Australia

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Claude Choules, Last World War I Combatant, Dead at 110
 Last WWI Combat Vet Dead 
May 5, 2011 4:23 AM CDT

Last WWI Combat Vet Dead

Navy vet Claude Choules dies in Australia

(Newser) - The last known survivor of the tens of millions of people who fought in World War I has died in Australia at the age of 110, reports AP . Claude Choules began training with Britain's Royal Navy when he was just 14 and served on the battleship HMS Revenge, where...

Australia's Anti-Smoking Idea: Very Boring Packages

Proposed legislation would ban logos, colors

(Newser) - Australia is pushing for a new tool in its quest to cut smoking rates: really boring cigarette packages. The government has announced legislation that would ban logos, colors, brand imagery, and promotional text, while mandating that all packages be olive green—determined in studies to be the least appealing color....

Honeymooning Couple Survives 6 Natural Disasters
Honeymooning Couple Survives 6 Natural Disasters
in case you missed it
Apr 9, 2011 7:09 AM CDT

Honeymooning Couple Survives 6 Natural Disasters

Stefan, Erika Svanstrom make it through snow, cyclone, flood, fire, quakes

(Newser) - When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm set out on a four-month-long honeymoon in December, they probably weren't expecting to immediately get stranded in Munich during one of Europe's worst snowstorms. They almost certainly weren't expecting to then survive a cyclone in Cairns, Australia. And it's safe to say they...

Aussies Warm to Snarling, Vanishing Tasmanian Devil

Once-reviled creature in trouble

(Newser) - The Tasmanian devil is nobody’s idea of lovable. The combative screeching marsupial was once the most reviled animal in Australia. But now that the creature is on the brink of extinction , Australians have found a well of sympathy for the little devil, the LA Times reports. The devil’s...

William: Maybe We'll Have Aussie Honeymoon

Weather back home is 'dreadful,' he tells Aussies

(Newser) - It certainly hasn't made the official royal website yet, but Prince William hinted to hopeful Australians today that he'd like to return... as a newlywed, reports Australia's News. "I will have to come back, maybe we'll have a honeymoon in Cairns?" he told a crowd in the flood-ravaged northeastern...

Shark Attacks Aussie Wakeboarder

She was mauled after falling off wakeboard, but is stable

(Newser) - In Australia today, a woman fell off the wakeboard she was riding in Nelson Bay—and was promptly attacked by a shark. The 24-year-old suffered head, neck, and arm injuries, but is in stable condition, the AP reports. The driver of the speedboat that had been towing her wakeboard brought...

Croc Grabs Aussie Angler
 Croc Grabs Aussie Angler 
Mar 10, 2011 2:42 AM CST

Croc Grabs Aussie Angler

Queensland man survives creek attack

(Newser) - An Australian man fishing in a Queensland creek must have looked a lot like bait to a 13-foot saltwater crocodile. The croc launched out of the water as the 28-year-old mine worker was casting a lure and snapped at his hand, ripping off a finger. The croc then grabbed his...

Town Called Speed Gets New Name: Speedkills

Aussie town sick of unsafe drivers

(Newser) - The tiny Australian town of Speed has a new name—temporarily. Following a successful Facebook campaign, and plenty of encouragement from road safety officials concerned about the rising death rate on country roads, the Outback town will change its name to Speedkills for the month of March, Reuters reports.

Aussies Warned to Flee Killer Birds

Starving 6-foot cassowaries can disembowel a human

(Newser) - Australians are being warned to stay out of the way of starving giant birds capable of disembowling human beings. The cassowaries, already struggling to survive in a country where their habitat is being destroyed, are even more desperate for food in the wake of the destructive Cyclone Yasi. They're now...

Man Fights Off Croc by Slugging Him in Snout

Father was swimming with daughters when attacked

(Newser) - A father attacked by an 8-foot crocodile in northern Australia while swimming with his daughters survived by punching the reptile repeatedly in the snout, reports the Independent . The man suffered two big bites on his back and 10 puncture wounds on his wrist, but the injuries are not life-threatening, said...

Baby Arrives Safely in Shelter Amid 170-MPH Winds

British midwife happened to be visiting Australia

(Newser) - The massive Cyclone Yasi left a path of destruction in Australia and may have destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of banana and sugar cane crops, but officials are relieved that only one death has been reported so far, reports AP . In fact, that news is being tempered with...

Monster Cyclone Slams Into Australia

Yasi expected to wreak havoc in Queensland

(Newser) - As the US weathers its latest snowpocalypse, Australia battened down the hatches for what Queensland's premier is calling "the most catastrophic storm to ever hit our coast." "The time for movement and evacuation has now passed," Premier Anna Bligh said as Cyclone Yasi roared into her...

Australians Flee as Monster Cyclone Bears Down

Cyclone Yasi set to pummel beleaguered Queensland with force of Katrina

(Newser) - After weeks of flooding earlier this year, Aussies are now fleeing the northeast coast by the thousands as a Katrina-strength cyclone bears down. "This storm is huge and life-threatening," says Queensland's premier. Cyclone Yasi, currently a category four storm, is being fed by a monsoon, and could pummel...

Australian Boy, 13, Sacrifices Life for Brother in Floods

Death toll is at 25 as waters begin to recede

(Newser) - With floodwaters starting to recede, the toll in Australia is at 25 and expected to climb given the dozens of people still missing, reports the AP . As the state's premier put it: "Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in our history and possibly in the...

Thousands Flee, 43 Missing as Brisbane Floods

Panic reigns as people hoard food

(Newser) - Australia’s vast floods shut down the center of Brisbane today, sending thousands fleeing and others to stores in a panicked rush of food hoarding. Rescuers, meanwhile, combed the area for 43 people who have gone missing. Brisbane is the country’s third-largest city, home to 2 million people. Floodwaters...

Australian Floods Reach Catastrophic Levels

Brisbane river breaks its banks

(Newser) - The floods that have ravaged huge areas of the Australian state of Queensland show no signs of abating, with the state capital Brisbane now under serious threat. ABC Australia reports that the town of Toowoomba, 70 miles west of the capital, was inundated with rain Monday, with the deluge so...

Soggy Australia Takes Yet Another Foot of Rain

La Niña just won't let up

(Newser) - When it rains, it pours and keeps on pouring in Australia these days: Already drenched from weeks of torrential rains, Queensland took another foot of rain over the course of a few hours today. A river flooded its banks in the downpour, and swept a town, where only some 20...

Epic Floods Close Australia's Coal Mines

Waters causing 'catastrophic damage' to transportation system

(Newser) - The nearly biblical flood that’s washed over Queensland, Australia, is causing massive damage—including the closure of 75% of its coal mines, which supply most of Asia’s steel mills. “That’s a massive impact on the international markets,” observed Premier Anna Bligh in a TV interview....

Australian City Cut Off by Flood
Australian City
Cut Off by Flood
Jan 3, 2011 8:09 AM CST

Australian City Cut Off by Flood

'No airport, rail, or road' amid downpour

(Newser) - Floods have overwhelmed an Australian city, cutting off all access to it. “Rockhampton is now completely stranded—a town of 75,000 people—no airport, rail, or road,” said an official. And the still-swelling Fitzroy River that submerged Rockhampton's main highway to the state capital of Brisbane is...

Australia Flood Is of 'Biblical Proportions'

Residents continue to be evacuated today

(Newser) - Evacuations continued in Australia today as a flood of “biblical proportions” continued to assault the northeastern part of the country. The flooded area is larger than France and Germany combined, the AP reports. The good news: The rain has stopped, but rivers are still overflowing as the water flows...

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