Category: Australian

Australian Admits Abducting 4-Year-Old Girl From Family Tent

PERTH, Australia—A man pleaded guilty Monday to abducting a 4-year-old girl from her family’s camping tent on Australia’s west coast last year. Police found Cleo Smith alone in a house in Carnarvon, a town of 5,000 people, 18 days after she went missing last October. The search for her had captivated Australians, and the police…


What a Djoke! Novak Djokovic Makes a Fool of Australia

No. 1 Tennis star Novak Djokovic is in the imbroglio of Australian immigration and health policy; his visa has been revoked twice now as he prepares to compete in the Australian Open. Djokovic’s case is revealing about many issues we see playing out on the world stage, and how governments are viewing the spread of…


Don’t Question Djokovic’s Legacy, Says Zverev

Alexander Zverev made a spirited defense of embattled world number one Novak Djokovic on Saturday (January 15), saying his legacy will not be tarnished by the visa saga which has rocked the tennis world ahead of the Australian Open. Djokovic arrived in Melbourne with a medical exemption from Australia’s requirement for visitors to be vaccinated…


Australian Tycoon to Help Small Publishers Strike Deals With Google, Facebook

SYDNEY—Australian small publishers will get a leg up in their fight to secure licensing deals with Google and Facebook after the country’s richest person said his philanthropic organisation would seek a collective bargaining arrangement for them. The Minderoo Foundation, owned by Andrew Forrest, chairman of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, plans to help 18…


New South Wales to Trial Rapid Test Kits in Schools

The New South Wales government plans to introduce coronavirus rapid test kits in all state schools if a trial is successful. The pilot program for the rapid antigen home testing kits will begin in the town of Albury, near the Victorian border, next week. “I want to see disruption to our students’ education from COVID…


Djokovic Will Need to Be Vaccinated to Play Australian Open: Minister

CANBERRA—Novak Djokovic will not be able to enter Australia to defend his Australian Open title unless he is fully vaccinated for COVID-19, the country’s immigration minister said on Wednesday, putting the Serb’s Grand Slam record bid in doubt. World number one Djokovic, who is level with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal on 20 Grand Slam…


Australian Medical Association Report Says Public Hospitals in Crisis

Public hospitals are caught in an unending cycle of crisis caused by a funding formula that has failed to arrest a decline in performance over a decade, the Australian Medical Association says in a new report. “Our hospitals are full—there simply aren’t enough hospital beds or enough doctors and nurses—and tragic stories of deaths, deterioration…


Risk FX Rallies, Safe Havens Offered as Evergrande Fears Ebb

LONDON—The risk-sensitive Australian dollar rallied and the safe-haven yen dipped to a nearly three-month low on Monday, as fears of widespread market contagion from indebted China Evergrande Group receded. Rising commodity prices also helped the Aussie and Norway’s crown, while the yen was pressured as higher U.S. yields attracted Japanese investor money. The euro traded…


Australian Employment Slides in August as Lockdowns Slash Workers’ Hours

SYDNEY—Australian employment dived in August as coronavirus lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne forced businesses to lay off workers and slash hours, while the jobless rate was nudged lower by a sharp fall in the number of people looking for work. Thursday’s data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed employment fell by 146,000 in…


All Jokes Aside, Scientists Find Talking Duck

AMSTERDAM—A Dutch scientist has uncovered old recordings of a musk duck mimicking the phrase, “You bloody fool!”—learned when it was raised by humans in an Australian bird park. Leiden University scientist Carel Ten Cate said that what was interesting about the vocal expression of the waterfowl, nicknamed “Ripper,” was not so much the message, but…