bodyboarder met a gruesome end today when a shark attacked, biting off his legs and killing him as some 30 other surfers lingered in the water in western Australia. Authorities closed the beach near Dunsborough immediately, and are still searching for the shark, reports the AP. "We...

Facebook Suitor Uses Date as Getaway Driver

UK man robs betting agency with unwitting accomplice

(Newser) - A good sign your Facebook date is not going well: Your would-be beau asks you to stop at a betting parlor, pops inside, then runs back into the car wielding a knife and a bag of money, shouting, "Drive, drive!" Such is the tale of the UK's...

Aussies Find Remains of Outlaw Ned Kelly

(Newser) - The remains of Ned Kelly have been identified more than 130 years after the iconic Aussie outlaw was executed. The bushranger, hanged in 1880 for his gang's murder of three policemen, was buried with dozens of other convicts in a prison mass grave. DNA from a Kelly descendant was...

Melbourne Ousts Vancouver as Top Place to Live

Australia and Canada dominate the list

(Newser) - Dear readers, we have a question for you: Why don’t you live in Canada or Australia? Because apparently those are the world’s bestest places to live, according to an annual study from the Economist Intelligence Unit , which rates cities from around the world based on factors like political...

Scientists Crack Code of Kangaroo's DNA

Decoding could lead to new antibiotics, hope for wombats

(Newser) - What makes the kangaroo hop? That’s just one of the questions answered by international researchers who’ve decoded the genome of a kangaroo species, the BBC reports. The genome research team—the first to be led by Australian scientists—sequenced the genome in 2008 but finally completed its analysis...

Aussie 'Collar Bomb' Suspect Busted in Kentucky

Suspect is 50-year-old businessman with links to victim's family

(Newser) - An Australian suspected of being the man who broke into a Sydney home and attached a phony collar bomb to a teenage girl has been arrested in Kentucky. Paul "Doug" Peters, 50, was arrested in a Louisville suburb by a team of FBI agents and Australian police, reports the...

Australia Fighting Rats —With Rats

Native species summoned to take out non-native invaders

(Newser) - In the what-could-possibly-go-wrong department: Australia hopes to rid the Sydney Harbour area of black rats by introducing a different species of rat into the area, reports Reuters . The black rats are non-native invaders that probably arrived by ship 200 or so years ago, and they're a huge nuisance near...

Australia Clears Red M&M of Bullying Charges

Aussies let candy off hook after prolonged ethics probe

(Newser) - After what could be history's most prolonged ethics investigation of a piece of candy, advertising authorities in Australia have decided that the red M&M is not a bully. The ad bureau—after a 2-month investigation—rejected complaints from viewers that the M&M's behavior in TV ads...

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