Australia

Stories 1021 - 1040 | << Prev   Next >>

'Michael Jackson' Croc Kills Fisherman

Albino-headed animal shot, killed after attack

(Newser) - Australia's Adelaide River is known for its enormous crocodiles, which tourists often watch jumping to snatch chicken meat hung from poles. One such croc, who's 15 feet long, had been somewhat dubiously named Michael Jackson for his albino head. During a fishing session on the dangerous river, a...

Gammy's Parents: Surrogate Wouldn't Let Us Take Him

Dad says he's changed after pedophilia convictions

(Newser) - With their case making international headlines, the Australian parents of baby Gammy are telling their story. Speaking to Australia's 9News , David Farnell said he and his wife, Wendy, "wanted" to take Gammy home with them, Reuters reports—but his surrogate mother wouldn't let them. Surrogate Pattaramon Chanbua...

Giant New Jellyfish Has No Tentacles

Keesingia gigas has potentially deadly sting

(Newser) - A huge new species of jellyfish discovered off western Australia looks a bit like a plastic bag—but one that can deliver a potentially lethal sting. Keesingia gigas is as long as a human arm, though bizarrely, none of the specimens caught or photographed appear to have any tentacles, the...

Crowd Just Shoves Train Off Guy Stuck in Gap
Crowd Shoves Train
Off Trapped Man
Aug 6, 2014 10:02 AM CDT

Crowd Shoves Train Off Trapped Man

A little teamwork saves the day at Australian train station

(Newser) - A guy who fell into the gap between a train and the platform during this morning's rush hour in Perth, Australia, was rescued by none other than his fellow commuters, reports ABC News Australia . Video footage shows the passengers working in tandem to shove the train off him, then...

Dad Who Left Down's Baby Is a Pedophile: Sources

Meanwhile, Australia may intervene in the case

(Newser) - Since the story of baby Gammy went viral several days ago, the Australian government has announced that it is looking into whether it can intervene in a case described by the Australian immigration minister as "very, very murky," particularly because it took place in another country, reports the...

Aussie Parents: No One Told Us of Down Syndrome Baby

But surrogate mom in Thailand says that's not true

(Newser) - More details are filling in the story of an Australian couple accused of leaving behind a surrogate baby in Thailand who has Down Syndrome, though the additional details seem to be confusing the account instead of clarifying. The Aussie couple is denying the allegations, but the surrogate mom in Thailand...

Parents Leave Behind Surrogate Baby With Down's

Australian couple took his healthy twin in Thailand, says birth mother

(Newser) - An Australian couple who paid an impoverished woman in Thailand to be a surrogate mother left behind a baby boy with Down Syndrome but took his healthy twin sister, reports ABC News of Australia . The boy, named Gammy, is now about 7 months old, and mom Pattaramon Chanbua says he...

Oops: Ninja Turtles Make 9/11 Gaffe on Movie Poster

Paramount Australia tweets poster, promptly deletes it

(Newser) - Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo have a bit of explaining to do. That’s because the Australian film poster for the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles features the famous turtles falling from a burning building that has apparently just been rocked by an explosion ... and the opening date, prominently...

Power Company Pays $470M Over Fire That Killed 119

Black Saturday payout is biggest in Aussie history

(Newser) - Australian power company SP AusNet hasn't officially accepted responsibility for a wildfire that killed 119 people near Melbourne in early 2009—but it has agreed to pay $470 million to survivors in the biggest class-action settlement in the country's history. Some 10,000 plaintiffs accused the firm of...

Object 40077 'Belly Flops' Over Australia

Fireball was the third stage of Russia's Soyuz rocket

(Newser) - A few Australians might have assumed the worst last night as a truck-sized fireball raced across the sky. But it wasn't a meteorite spelling out Earth's doom—or the plane crash some feared on Twitter—but "object 40077," an ejected piece of Russia's Soyuz rocket,...

Planet's Heaviest Ecstasy Users: Australians

It takes top spot in UN report, with 3% of population having used it

(Newser) - They're not just drinking Foster's oil cans Down Under. According to the 2014 "World Drug Report" released by the United Nations and cited on Mashable , Australia claims the world’s highest proportion of ecstasy users, with a 3% prevalence rate. It ranks fairly high in other categories,...

Same-Sex Parents Have Happier, Healthier Kids
Same-Sex Parents Have
... Healthier Kids?
study says
Jul 6, 2014 5:40 PM CDT

Same-Sex Parents Have ... Healthier Kids?

Australian study finds fewer gender stereotypes in gay families

(Newser) - A new Australian study finds that kids with same-sex parents have greater "general health and family cohesion" than most people because they're less influenced by gender stereotypes—but one critic is questioning the study's objectivity. Researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia surveyed 315 same-sex parents,...

Woman Killed by ... Phone Charger

Sheryl Aldeguer electrocuted by faulty charger in April

(Newser) - A mother of two has died in Australia thanks to a $4.95 phone charger. Authorities say Sheryl Anne Aldeguer, 28, was talking on the phone, plugged into a cheap charger that failed to meet Australian safety rules, when she was electrocuted with 240 volts and died instantly. The Filipino...

Rare White Whale Spotted Off Australia

Migaloo is migrating to warmer waters for breeding: researchers

(Newser) - A celebrity albino humpback whale has been spotted for the first time this year off the coast of Australia. The famous Migaloo—who, until 2011, was the only documented all-white whale in the world—has been seen making his way north past Sydney on the country's east coast over...

Man Charged With DUI on Beer Cooler

Australian had an 'esky' rigged to motor along

(Newser) - When an Australian man got arrested on DUI charges, we're guessing it didn't help his case that he was driving a stocked beer cooler at the time. The 22-year-old got pulled over Friday night for riding the motorized cooler down the middle of a street, reports Perth Now ...

Man Snatched From Boat by 16-Foot Crocodile

Australian's remains may have been found

(Newser) - When a man went to the side of his boat to empty a bucket at Australia's Kakadu National Park on Saturday, he was attacked by what police say was a 15.5-foot-long crocodile and vanished, his wife, son, and daughter-in-law unable to save him. Now, the 62-year-old's remains...

Australia Captures 172 Sharks, 0 Great Whites

50 of biggest are killed

(Newser) - Australia killed 50 big sharks in the first test of its controversial shark cull program , though none were great whites—the type blamed for the attacks on swimmers that sparked the cull in the first place, reports ABC News of Australia . The government set baited hooks near seven beaches in...

Flight 370 Search Turns to Mapping Ocean Floor

They hope single firm will take on task

(Newser) - The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is growing, officials say, as searchers prepare to map a wide swath of the ocean floor in a new phase of the effort. "We know very clearly the area of the follow-up search will be even broader , with more difficulties and tougher...

Killer Left Step-by-Step Murder Plans on Computer

Australian man followed 13 of 18 steps in slaying, is convicted

(Newser) - An Australian man laid out detailed plans on how to kill somebody and get away with it, but he overlooked one key step after the murder—deleting said plans from his computer. Gareth Giles, 26, has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for breaking into his victim's home,...

'Object of Interest' Washes Ashore in Flight Search

But officials don't have their hopes up

(Newser) - As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues, an "object of interest" has turned up in southwestern Australia—but officials are cautioning that it may not offer much of a breakthrough. "It's sufficiently interesting for us to take a look at the photographs," says an...

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