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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Australia

Australia stories: 261 news summaries

1 - 20 of 261 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 14 Next >>

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SEEDY CRUSTACEANS

 Hooker Crabs 
 Swap Sex for Safety 

Male crabs rewarded with sex for defending neighbors

Nov 4, 09 4:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Selling sex is the key to survival in the seedy world of fiddler crabs, according to Australian researchers. Scientists studying the burrow-dwelling, highly territorial creatures found that male fiddler crabs fought off intruders to protect female neighbors—who lack the male's huge claw—far more often than they would aid... More »

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prostitution • Australia • animal behavior • crab • mating

 Blaze Erupts on Aussie Oil Rig 

Leak spewing 400 barrels of oil daily

Nov 2, 09 1:44 AM CST
(Newser) - A massive blaze has erupted from an oil rig in the Timor Sea off northwest Australia. The fire was sparked as workers battled to plug an undersea leak that has spewed 400 barrels of oil a day for the past 10 weeks. No one was injured in the fire and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
oil • Australia • ocean • sea • oil rig • fire • oil leak

WATCH IT


 Ledger-Directed 
 Rap Video 
 Debuts 

Actor worked with Australian singer, a childhood friend

Oct 30, 09 10:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - A music video, one of a few directed by Heath Ledger for little-known artists he liked, made its online debut yesterday. Australian rapper N'fa Forster-Jones, a childhood friend of the late actor's, posted the video along with a behind-the-scenes look at the project, the AP reports. "Every day I... More »

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entertainment • Australia • celebrity • Heath Ledger • music videos • rapper • rap music • Jay-ZTV • celebrity death • N'fa Forster-Jones

 Aussie Swimmers 
 Warned of 20-Foot Shark 

'Monster shark' warning issued after 10-footer found chomped

Oct 28, 09 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Australian authorities are warning people to stay out of the water around Stradbroke Island near Brisbane unless they want to risk meeting a great white shark big enough to bite another great white nearly in half. Experts who examined the remains of the other shark believe its rival must be... More »

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Australia • shark • Queensland • great white shark

 Aussie Sailor, 
 16, Starts 
 World Trip 




Girl leaves on 8-month trip as Aussies debate safety

Oct 18, 09 6:45 AM CDT
(AP) - A 16-year-old Australian steered her bright pink yacht out of Sydney Harbor under gray skies and slightly choppy conditions today to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world. Jessica Watson's 23,600-mile journey through some of the world's most treacherous waters... More »

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Australia • sailing • sailor • youth • solo sail

 How Australia Dodged 
 the Recession

How one country ducked the economic downturn

Oct 16, 09 5:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Australia has weathered the financial crisis better than any other developed country. Last week its central bank raised interest rates, indicating its primary concern is now inflation, not growth. What were the keys? Phil Dobbie of BNET explains:
  • Befriending China: Australia used to export much of what it made
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • international trade • real estate • Australia • globalization • United Kingdom • United States • trade • housing • recession • global economy • banking • bilateral trade • economy • what recession? • population growth

 Disney Grumpy 
 About 'Ho White' Ads 

Aussie ale company rewrites fairy tale

Oct 16, 09 2:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Once upon a time an Aussie ale company ad turned Snow White into "Ho White," and made Disney officials as angry as wicked witches. The not-so-virginal disheveled beauty blows smoke rings in bed with her little naked buddies including Filthy, Smarmy and Randy in the controversial ad for... More »

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Australia • advertising • business • Disney • fairy tales • Ho White • Snow White • ale

5 Guilty of Plotting
Aussie Terror Attacks

Jihadists convicted of planning mass killings after 10-month trial

Oct 16, 09 1:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Five men have been convicted of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks in Australia using guns and home-made explosives. The men, busted in raids in Sydney, were accused of plotting attacks to force the government to change its Middle East policy. One of the men trained at a terror camp... More »

MORE ABOUT:
terrorism • Australia • jihad • terror plots • New South Wales • Lashkar-e-Taiba

Jackson 5 Skit Sparks Outrage—It's in Blackface

Guest judge Harry Connick Jr. calls out Australian TV performers

Oct 8, 09 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - A popular Australian TV variety program is under fire internationally for a skit that depicted Michael Jackson in whiteface and the rest of the Jackson 5 in blackface. Guest judge Harry Connick Jr., was shocked. “We’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • racism • TV shows • Michael Jackson • Jackson Five • blackface • television program • Harry Connick Jr. • variety show

UPDATED

South Pacific Avoids Tsunami After Big Earthquakes

Warning issued after off Vanuatu, canceled after only small wave materializes

Oct 7, 09 7:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tsunami warnings for a swath of the South Pacific—including American Samoa, Australia and New Zealand—issued after a pair of strong underwater earthquakes have been canceled after only a small wave materialized. Many residents had already moved to higher ground after the 7.8 and 7.1 temblors; American... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • tsunami • New Zealand • US Geological Survey • Vanuatu • earthquake • American Samoa

At Aussie Auto Race, Fans Allowed Just 24 Beers a Day

Limit jumps to 36 light brews for 4-day Bathurst 1,000

Oct 7, 09 6:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fans headed to a four-day event that’s a highlight of the Australian auto-racing calendar will only be allowed one case of beer per day—or 36 cans if it’s light beer. “Wine lovers have not escaped the heavy hand of the law either,” the Guardian notes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • alcohol • wine • beer • binge drinking • auto racing • light beer • Bathurst 1,000

MARKETS

 Dow Surges 132 as Dollar Falls 

Commodities surge as dollar falls

Oct 6, 09 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks indices saw big gains today as a result of a global chain of events: Australia’s central bank raised interest rates, the first to do so since the recession began. The move stoked optimism about the global economy and sank the value of the US dollar, which in turn... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • Dow Jones • Nasdaq • commodities • S&P 500

 UN Names Norway 
 Best Place to Live 

Niger, Afghanistan round out list of 182 nations; China makes big gains

Oct 5, 09 2:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Norway is the best country in the world to live in, according to the UN’s human development index, and Niger is the worst, ranking just below Afghanistan. The index ranks 182 countries based on life expectancy, school enrollment, and GDP per capita. China came in at 92, up seven... More »

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Afghanistan • Australia • Canada • Netherlands • Norway • Ireland • Iceland • Niger

 Red Dust Blankets Sydney 

Air quality 'dangerous' as limited visibility forces incoming flights to be diverted

Sep 22, 09 8:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Red dust blowing in from the Australian Outback covered Sydney today, snarling air travel and forcing locals to don masks to venture outdoors. “It’s like a nuclear winter morning,” one visitor told Bloomberg; the state government called air quality “hazardous.” Visibility was under 50 feet... More »

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Australia • Sydney • air quality • flight delays • diversions • dust storm

'Aussie Fritzl' Charged With Raping Daughter for 30 Years

Man accused of keeping daughter captive, fathering 4 children with her

Sep 17, 09 6:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - An Australian man has been charged with rape and incest after allegedly raping his daughter for more than 30 years and fathering four children with her, Reuters reports. The man was arrested after the victim contacted police and told them she had been kept a prisoner in their home in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • rape • Melbourne • child abuse • incest • child rape

 Aussies Stop 'Asylum Boat' 

60 suspected asylum-seekers to be sent to Christmas Island detention center

Sep 16, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Australian navy stopped a vessel carrying 58 suspected asylum-seekers off the country's northwest coast today, the BBC reports. It was the fourth such boat stopped in the area in under a week. The passengers will be sent to a detention center on Christmas Island, 1,600 miles west of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • illegal immigration • asylum • Kevin Rudd • smuggling

 Aussies May Let 
 Female Soldiers Fight 

Proposal sparks fierce debate over women's fitness for combat role

Sep 9, 09 7:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Australian military may change its guidelines to allow women soldiers to serve in front-line combat roles, the AP reports. The country's defense minister says he believes all service roles should be open to women if they can meet the physical demands, and the move may help persuade more females... More »

MORE ABOUT:
military • Australia • soldier • combat • gender equality • female soldiers

 'Out-of-Shape' Crowe
Bests Journo in Bike Duel

Actor challenges gossip columnist after she pokes fun at his fitness

Sep 4, 09 1:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Aussie gossip columnist Annette Sharp had to face down a challenge from Russell Crowe the day after she mocked the Gladiator star for puffing on cigarettes during a Sydney bike ride and chowing down on tacos, she writes for Australia's News Network. "Get on your bike," the star's... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • gossip • Sydney • bicycle • Russell Crowe • actor • Baz Luhrmann

 Blanchett 
 Bloodied 
 in Stage 
 Accident 

In Streetcar performance, radio destined for window finds her head instead

Sep 2, 09 2:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cate Blanchett left the stage of a Sydney performance of A Streetcar Named Desire with a bloodied head after a prop mishap, the Telegraph reports. A co-star charged with throwing a radio out of window during a fight “sort of slipped and hit her in the head,... More »

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entertainment • theater • Australia • accident • Cate Blanchett • Sydney • head injury • Tennessee Williams • A Streetcar Named Desire

 Aussies Sorry for 10K Kids 
 Shipped for 'Slave Labor' 

British children were abused, kept hungry in program lasting until 1960s

Aug 31, 09 6:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Australian prime minister will apologize to generations of British migrants shipped to Australia as children and subjected to abuse, hunger, and slave labor. Between the 1920s and 1960s the UK sent about 10,000 children to provide Australia with "good white stock," but when they arrived they... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • slave labor • sexual abuse • abuse • orphan • Kevin Rudd

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