Australia

SYDNEY—At least eight people at a publicly listed hotel in the Australian city of Sydney were hospitalized on Sept. 19, after breathing toxic gases flowing through the building’s air conditioning system, an ambulance official said. A worker accidentally mixed pool chlorine and hydrochloric acid, used as a cleaning agent, at the Pullman Hotel, Steve Vaughan, […]

LONDON—It was the ship that sparked the colonization of an entire continent. But just years after carrying Captain James Cook on his epic journey from England to the eastern shores of Australia, the HMS Endeavour slipped out of commission, and out of the history books, her whereabouts a mystery. Now, marine archaeologists believe they may […]

Power companies have switched off life support 30 times in two years without telling people on life support about planned interruptions, Australian Energy Regulator (AER) stated. They are meant to give written notice to people on life support four days in advance of a planned interruption. “It is imperative that these customers receive advanced notice of […]

Australian authorities have arrested a young boy after he admitted he put needles in strawberries as a “prank.” The arrest was announced by New South Wales police on Wednesday, Sept. 19, with Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith saying the boy had been arrested in the last few days. “Obviously in the last few days we […]

MELBOURNE–Needles have been found inside strawberries in two more Australian states, police said on Sept. 17, broadening a health scare that has caused supermarkets to recall brands and farmers to dump fruit amid the peak growing season. One man in the state of Western Australia and a girl in South Australia reported finding needles in […]

SYDNEY–Australian police said on Sept. 18 they are investigating reports of dozens of cases of needles embedded in strawberries and other fruits, and warned that those responsible could be jailed for 10 years. The issue is fast turning into one of Australia’s biggest ever food scares that has halted exports to New Zealand and forced […]

SYDNEY—Australia’s center-right government remains on track for a heavy defeat at elections due by May 2019, an opinion poll showed on Sept. 16, even though new Prime Minister Scott Morrison posted a strong personal showing after his first three weeks in charge. The Fairfax-Ipsos poll published on Sept. 17 showed Morrison, who replaced Malcolm Turnbull […]

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit south-west Western Australia at 12:56 p.m. local time on Sept. 16, according to Geoscience Australia. The earthquake occurred near Lake Muir which lies around 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the state’s capital city of Perth. The epicenter of the quake was around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) below the surface. […]

MELBOURNE—Two people died, a dozen more were hospitalized, and hundreds others sought medical assistance after suspected drug overdoses at a music festival in Sydney, the police said. A 23-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman died on Sept. 15 after collapsing at the Defqon.1 festival, the police said. Two of the 13 hospitalized people remain in […]

The Queensland Premier has offered $100,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the person who contaminated strawberries with sewing needles. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement after three more confirmed reports of contamination occurred, ABC reported. The NSW Police posted on Facebook, saying that although “Berry Obsession,” “Berry Licious,” and “Donnybrook Berries” have been […]

A mother and infant in North Carolina died when a tree fell on their home in Wilmington amid heavy winds from Hurricane Florence. The Wilmington Police Department confirmed the deaths on Facebook at around 3 p.m. ET on Sept. 14. The department “can confirm the first two fatalities of Hurricane Florence in Wilmington. A mother and […]

The head of the Chinese Students Association at Adelaide University threatened his fellow Chinese students at the end of last month for openly disagreeing with socialism and communism during the student union election campaigns, Progress of UofA Party reported. Chinese Students Association (CSA) leader Liu Zihan, also known as Leo Liu, spread a message on […]

A Queensland man posted on Facebook that his friend had swallowed half a sewing needle after eating a strawberry from Woolworths on Sept. 9. Joshua Gane said that he and his friend Hoani van Dorp had bought a punnet of “Berry Obsession” strawberries from the Woolworths in Strathpine Centre. When Van Dorp bit through the […]

SYDNEY–Australia’s center-right government will face a by-election in deposed prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth on Oct. 20. If it loses, it will also lose its parliamentary majority in the lower house. The by-election was announced on Sept. 12 following Turnbull’s resignation from parliament last month after he was ousted in a party-room revolt […]

SYDNEY—A law firm said on Sept. 11 it would file class-action lawsuits against Australia’s biggest bank and wealth manager seeking “very substantial” damages for allegedly cheating millions of retirees. The allegations stem from a powerful public inquiry into Australia’s financial sector which could lead to criminal prosecutions and tougher regulations to prevent abuses by the […]

Miners in Australia have dug up gold worth more than $11 million in just four days—and there may be more to come. The gold rocks were discovered just 500 meters [about 1640 feet] below the surface at the Beta Hunt mine around 400 miles east of Perth. In most mines gold can only be observed […]

A Qantas flight from Perth to London turned around two hours after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner took off from Perth and was slated to land in London after a 17-hour flight. According to passengers, the person locked himself in the bathroom for an hour. “He locked himself in the […]

SYDNEY—Australian police have charged a 24-year-old man with five counts of murder after the bodies of a family, including a mother and her three children, were discovered in the west coast city of Perth. The ABC reported twin two-year-old girls, their three-and-a-half-year-old sister, their mother and grandmother were found dead at a house in Bedford […]

SYDNEY—Australian police found up to five dead people including a woman and children on Sept. 9 in a suburb of the western city of Perth, a senior officer said. “This is early and we’ve not yet fully examined the scene. We understand that there are adults and children involved,” Western Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Paul […]

Australian Conservatives Senator Cory Bernardi put forward two motions to federal Parliament tightly linked to strained Australian-China relations, on Aug 15. The first motion, which was rejected, called for a review of the Department for Education and Training’s engagement with Chinese Communist Party-administered Confucius Institutes. The successful second motion, while avoiding direct reference to China, […]