Australia

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Aussie High Court: Release Queen's Letters on 1975 'Crisis'

Historian has fought since 2016 to find out what Elizabeth knew about government dismissal

(Newser) - Australia's highest court ruled on Friday to make public letters between Queen Elizabeth II and her representative that would reveal what knowledge she had, if any, of the dismissal of an Australian government in 1975. The High Court's 6-1 majority decision in historian Jenny Hocking's appeal overturned...

Men Hired for Sexual Fantasy Broke Into Wrong House

'Sorry, mate'

(Newser) - Two men hired to fulfill a sexual fantasy that involved breaking into an Australian man's home, tying him up, and rubbing a broom handle over his underwear showed up at the wrong home—and one of those men has now been acquitted of breaking and entering while armed with...

Scientists Find Hidden Cause of 2 Huge Quakes
2 Massive Earthquakes
Have a Hidden Cause
new study

2 Massive Earthquakes Have a Hidden Cause

A new study looks deep below the Indian Ocean

(Newser) - Looks like scientists have uncovered the source of two huge earthquakes—a fracture in a tectonic plate that's slowly breaking apart, LiveScience reports. A new study says two massive undersea quakes near Indonesia, magnitude-8.6 and 8.2, were likely caused by a breakup in the India-Australia-Capricorn plate in...

Driver Accused of Taunting Dying Cop: Look at My Car

Australia's Richard Pusey complained about damage to Porsche, left scene, say police

(Newser) - As an Australian police officer lay dying after being struck by a vehicle on the side of a highway, her body camera recorded a man coming over to her, reports the BBC . But it wasn't to offer help or a sympathetic word. Instead, say prosecutors, it was to taunt...

Man Gets 7 Life Sentences for Horrific 3-Week Assault

Nicholas John Crilley is going away for a long time

(Newser) - What Nicholas John Crilley did is hard to read about—so if you have any doubt, please stop here. The Australian was sentenced Friday to seven life sentences for torturing, raping, beating, and burning a woman over three unimaginable weeks, 7 News reports. The 34-year-old's attacks left her so...

Australia Undertakes Massive Contact Tracing Endeavor

More than 1M have signed on so far

(Newser) - Australian officials are pleased that more than 1 million people have downloaded an app designed to accelerate contact tracing for coronavirus despite some privacy concerns. Within 12 hours of the Australian-developed COVIDsafe app becoming available late Sunday, 1.13 million of Australia’s 26 million population had downloaded it onto...

Tom Hanks Gives Fitting Gift to Bullied Boy 'Corona'

Corona typewriter was with actor through his coronavirus battle

(Newser) - It's not easy having the name Corona in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Just ask 8-year-old Corona DeVries, who became the target of verbal attacks from bullies. The boy from Queensland, Australia, was feeling so down that he decided to write to someone else he knew was having...

Driver Takes Photos, Flees After Crash Kills 4 Officers

Truck hit officers on Melbourne highway

(Newser) - Police in Victoria, Australia, are in mourning after what the state's police chief says is the biggest loss of life in the state's history. Four officers were killed on a freeway in Melbourne Wednesday when a refrigerated poultry truck slammed into them while they were impounding a Porsche...

Mayor's Beer and Chat Breaks Guidelines

Tony Herbert is fined after encouraging social distancing

(Newser) - A mayor in Australia made a video , shared by the Warrnambool City Council, urging his people to stay home during the pandemic, in accordance with social distancing guidelines. "Let's keep doing the things we have been asked to do by the government," Tony Herbert said in the...

'Breathtakingly Arrogant' Man Jailed for Violating Quarantine

Australian man sneaked out of hotel to visit girlfriend

(Newser) - A man who repeatedly sneaked out of a hotel to visit his girlfriend has become the first person in Australia to be jailed for breaching a coronavirus quarantine order. Jonathan David, 35, was sentenced in the Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday to six months and two weeks in prison, but...

In Australia's Deep: 'We Couldn't Believe What We Were Seeing'

Apolemia, a Silly String-like marine creature, could be longest animal ever seen

(Newser) - Scientists exploring underwater canyons in Western Australia say they've discovered up to 30 new marine species, including what's thought to be the longest animal ever seen. The Apolemia, belonging to the siphonophore family of marine organisms related to jellyfish, is made up of millions of tiny clones that...

In Age of Virus Lockdown, Garbage Day Gets Interesting

Aussie woman's Facebook page encouraging people to dress up while taking out trash is a hit

(Newser) - Never say Australians don't know how to have a good time—even while self-quarantining and taking out the trash. Per CNN , a Queensland kindergarten teacher started a Facebook page two weeks ago documenting herself and her friends dressing up in wild outfits while dragging their garbage cans to the...

Black Box Seized From Cruise Ship at Center of Outbreak

Ruby Princess linked to hundreds of coronavirus cases in Australia

(Newser) - Police wearing protective gear boarded a cruise ship to seize evidence and question crew members of a vessel linked to hundreds of coronavirus infections and 15 deaths across Australia. About 2,700 passengers disembarked from the ship on March 19 in Sydney and it has since become the largest source...

Bleaching Hits Great Barrier Reef Like Never Before

With warmer temperatures, deadly problem is 'more widespread than ever'

(Newser) - An aerial survey of the Great Barrier Reef shows coral bleaching is sweeping across the area off the east of Australia for the third time in five years. Bleaching has struck all three regions of the world’s largest coral reef system and is more widespread than ever, scientists from...

Shark Kills Wildlife Worker
Shark Kills Wildlife Worker

Shark Kills Wildlife Worker

He was on his way back to boat when he was fatally attacked on the Great Barrier Reef

(Newser) - A shark fatally mauled a young Australian wildlife worker on the Great Barrier Reef, officials said Tuesday. Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the 23-year-old victim worked for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the AP reports. "Once again a family out there is grieving for a young man...

They Left to Sail Around the World. It Was Bad Timing

Aussie family of 5 stranded at sea on yacht during coronavirus outbreak

(Newser) - An Australian family of five sailing around the world is "suddenly stateless" amid the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. 9News reports on the plight of Craig and Dianna Sparks and their 10-year-old triplets—Lawson, Oscar, and Avalon—who pushed off from Brisbane 10 months ago in their...

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson Released From Hospital

'They're feeling a lot better,' son says

(Newser) - The world's most famous coronavirus patient is no longer hospitalized. Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have been released from the hospital in Australia where they had been undergoing treatment since testing positive for the virus last week, the BBC reports. A rep says the two 63-year-olds are now...

From Australian Quarantine, Tom Hanks Starts an Uproar

How much Vegemite he spread on his toast has Australia buzzing

(Newser) - He might be America's dad, but Tom Hanks has managed to trigger genuine Australian horror amid his coronavirus quarantine with wife Rita Wilson: In a post CNET says "channels Mister Rogers," the 63-year-old actor tweeted a picture Sunday that showed a stuffed kangaroo holding a mini Australian...

Family Buys 12 Years of Toilet Paper by Mistake

Now the Janetzki family is finding a way to give back

(Newser) - Think you've stocked up on toilet paper? Well, there's an Australian family that bought a 12-year supply back in February before coronavirus worries even struck the country—and they did it by mistake, USA Today reports. Haidee Janetzki says she made a slight error when ordering the TP...

Hanks Gives Health Update Using Famous Movie Quote

Actor cites 'League of Their Own' on his, wife Rita Wilson's illness

(Newser) - Now that we've all gotten over the shock of the "world's most famous coronavirus patient" —Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson—a reassuring update from Down Under from the actors themselves. Per the Hollywood Reporter , the couple is in isolation in an Aussie hospital, but they'...

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