Australia – News Stories About Australia - Page 88

Jul 11, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

Giant Squid Storms Australia

Mysterious 26-foot sea beast is longer than a bus and weighs a quarter-ton

(Newser) - A giant squid that weighs 550 pounds and measures 26 feet from the tip of its body to the end of its fearsome tentacles washed up on an Australian beach today. The rarely spotted sea creature is the largest specimen encountered since February, when fishermen in New Zealand netted a...

Condom Testers Needed Down Under

Jul 6, 2007 9:16 PM CDT

Condom Testers Needed Down Under

Aussie condom maker is looking for a few good men...and women

(Newser) - One of the world's largest manufacturers of condoms has posted what the Sydney Morning Herald calls the world's best job - condom tester. There is a catch, well actually several. You must be Australian, there is no pay, and you have to state your, er..., qualifications in a...

Australia Bans Alcohol, Porn in Aboriginal Areas

Jun 21, 2007 9:59 AM CDT

Australia Bans Alcohol, Porn in Aboriginal Areas

Beefed-up measures target rampant sex abuse of children

(Newser) - Australia will ban alcohol and pornography in some Aboriginal areas in an attempt to tackle widespread child sex abuse. A report last week blamed booze and poverty for the high levels of abuse in Aboriginal communities throughout the Northern Territory. "Exceptional measures are required to deal with an exceptionally...

Australia Cuts Stallone Down to Size

May 21, 2007 11:13 AM CDT

Australia Cuts Stallone Down to Size

Action star draws fine for importing drugs without a prescription

(Newser) - Muscle-bound "Rocky" star Sylvester Stallone was hit with nearly $10,000 in fines and court costs today after being convicted of bringing body-building hormones into Australia without proper documentation. Customs officials busted him with human growth hormone and testosterone in February while he was promoting "Rocky Balboa" en...

Guantanamo Detainee Returns to Australia

May 19, 2007 9:33 PM CDT

Guantanamo Detainee Returns to Australia

Al-Qaeda supporter goes straight to prison

(Newser) - After five years in custody at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks is back in his native Australia, where the convicted Al-Qaeda supporter will spend the next seven months in a maximum-security prison. His family and other supporters spent years campaigning for his release before Hicks pleaded guilty in March to providing...

School Bullying Victim Awarded $800K

May 14, 2007 5:46 PM CDT

School Bullying Victim Awarded $800K

(Newser) - An 18-year-old Australian is over $800,000 richer today after a court ruled that his life was "all but destroyed" by school bullying. Australia's Supreme Court said the public school system "grossly failed" Ben Cox when it didn't stop an older student from repeatedly physically and verbally abusing...

Tasmanian Devils Face Extinction

May 7, 2007 8:33 AM CDT

Tasmanian Devils Face Extinction

Iconic marsupials hit by contagious facial cancer

(Newser) - Tasmanian Devils, the largest marsupial carnivore and the island's main tourist attraction, are threatened with extinction due to a contagious and fatal form of facial cancer spreading rapidly through the population. "Once they've got a lump, it's a one way trip," one expert says.

Oz Bans Snoop Dogg

Apr 26, 2007 10:00 AM CDT

Oz Bans Snoop Dogg

Rapper denied visa to host MTV Australia Awards after high-profile "incidents"

(Newser) - Add Australia to the list of countries that don't want Snoop Dogg making a mess in their yards. Just weeks after the U.K. turned away the recording artist and actor, Oz canceled his visa. "He doesn't seem the sort of bloke we want in this country," Immigration...

Aussies Dismantle South Africa

Apr 26, 2007 5:25 AM CDT

Aussies Dismantle South Africa

Australian Juggernaut to Face Sri Lanka in Cricket Final

(Newser) - Australia's wily bowlers looked unbeatable in an all-around thumping of fellow Antipodeans South Africa. The Aussies will oppose Sri Lanka in the final of a cricket World Cup marked by controversy and intrigue, including the as-yet-unexplained death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer following an eliminating loss to Ireland on St....

"We Just Did It Because We
Felt Like It"

Apr 24, 2007 12:41 PM CDT

"We Just Did It Because We Felt Like It"

Australian teenagers, curious about murder, killed their friend

(Newser) - Two 17-year-old Australian girls faced a sentencing hearing yesterday after pleading guilty to the murder of their friend Eliza Jane Davis because, as they described it, “it just felt right.” They plotted the attack the morning after a party. "We were just talking, and for some reason...

East Timor Holds Guarded Elections

Apr 9, 2007 7:14 AM CDT

East Timor Holds Guarded Elections

Fears of violence hover over country’s first presidential vote

(Newser) - East Timor is holding its first presidential elections since independence from Indonesia five years ago, with voters choosing between Nobel Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta and seven other candidates. It's hoped that the elections will stabilize the volitile country, where clashes between factions exploded in carnage last summer. International troops—mostly...

They Pay the Price of Warming

Apr 3, 2007 5:37 PM CDT

They Pay the Price of Warming

when it comes to global warming, we're not in it together

(Newser) - The obligation of people who live in countries that contribute the most to climate change--the developed nations— to those who will suffer most from it —the poor ones—is the subject of a provocative piece in the New York Times.

Tsunami Slams Solomon Islands

Apr 2, 2007 7:01 AM CDT

Tsunami Slams Solomon Islands

Island of Gizo said to be "entirely washed away and people are floating in the sea"

(Newser) - A tsunami hit the Solomon Islands early Monday morning, killing at least 12 and stranding thousands more. The 8.1 quake brought huge waves nearly a mile inland in some places. "I'm driving down the street -- there are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have completely...

Hicks Will Walk After 9 Months

Mar 31, 2007 11:06 AM CDT

Hicks Will Walk After 9 Months

Australian's 7-year sentence for aiding terrorists suspended in exchange for silence

(Newser) - Australian terror suspect David Hicks will serve just nine months more in detention, the AP reports, despite receiving a seven-year sentence from a military tribunal at Guantánamo yesterday. In an extraordinary plea deal, the rest of the sentence was suspended in exchange for his silence about his treatment during...

Gitmo Detainee Pleads Guilty

Mar 27, 2007 6:33 AM CDT

Gitmo Detainee Pleads Guilty

Australian who trained with al Quaeda has spent five years in custody

(Newser) - David Hicks became the first person convicted under President Bush's much-maligned military tribunal system after entering a surprise guilty plea to charges of providing material support to terrorists. The contentious proceedings may prove a new source of controversy, however, as the judge excluded Hicks' stwo civilian lawyers from court and...