Australia

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Aussie Mayor Begs Ugly Girls to Move to Town

Male-dominated outpost needs women with, uh, a pulse

(Newser) - An Australian mayor thinks he has a solution for the crisis facing his town: More ugly girls. Men outnumber women 5-to-1 in Mount Isa, so John Molony is begging women, particularly desperate ones, to migrate there. “Often those who are beauty-disadvantaged are uphappy with their lot,” he said....

Save Planet, Eat 'Roo Burgers, Scientist Urges

Belching sheep and cattle account for 11% of Aussie emissions

(Newser) - Can kangaroo burgers save the world? One Australian scientist thinks so. Farming kangaroos to replace conventional livestock could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he says. Cattle and sheep expel methane gas—more harmful than carbon dioxide—through belching and flatulence, but 'roos don't, thanks to unique microorganisms in their digestive tracts,...

Aussie PM Gains Cachet From Thieving Ancestors

Preteen convict adorns Rudd's family tree

(Newser) - Australia’s history as a penal colony is no laughing matter, but some Aussies have come to appreciate, and even relish, their hardscrabble beginnings. Case in point: PM Kevin Rudd, whose family tree includes ancestors convicted of stealing sugar (in 1801) and underwear (in 1788). The release of some details...

Doctors Fume Over Website Selling Fake Sick Notes

Australian physicians want it shut down

(Newser) - In an Internet version of a classic schoolboy trick, a website is peddling fake doctors' notes to Australians looking to get some paid time off, reports news.com.au. The $40 certificates have infuriated the medical community, which wants the police to step in. Two backpackers reportedly set up the...

America Tops Wish List for Foreign Tourists

Falling dollar helps US edge Australia as most likely destination

(Newser) - The plummeting dollar has tourists punching their tickets for the US, according to Lonely Planet’s latest rankings. America came out ahead in voting for the country travelers were most likely to visit next, Reuters reports, knocking Australia—tops since 2004—from its perch.

Hole in Qantas Jet Forces Emergency Landing

Gap ripped in fuselage after mystery bang

(Newser) - A Qantas flight en route to Australia from London made an emergency landing in Manila today after a mysterious bang punched a 9-foot-wide hole in the fuselage and sent the Boeing 747-400 plunging thousands of feet. There were no injuries but some of the 350 passengers and crew vomited, AP...

Pope Apologizes for 'Evil' Clergy Sex Abuse

Pontiff tells Australia child abusers have damaged the church

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI used unusually strong language today in condemning the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Catholic clergy, reports the AP. The pontiff said the clergy's "grave betrayal of trust" had damaged the Catholic church. "I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have...

Mickey Mouse Hat Doesn't Get Pope's Blessing

Youth Day gift from Disney fans can't lure Benedict into photo op

(Newser) - Photographers, children and Disney executives were sorely disappointed this morning when Pope Benedict refused to don a black Mickey Mouse hat, complete with ears, in place of his usual white skullcap. A group from Orange County, Calif., presented Benedict with the getup during World Youth Day festivities in Australia, Reuters...

Aussies May Have Slipped Pope a Cat

Vatican denies presence of papal loaner for company

(Newser) - There’s a new papal mystery swirling around the Outback—is Pope Benedict hanging out with a borrowed kitten? Organizers of the Catholic youth festival say they gave Benedict a gray loaner named Bella to keep the cat-loving pontiff company during his Australian sojurn. But when pressed, a Vatican spokesman...

Aussie Court Strikes Down Law Banning Pope Protests

Law against 'annoying' Catholics attending papal events ruled unconstitutional

(Newser) - An Australian court has struck down a law aimed at curbing protests during Pope Benedict XVI's visit Down Under, reports Reuters. The law, ruled unconstitutional, had banned protesters from "annoying" those attending papal events. People handing out condoms or wearing anti-Pope t-shirts faced possible $5,000 fines.

Devils Breed Earlier to Stave Off Cancer

Attempt to outlast disease could be evolutionary

(Newser) - Tasmanian devils are reproducing at a younger age to offset a contagious cancer epidemic, the Daily Telegraph reports. The ill-tempered marsupials, suffering from tumors that cut their lifespan in half, are now breeding at age 1 instead of 2 or 3. "We could be seeing evolution occurring before our...

'Go Green,' Pope Urges Youth
 'Go Green,' Pope Urges Youth 
Jul 14, 2008 4:35 AM CDT

'Go Green,' Pope Urges Youth

Pontiff pleads for the earth as he kicks off visit to Australia

(Newser) - The Pope yesterday called on the world—particularly young people—to combat global warming with "a style of life that eases problems caused to the environment," reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Pope Benedict issued his plea just minutes before touching down in Australia for an official visit. The...

Pope Vows Abuse Apology in Australia

He vows to help sex abuse victims, who say cover-ups continue

(Newser) - Traveling to Sydney today, Pope Benedict promised to apologize for a sexual abuse scandal that has rocked Australia's Catholic Church, Reuters reports. He also vowed to ensure it never recurs, and to help Australian victims heal—but one victims' group still accuses the Church of covering up abuse by priests...

In Aussie Outback, It's All in 'Skin' Name

Secondary tag tells others where you fit in a complicated kinship system

(Newser) - When she moved to the central Australian outback, Penny Bergen was ready for a drastically different life, but she didn’t know it would take a new name to stake her place in a tiny Aboriginal community. Reporting for Radio Free Netherlands, the journalist writes about her experience getting a...

Aussie Minister Ditches Economy for Wombats

Treasury boss going incommunicado during recess to help save endangered critters

(Newser) - The Australian economy might be wobbly, but the treasury secretary would rather be off romping with northern hairy-nosed wombats, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reports. Ken Henry is unapologetically using the legislature's 5-week winter recess to tend to a small population of endangered critters—to the baying of opposition politicians worried over...

Aussie Man's Life Fetches $2M on eBay

Offer includes house, job, and friends of once-heartbroken man

(Newser) - An Australia resident may rake in over $2 million after he put his life—including his house, job, and friends—for sale on eBay, the Western Australian reports. The deal, which the man says hatched when his wife left him, comes complete with a jet ski and motorcycle. The reserve...

Oz Tops US As World's Fattest
 Oz Tops US As World's Fattest 
Jun 20, 2008 5:02 PM CDT

Oz Tops US As World's Fattest

26% of Australians obese, to 25% of Americans; 9M of Aussies too heavy

(Newser) - Australia is the fattest nation in the world, the Age reports. A new study says body-mass index measurements pegs 4 million people—26% of the nation's population—as obese, narrowly beating the US, where 25% are obese. An additional 5 million Aussies are classified as overweight—with the usual suspects...

Man Charged in Wife's Honeymoon Dive Death

Australian authorities decide bride's demise was no accident

(Newser) - An Alabama man has been charged with murdering his wife on a diving trip to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the AP reports. The bride, a novice diver, drowned minutes after diving to a shipwreck with her husband. He was a qualified dive rescuer but rose to the surface rather than...

Kidman Pregnancy: It Was 'Meant to Be'
 Kidman Pregnancy:
 It Was 'Meant to Be' 
glossies
Jun 18, 2008 7:20 PM CDT

Kidman Pregnancy: It Was 'Meant to Be'

Actress discusses her most important role yet

(Newser) - A 7-months' pregnant Nicole Kidman talked—what else?—babies with Vogue in an extensive interview, recounting that her first ultrasound brought her to tears. "I didn't think I'd get to experience that in my lifetime," explains the 40-year-old actress, who discovered she was pregnant on the set of...

US Clergy Tell Aussie Critic to Go Home

Bishop vows to keep slamming Vatican for sex abuse, celibacy

(Newser) - On orders from the Vatican, a dozen top US bishops have asked their Australian colleague to cancel his American book tour, the Los Angeles Times reports. But Geoffrey Robinson, former auxiliary bishop of Sydney, vows to keep on promoting Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church, which blames clergy...

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