Australia

Stories 1401 - 1420 | << Prev   Next >>

Red Dust Blankets Sydney
 Red Dust Blankets Sydney 
Sep 22, 2009 8:36 PM CDT

Red Dust Blankets Sydney

Air quality 'dangerous' as limited visibility forces incoming flights to be diverted

(Newser) - Red dust blowing in from the Australian Outback covered Sydney today, snarling air travel and forcing locals to don masks to venture outdoors. “It’s like a nuclear winter morning,” one visitor told Bloomberg; the state government called air quality “hazardous.” Visibility was under 50 feet...

'Aussie Fritzl' Charged With Raping Daughter for 30 Years

Man accused of keeping daughter captive, fathering 4 children with her

(Newser) - An Australian man has been charged with rape and incest after allegedly raping his daughter for more than 30 years and fathering four children with her, Reuters reports. The man was arrested after the victim contacted police and told them she had been kept a prisoner in their home in...

Aussies Stop 'Asylum Boat'
 Aussies Stop 'Asylum Boat' 
Sep 16, 2009 6:06 AM CDT

Aussies Stop 'Asylum Boat'

60 suspected asylum-seekers to be sent to Christmas Island detention center

(Newser) - The Australian navy stopped a vessel carrying 58 suspected asylum-seekers off the country's northwest coast today, the BBC reports. It was the fourth such boat stopped in the area in under a week. The passengers will be sent to a detention center on Christmas Island, 1,600 miles west of...

Aussies May Let Female Soldiers Fight

Proposal sparks fierce debate over women's fitness for combat role

(Newser) - The Australian military may change its guidelines to allow women soldiers to serve in front-line combat roles, the AP reports. The country's defense minister says he believes all service roles should be open to women if they can meet the physical demands, and the move may help persuade more females...

'Out-of-Shape' Crowe Bests Journo in Bike Duel

Actor challenges gossip columnist after she pokes fun at his fitness

(Newser) - Aussie gossip columnist Annette Sharp had to face down a challenge from Russell Crowe the day after she mocked the Gladiator star for puffing on cigarettes during a Sydney bike ride and chowing down on tacos, she writes for Australia's News Network. "Get on your bike," the star's...

Blanchett Bloodied in Stage Accident

In Streetcar performance, radio destined for window finds her head instead

(Newser) - Cate Blanchett left the stage of a Sydney performance of A Streetcar Named Desire with a bloodied head after a prop mishap, the Telegraph reports. A co-star charged with throwing a radio out of window during a fight “sort of slipped and hit her in the head,” an...

Aussies Sorry for 10K Kids Shipped for 'Slave Labor'

British children were abused, kept hungry in program lasting until 1960s

(Newser) - The Australian prime minister will apologize to generations of British migrants shipped to Australia as children and subjected to abuse, hunger, and slave labor. Between the 1920s and 1960s the UK sent about 10,000 children to provide Australia with "good white stock," but when they arrived they...

UN Calls Aussie Aboriginal Policies Racist

(Newser) - Australia’s interventions in remote Aboriginal communities “overtly discriminate” against them, and prove that entrenched racism remains in Australia, a UN official said today. In 2007, Australia sent police and troops to aboriginal lands, and instituted special bans on alcohol and pornography. These measures "infringe their right of...

Sex Party Enters Aussie Political Fray

Sex Party gains official recognition

(Newser) - Australia’s “Sex Party” has been certified as a political party after receiving approval from the Electoral Commission, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The commission’s approval is a victory for free speech and “democratic rights,” says the Sex Party’s convenor. The party hopes to “...

UK Contractor Held in Green Zone Killing of 2 Co-Workers

Incident is second this summer of violence within protected Baghdad area

(Newser) - A security contractor working in Iraq has been charged with fatally shooting two of his co-workers in Baghdad’s Green Zone, the Washington Post reports. Danny Fitzsimmons, an employee of British firm ArmorGroup Iraq, has been arrested in the killing of fellow Briton Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare in...

Maddy Suspect Asked About Her 'New Daughter'

Calls flood in after request for tips about Australian woman

(Newser) - Private investigators working for Madeleine McCann's parents have received “hundreds of calls” from people with information about a woman who may be involved in the child’s disappearance, the Telegraph reports. A witness said the woman, described as a Victoria Beckham lookalike with an Australian accent, was pacing and...

Australia Grieves for Sam the Koala

Rescued animal was symbol of strength after devastating wildfires

(Newser) - The koala bear that became a symbol of hope after Australia's devastating wildfires earlier this year died before surgery today, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reports. Sam was saved by a firefighter who found her moving through the scorched landscape on badly burnt paws, and her image was broadcast around the world....

Hunt for Maddy Shifts to Australia

(Newser) - The search for Madeleine McCann has moved to Australia, two British tabloids and the Australian report. Private detectives working for the missing toddler's parents turned up a woman with an Australian accent who was spotted in Barcelona 3 days after Maddy went missing in Portugal in May 2007.

'Kenyan' Obama Birth Certificate Is Mine: Aussie

Forgery by birthers 'so laughable it’s ridiculous'

(Newser) - President Obama’s “Kenyan” birth certificate, posted online by lawyer Orly Taitz, has been debunked as a forgery, and the original document—an old Australian certificate—it was based on has even been discovered. The Australian Broadcast Channel tracked down David Bomford, the man whose genuine birth certificate was...

Domesticated Swedes Make Best Husbands

Brits, Americans land in top 5 on 'egalitarian index'; Aussies last

(Newser) - Swedish men make the best husbands, while Australian men, preferring beer and sports over housework, rank lowest on an “egalitarian index” outlined in a study of 12 developed nations. Domestic roles carry less stigma in egalitarian societies, one researcher tells the Telegraph, “so the likelihood of forming a...

Aussies Bust Islamist Terror Plot

(Newser) - Australian security forces today busted an Islamist terror outfit that was planning to attack an army base in retaliation for the country’s involvement in Muslim countries, the Australian reports. An undisclosed number of Australians of Somali and Lebanese descent were arrested in the sweep, which centered around the southern...

Aussie Aerial Shoot Could Cull 1M Camels

(Newser) - Australian officials are debating how to cull more than 1 million camels currently munching across the outback and irritating Aboriginals, the Independent reports. Some experts support an aerial shoot to save the desert ecosystem, but say it must be thorough; killing 80,000 would only match their birth rate. Estimated...

Quake Knocks New Zealand a Foot Closer to Australia

(Newser) - There’s nothing like a 7.8 magnitude earthquake to bring two countries together—literally. The temblor that hit New Zealand last week has shoved its southern island about 12 inches closer to Australia, TVNZ reports. That might not sound like much, but considering that New Zealand typically moves about...

Aussie Bursts Into Flames After Police Taser Blast

(Newser) - An Australian man has been hospitalized with burns over 20% of his body after he burst into flames when Tasered by police, reports the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Police say they had no choice but to use the stun gun on the man—a known gas-sniffer and violent offender—when...

Aussie Snipers Guard Penguins

(Newser) - Sharpshooters with night-vision goggles have been dispatched to protect a penguin colony near Sydney, Australia, the BBC reports. The mutilated bodies of nine fairy penguins—the world's smallest penguin species at just 15 inches high—from the vulnerable colony have been found over the last two weeks. Wildlife officials have...

Stories 1401 - 1420 | << Prev   Next >>