Australia

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Labor Takes Australian Elections
Labor Takes Australian Elections
Nov 24, 2007 5:30 AM CST

Labor Takes Australian Elections

11-year PM John Howard concedes to former diplomat

(Newser) - Former Diplomat Kevin Rudd is poised to become Australia's new prime minister after his Labor Party claimed victory in yesterday's elections. Labor expects to take at least 83 of the 150 seats in Parliament, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, current PM John Howard faces the possibility of losing his own seat in...

Polls Predict Rout for Australian PM

Likely winner of Saturday's election will take troops from Iraq

(Newser) - Australians elect a new government this Saturday, and polls foresee the fall of John Howard, the once-invincible prime minister who has served for 11 years. Kevin Rudd, the Labor Party leader 20 years Howard's junior, has promised to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq and to "shift up a gear"...

Aussies Blubbering About Decoding Whale Speak

Scientists put meaning to clicks & squeals

(Newser) - Australian scientists believe they've begun to decode the meaning behind whale sounds after extensive study of humpbacks off the nation's coast. They identified at least 34 types of whale calls, including a male purring sound associated with female wooing, high-frequency cries during disagreements, and a "wop" sound often exchanged...

Popular Toy Recalled Over Toxic Beads

Aqua Dots, made in China, replicate date-rape drug

(Newser) - A popular arts-and-crafts toy made in China is being yanked from stores worldwide after it was found to include a chemical that replicates the effects of date-rape drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported today. At least three children were hospitalized recently in Australia after swallowing beads from the toy, sold...

World's Best Green Hotels
World's Best Green Hotels
Nov 5, 2007 10:15 AM CST

World's Best Green Hotels

Leave a footprint as small as your carry-on at a luxurious eco-hotel

(Newser) - Solar-heated pools, energy-conserving lights, composted food scraps . . . hotels aren't all bastions of consumption and waste. Travel+Leisure teamed up with Conservation International to assemble a list of 20 eco-friendly hotels:
  1. Spice Island Beach Resort, Grenada
  2. Soneva Fushi Resort & Six Senses Spa, Maldives
  3. Heritance Kandalama, Sri Lanka

Fiji Charges 3 in Plot to Kill PM
Fiji Charges 3 in Plot to Kill PM
Nov 5, 2007 8:04 AM CST

Fiji Charges 3 in Plot to Kill PM

Sixteen arrested; military junta accuses Australia, New Zealand of involvement

(Newser) - Police have arrested 16 people, including a New Zealand businessman, in alleged plot to assassinate Fiji's interim PM Frank Bainimarama. Three of those arrested were charged with treason; police are said to be looking for more conspirators. The military government, which seized power in a coup last year, claims the...

'Croc Hunter' Knew He'd Die Young, Widow Says

Wife says Irwin had 'a real sixth sense'

(Newser) - Plucky Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin always had premonitions of an early death, his widow Terri says, adding that her husband “had a real sixth sense." She's writing a book about her life with the daredevil naturalist, who died at age 44 when a stingray’s barb pierced...

A380's First Flight 'Phenomenal'
A380's First Flight 'Phenomenal'
Oct 25, 2007 8:24 AM CDT

A380's First Flight 'Phenomenal'

After long delays, the A380 delivers staggering experience

(Newser) - The Airbus A380 touched down in Sydney this morning, completing the festive maiden voyage of the world's largest jet. After a 2-year delay, passengers who boarded in Singapore say the champagne-fueled, 7-hour trip was worth the wait. “It's going to make everything else after this simply awful,” one...

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections
Aussie Chief Calls New Elections
Oct 14, 2007 11:14 AM CDT

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

(Newser) - Prime Minister John Howard, trailing in national polls after 11 years in office, set national elections today for Nov. 24. Howard will run on the nation’s current economic boom, Reuters reports. His opponent, Labor leader Kevin Rudd, says he'll pull Australian troops out of Iraq, though domestic issues are...

Vodka Was the Best Medicine
Vodka Was the Best Medicine
Oct 11, 2007 5:32 AM CDT

Vodka Was the Best Medicine

Aussie docs save tourist's life with alcohol drip

(Newser) - Doctors have long recommended a glass of red wine for a healthy heart; but vodka apparently can also do a body good. After running out of medicinal alcohol, doctors in an Australian hospital set up a vodka drip as an antidote to save the life of a poisoned Italian tourist,...

Aussie Scientists Make Diabetes Breakthrough

Research may lead to better treatment for type 2 version

(Newser) - A major breakthrough by Australian researchers could be the beginning of the end for type 2 diabetes. The team identified an enzyme that blocks insulin production. Until now, treatment has sought to manage insulin levels but couldn’t attack the root of the problem, ABC News explains. Now, pharmaceutical companies...

Aussie Miscarriage Fiasco Leads to Calls for Reform

PM on defensive after miscarriage horror in Sydney

(Newser) - Reports of Australian women left to miscarry in the bathroom of a major Sydney hospital have elicited an outcry for public health reform, even as beleaguered prime minister John Howard defended the system as flawed but good. But an ER physician at the hospital told ABC News that there were...

Surfers Riding Welfare Wave
Surfers Riding Welfare Wave
Sep 23, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

Surfers Riding Welfare Wave

Aussie pols crack down on the unemployed

(Newser) - Getting surfers off the beach and into the job market is a top priority for Australia's  conservative government. The country is enjoying its lowest unemployment rate in years, just above 4%, but it seems a disproportionate number of those receiving welfare benefits live in sunny coastal areas with more opportunities...

Aussie Navy Busted Over Free Boob Jobs

$10,000-a-pop operations address "psychological issues"

(Newser) - The Royal Australian Navy has footed the bill for $10,000 breast-enhancement surgeries for sailors, says a plastic surgeon who told Australia's News Network that he performed breast enlargements for two such women—although neither had any injury. Officials insist the Navy pays for cosmetic operations only when there are...

Mind the Gaffe, Prez!
Mind the
Gaffe, Prez!
Sep 9, 2007 7:44 AM CDT

Mind the Gaffe, Prez!

Word to Bush: It's APEC, not OPEC, and the troops are Australian, not Austrian

(Newser) - As usual, President Bush didn't mind the gaffe and stumbled again—and again—this weekend on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Sydney. He referred to Australian troops as Austrian troops and called the APEC summit the OPEC summit., Reuters reports. "Thank you for being such...

APEC Leaders Agree to Take on Global Warming

But pact isn't ambitious enough, critics say

(Newser) - Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim nations yesterday pledged to “slow, stop, and then reverse” greenhouse emissions, at the annual APEC summit. The group—which includes developing nations and top emitters Russia, China, Japan, and the US—could influence UN climate change negotiations. But critics call the pact unambitious, citing...

A Few Words of Mandarin Go Far in Sydney

Opposition leader upstages hosts, score huge points with Chinese at summit

(Newser) - The man tipped to be Australia's next prime minister has scored a major diplomatic coup at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, upstaging PM John Howard. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd spoke to delegates in fluent Mandarin and so impressed Hu Jintao that the Chinese president issued a personal invitation to...

Bush Calls For Freedom in China
Bush Calls For Freedom in China
Sep 7, 2007 6:07 AM CDT

Bush Calls For Freedom in China

He warns that world will be watching during Olympics

(Newser) - President Bush yesterday called on Chinese officials to demonstrate a commitment to "greater openness and tolerance" before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In a speech to business executives in Sydney on the eve of the Asia-Pacific summit, Bush emphasized the need for greater freedoms throughout Asia and warned China that...

US, China Grow Closer Despite Touchy Issues

Bush accepts Olympics invitation; talks recalls, environment with Hu

(Newser) - President Bush accepted an invitation today from China’s president to attend next summer’s Olympics, a gesture that will likely anger human rights activists but may increase pressure on Beijing, the Times reports. In a 90-minute meeting in the eve of the APEC summit, Hu Jintao and Bush also...

Aussie Comics Penetrate Tight Sydney Security

Fake Osama, other pranksters mock Bush, embarrass police

(Newser) - Only one was dressed as Osama bin Laden, but all 11 eleven members of an Australian comedy troupe were arrested in Sydney today after they posed as a Canadian delegation and drove through two security checkpoints near President Bush’s hotel. The stunt was an embarrassment to Sydney police, who...

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