Ghanaian music maestro Kojo Antwi is set to captivate audiences in Australia with his signature love songs and Highlife rhythms during the 2025 Easter celebrations. This marks his first-ever performance in the country, adding to his long list of international tours that have taken him to the US, UK, Canada, and beyond.
The much-anticipated concert is scheduled for April 19, 2025, at Bonnyrigg Sports Club in Sydney, coinciding with the global commemoration of Easter. Fans of Ghanaian music, Africans in the diaspora, Australians, and other music lovers are expected to gather for an unforgettable night of melodies from the legendary ‘Mr. Music Man.’
Expressing his excitement in a social media post, Kojo Antwi wrote, “Australia!!! I’m excited to visit for the first time. Can’t wait to sing a Marathon of Love Songs with YOU!!! Grab your tickets now and let’s make some lovely memories.”
Ahead of the performance, Kojo Antwi paid a courtesy call on the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Berenice Owen-Jones. During the meeting, the High Commissioner wished him a successful tour, highlighting the significance of cultural exchange and stating that he will be sharing “Ghana’s vibrant sound with the world.”
As one of Africa’s most celebrated musicians, Kojo Antwi’s visit to Australia represents the growing global appreciation of Ghanaian music and culture. His performance is expected to strengthen ties between Ghana and Australia through the universal language of music.
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, is set to lead a Ghanaian delegation to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, for the 67th Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) International.
The conference, scheduled from November 3 to November 8, will see Speaker Bagbin, the Immediate Past President of CPA International, formally hand over leadership to the newly elected President, the Speaker of the Parliament of New South Wales.
As a prominent figure in international parliamentary organizations, Speaker Bagbin holds positions such as President of the Conference of Speakers and Presidents of African Legislatures (CoSHAL) and is an Executive Member of the International Legislative Advisory Council of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in the United States. His leadership in these roles has been praised for maintaining Ghana’s democratic credentials and strengthening legislative processes both domestically and abroad.
The Ghanaian delegation includes key parliamentary figures, including former Majority Leader and MP for Suame, Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, along with the two House Leaders, two Whips, the Clerk to Parliament, and other officials of the Parliamentary Service. This diverse delegation represents Ghana’s commitment to fostering international parliamentary relations and enhancing the nation’s democratic standing.
Ahead of his trip, Speaker Bagbin met with a five-member delegation from Ghana’s Council of State, led by Chairman Nana Otuo Siribuor, who visited Parliament to discuss recent developments that led to an indefinite adjournment of the House. During the visit, Speaker Bagbin assured the Council of his commitment to resolving any parliamentary impasses and emphasized his dedication to upholding Ghana’s democracy.
Notably, while he is expected to be in Australia for the CPA Conference, Speaker Bagbin has already initiated processes to recall Parliament in early November, following a request by Members of Parliament. He indicated that he plans to return to Ghana earlier than expected to oversee the House’s recall.
The Council of State commended Speaker Bagbin for his exemplary leadership and contributions to Ghana’s democratic legacy. “Your efforts in efficiently handling legislative matters and representing Ghana in various international parliamentary organizations have kept the democratic credentials of the country high,” said HRH Nana Otuo Siribuor, encouraging the Speaker to continue his work in the nation’s best interest.
The upcoming CPA conference will provide a platform for parliamentary leaders across the Commonwealth to discuss global issues, legislative governance, and shared democratic values, reaffirming Ghana’s role in shaping parliamentary leadership on an international stage.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Pius Enam Hadzide, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Asuogyaman, following his recent admission of facilitating the travel of Ghanaians to Australia during the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Mr Hadzide’s remarks made during his current parliamentary campaign, have sparked renewed controversy. His seeming admission is viewed by the NDC as evidence of impropriety, especially given the context of the Australian visa scandal that led to the arrest of 60 Ghanaians posing as journalists in Australia in 2018.
The scandal, which saw Mr Hadzide temporarily suspended from his role as Deputy Sports Minister, has resurfaced following his public acknowledgment of involvement in the travel arrangements.
In his campaign, Hadzide drew upon his time in the sports ministry to highlight his ability to create opportunities for young people, promising to facilitate travel to the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup if elected to parliament.
“Nananom, do you know something? If you’re from Ghana and flying to Australia, it’s an 18-hour flight, and people went [to Australia] through me,” Hadzide told his supporters in a campaign video that has since gone viral. He added, “The next World Cup, which will be played next year, will be in America. It will take just seven hours to get there. If you want your children to go to America to work and bring money to this community, vote for me. No matter where you are from in this constituency, I will facilitate your travel if I become your MP.”
This promise, aimed at showcasing his ability to provide international opportunities for his constituents, has been met with criticism, particularly from the NDC. Malik Basintale, the Deputy National Communications Officer of the NDC, strongly condemned Hadzide’s admission, calling for immediate legal action against him.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, September 12, Basintale stated, “We know that this declaration may be a mission impossible because Pius Enam Hadzide is not just learning from himself. He is learning from his boss, the chief mother serpent of corruption, President Akufo-Addo, and his Vice President Dr Bawumia. We are calling for the immediate dismissal of Pius Enam Hadzide as the CEO for the National Youth Authority.”
He continued, “He has openly admitted that he was guilty in the Australian Visa Scandal and must be arrested and prosecuted without delay.”
Pius Hadzide must be arrested for role in Australian visa scandal during 2018 Commonwealth Games – NDC's Malik Basintale
The 2018 Australian visa scandal unfolded during the 21st Commonwealth Games, where 60 Ghanaians, posing as journalists, were arrested in Australia for attempting to enter the country under false pretenses. In response, President Nana Akufo-Addo suspended Hadzide as Deputy Sports Minister pending investigations by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
A statement from the presidency at the time explained, “This decision has been taken following preliminary investigations into the circumstances that led to the arrest of 60 Ghanaians, who had allegedly attempted to enter Australia by false pretenses in the ongoing 21st Commonwealth Games.”
By July 2018, Hadzide was exonerated of any involvement in the visa fraud and reinstated to office by President Akufo-Addo. The president declared during an NPP delegates’ conference in Koforidua, “On the Australian visa scandal, which has exonerated the suspended Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports from any complicity, I will lift his suspension on Monday and return him to office.”
While Hadzide’s role was previously cleared, his recent acknowledgment of facilitating travel to Australia has reignited public debate. The NDC views his comments as an admission of guilt, accusing him of misusing state resources for personal gain and urging authorities to take swift action.
French authorities are probing an alleged rape of a 25-year-old Australian woman by five men in central Paris. The woman reportedly sought refuge in a kebab shop in the Pigalle area on Saturday morning, with her dress partly torn, according to local media.
While no arrests have been made, prosecutors have confirmed the investigation is being treated as a “gang rape.”
The incident occurred just days before the opening of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Le Parisien reported that restaurant owners called for assistance upon seeing the woman’s condition.
Firefighters attended to her immediately after the alleged assault, and she was subsequently taken to Bichat hospital for a medical examination.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has stated that police are examining CCTV footage as part of their investigation into the allegations.
“The investigation into the charge of gang rape likely to have been committed on the night of 19 to 20 July has been entrusted to the second judicial police district,” it said.
In preparation for the upcoming Olympics, Paris is seeing a significant police presence to ensure safety. Officers have been patrolling the city in large numbers since last week, with armed guards stationed around the River Seine.
Several security zones have been established, dividing Paris into different areas.
To enter specific zones, such as the one around the Eiffel Tower, individuals must apply for a special games pass through a platform managed by the police. The Olympics begin on Friday, prompting these heightened security measures.
Three bodies found in Baja California are probably the same ones of the two Australians and one American who were lost during a camping and surfing trip. The state prosecutor’s office announced this on Saturday.
Local TV network Milenio reported that although forensic examination has not yet confirmed it, the physical characteristics such as their hair and clothing strongly suggest that the bodies found are likely those of the three tourists. This information was provided by chief state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez.
An employee from the state prosecutors’ office, who cannot be named, told The Associated Press that it’s believed the bodies are being looked into.
The dead bodies were found in a well. The investigators also found another body in the same well. The authorities said they would investigate the situation.
“A fourth person was found. ” It has nothing to do with the three foreigners. The fourth body had been there for a long time, said the official.
The place where the bodies were found was close to the town of Santo Tomas. It was also near the isolated seaside area where the men’s tents and truck were found on Thursday.
The men, who are brothers from Australia and an American man, went missing on Saturday. They didn’t go to where they were supposed to stay over the weekend. Watch an Australian radio host work whilst carrying baby at her back The US government knows about the reports of bodies and is keeping a close watch on the situation. Right now, we don’t have anything else to say.
The police in Baja California were talking to three people about the case, they said on Thursday. On Friday, the authorities said three people were arrested and charged with a crime similar to kidnapping. It was not clear if they might get more charges.
Andrade Ramirez, the top lawyer for the state, said that the evidence found with the empty tents is related to the three people who are being asked about the foreigners who disappeared.
Milenio stated that she said the people who might do the crime, took the surfers’ truck and some of its parts were found in another truck that belongs to one of the suspects.
On Wednesday, Debra Robinson asked people on Facebook to help find her missing sons. Robinson said no one has heard from Callum and Jake since April 27th. They had arranged a place to stay in the town of Rosarito nearby.
Robinson said her son Callum has diabetes. She said the American with them was named Jack Carter Rhoad, but the US Embassy in Mexico City didn’t confirm it right away. The US government knows that a person from the US is missing in Baja, but they didn’t share any more information.
In 2015, two surfers from Australia, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, which is across from the Baja peninsula. Officials said that they were attacked by robbers on the road. Three people were taken into police custody for that situation.
Thousands of people in Australia protested on Sunday to show that 27 women have died from gender-based violence this year. The country has a population of 27 million.
Albanese said on Monday that the rallies were a way to ask the Australian government to do more to stop violence against women.
“We definitely need to do more. ” Albanese said on Nine Network TV that it’s not enough to just understand how someone else feels.
“The truth that. ” On average, a woman is killed by her partner every four days. This is a big problem for our country.
17 events happened in Australia on the weekend. About 15,000 people gathered in Melbourne for one of the rallies.
Albanese, along with Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, were not welcomed at a rally they attended in Canberra on Sunday.
The people who are protesting shouted at the leaders of the government, “We want you to do something” and “Do your work. ”
Albanese said we should pay more attention to the people who commit violence and how to stop violence from happening. Albanese said we have to change the way people think and the laws.
A judge in Australia ordered social media platform X to block access to a video showing a bishop being stabbed in a Sydney church worldwide.This rule applies to all users, not just those in Australia.
X Corp, a big tech company owned by Elon Musk, said they will go to court to battle orders from Australia to remove posts about a knife attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at an Assyrian Orthodox church while a service was being shown online on April 15.
The material couldn’t be seen in Australia, but people in other places could still watch it.
Australia’s eSafety Commission asked a court to make a temporary ban on sharing a video of the bishop getting stabbed. They are a government agency trying to keep people safe on the internet.
In a meeting held after regular working hours, Judge Geoffrey Kennett stopped the videos from being seen by anyone until Wednesday. On Wednesday, they will decide if the videos should be banned permanently.
X has one day to keep the footage away from users, the judge decided.
The lawyer for the regulator, Stephen Tran, said that blocking access to the footage in Australia doesn’t count as taking it off the internet according to Australian law.
Tran said the video was really graphic and violent and would cause a lot of damage if it keeps getting shared.
Musk called Julie Inman Grant the “Australian censorship boss. ”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was upset because X didn’t take down pictures of the knife attack at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church.
Albanese said that social media posts, false information, and the sharing of violent pictures made the pain from the church attack worse. Two priests survived the attack, and there was also a knife attack at a Sydney mall two days before that killed six people.
“Albanese said that social media has a duty to society. ” “I think it’s strange that X didn’t follow the rules and is now trying to argue their point. ”
The people in charge of the platform’s Global Government Affairs said that Inman Grant told them to take down some posts about the church attack. However, they said the posts didn’t break X’s rules on violent speech.
X said that the Australian government has told their platform to either remove certain posts from everywhere in the world or pay a daily fine of US$785,000.
“X thinks that eSafety’s request didn’t follow Australian law. We followed the request while waiting for a legal challenge. ” – said the Global Government Affairs account.
“X understands that a country can make its own laws, but the eSafety Commissioner can’t tell X’s users what they can see everywhere in the world. ”
“We will strongly oppose this wrong and risky approach in court,” it said.
The attack on the church was shown on social media, and it made a lot of people angry. 2,000 people gathered and started a riot against the police, who kept the suspected attacker inside the church.
The violent protest hurt 51 police officers and broke 104 police cars, officials said.
Three people who were believed to have caused trouble were arrested by Sunday. On Monday, the police showed pictures of 12 more people who they think were the main people responsible for starting the violence in the riot. They got the pictures from a video of the riot.
A 16-year-old boy who is believed to have stabbed people has been charged with terrorism crimes. He got both negative and positive comments online for the attack.
Penny Wong, who is the Foreign Minister, has asked China’s Ambassador to Australia for an explanation. She also said that the government will strongly communicate its response to Beijing.
“We have always asked for fair treatment and kindness for Dr. Yang, following international rules and China’s laws,” she said in a statement.
All Australians want Dr. Yang to be back with his family. We will keep fighting for what we believe in.
Australian leaders have been worried about how he is being treated. But China’s government has told them not to get involved and to respect their legal system.
Chinese spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that Dr. Yang’s case has been carefully handled according to the law and his rights have been respected.
Supporters of Dr. Yang said he was unfairly arrested for political reasons.
“The Chinese government punished him because he spoke out against the bad things happening to people in China and supported important values like human rights, democracy, and the rule of law,” said his friend, Feng Chongyi, who is a professor in Sydney.
Dr Yang used to work for the Chinese government. People called him the “democracy peddler” because he wrote about democracy. But he didn’t directly criticize the government in his writings.
He was living in New York but went to Guangzhou in January 2019 with his wife and her child, who are Chinese citizens, on a visa run. However, he was stopped at the airport.
The 58-year-old’s situation has mostly been kept private since then, including a hidden trial in 2021.
Elaine Pearson, who is the Asia Director for Human Rights Watch, said that the case has raised a lot of worries about whether the proper legal procedures were followed, and the result is very unfair.
“He didn’t have a lawyer when he needed one, and his trial was not fair. He said he was tortured and forced to confess during questioning,” she told the media.
Dr Yang can still ask for a chance to change the decision, Ms. But Yang’s sons in Australia have said before that he is getting sicker and not getting medical care.
Before Albanese went to Beijing last November, Dr. Yang’s sons asked the prime minister for help in getting their father released. They said their father’s health was getting worse.
His arrest, along with Cheng Lei’s in 2020, made the relationship between Beijing and Canberra worse. But things have been getting better since a new government took over in Australia in 2022.
However, Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Dr. Yang’s new sentence is likely to severely affect the relationship between the two countries.
“He said the big screen shows how difficult it is for foreigners to get help from the Chinese legal system, and how it punishes people who try to question it. ”
“This sentence is the most extreme and unexpected. ” He will not be able to avoid dying in prison.
The police in Australia have accused two men of planning to harm four members of the rap group OneFour.
The two men, known as Brandon Maseuli and Yousef Rima, are part of a criminal group that started in Lebanon and operates internationally.
The police said the group accepts jobs to do dangerous things like killing people and taking others.
Maseuli, 26, and Rima, 20, were arrested in Sydney on Thursday and now have to deal with a number of charges.
They did things like planning to kill someone, taking someone away, leading a group of criminals, and doing illegal things with drugs and stealing.
Officials have requested permission to arrest a 22-year-old man who they think is in another country.
The police said that Maseuli and Rima planned to kill four important men in Sydney for someone else.
Four members of the drill rap group OneFour have been named as the targets. Their names are Jerome “J Emz” Misa, Pio “YP” Misa, Spencer “Spenny” Magalogo and Dahcell “Celly” Ramos. It’s not clear why they didn’t go after the fifth member, Salec “Lekks” Su’a.
The OneFour members were targeted because they had a problem with another group. This other group may have hired a criminal gang in Sydney to hurt the rappers. The police told the Sydney Morning Herald about this.
The police found out about the suspected plan while looking into the Sydney group that Maseuli and Rima belong to. They also say that it was connected to many kidnappings, including one involving a large amount of cocaine.
Both people accused of a crime went to court in Liverpool on Thursday. They were not allowed to leave jail until their trial.
OneFour, a popular rap group from Australia, has had many encounters with the police. Their songs often have sad and aggressive words, which the police say can make people want to act violently.
They had to stop a big trip around the country in 2019 because the police were worried about safety.
A rollercoaster car had to be emptied and people had to get out 60 meters in the air because someone’s scarf got stuck in a wheel.
Adventurous people were about to experience a scary drop on the DC Rivals HyperCoaster at Warner Bros Movie World in Australia. But the ride suddenly stopped on Friday.
The problem was only seen when a worker with very good eyes noticed the scarf stuck in the wheel.
The ride operator stopped the ride from far away when it was going up a hill just to be safe, according to managers.
It took about three hours to get everyone off the train. They had to put on special gear and be helped down some emergency stairs beside the track.
A Warner Bros Movie World spokesperson said that the ride and safety systems worked as they should, and all the guests are safe while the ride is stopped in a safe area.
Our team guided the guests down the hill using the lift, which is something we practice and all they have to do is walk down the stairs to get on the ride. Because the lift hill is really high, we gave the guests a harness to keep them safe.
The ride was shut down after the accident but it will be open again on Saturday.
The spokesperson said: “We know it’s annoying when rides stop, and that’s why we don’t allow people to bring loose items on the rides. We want guests to follow the instructions of our staff. “
At least 10 individuals, including a nine-year-old girl, lost their lives during severe thunderstorms in eastern Australia on Christmas and Boxing Day.
The state of Queensland saw the majority of the casualties, leaving tens of thousands without power. Victoria and New South Wales also experienced widespread flooding and destructive winds.
The impactful storms brought strong winds that tore roofs off buildings, uprooted trees, and even ripped concrete-based electricity poles from the ground.
Despite the forecast of further thunderstorms, conditions are expected to improve over the next day.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever had a concrete power pole destroyed by a storm, that’s pretty significant. That’s unprecedented,” said Queensland Premier Steven Miles.
Residents in parts of New South Wales and South Australia were shocked to find hailstones the size of golf balls blanketing their lawns in summer.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in probably the 20 years I’ve lived in the town,” a resident of Melrose in South Australia told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The most recent storms occurred over a week after Cyclone Jasper caused significant flooding in several parts of Queensland, with some areas receiving more rain in a matter of days than they would have in a year.
According to Mr. Miles, the damage caused by both storms could be worth billions of dollars.
They come after a string of heatwaves that have caused recent bushfires in several states, including New South Wales.
El Nino weather, usually linked to extreme events like cyclones and wildfires, is currently affecting the nation.
“When you start to piece together the experiences of this summer so far it is clear that we are living through an era of escalating climate consequences,” Simon Bradshaw, research director at the Climate Council – an independent communications organisation – told the Reuters news agency.
Australia has been plagued by a series of disasters in recent years – severe drought and bushfires, successive years of record floods, and six mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef.
A future of worsening disasters is likely unless urgent action is taken to halt climate change, the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warns.
Among the 10 people killed in the extreme weather over Christmas and Boxing Day was a girl, named in local media as nine-year-old Mia Holland-McCormack, whose body was found in a flooded storm drain after she went missing.
“Mia loved adventures and getting up to mischief,” reads a statement from a relative on a GoFundMe fundraising page set up to help Mia’s family following her death.
Three men drowned after a yacht capsized near Moreton Bay, off the coast of the city of Cairns. A further eight people had to be rescued from the water.
A man whose body was found in Victoria’s Gippsland region is thought to have been camping with a woman who was also killed.
Two women were found dead north of Brisbane after being swept away by floodwaters into a storm drain, while a further two people were killed after being hit by falling trees.
India notched their inaugural Test victory over Australia, clinching an eight-wicket win in a one-off match held in Mumbai.
Australia commenced the final day with five wickets in hand in their second innings, carrying a lead of 46. However, India efficiently dismissed the tourists for 261.
Subsequently, India successfully chased down a modest target of 75 shortly after lunch, propelled by Smriti Mandhana’s unbeaten 38.
“It’s the reward for all the hard work we have done for so many years,” said India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
“It’s reward for the hard work and patience. We just wanted to play positive cricket.”
India secured their maiden victory against Australia in women’s Tests, ending an 11-game winless streak against the top-ranked team in the format since their first encounter in 1977.
India gained a crucial advantage in the contest with a first-innings lead of 187, amassing a formidable total of 406 in response to Australia’s 219.
Contributions from Richa Ghosh (52), Jemimah Rodrigues (73), Deepti Sharma (78), and Smriti Mandhana (74) saw India’s batters making patient half-centuries. Spinner Ash Gardner claimed 4-100 for Australia.
Australia struggled at the Wankhede Stadium, with vice-captain Tahlia McGrath being the only player to register a half-century in either innings for the tourists.
Sneh Rana, India’s all-rounder, was named the player of the match for her off-spin, which yielded match figures of 7-119 from 44.4 overs.
“A Test match in India is happening after a long time, so this win is right at the top,” Rana said.
“For Indian fans also this win is huge. The players who are growing will see this win and want to play more Test cricket.”
It was a disappointing start to Alyssa Healy’s reign as captain having been named as Meg Lanning’s permanent successor across all formats earlier this month.
“Except for the first day, we showed a lot of fight,” Healy said.
“Full credit to the Indian team, they just put too many runs on us. If we would have batted the first full day, we could have been in the game.”
India’s triumph marks their second Test win this month, following a dominant 347-run victory over England in Mumbai.
The teams are set to face each other in a series of three ODIs and three T20s starting on December 28.
The van was stolen from a gas station in a Sydney neighborhood on the morning of November 29th.
The police found the car a week later in a parking lot. Inside the car, there were thousands of old and bad-smelling doughnuts.
On Thursday, the police took into custody a 28-year-old woman. She was not allowed to leave jail and is accused of stealing a car and driving without a license.
Video from a security camera shows a woman staying at the gas station around 4:00 in the morning. She then gets into a delivery van that was left unattended and drives away.
It’s not clear if she knew there were 10,000 doughnuts in the van. She got some really yummy Christmas and regular doughnuts, according to News. comau
Krispy Kreme told the police about what happened and told customers that they were making more donuts to replace the 10,000 that were stolen.
The 58-year-old person from the United States is accused of two crimes, one of which is about encouraging violence on the internet.
Police say he sent many messages online with Christian end of days beliefs to the attackers.
The attack at Wieambilla resulted in the deaths of two police officers, a neighbor, and the three shooters.
The FBI arrested a man from the US in Heber Overgaard, northeast of Phoenix, on Friday.
Police say three people named Nathaniel, Stacey and Gareth Train, were watching videos on two YouTube accounts created by the man. They said he kept sending messages to Gareth and Stacey before the attack happened in Queensland last December.
The police officer said that there is proof that the suspect and Gareth were leaving comments on each other’s YouTube videos.
Queensland Police are helping FBI and local US police with their investigation. They have gone to the US for this.
On 12 December, a very bad attack happened when the police went to Gareth and Stacey Train’s property in Wieambilla – which is about 270km (168 miles) west of Brisbane.
Four police officers went to see Nathaniel Train, who had been reported missing.
As soon as they got out of their car and walked towards the house, they were attacked with a lot of gunfire.
Two police officers – Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29 – were hit first and then shot again as if they were being executed.
Another police officer got hurt but ran away, while the fourth officer was frightened by the shooters who started fires to try and force her out of hiding.
Alan Dare, who was 58 years old and lived nearby, came to help at the scene and was also shot and killed.
The police used a lot of guns during the siege, which lasted for many hours. The suspects were eventually shot by officers who had special training.
Investigators believe the attack was planned ahead of time and involved careful preparation to target law enforcement officers.
Hidden shelters, walls, mounds of dirt, weapons, surveillance cameras, and mirrors on trees were placed all over the land.
Queensland police said the incident was a “religiously-motivated terror attack” and they believe the person involved followed a Christian belief system called premillennialism.
Premillennialism is the idea that Jesus will come back to Earth after a hard time and make things better.
Australian authorities say this is the first time a violent attack has been connected to an extreme Christian belief in Australia.
The man is accused of breaking the law in the US and they don’t have any plans to send him back to Australia.
There are not many shootings in Australia because it has very strict gun laws.
Many people were hurt badly in a car accident at the Royal Hotel in Daylesford, which is located in the northwestern part of Melbourne, Victoria. The accident happened at 6pm on Sunday.
Emergency helicopters and police, along with several ambulance teams, quickly went to the area.
A car accident happened and a boy who was six years old and a girl who was a teenager died in the accident.
Victoria Police said on their social media accounts that there was a crash on Sunday evening.
A representative for the police said that there has been a deadly accident in Daylesford, and authorities are currently there to help. The police went to where a car crashed into the outside area of a pub on Vincent Street around 6. 05pm
Several people are hurt, and five people have died.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated that there has been notable improvement in relations with China following discussions with President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Mr Albanese arrived in Shanghai on Saturday. He is the first Australian leader to go to China since 2016.
The four-day visit is seen as an important step towards improving relations, after a series of disagreements over trade and security.
Trade is very important- Mr. Albanese wants Chinese tariffs on Australian goods to be stopped.
Both men promised to keep working together for the benefit of their countries, even though they had disagreements in the past.
President Xi welcomed Mr. Albanese to the Great Hall of the People. He said that China and Australia have the potential to become trusting partners and are on the right path to improving and developing their relationship. This was reported by state broadcaster CCTV.
Mr Xi told Mr Albanese that Beijing wants to maximize the benefits of the China-Australia free trade agreement.
Before their discussions, Mr. Albanese explained to reporters that we should work together with China when possible, but also express our disagreements when necessary and participate in things that benefit our country. I believe there are encouraging indications. We have already seen some barriers to trade between our countries being removed, and there has been a significant increase in trade between our countries.
He is going on a trip after tensions between Australia and China. This was because Australia wanted to investigate where Covid-19 came from, and China responded with sanctions on Australian exports like beef, wine, and barley.
This also happens at the same time as the 50-year anniversary of when Gough Whitlam, an important Australian leader, went to China to meet with Mao Zedong in 1973. It was the first time an Australian prime minister visited China after the two countries started having official relationships.
Reporters asked Mr Albanese if Australia can “trust” China. He answered that his previous interactions with Mr Xi have been “good” and “helpful”.
However, we understand that we have different ways of governing, different beliefs and principles, and different past events that shape our societies. But we judge and interact with each other based solely on our appearances and first impressions.
However, there are many issues and worries about safety that need to be resolved in the talks happening on Monday.
Yang Hengjun is an Australian writer who has been held in prison in China since 2019. His health is getting worse, and there are people in Australia asking their leader, Mr. Albanese, to help get him released.
Experts say that Canberra’s increasing military relationship with the United States and its recent changes to its defense strategy, which are believed to be aimed at countering China, may create challenges in finding common ground between the two countries, other than their economic interests. Some experts think that Beijing might want to get more access to Australia’s resources and renewable energy industries. However, the Australian government has been taking steps to prevent Chinese companies from owning important minerals and mining projects.
Mr Albanese said to the reporters that he was happy with the way Australia and China talked and worked together during the meeting.
He mentioned that Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the troubles in the Middle East were discussed during the meeting. However, they did not talk about the “14 issues” that China had with Australia when their relationship was in a bad state.
Mr Albanese said it was important to talk about guardrails and military collaboration between the United States and China.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, and the President of China, Xi Jinping, have met in Beijing to have discussions in order to improve the strained relationship between the two countries.
MrAlbanese arrived in Shanghai on Saturday. He is the first Australian leader to go to China since 2016.
The visit is seen as an important moment in improving relations, after a series of conflicts over trade and security.
MrAlbanese wants China to stop charging extra fees on Australian products, and he believes this topic should be the main focus of discussion.
Mr Xi is likely to request more opportunities to get into important Australian industries.
Mr Albanese said that we should work together with China when we can, but if there are things we don’t agree on, we should speak up. We should also focus on our own country’s interests. He said this before the meeting while talking to reporters in Beijing.
His trip comes after a period of no communication between countries caused by Australia requesting to look into the beginnings of Covid-19, and China stopping key Australian exports like beef, wine, and barley.
This also happens to be the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam’s famous trip to China in 1973. It was the first time an Australian prime minister visited China after the two countries started diplomatic relations.
When reporters asked if Australia can rely on or have confidence in China, Mr. Albanese said that his previous interactions with Mr. Xi have been good and helpful.
However, we understand that we have different ways of governing, very different beliefs based on those ways, and different past experiences. But we judge each other based on what we see on the outside.
Monday’s talks will have some things that people can’t agree on and some worries about safety.
Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been held in China since 2019 on charges of spying. His health is getting worse and people in Australia want their leader, Mr. Albanese, to help get him released.
Analysts say that Canberra’s increasing military relationship with Washington and its recent changes in defense strategy, which are seen as targeting China, might make it hard for the two countries to agree on matters other than economic interests.
Some experts think that Beijing may try to get more opportunities to use Australia’s resources and renewable energy industries. However, the Australian government has done things to stop Chinese people from owning important minerals and mining projects in the country.
Manuela Whitford feels really shocked and emotionless because five women were killed in Australia in just 10 days by men they were acquainted with.
“She said we’re used to it now. we often hear it, and I feel emotionally unaffected,” she said. “But on the other hand, I think to myself, ‘Oh, my God,’ I am doing something positive for the people I am able to assist. ”
Whitford started Friends with Dignity, a charity in Brisbane. This charity helps families who have left because of domestic violence. They give these families everything they need to feel comfortable and at home in temporary housing.
Mostly, they are mothers with kids who don’t have a lot of things but feel scared and anxious about where they will go and how they will manage.
They don’t have much contact with others. This means that for many years, people have been made to believe that they are not good enough, that they are not valuable and not worth anything. This statement was made by Whitford from the charity’s warehouse located in the southern part of Brisbane.
Located in a hidden spot in an area with factories, there is a storage building where shelves are filled with items for people’s homes. These items include things like toys and mattresses that have been cleaned and stacked neatly, all set to be brought to apartments that are being taken care of by organizations that support people in need.
We hope that the donations will save lives, but recently in Australia, the focus has been on women who were unable to get away from men who were violent towards them.
Five women were killed within a span of ten days. Among them was a 21-year-old water polo coach who had recently ended her relationship with the person believed to be her killer. Additionally, a 65-year-old woman was killed by her elderly husband, who has been charged with murder.
So far this year, there have been 43 recorded cases of women who have died, according to a research project called Counting Dead Women. This project was started by a feminist group called Destroy the Joint, which got its name from a mean comment made by an Australian shock jock in 2012. The shock jock accused women leaders of “destroying the joint. ”
The latest suspected murder happened on Monday when the security staff at a hotel in Perth, Western Australia called the police after receiving a phone call from concerned family members of Alice McShera, who was a 34-year-old lawyer.
On Tuesday, the police inspector Geoff DeSanges told reporters that they looked in a room and discovered McShera’s dead body. A man who is 42 years old was found in a room with injuries that he caused himself. Later on, he was accused of committing murder.
On the last Sunday, a person named Analyn Osias, who was 46 years old and also went by Logee, was hurt really badly and died in a house in Kangaroo Flats, as said by the police in Victoria. A man who is 44 years old has been accused of killing someone.
A few days ago, a 21-year-old water polo coach named Lilie James was found dead in a school gym bathroom in Sydney. The police believe she had head injuries. They found her ex-boyfriend’s dead body at the bottom of a cliff. They think he killed himself.
During the same week, a 65-year-old woman named Thi Thuy Huong Nguyen was discovered with many stab wounds in her kitchen in Canberra, according to ACT Policing. The police took her husband, who is 70 years old and was also hurt, into custody. He had to appear in court from his hospital bed because he was accused of murder.
According to the police in South Australia, two days ago, they found the body of a 38-year-old woman named Krystal Marshall in the burnt remains of her house after a fire. A man, who is 48 years old, was accused of committing murder.
Between 2012 and now, the number of women killed by violence in Australia has been between 43 and 84 each year. This information is from Counting Dead Women.
Whitford began Friends with Dignity in her garage during the same year. Since that time, she mentioned that she has observed a difference in how people, including the police, react to domestic violence.
“It means having faith and actively hearing the person who has been harmed,” she explained.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare said that the number of Australian women reporting domestic violence from their partner in the past year decreased from 1. 7% in 2016 to 0. 9% in 2021-22
However, a recent survey called the National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) in 2021 found that 23% of people think that it’s okay for domestic violence to happen when someone is feeling stressed in their daily life.
And 91% of people thought that violence against women was a problem in Australia.
People have been asking the government for help many times. The government started a plan to stop violence against women and children from 2022 to 2032.
The First Action Plan for the years 2023-2027 was announced in August. The most important item on the list of 10 things to do is to make progress in achieving equal rights for all genders.
The United Nations says that even though Australia is a modern and rich country, there are still sexist attitudes. This is because women in Australia do more unpaid work at home and earn less money over their lifetime compared to men.
Men continue to hold the majority of positions of power in boardrooms and Parliament. There has only been one female prime minister in the country, Julia Gillard, who gained a lot of attention for her powerful speech on misogyny that has been viewed by millions of people on social media.
A survey conducted in 2022 by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, which is led by Gillard, discovered that Australian men find disrespectful comments about women on the internet more acceptable compared to the rest of the world.
The First Action Plan has allocated 3. 5 million Australian dollars (equivalent to $2. 24 million) to fund a three-year trial of the healthy masculinities project. This project aims to identify effective ways to combat harmful messages that are specifically directed at men and boys on social media.
They didn’t say his name in the government statement, but experts mention Andrew Tate as an example. He is an internet influencer who has described himself as hating women. He will soon go on trial in Romania for human trafficking and rape.
Andrew Lines has been working for over 20 years to stop Tate’s harmful and sexist messages through a program called “The Rite Journey. ” This program helps students in Australia, New Zealand, and other places learn about good role models.
He says it’s becoming harder to stop the negative messages that children see on their cellphones, such as mean comments and easily available explicit content.
Lines said that they wouldn’t have been exposed to the mean and hurtful things that people are saying if they were a child. “It doesn’t have to be a harmful or provocative message. ” You can read mean and judgmental comments in many discussion threads.
The text is saying that nowadays, more men are being involved in being fathers compared to before. However, because families are different now, parents are spending less time with their kids.
On the other hand, being too involved as a parent can cause its own set of issues, he explained.
“If children don’t learn how to handle failure and rejection early on, even in small situations, it could become a problem when they face more significant challenges,” he explained.
But until people understand those lessons, government officials are making their efforts to address domestic violence stronger.
Last month, the police in New South Wales started a registry to keep track of people who repeatedly commit domestic and family violence. Recently, the Western Australian government announced that it wants more offenders to wear electronic tags.
As long as things don’t change much, people like Whitford from Friends with Dignity will continue to do whatever they can to help those who are affected.
On Tuesdays, some helpful people meet at the charity’s building to put together care packages and prepare orders for people who don’t have enough. Businesses are also participating by sending employees on outings as a part of their programs for social responsibility.
A housing shortage means there are not enough apartments for the charity to furnish. Therefore, the charity is giving more necessary items to women who cannot leave abusive relationships.
Whitford believes that everyone in the community needs to work together to stop more women from becoming victims of domestic violence.
She said that many people don’t ask if you’re okay because they are unsure of what to do if you share your answer with them. “So, learn and find out what resources are available near you. “
A woman from Australia is believed to have killed and tried to kill several people, including her ex-husband’s relatives, by feeding them poisonous mushrooms. She has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
Three individuals passed away after Erin Patterson, who is 49 years old, cooked and served a dish called beef Wellington. Beef Wellington is a meal that contains mushrooms. This incident occurred in the month of July while Erin was hosting guests.
According to the police, three murder charges are connected to the lunch incident, while three out of five attempted murder charges are related to different incidents that occurred between 2021 and 2022.
Ms Patterson says she did not do anything wrong.
She said she did not mean to make her guests sick on purpose during the family lunch at her house in Leongatha on 29 July.
The toxicology reports show that the victims ate poisonous deathcap mushrooms.
Her ex-husband Simon Patterson was also asked to come to the meal, but he couldn’t make it in the end.
In addition to being charged with three murders, Ms Patterson has also been charged with two attempted murders for what happened during lunch in July.
The police have not given information about the two charges related to attempted murder. However, it is known that one of the people eating became very sick, but they did not die and got better.
Ms Patterson has been accused of trying to kill someone three times by giving them poisoned food in 2021 and 2022. No additional information has been provided.
The police suspect Ms. Patterson because she and her two children were unhurt after lunch.
On Thursday, she was arrested and the police spent a long time searching her house in Leongatha, which is about 125km (78 miles) south-east of Melbourne.
Special dogs that are trained to find things like laptops and Sim cards were present at the location.
Inspector Dean Thomas, who is in charge of the Homicide squad, spoke at a press conference about the case. He said that the case is very complicated and sad, and it may have long-lasting effects in the future.
He said that he cannot think of another investigation that has gotten so much attention from the media and the public, not just in Victoria but also in other parts of the country and the world.
Gail and Don Patterson, who are the parents of Ms. Patterson’s ex-husband, were at the lunch. Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian Wilkinson were also there.
Four people were brought to the hospital on 30 July because they were very sick, according to the police.
The Patterson couple, who were both 70 years old, and Ms. Wilkinson, who was 66 years old, died within a few days. Wilkinson, who is 68 years old, was very sick and had to go to the hospital. Thankfully, after two months of getting medical help, he got better and is healthy now.
Erin Patterson said that she went to the hospital because her stomach was hurting after eating. Doctors put a tube in her body to give her fluids and gave her medicine to protect her liver.
She said she used a combination of mushrooms she bought from a supermarket and some mushrooms she bought from an Asian grocery store a few months ago to make the beef Wellington dish.
“I feel really upset to think that these mushrooms might have caused my loved ones to get sick,” she wrote in a statement in August.
I want to make it clear that I had no intention of harming the people I loved.
Her kids didn’t come to lunch, so they ate some leftover beef Wellington the next day. But she said the mushrooms were removed from the dish because she doesn’t like mushrooms.
Ms Patterson also talked about a food dehydrator that the police found at a nearby dump. She confessed to owning it and said she got rid of it because she was very scared after the deaths.
She has been taken into custody and will go to court on Friday at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court.
An Australian woman is being accused of killing three people by giving them poisonous mushrooms. Court documents also claim that she attempted to kill her ex-partner four times.
Erin Patterson, who is 49 years old, was accused of committing three murders and trying to commit five others on Thursday.
The murder charges are about a family lunch she held in July at her house in Leongatha, Victoria.
Ms Patterson is still saying she didn’t do it.
She went to court for a short time on Friday. Her case was delayed until 3 May because the prosecutors need time to look at her computer stuff that the police took from her home. She did not ask to be released before the trial.
There were about six TV crews waiting outside the hearing in a small town called Morwell, which is about 60km away from Leongatha.
But except for the cameras and curious people in the area, nobody saw Ms Patterson. She was taken from her cell in the police station to the court building through a tunnel.
According to court papers that were given to the local press on Friday, the police say that Ms. Patterson tried to murder her separated husband, Mr. Simon Patterson, on three different occasions from November 2021 to September 2022.
The supposed fourth attempt happened when she made a special meat dish called beef Wellington for his parents, Gail and Don Patterson, his aunt Heather Wilkinson, and her husband Ian Wilkinson, during lunch. Simon Patterson did not go to the meal.
Erin Patterson said she used both fresh button mushrooms from a regular store and dried mushrooms she bought from an Asian grocery several months ago to make the dish.
According to the police, all four of the people she invited to her house got very sick and had to go to the hospital.
Within a few days, the Patterson couple, who were 70 years old, as well as Ms. Wilkinson, who was 66 years old, passed away. Wilkinson, who is 68 years old, had a serious illness and had to go to the hospital. Luckily, he got better afterwards.
The police think that the four people ate death cap mushrooms, which can cause death if eaten.
Ms Patterson became a person of interest when she and her two kids were found without any injuries after lunch.
But she says she didn’t mean to make her guests sick and she went to the hospital after eating too and got medicine to protect her liver.
She wrote in August that she feels very upset to think that these mushrooms might have caused the sickness of her loved ones.
The police say that this case is very complicated and sad. They think it will have an impact for many years.
On Thursday, Homicide squad Inspector Dean Thomas said that there hasn’t been any other investigation that has received as much attention from the media and the public as this one, not only in Victoria but also across the country and around the world.
Political analyst, Yaw Asani Tanoh, has called on the media to thoroughly probe the terms of agreement between the government and Barari DV Ghana Limited that has been permitted to engage in lithium production in the country.
The government has issued a fifteen-year mining lease to Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited, enabling them to commence lithium mining in Ewoyaa, within the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region.
In an interview on Neat FM, Yaw Asani Tanoh expressed concern over government’s decision to leave the exploitation and mining of the mineral resource in the hands of a foreign companies, against locals that are equally equipped to undertake such an initiative.
He noted that government could have found a number of businessmen and companies to collude and ensure the revenue and jobs generated from mining go to citizens.
“I pray that the media will take it up to scrutinize the lithium agreement. If there is a need to stop, then we stop it. Just yesterday we discovered lithium, we have gone to give it to Australia. Couldn’t we have said this lithium, we know the value of it, because in the whole world, the document shows us that they will set up a lithium value addition factory here. If that is done, it will mean that in the whole world, Ghana is the third country that has discovered Lithium.
“So why didn’t we put businessmen in Ghana together, like Ibrahim Mahama, he is into mining, Despite Group of Companies, other big sharks, and say we are putting this into your hands. Find partners and put in place the necessary factories to ensure we add value to the lithium.
“You have gone to give it to Australia, when the Akosombo Dam spillage flooded communities, where is Australia. I just can’t think far. We are belittling ourselves indicating that unless a foreigner comes to do things for us, especially mining. These foreign companies at the end of the day go to Ibrahim Mahama and the rest to lease trucks, bulldozer etc or even sell come contract areas to him. So what is the point in seeding our mineral resources that we can mine by ourselves, the monies remaining here for development but give it to somebody else,” he stated.
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has emphasized that the agreed terms provide the Government and the people of Ghana with greater value in the mining of lithium.
He highlighted key aspects of the lease, including:
An increased royalty rate from the standard 5% to 10%.
A royalty rate refers to the percentage of revenue or profit that one party (the licensee) agrees to pay to another party (the licensor) in exchange for the right to use a specific asset or intellectual property.
An increase in the state’s free-carried interest in the mining operation from 10% to 13%.
Free-carried interest refers to a portion of ownership or equity interest in an investment that an individual or entity holds without having to make any financial contributions or bear any of the associated risks.
The acquisition of an additional 6% in the mining operation by the government through the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF).
The government will also secure a 3.06% stake in the company’s parent entity, listed on the Australian and London Stock Exchanges.
The requirement for the company to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange to allow Ghanaian entities, such as pension funds and individuals, to participate in the business.
The commitment of the company to contribute 1% of its revenue to a Community Development Fund, which will be used for the development of communities affected by its operations.
The company’s obligation is to establish a chemical plant for lithium processing. If the company is unable to establish such a plant, it will provide its lithium to third-party chemical plants in the country, promoting job creation and development in mining communities and across Ghana.
After extensive consultations and approval by Cabinet, a policy for the exploitation and management of green minerals, including lithium, was endorsed by Parliament and integrated into the mining lease issued to the company.
Australia has given back to Beijing three old things that were taken out of China illegally.
Someone in Canberra gave some very old things to officials from China. The things were a fossil of a dinosaur that is more than 100 million years old, and two small statues from a time called the Tang Dynasty.
Police at the Australian border took the items and sent them to authorities for investigation.
“On Wednesday, Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, said that today we have seen how two countries can work well together to bring back cultural objects to their original home. ” “Whether Australia has important cultural belongings or we have belongings abroad, they should be given back to us. ”
These are the things:
A fossil of a long-necked reptile species called hyphalosaurus was found in north-eastern China. This reptile lived around 120 to 133 million years ago. A statue from the Tang Dynasty that shows a person riding a horse and playing a musical instrument. These objects were put in burial sites to make sure that the person who died would have a safe trip to the life after death. A Tang Dynasty statue made of golden bronze portraying the Buddhist god Avalokitesvara, which was probably used as an object for worship on an altar. When asked by the BBC, a spokesperson from the Australian government said that the fossil was brought into the country in 2020, and the Tang Dynasty items were brought in the year after.
The things were taken out of China without permission and then brought to other countries before being brought to Australia. No one was punished because there was no proof that the Australian importers knew the objects had been taken out of China illegally, said the spokesperson.
During the handover ceremony, China received two other ancient items from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These items were given to China by the National Gallery of Australia and a private collector.
China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, thanked the Australians at the ceremony and said he was very grateful. This was reported by the news agency Xinhua.
Chinese state media said that Australia and China have been working together for the last three years to help bring back cultural artifacts, artistic objects, and fossils that were illegally brought into the country.
In August, the national gallery of Australia gave back three old bronze statues to Cambodia. It happened because after ten years of investigating, they discovered that these sculptures were taken illegally.
In March, it was announced that four Aboriginal spears that British explorer Captain James Cook and his group took when they arrived in Australia in 1770 would be given back to their original owners.
China has been speaking up more and more in asking for the return of historical objects that were taken from them, such as things that the British Museum has at the moment.
England manager Gareth Southgate expressed his bewilderment as Jordan Henderson left the field to a chorus of boos from some sections of the Wembley crowd during the Three Lions’ victory over Australia.
The former Liverpool captain was substituted in the second half.
In response to the incident, Southgate swiftly came to Henderson’s defense, urging the fans to support the Saudi Pro League star.
He said: “I don’t understand it, he is a player who has 79 caps now for England, his commitment and what he has delivered for England is exceptional.
“His role within the group on and off the pitch is phenomenally important, he is the one who has taken the likes of Jude Bellingham under his wing.
“He’s also been a brilliant role model for the group in his professionalism and his approach to every part of his work.
“Some people decided to boo but I really don’t understand what that is for. We play Italy here on Tuesday, let’s get behind this team.
“I know we weren’t at our best tonight but that was due to a lot of changes that we made and we gave the players that were out there a really difficult task but this is a team that is delivering a lot and they deserve everyone’s support.”
Jordan Henderson captained England against Australia
Despite beating the Socceroos, England did not perform at their best. However, it was a memorable night for Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah, both of whom made their debuts for the Three Lions.
Introducing two young players for their first international caps was among the highlights that Southgate is drawing from the game. Nevertheless, he believes that the team’s lack of experience ultimately had an impact on their performance on the field.
He added: “Normally we would put one or two of those lads in with a lot more experience and a lot more continuity so it was extremely hard for that group of players and it was completely understandable that we weren’t as cohesive.
“I thought we would use the ball better, but we didn’t.
“When you are not used to working together as a group and the approach is not quite right, teams can play through you and you can look vulnerable on the break.
“It wasn’t a win because of how we played, we had enough quality to create a couple of important moments.
“We know all the changes and inexperience made it tough for those that played.
“It was important to keep winning, it sets the game up now with Italy. It’s harder to prepare the squad when ultimately they know that is what this week is about.
England can qualify for Euro 2024 on Tuesday night but the boss is wary of the threat they will face under the Wembley arch.
He said: “Italy look revitalised under [Luciano] Spaletti, they were excellent against Ukraine and they are a top ten nation.
“We have the chance to qualify for the Euros with two games to spare and it is a great test to see where we are as a team and we are really looking forward to it.”
On October 14th, Australia will have a very important vote that will greatly impact how they perceive themselves as a country.
If the proposal called the Voice is approved, it will acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution. It will also create a group for them to give advice to the government about things that affect their communities.
Supporters of this change say it’s a small but important step that will enable Indigenous Australians to have a rightful role in their own country. In the past, Australia has been slow to face its history, and this change seeks to address that.
However, critics of the proposal see it as a drastic idea that will create a long-lasting separation in the country by granting First Nations people more rights than other Australians. Legal experts argue against this claim.
Is the Voice really extreme, and how have other countries dealt with recognizing Indigenous people.
According to Prof Amanda Nettelbeck, Australia is different from other countries that were settled by colonizers because it has never made an agreement with its Indigenous people.
The constitution has never acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of the land. They were not included in the population count until 1971 and they do not have specific seats for them in the government.
By 1962, they were finally allowed to vote in elections that determined the leaders of the whole country. But the desire for more control over our own lives has been around for many years.
A document to King George V asked for a First Nations representative in parliament, and it got 1,800 signatures from First Nations people in the 1930s.
William Cooper, who fought for the rights of the Yorta Yorta people, led the effort, hoping the paper would be given to the ruler. It never was.
Nearly 40 years later, a request was made by the Larrakia traditional owners in Darwin asking for discussions about a treaty and rights to their land. This request reached Buckingham Palace, but unfortunately, it was not responded to.
Australia had a vote in 1999 to decide whether to officially recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the beginning of the constitution. The change, which was one of two changes connected to the vote on becoming a republic, did not succeed.
Today, a paper called the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which contains the Voice, asks for something similar.
More than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders from different parts of the country created a document in 2017. This document asks for the creation of a special group that has legal support, as well as a process for making agreements and telling the truth about the past.
Since the 1970s, Australia has had different groups of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who give advice, but they don’t last very long.
All of these were made to help fix the big differences that First Nations communities still have in health, money, and education. But sometimes, they had problems with the people who make rules and disagreements within the group, and eventually came to an end.
Supporters of voice argue that if the organization is officially established in the constitution and exists for a long time, it will be protected from facing the same problems.
A person or thing that is very different from others is called an outlier.
The No campaign believes that the Voice is a risky and untested idea. Their main argument is that there isn’t enough information about how it would work.
If the reform is approved, parliament would have the authority to create the Voice and modify it as needed. The constitution will not provide specific information about the body.
Experts also mention that other countries have also had similar groups that give advice to Indigenous people for many years.
Each country with a history of colonization and a liberal democratic system has certain mechanisms in place, especially on a national level. According to Dani Linder, an Indigenous woman and legal expert at the University of Queensland, Australia doesn’t offer anything.
The Sami people have lived in northern Scandinavia for a very long time. They have their own governments in Finland, Norway, and Sweden since the 1980s and 1990s, and their rights are protected by the laws of all three countries.
The parliament controls the elected bodies and gives advice to lawmakers on how to solve problems that affect the Sami communities. Supporters of the Voice propose that it can work in a comparable manner.
In New Zealand, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed when the country was colonized in 1840. By 1867, special seats for Māoris were set up in parliament. Since 1975, there has been a committee called the Waitangi Tribunal which helps Māoris have a voice in decisions about policies that affect them.
Indigenous peoples in Canada have legal rights stated in the constitution, including agreements with the government and the ability to govern themselves. And in 1982, a group called the First Nations Assembly was formed. This group is made up of chiefs who represent their communities. They meet directly with federal lawmakers to discuss important matters.
According to Prof Nettelbeck, indigenous representative bodies have been working peacefully with national or federal parliaments for a long time and are not seen as problematic.
The fact that this proposal is causing a lot of disagreement in Australia shows that we are very different from other countries around the world.
However, one reason why people disagree about the Voice is that advisory groups are not typically made into official parts of the constitution.
Some people believe that adding the Voice to Australia’s main document could make it too powerful. They think it will make it harder for the government to make decisions and cause a lot of arguments in the courts.
But important legal experts, including the federal solicitor general, disagree with that. And the Voice won’t be able to reject laws.
According to constitutional law expert Prof Anne Twomey, Parliament and the executive government are not required to listen to the Voice’s advice.
This simply allows for a group to share their opinions with the government and lawmakers. Anyone or any group in Australia has the ability to do the exact same thing.
Effects of the vote
Australia’s constitution can only be altered through a process called a referendum. Over time, only eight out of 44 suggested changes to the constitution have been approved. Those who succeeded had support from both political parties. The Voice does not.
The only two surveys done with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voters showed that over 80% of those asked supported the change. But in surveys across the country, the amount of support is dropping quickly.
The No campaign is saying that if the Voice is not approved, it should not be seen as the end of the fight for Indigenous constitutional recognition. People have different opinions on whether there should be another vote to discuss the issue again.
Warren Mundine, who spoke out against the No vote, believes that without the Voice, a treaty process might have a better chance of success.
“The Bundjalung man said that if there is a vote against something, that is when the actual work begins. ”
But people who have learned about the long journey that led to the Voice say that if the outcome is a No, it would erase all the hard work and effort that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have put in for many years.
The Uluru Statement said that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples want to be recognized and have their voices heard. If this referendum doesn’t pass, it means there is no official authorization for another referendum on a different matter, according to Harry Hobbs, a legal expert who specializes in studying how treaties are formed.
The conversation has been filled with mean and false words that could hurt people for a long time.
“We are witnessing a decline in the way people communicate in public, similar to what we observed during recent elections in the US and the UK Brexit referendum,” said Prof Sana Nakata, a political theorist from the Torres Strait Islander community, in an interview with the BBC.
“The amount of false information and conspiracy theories going around is worse than anything I have witnessed in the past 20 years of closely monitoring Australian politics. ”
First Nations communities feel like they are being closely watched and talked about politically and socially.
“We have to explain why we belong in this country and why we are important. It will take us some time to feel better after this. ”
As the debate is coming to an end, the Yes campaign wants to convince millions of people who haven’t made up their minds yet that the Voice is a chance to make big changes in history.
Noel Pearson, a leading advocate for the Voice, said last week that many of us have grown up feeling like strangers.
This referendum is like a big mirror for our country. It’s a choice for us Australians – we can either move forward or stay stuck in the past.
After fire, some Australian towns are getting ready for floods.
There are currently fires in the Gippsland region of Victoria and the South Coast of New South Wales. These areas were also affected by bushfires four years ago.
The rain is giving us a break, but it’s also causing flood warnings.
The country has been severely affected by one disaster after another in recent years due to climate change.
This is one of the reasons why my government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that he is committed to taking action to address climate change.
Many fires are happening in Australia right now, and this year’s fire season is expected to be very dangerous.
In Gippsland, a countryside area in the south-east of Victoria, many firefighters have been working hard for a few days to fight against two dangerous fires. These fires have caused people to leave their homes and have destroyed at least one house.
The authorities in New South Wales (NSW) have said that a few houses were burned down by a fire in the Bega Valley on Tuesday.
In both states, the fires have burned around 25,000 hectares (or 250 square kilometers) of land. This is roughly five times bigger than Manhattan Island.
However, a big area of cold air is causing a lot of rain in the south-east part of Australia on Wednesday. The authorities are advising people to get ready for possible floods caused by sudden heavy rain and overflow of rivers.
The towns in the Gippsland region that were in danger from the fires are now in danger because they might get isolated by the flood waters.
“Do not try to go through those deep flood waters while driving. It could be the final choice you ever make,” Victoria’s State Emergency Services chief officer Tim Wiebusch cautioned residents on Tuesday.
In New South Wales, it has rained on the areas affected by fires, but the main concern for flooding is farther away from the coast. In other parts of the state, there is a high risk of fires because it is very hot, dry, and windy. As a result, there are total fire bans in some areas.
Australia has had several big problems in the last few years – very long periods without rain, massive fires in the forests, years of unusually high flooding, and the Great Barrier Reef getting damaged multiple times.
The latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that urgent action is needed to stop climate change, or else we will face more and worse disasters in the future.
Ian Watkins, who is a 68-year-old reverend, became very sick in late July after eating a meal of beef wellington in a small town called Leongatha. The meal was cooked and served to him by Erin Patterson, according to Victoria Police.
Gail Patterson, who was 70 years old, and her sister Heather Wilkinson, who was 66 years old, died in the hospital. Gail’s husband, Don, who was also 70 years old, passed away a day later.
Watkins held on, very sick and possibly needing a liver transplant, but he got better enough to leave the hospital last Friday.
The spokesperson for Ian Wilkinson’s family said that he is getting better and making good progress in his recovery. The family also thanked the medical staff for taking care of him. “This important achievement brings great relief and gratitude to Ian and the whole Wilkinson family. ”
Patterson, who has not been accused of a crime, said she did nothing wrong. She told the local media that she didn’t know the mushrooms she used in the recipe were harmful.
I am really upset and sad to think that these mushrooms might have caused my loved ones to get sick. I want to make it clear that I had no intention of hurting these people that I cared about, said Patterson in a statement to the police, as reported by ABC.
She said she bought the mushrooms for the meal from two different stores.
Victoria Police said on Monday that they are still investigating the deaths.
When people found out about the investigation in early August, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas from the Victoria Police homicide squad said that Patterson was a suspect because she prepared the meal and was the only grown-up at the lunch who didn’t get sick.
Patterson’s guests showed signs of being poisoned by poisonous death cap mushrooms called Amanita phalloides, according to Thomas. However, there are no reports yet that show exactly what they ate.
He said that Patterson and her husband, Simon, have split up. Simon’s parents died after they had dinner together. But he also said that their relationship is still friendly.
We need to be open-minded about this situation. “It might not mean anything bad,” Thomas said back then. “But once more, we currently don’t have any information. four people arrived and three of them died, while another one is in critical condition, so we need to handle this situation.
Wilkinson, who is a reverend at Korumburra Baptist Church, is the only person who survived. He will provide important information about what might have occurred that evening.
His family thanked their community for their support but requested privacy even though many people are interested in the case.
This caring and support from everyone has been a strong source of comfort for Ian and his family, making us feel even more connected and caring in our community.
“We know people are interested in Ian getting better, but we ask everyone, including the media, to be thoughtful and respect the family’s wishes. ”
The team from Durham University will participate in a competition with a car that has three wheels. The car was designed by over 50 students who spent a total of 100,000 hours working on it at the engineering society of the university.
It can create enough power to make a vehicle go faster than 75 km/h (47mph).
Professor David Sims-Williams, the faculty advisor, said that the project was a fantastic chance to turn ideas into reality.
“He said that in order to succeed, we need to come up with creative and daring plans that not only look good on paper but also practical in reality. ”
The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge begins in Darwin on October 22nd and ends in Adelaide five days later. The cars are expected to complete the course in 50 hours. Durham’s car will compete in the Challenger Class, where cars initially have 10% of their energy stored in batteries and the rest is generated from sunlight.
The solar panel is not very big and can only provide about half the power of a hairdryer. Because of this, people have had to create vehicles that use less energy.
The car, which is called DUSC23, is crafted with light and strong materials called carbon fiber and Kevlar. It weighs about 170kg (374 lb).
The university said that an in-wheel motor doesn’t require a gearbox or other mechanical parts, and this makes it more efficient. Mitch Flegg, who is in charge of sponsors for Serica Energy, said that the company was really impressed with the great teamwork and clever ideas from the engineers and scientists at Durham.
He said they had overcome big challenges to design and build this special vehicle from the beginning, following very precise specifications.
Bridgestone North said it wanted to help with new ideas and making transportation more eco-friendly.
Australia is experiencing hot weather and fires during early spring. This is causing concerns about a very destructive summer.
This past weekend, over 20 runners in the Sydney Marathon had to go to the hospital because of a very hot weather. Ski resorts, like Perisher which is the biggest one in the country, have closed early because there isn’t enough snow. This is because Australia has just had its warmest winter ever recorded since 1910.
Then, just recently, many uncontrollable fires started in the country, with over 60 burning in the heavily populated state of New South Wales.
These signs are not good for what many areas of the country can expect as spring turns into summer. Climate scientists are warning us about the combination of natural climate events like El Niño with human-caused global warming.
David Bowman, a professor at the University of Tasmania, Australia, said that we are in a very serious situation. “The climate change monster is awake and El Niño means it is furious,” he said to CNN.
Australia’s weather agency, the Bureau of Meteorology, recently declared the start of El Niño. El Niño is a natural pattern that comes from the Pacific Ocean and usually brings hot and dry weather to Australia, especially in the eastern areas.
In addition to El Niño, there is another change in the climate that increases the chances of hot weather and lack of rainfall. The positive Indian Ocean Dipole is a weather pattern like El Niño, but it comes from the Indian Ocean. It can also affect the weather in Australia just like El Niño does.
This “double punch” is very unlucky, said Bowman. Global heating is happening because we keep burning fossil fuels which warm up our planet. This is making extreme weather more likely.
“We are already witnessing severe and unusual weather in certain areas of the continent, especially prolonged periods of heat,” Karl Braganza, the head of climate monitoring at BOM, stated during a phone call with reporters on Tuesday. Additionally, Braganza mentioned the occurrence of devastating fires.
He asked Australians to get ready for a hot summer and be aware of the risks of fires.
People in Australia are very worried because they still remember the terrible fires that happened in 2019 to 2020, which were the worst in many years. The fires destroyed a very large area of land, about the size of 10 million football fields. They caused the deaths of many people and a huge number of animals, reaching more than a billion.
However, things are not the same this year. The period leading up to the Black Summer fires was very dry for three years, making the landscapes prone to burning for a long time. However, the recent years in Australia have been wet because of a weather pattern called La Niña, which is the opposite of El Niño.
However, experts warned CNN that it’s not time to relax or be satisfied. Robb Webb, CEO of the National Council for fire and emergency services (AFAC), said that even though a bushfire season as widespread as the Black Summer is unlikely to happen again, it doesn’t mean that the upcoming fire season can’t be dangerous.
The fire outlook report from AFAC, which was released last month, said that there is a higher chance of fire in many areas of the country. This is because the plants that grew during the rainy years are becoming dry quickly.
Bowman explained that when there are long periods of intense heat, it can cause dry landscapes to break. This means that all the healthy plants and vegetation can quickly become very dry and flammable. A mixture of very hot weather and strong wind could make fires very intense and seem like they appear suddenly.
Australians should also expect hot temperatures, in addition to fire. Braganza said that this summer will be hotter than usual and hotter than the past three years.
The temperatures are very high and are already setting new records in the area. On Wednesday, it was very hot at Sydney airport. The temperature reached 35. 9 degrees Celsius, which is 97 degrees Fahrenheit. This was the hottest temperature ever recorded for the month of September. In September, the typical temperature in Sydney is about 20 degrees Celsius (or 68 degrees Fahrenheit).
We don’t know if the summer heat will be very high like never before.
“Each El Niño is unique,” mentioned Andrea Taschetto, a climate expert at the University of New South Wales. This variability makes it difficult to accurately determine the extent of the heat.
However, it is likely that this summer will be the hottest ever, according to what she said.
Some people are more careful. Jason Evans, who is a professor at the University of New South Wales and studies climate, said that although the unusually hot winter is worrisome for extreme heat this summer, he believes that the several years of heavy rain make it less probable for us to see record-breaking temperatures. However, the outcome will be determined by the level of dryness in the upcoming months, he mentioned.
He told CNN that it is clear that climate change is causing extreme weather events to become more severe. He said that extreme heat is getting worse. This is making droughts and heavy rain even worse too.
“According to Bowman, climate change is now becoming the main focus. ” The past is not a good way to predict what will happen in the future. Be prepared for things that you did not anticipate or expect.
Australia will host the first-ever international academic conference on the influence of Taylor Swift.
The “Swiftposium” is a gathering where people will talk about how the famous singer has affected things like the music industry, culture, and the economy.
The people planning the event that will last for three days are wishing that it will attract researchers from different countries in the Asia-Pacific area.
It will happen in February – during the same week Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour comes to Australia.
Swift became really famous when she was young. She has been involved in many important events and discussions throughout her career.
The person who is 33 years old has become very successful and respected in the art world. They have earned a lot of money and won many awards. They have also started discussions about different topics like how much artists get paid for their music and who owns the music. They have also talked about treating women badly and the practice of canceling people.
Swift’s Eras Tour is having a big impact. Ticketing sites have crashed because so many people are trying to buy tickets. Experts have even come up with a new trend called “Swiftonomics. ” In Victoria, Australia, they are quickly changing the laws about scalping.
“She’s really incredible,” said Swiftposium organizer Jennifer Beckett from the University of Melbourne in an interview with the BBC.
The event was initially suggested as a joke on Twitter, but it gained support from seven universities in Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Beckett said that Taylor Swift has a significant influence worldwide in areas that affect everyone, such as the role of women in industries, entertainment laws, and even the overall economic growth.
“Leaders from around the world are desperately asking her to bring the Eras Tour to their country because it brings economic advantages,” she said.
Swift has been taught in American universities before, but this is the first time people from all over the world are coming together to talk about her impact.
The people planning the conference want to cover topics like the popularity of fans, Swift’s team’s effective marketing strategies, and the singer-songwriter’s influence on conversations about gender, identity, race, and intersectionality. They also say that it is good to carefully examine and judge her brand and influence.
The people who will be speaking will be decided in the next few months, and there are plans to organize an event where fans can buy tickets to participate.
But they have kept an empty spot in the lineup for the superstar herself, just in case she wants to join.
Dr Beckett said that if Taylor Swift decides to come, we would all be very surprised, but she is definitely welcome to come.
“TayTay, if you want to join us, we would be very happy to have you. ”
Higor Fiuza, a person from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, was spotted in Rainbow Bay multiple times with his pet snake named Shiva. They were seen together at least 10 times.
He said to Nine News: ‘She goes swimming for a bit and then returns to the surfboard – she’s just casually waiting for a wave – for the perfect wave.
She goes underwater and comes back up. She is always there, and I don’t have to save her.
‘She likes it because when she gets upset, she starts making hissing sounds. But when she’s surfing, she doesn’t do anything except hold on. ‘
A video of the two people surfing became very popular online earlier this month.
But Mr Fiuza admitted that what he does can be scary for some people and enjoyable for others.
A man got in trouble and had to pay money as a punishment for taking his pet snake surfing in Australia. But the Department of Environment and Science in Queensland has now confirmed that Mr. Fiuza was fined $2,322 (1,207 pounds) for taking the reptile out in public without permission.
The wildlife officer, Jonathan McDonald, said that they noticed a man who was in the news for taking his python into the water.
“We don’t want people with permits to show their native animals in public, unless it’s for an approved reason and it’s done in a way that takes good care of the animal, keeps the public safe, and follows the rules. ”
“Bringing wild pets outside can make them feel stressed and act in unpredictable ways when they are taken away from their homes. ”
The department said that even though Mr. Fiuza was allowed to have the snake, he was not allowed to take it off his property.
Mr McDonald said: ‘Snakes are animals that are cold-blooded and they can swim, but reptiles usually try to stay away from water. ‘
The python might have felt that the water was very cold, and only sea snakes should be in the ocean.
Australia’s Bureau of Meterology (BOM) reported that many cities on the east coast experienced unusually high temperatures during spring on Tuesday. Sydney, the capital of New South Wales (NSW), was predicted to have its hottest day in September on Wednesday. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecasted a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
Senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury, who works for BOM, said that there is extremely hot weather in NSW this September. She also mentioned that there are dangerous fire conditions and strong winds. The video was posted on X, which used to be called Twitter.
According to a statement on Facebook by NSW Rural Fire Service, there were 65 fires burning in New South Wales as of Wednesday afternoon. Almost one-third of these fires were not under control.
NSWRFS commissioner Rob Rogers said Tuesday that the current risk is the most dangerous we have encountered since the Black Summer fires in 2019. These fires were very destructive and caused a lot of harm, killing many people and animals and burning a large area of land.
On Tuesday, the NSWRFS put in place a complete ban on fires in Sydney and the nearby areas. This includes barbecues, campfires, and even activities like welding.
The alerts for NSW are given as there are also bushfires happening in Queensland, Tasmania, and parts of central Australia near the tourist town of Tennant Creek. On Monday, the authorities said that the fire in Tennant Creek had burned over a million hectares of land in the Northern Territory.
In simpler words: Last month, the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) said that there could be more bushfires in Australia. They especially mentioned the Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales as places with higher risks. They believe this is because of climate change.
AFAC CEO Rob Webb said that the changes in weather this season are causing a higher chance of bushfires. Most of the country will have less rain and higher temperatures than usual this spring. Australians should be careful and aware of the risk of bushfires in their area, no matter where they live.
It happened after the country had a very dry August, and the climate scientist said it was the warmest winter ever on his Facebook video.
Australia is expected to have very hot months coming up soon. On Tuesday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) announced that an El Niño weather event was happening. This usually leads to a hotter and drier spring and summer, and there is a higher chance of bushfires.
Karl Braganza, who works for the Bureau of Meteorology’s climate monitoring team, said that this summer will be hotter than usual and hotter than the past three years. This was reported by CNN’s regional affiliate 9News.
The weather agency predicts colder weather in New South Wales in the next few days. The extreme heat and risk of fires are expected to move towards the north and west by the end of the week.
The cost of natural gas increased because workers went on strike at two large places where natural gas is made into a liquid form in Australia.
The employees at Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone plants in Western Australia are going on strike because they are unhappy with their payment and working conditions.
The two plants owned by the US energy giant make up more than 5% of the total worldwide capacity for liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Analysts at Engie EnergyScan said that prices have increased this morning, but not by a large amount.
“We haven’t started to see a decrease in the amount of resources available yet. ” So, there’s no need to worry if everything else seems bad, they said.
Australia is a big exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), just like Qatar and the US. When Russia started reducing its natural gas supplies to Europe, Australia’s LNG helped lower global energy prices.
Australia’s industrial mediator, the Fair Work Commission, has been organizing peaceful discussions between Chevron and the Offshore Alliance. The Offshore Alliance consists of two unions that represent energy workers.
“Sadly, after many meetings and discussions to work things out with the Fair Work Commission, we still disagree on important conditions,” explained a representative from Chevron.
Brad Gandy, who speaks for Offshore Alliance, said that Chevron’s stance hasn’t really changed much even after talking for five days.
“The Offshore Alliance members are asking them to change their approach so that they can resolve this disagreement,” he added.
Wholesale energy prices have decreased but there is still pressure to keep prices down.
The cost of oil went up this week, with a type called Brent crude being traded for around $90 per barrel. This happened because Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to continue reducing the amount of oil they are supplying until the end of the year.
LNG is a type of gas made from methane, which is a gas often found in natural sources like coal and oil. It can also be mixed with another gas called ethane. Before it is used, the impurities are removed and it is cooled to a very low temperature of around -160C.
This changes the gas into a liquid so it can be transported in tightly sealed tanks.
The LNG is converted back into gas and used for heating, cooking, and power, just like regular natural gas.
A person who was on a trip to Antarctica and got sick has been taken out of a faraway outpost during the winter. The rescue mission traveled thousands of kilometers. Australian officials announced this on Monday.
According to the Australian Antarctic Division, the RSV Nuyina ship traveled over 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) from Hobart in Tasmania to the Casey Research Station in the east Antarctic to help a patient.
The AAD said that the person on the expedition needs to see a specialist doctor in Australia for a health problem that is getting worse, but they didn’t say any more details.
“Our main focus is bringing the person on the expedition back to Tasmania so they can receive the necessary medical treatment,” said Robb Clifton, who is temporarily in charge of the Australian Antarctic Division’s operations and logistics department. He made this statement on Monday.
The Casey research station is situated on the edge of the Antarctic ice cap. It is found on the northern part of Bailey Peninsula on the Budd Coast. The station is about 3,880 kilometers (2,410 miles) south of Perth, Western Australia.
There are three permanent stations in Antarctica that Australia operates. One of them is called Casey. It is always occupied by about 150 expeditioners, who stay there all year. During the summer, more people come to visit Casey. During the cold winter months, there are only around 16 to 20 people at the base.
The Nuyina ship traveled for many days through rough seas in the Southern Ocean. It had to go through ice on the sea to get closer to a place where two helicopters could be used. The helicopters arrived at Casey on Sunday and took the patient back to the ship by air, according to the ADD.
Clifton said that the initial part of the evacuation went well and the ship is now on its way back to Hobart.
“The explorer will receive medical care in the Nuyina’s special medical facility, provided by our polar medicine doctors and staff from Royal Hobart Hospital. ”
The boat, which can go as fast as 16 knots, is estimated to reach Hobart again next week, but it depends on the weather, the AAD explained.
Casey has a small medical center, but in emergencies, other people may need to help the doctor at the station.
During the winter months, it is usually not possible to take flights to the Antarctic base. The weather is extremely cold, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit). There are also strong winds due to sudden blizzards and very little sunlight.
The closest runway to Casey is called Wilkins aerodrome. It is the main airport for the base and has a runway made of ice. However, it is only open and functioning during the summer, as stated on the APP’s website.
According to the AAP, the icebreaker Nuyina will travel about 7,000 kilometers to rescue people from Australia’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research stations.
The AAD said the family of the expeditioner is being updated about the situation and that all other people in the stations are safe.
Hundreds of people attended a ceremony in Australia to honor a couple who passed away after eating a mushroom beef dish made by their ex-daughter-in-law.
Gail and Don Patterson were two out of three people who died after having lunch at Erin Patterson’s house last month. This event has attracted a lot of attention from the entire country.
The police think that the Pattersons and Don’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, ate poisonous death cap mushrooms.
Ms Patterson claims she didn’t do anything wrong and the inclusion of mushrooms was unintentional.
All four of her guests became very sick shortly after they ate lunch. Ian Wilkinson, who is married to Ms. Wilkinson and is a pastor in the area, was the fourth person to come as a guest.
According to Australian media, Mr. Wilkinson is still in the hospital but he is getting better, even though his wife has also passed away.
The police think Erin Patterson might have done something wrong because she and her two children seemed fine after lunch. But she hasn’t been taken into custody and she isn’t being accused of any wrongdoing.
The cook says that the mushroom deaths in Australia were accidental.
Her ex-husband Simon Patterson gave a speech at the funeral, which was also his first public statement about the tragic event. He was asked to come to a family lunch on July 29th, but he couldn’t go because something came up suddenly.
MrPatterson talked about his parents in the speech, but didn’t mention his ex-wife. He said that his parents were very religious Christians who used to be missionaries and were dedicated to their faith and helping others.
“He said that the fact they both died on consecutive days shows how closely they worked together to achieve their goals. ”
We were one of the few families who sat together at the tea table for dinner in the evening.
Mr Patterson said that his father, who is 70 years old, had to get a liver transplant while in the hospital. He mentioned that his father’s good health helped him survive the surgery.
“He said that unfortunately, the rest of his body was too sick to go any further than that point. ”
Mr Patterson could not hold back his tears. He said, “It was not a coincidence that my mom’s last text message in our family chat was ‘Lots of love to you all’, when she was in Dandenong Hospital. ”
Ever since the sad event happened to the family, Australia cannot stop thinking about the situation – and people are paying very close attention to all the details. Many people across the country were interested in the case, so a television crew came to the Thursday service and showed the footage on different channels.
Ms Patterson has consistently stated that she didn’t do anything wrong and mentioned that she had to go to the hospital because her stomach hurt after eating the meal.
Two weeks ago, she explained why she did what she did to the police.
Australia has decided on a date for its first referendum in 24 years. Recent polls indicate that the government is likely to fail if it cannot regain its dwindling support.
On October 14, over 17 million people who are allowed to vote will decide if they want to change the rules of the country’s constitution. This change would mean that the government would acknowledge and give importance to the people who were the first to live in this land by creating a special group that would give advice to the government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that every Australian will have a rare opportunity to unite our country and make it better.
As soon as the date was announced, the no campaign sent a text message asking for donations that can be deducted from taxes. The message said: “It’s happening. Albo has declared it, and we have until October 14th to defeat the Voice. ”
Only one question will be asked, and you can only answer with “yes” or “no”. The question is about changing the Constitution to acknowledge the First Peoples of Australia by creating a voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Do you agree with this suggested change.
This question has led to many discussions and debates both online and on television. Both sides are trying very hard to convince most people in all states and territories to support their viewpoint.
To pass the vote, it requires two conditions to be met. Firstly, more than 50% of all voters in the country must vote in favor. Secondly, at least 50% of the states, which is four out of six, must also vote in favor. Votes in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory will only count towards the overall number of votes in the country.
People see the vote as an important moment because it doesn’t happen often and can’t be undone. It has also brought attention to long-standing problems that have been around for hundreds of years.
The Voice, if agreed upon, would include a group of Indigenous people in the constitution. They will provide guidance to the government regarding laws that affect them.
Advocates claim that the vote is a chance to address the deep pain caused by unfair treatment, and to finally give attention to the concerns of First Nations people after enduring many years of mistreatment, prejudice, and lack of care.
Some people believe that it’s just a small action that won’t make a difference and could create divisions by giving certain Australians special treatment in the constitution.
The situation becomes more complex because there are people who support the “yes” side, believing that marking a choice on a ballot is a small way to oppose racism. On the other hand, there are also some Indigenous people who are against voting “yes” because they think that this vote will let Australians off the hook without taking real action against racism, and they believe that what is really needed is a treaty.
Campaigners will now try harder to win over voters who are unsure and may not vote for a specific party.
The Labor government wants people to vote yes, but the other major parties in Australia, the Liberal Party and National Party, are supporting a no vote.
The intense political atmosphere has created small fires of false information that the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has tried to stop before they spread.
For instance, the Liberal leader Peter Dutton said last week that the AEC process was not fair because the AEC commissioner stated that they would probably accept a check mark for yes but not a X mark for no.
Dutton told Sky News that he feels like they are purposely making the situation favor the yes vote, even though Australians just want a fair election, not a dishonest one.
The AEC said that they strongly disagree with the idea that by openly following the laws and rules for the referendum, they are going against fairness and neutrality.
The AEC said it must count votes that have been cast incorrectly but show a clear voting intention because the law requires it. They also mentioned that according to legal advice they have received, a cross on a ballot can sometimes be unclear and can be interpreted differently whether it implies approval or disapproval.
Apart from arguments about how things are done, this debate is about how the country sees its Indigenous people, 235 years after the British settlers came and changed the lives of those who had lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years.
Every year, the government updates its statistics that reveal the ongoing effects of colonization. These statistics provide a general overview of the Indigenous population, which consists of many different groups and makes up less than 4% of the total population. In a country with a population of 26 million, this translates to around 800,000 Indigenous individuals.
Australian history used to be told by the people who colonized the country. They didn’t pay attention to or made less important the violent beginnings of the country.
In the late 1800s, she stated that Indigenous people didn’t fit in Australia’s plan to create a nation, and as time went on and civil rights movements occurred in America and anti-apartheid movements took place, the lack of attention towards Indigenous people became very noticeable and strong.
The Indigenous community’s requests became stronger and were talked about, improved, and eventually written down as the “Uluru Statement from the Heart” – a paper supported by almost 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and elders. This statement is the foundation of the Voice proposal – something that historians widely support.
This is a very significant time because Australian historians have decided what Australian history is and who can be a historian and share that story. Right now, we are being asked to take a step back and listen to the stories and knowledge of Aboriginal people.
However, recent polls indicate that if a vote took place now, it would probably not succeed.
The campaign against the Voice is getting stronger because people are questioning the specifics and saying that voters don’t have enough information to decide on it. The government says that those details will be discussed in parliament once there is a change in the constitution.
The last time Australians were asked to vote on the rights of Indigenous people was in 1967. At that time, 90% of voters agreed to include Indigenous Australians in the population counts and have laws made specifically for them.
This time, June Oscar, who works for the Australian Human Rights Commission, is worried that some people in faraway places or those who are avoiding talking about it aren’t getting the information. This has been tough for some Indigenous people.
Oscar said that we are observing and hearing a lot of mean and hurtful things about different races regarding the referendum. He mentioned that the AHRC created a kit that helps people understand how to reduce the harm caused by this type of talk. Some tips are to focus on Indigenous knowledge, opinions, and perspectives and to avoid using offensive language based on race.
Oscar expressed feelings of sadness and disappointment about false information being spread as well.
Some people are worried that if the vote doesn’t pass, it might give the impression, whether it is true or not, that racists have succeeded. This could jeopardize the progress made over centuries in earning respect for the country’s Indigenous peoples, and future generations may suffer from it.
Oscar said he believes strongly that we can and should fix things in our lifetime, and that we shouldn’t leave the problem for future generations.
What happens if it doesn’t work.
“We start over and take lessons from this experience to be better prepared for the next opportunity. ”
But Albanese has stated that there will not be any additional opportunities.
Not voting leads to no progress. It means things stay the same. He said on Wednesday that if you vote against it, the chance to progress will be lost.
Speaking directly to Australians, he told them not to reject ideas that originate from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or from the younger generations of Indigenous Australians.
BBC, researchers announced on Monday that they discovered a live 8cm (3in) worm within the brain of an Australian woman, marking a global first.
The 64-year-old woman had been experiencing symptoms such as stomach pain, cough, night sweats, and subsequently, forgetfulness and depression over the course of several months.
She was admitted to the hospital in late January 2021, and a subsequent scan revealed an “unusual lesion within the right frontal lobe of the brain.”
However, the true cause of her condition only became evident during a biopsy performed in June 2022.
Dr. Hari Priya Bandi, the surgeon who conducted the procedure, explained that a “string-like structure” was extracted from the patient’s affected frontal lobe during the surgery in Canberra in 2022.
She said, “It was definitely not what we were expecting. Everyone was shocked.”
According to a report from the BBC, her situation is believed to mark the inaugural occurrence of larvae infiltration and growth within the human brain. This revelation comes from research published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, which documented the case.
Additionally, the doctor noted that the crimson-hued parasite may have resided within her brain for approximately two months.
Residing in an area near a lake in the southeastern region of New South Wales state, the woman is on a steady path to recovery.
The neurosurgeon responsible for identifying the worm mentioned that she had just started interacting with the peculiar brain region that had appeared unusual on the scans when she sensed something different.
She recounted, “I thought, gosh, that feels funny, you couldn’t see anything more abnormal.”
“And then I was able to really feel something, and I took my tweezers and I pulled it out and I thought, ‘Gosh! What is that? It’s moving!”
“Everyone was shocked. And the worm that we found was happily moving, quite vigorously, outside the brain,” Dr Bandi said.
On the 7th of September, employees at two large natural gas plants in Australia will commence a strike. This could make natural gas prices higher around the world.
After talking with unions for several weeks, they finally reached an agreement on payment and working conditions.
Chevron, the big US energy company that runs the places, said it would “keep doing things to make sure everything stays safe and works properly, even if something goes wrong at our sites. ”
Concerns about potential work stoppages have recently caused the cost of gas bought and sold in bulk in Europe to increase.
The Wheatstone and Gorgon sites in Western Australia make more than 5% of the world’s LNG (liquified natural gas). There are currently about 500 workers at these two plants.
According to a strike plan seen by the BBC, workers will stop working for up to 11 hours each day during the industrial action.
Chevron said in a statement on Tuesday that although they don’t think strikes are needed to make a deal, they understand that employees have the right to go on strike if they need to.
It also mentioned that it would “keep negotiating to find solutions that are good for both workers and the company. ”
The Offshore Alliance is a group of two unions that represent energy workers, including those who work at Chevron. The group has been trying to make an agreement with Chevron on important things like how much they get paid, how secure their jobs are, their work schedules, and the standards for their training.
The workers were not happy with how the company was negotiating with the union and they were also upset that Chevron didn’t agree to use a common agreement that is normally used in their industry for the work they do.
According to energy analyst Saul Kavonic, he believes that the strike will not have much effect on gas prices worldwide.
But he cautioned that if the workers increase their strike, the cost of energy could go up a lot.
He said that if there was a very unlikely situation where there is a long-lasting problem with getting enough supplies, prices could go up to the same crisis levels as last year.
Samantha Dart, a senior energy analyst at Goldman Sachs, recently explained to the BBC that the issue lies with the facilities in Australia that make liquid natural gas. These facilities are providing natural gas to all of Asia.
“When countries in Asia don’t have enough of natural gas, they purchase it from the Atlantic Basin instead. This means that liquefied natural gas (LNG) that would have been sent to Europe is redirected to Asia due to the increased competition for supply. ”
When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the prices of oil and gas went way up. As a result, people and businesses had to pay much more for their energy bills.
Last week, the prices of wholesale gas in Europe increased because people were worried about the possibility of a shortage in supply from Chevron and another Australian LNG plant owned by Woodside Energy.
On Thursday, Woodside announced that it made an initial agreement with the worker unions at its North West Shelf facility.
The Woodside and Chevron plants together provide about 10% of the world’s LNG.
A map is a visual representation of an area. It shows the features and locations of places on Earth.
Russia reduced the amount of natural gas it sent to Europe after the Ukraine war began in 2022.
That made prices higher everywhere and caused countries to look for different ways to get energy, like LNG.
Australia is a country that sells a lot of natural gas to other countries. This has helped to make energy prices lower worldwide.
LNG is a type of natural gas that has been purified and cooled to a very cold temperature of around -160C. It is made up of methane, which is the main component, and sometimes mixed with ethane.
This process changes the gas into a liquid form, which can be transported in tanks that have high pressure.
When the LNG reaches its target place, it is transformed into gas again and can be used just like regular natural gas for activities such as heating, cooking, and producing electricity.
Following England’s victory over Australia to secure a place in the World Cup final, England managerSarina Wiegman heaped commendation upon her exceptional players.
In a remarkable performance, England defeated tournament co-hosts Australia with a score of 3-1, thus securing their inaugural appearance in the Women’s World Cup final.
The triumphant win was sealed by goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, and Alessia Russo, igniting exuberant celebrations at the conclusion of the match.
Speaking to BBC One after the match, England manager Wiegman said: “We achieved the final! It’s unbelievable; it feels like we won the whole thing, but we didn’t. An away game at this incredible stadium was hard, but again, we found a way to win.
“We scored three goals.In this team, there is ruthlessness, up front and in defence. We really want to win. We stick together and we stick to the plan, and it worked again.”
England’s win was a historic one for Wiegman herself, as she is the first manager to guide two different countries to the Women’s World Cup finals.
England will take on Spain, another final debutant – on Sunday. Before the competition, Jorge Vilda’s side had never won a knockout match at a major tournament.
Australia’s star striker, Sam Kerr, found herself in the starting lineup at the Women’s World Cup for the first time during Wednesday’s semi-final clash against England in Sydney.
The 29-year-old captain had made appearances as a substitute in the previous two matches due to a calf injury that significantly limited her participation in the World Cup.
Her inclusion in coach Tony Gustavsson’s starting eleven provides a significant boost to the co-hosts’ prospects of making it to the World Cup final for the very first time.
The victor of the semi-final in Sydney will square off against Spain in the final on Sunday, also set to be held at Stadium Australia.
Kerr takes the field in place of Emily van Egmond, marking one of two changes, alongside Clare Polkinghorne, who replaces fellow defender Alanna Kennedy.
The European champions, England, have maintained an unchanged lineup from their quarterfinal victory over Colombia, where they secured a 2-1 win.
Known for her prolific scoring record, Kerr averages a goal every other game for Australia.
Despite being anticipated as a key figure for her home World Cup, she saw her first action in the Round of 16, entering the match in the 80th minute during a 2-0 victory against Denmark.
The lady at the centre of a suspected mushroom poisoning case that claimed the lives of three people in Australia claims in a statement to the police that she bought the ingredients from two different stores, according to national broadcaster ABC.
ABC said on Monday that Erin Patterson, 48, told police she wanted to “clear up the record” because she had grown “extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths” of her loved ones.
According to Victoria Police, on July 29, Patterson had Don and Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson, and Ian Wilkinson as guests at her home in the small town of Leongatha.
According to authorities, three of the four relatives who attended lunch with them passed away after exhibiting signs of “death cap” mushroom poisoning. One patient’s status in the hospital remained critical.
In order to help them figure out the specifics of the case, Victoria Police’s homicide squad advised people to avoid eating wild mushrooms and to only consume those that are sold in grocery stores.
Patterson, however, asserts that she recently purchased button mushrooms from a supermarket chain and recently purchased dried mushrooms from an Asian store in Melbourne.
According to Patterson’s statement, which was cited by ABC, she said that both sets of mushrooms were utilised in the beef wellington she prepared and served for the family supper.
“I’m hoping this statement can be of some assistance. In the report, Patterson was reported as saying, “I think if people understood the context more, they would not be so eager to rush to judgement.
“I am now horrified to consider that these mushrooms could have had a role in my loved ones’ illnesses. I truly want to stress that I had no justification for harming these people, who I loved.
In relation to the fatalities, Patterson has not been detained or charged.
Patterson earlier denied any wrongdoing in an emotional conversation with local media outside her home last week.
It is unknown what exactly Patterson told Victoria Police. The Age newspaper later acquired it and published a piece that corroborated ABC’s reporting.
In response to the statement, Victoria Police declined to comment.
According to authorities, there has been no more development in the investigation, and at this time, we won’t be commenting on certain aspects of it, CNN said on Tuesday.
A long tenderloin is wrapped in dough and filled with pâté or mushrooms to make beef wellington, a baked meal.
Police first claimed last week that Patterson’s two kids attended the family lunch in late July but did not partake in the meal.
However, Patterson’s statement claimed that the kids were gone at the movies, according to ABC’s reporting. The leftovers were served to the kids the following night, but she removed the mushrooms because they don’t like them.
Police claimed to have searched Patterson’s house on Saturday and taken several items for forensic analysis. The inquiry is still ongoing, according to police, who say they are maintaining an open mind about what occurred.
Australia’s coach, Tony Gustavsson, expressed his unwavering readiness to reintegrate Sam Kerr (29) into the starting lineup for the Women’s World Cup quarterfinal clash against France this Saturday, provided she receives clearance from the team’s medical staff.
Having been sidelined due to a calf injury, the esteemed captain of Australia made a brief appearance from the bench during the 2-0 victory over Denmark.
This cameo appearance has fueled optimism among home supporters for her increased involvement in the upcoming match against France at Brisbane’s Lang Park.
Australia has performed commendably in Kerr’s absence, with the exception of a surprising 3-2 loss to Nigeria.
They have managed to score six goals in their last two matches.
Gustavsson reassured fans that he harbours no concerns about disrupting the Matildas’ current momentum by opting to start Kerr in the lineup.
“I definitely would never ever see Sam as a disturbance to the team,” the Swede told a press conference on Friday.
“And I want to be very clear here and now to say that if Sam is fit to play 90 minutes, she is starting. That’s not even a question, and the team knows it.
“We’re talking about Sam Kerr. Whether she is ready to play 90 minutes plus extra time, that’s to be decided tonight.”
Gustavsson had all of his squad training at their last session, including striker Kyah Simon, who has carried a long-term knee injury into the tournament and not played a minute.
Simon’s availability will also be assessed by medical staff later on Friday, Gustavsson said.
Having never made the semi-finals at a World Cup, Australia will break new ground if they beat France.
France were knocked out of the quarterfinals as hosts of the 2019 tournament by a champion United States team that featured Gustavsson as an assistant to then-coach Jill Ellis.
France manager Herve Renard remarked this week that the pressure will be on Australia as co-hosts on Saturday.
The match will draw a capacity crowd to Lang Park and be broadcast live on free-to-air TV, coast-to-coast.
Thousands of fans will flock to live sites in Australia’s major cities, while crowds going to watch Australian Rules football matches in Sydney and Melbourne will be able to watch the Matildas on big screens at the stadiums.
Australia defender Ellie Carpenter said the nation’s support was a motivation for the Matildas than pressure.
France, however, would see their campaign as a failure if eliminated on Saturday, the Lyon fullback added.
“Their mentality is that if they’re out in a quarterfinal, that’s not good enough for them,” she said.
“They’re going to be confident tomorrow. Of course, they’re going to come out and show that they are confident. But that doesn’t bother us at all.”
The mysterious eight-foot-wide metal dome that washed up on an isolated Australian beach has now received an explanation from authorities.
On July 15, the enormous cylinder was found on a beach close to Green Head, a tiny coastal community of only 300 people located 155 miles north of Perth, Western Australia.
Locals who were curious about the copper-colored canister reported it, and police set up a cordon so that scientists and state fire officials could perform studies.
A local informed the Australian Broadcast Network (ABC) how a couple who were floating at sea discovered the dome and “dragged it out with their four-wheel drive.”
The Western Australia Police Force reported that the device was taken to a “undisclosed location” after authorities received the go-ahead that it doesn’t represent a risk to people.
Locals in Green Head, online investigators, and X-Files devotees were perplexed by the unusual cylinder.
Some speculated that the huge cylinder, which was around the height of a person, might have been made by aliens, possibly using ‘biologics’ that are not human.
Others believed the Malaysia Airlines flight that vanished over the Indian Ocean in 2014 was caused by the waste system on board a Boeing 777 or perhaps by a piece of that aircraft.
It was found dented on one end and covered in barnacles, indicating that it had spent some time in the ocean before washing up on shore.
The ‘unidentified item’ was, according to police, at best likely space trash.
Contrary to rumours, there is no proof that the object is associated with a commercial aircraft, according to the force.
However, the Australian Space Agency has finally established its real origin, which is, to be fair, somewhat extraterrestrial. if necessary. Actually not at all.
A spokeswoman added, “We have concluded the object found on a Western Australian beach is most likely debris from an expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).”
‘The PSLV is an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) medium-lift launch vehicle.
“The debris is still in storage, and the Australian Space Agency is working with ISRO, who will provide further confirmation to determine the appropriate course of action, including taking into account obligations under the United Nations space treaties,” says the statement.
Countries are required by a 1968 UN agreement to return recovered space trash to the country that owned it.
Officials from the space agency have urged anyone who discovers any additional debris to report it to their local authorities.
The PSLV, often known as the “workhorse,” is a 145-foot-tall rocket that serves as India’s preferred means of launching satellites into orbit.
According to the IRSO, the third stage of the six-stage vehicle is a “solid rocket motor that provides the upper stages with high thrust after the atmospheric phase of the launch.”
Given that the Earth’s atmosphere is becoming more and more like a giant space garbage dump, a strange piece of metal could wash up on a beach close to you today.
According to NASA, there is a lot more debris in the vicinity of Earth that is “too small to be tracked but large enough to threaten human spaceflight and robotic missions.”
The organisation calculates that there are approximately 23,000 objects larger than a baseball hurtling around the planet at velocities of up to 17,500 mph.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced on Tuesday that a former daycare worker has been charged with 1,623 child abuse offences allegedly committed against 91 children in Australia and abroad over a 15-year period.
Since August 2022, when he was first accused of producing child exploitation material and using a carriage service to distribute it, the 45-year-old Gold Coast man has been in police detention.
More child abuse content was allegedly found on computer devices purportedly belonged by the individual, who worked between 2007 and 2022 in 12 childcare facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, and an unidentified foreign location. Police said a special inquiry unearthed the material.
In a news conference, New South Wales police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald remarked, “This is one of the most horrific cases of alleged child abuse our detectives have seen.”
Numerous more accusations relating to holding, creating, disseminating, or getting child exploitation material include hundreds of counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16, counts of generating child exploitation material, and other crimes.
Police stated that all the allegedly wronged children were prepubescent girls and that they were “highly-confident” that all 87 Australian children who were reportedly depicted in the purported material had been located and that their parents had been notified of the investigation.
The AFP stated that it is collaborating with international authorities to assist in the identification of four minors seen in the allegedly child abuse-related foreign video.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Col Briggs of the Queensland Police Service said, “These allegations are horrific and confronting, but I commend all investigators from each jurisdiction for their tireless efforts to make sure that our community is made safer as a result of the arrest of the alleged perpetrator.”
On August 21, the man—who has not yet been given a name by the authorities—will appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court.
In a surprising turn of events at theWomen’s World Cup, Nigeria pulled off a remarkable comeback to defeat co-hosts Australia 3-2 in Brisbane, taking a significant step towards qualifying for the knockout phase.
After Australia took the lead just before halftime, Nigeria showed great resilience and determination in the second half.
Uchenna Kanu, Osinachi Ohale, and substitute Asisat Oshoala all found the back of the net, securing Africa’s first victory in the tournament Down Under. This win places Nigeria one point away from securing a spot in the last-16 stage.
With four points, Nigeria now tops Group B, edging ahead of Canada on goal difference, while Australia stands at three points. Ireland, at the bottom of the standings, is out of contention without any points.
In their final group game, Nigeria will face Ireland in Brisbane next Monday, where they only need a draw to progress further. Meanwhile, Australia and Canada will clash in Melbourne at the same time.
Although Australia dominated the early exchanges and scored just before halftime, Nigeria quickly equalized within three minutes, showing their determination to stay in the game.
Rasheedat Ajibade’s cross led to a deflection that found Uchenna Kanu at the back post, allowing her to poke it home from close range.
The victory for Nigeria has added excitement to the tournament, and the Super Falcons are proving to be a formidable force in the Women’s World Cup.
A 65th minute corner was not properly cleared by the Australians, allowing Nigeria to get the ball across the goal and a brave header from Ohale put them ahead.
Seven minutes after taking the lead, Nigeria stunned the crowd as they went two goals clear with Oshoala taking advantage of a defensive mix-up between central defender Alanna Kennedy and goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, stealing away the ball and scoring from a tight angle.
Nigeria had to weather 13 minutes of stoppage time added on at the end of the game to ensure a precious three-point haul, although conceded in the 100th minute to Kennedy, who headed home a corner.
Nigeria had previously beaten Australia at the Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015 and Thursday’s win was only their fifth in 28 games at nine final appearances.
Defeat for Australia’s Matildas follows a similar defeat for the other co-hosts New Zealand at the hands of the Philippines earlier in the week.
Despite getting severely bit on the leg, a surfer who was attacked by a shark at a beach was able to save his own life and swim 600 metres back to shore.
At 8.45am on Monday at Gnarabup Beach in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, a great white shark attacked a guy in his twenties.
The victim lost ‘a lot of blood’ but was able to escape the shark’s hold and swim back to shore before the shark bit him on the leg.
The man was given first aid by an off-duty nurse after suffering a deep gash to his left leg.
He is currently in a stable condition after he was taken to Margaret River Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The attack happened at Gnarabup Beach in the Margaret River region, Western Australia, at 8.45am on Monday (Picture: Getty Images)
Footage that was captured from the shore showed dramatic scenes as the shark splashed towards the victim while a surfboard was flung into the air.
Beachgoers told 9News the man was incredibly brave and said he ‘saved his own life’.
They said he ‘lost a lot of blood,’ as he fought to escape from the animal before paddling back to the beach.
Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is investigating the attack.
Authorities have urged beachgoers to take extra care around the Gnarabup and Prevelly area.
It is seventh shark attack on beaches across Western Australia this year.
The English batter departed his position in the second test, seemingly believing the over had gone, and Australia went on to win the game.
However, Mr. Albanese asserted that the nation is “right behind” their squad.
The prime minister tweeted, “Same old Aussies – always winning!” in reference to the Australian team’s two recent Test victories. He also seemed to be mocking English supporters who screamed “same old Aussies always cheating” after Bairstow was sent off the field.
Some of Australia’s best-known politicians were also at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London that match, including the nation’s second longest-serving Prime Minister John Howard.
Australian team captain Pat Cummins has maintained the Bairstow wicket was fair and within the rules.
But while his England counterpart Ben Stokes agreed Bairstow was out, Stokes said he would not have wanted to win a match “in that manner”.
The debate over the Bairstow wicket has ramped up the consistently fierce rivalry between Australia and England during an Ashes Test series.
England fans were criticised for their behaviour at the member’s club at Lord’s on Saturday when a crowd heckled and yelled abuse at the Australian team players as they filed past after the match.
Following complaints from the Australian side, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) – which owns Lord’s – issued an apology and said it had suspended three members over the incident.
On Tuesday, further footage emerged of Australian batsman Usman Khawaja, a Muslim player of Pakistani heritage, being taunted and jeered at by English members in the crowd.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported Khawaja had been “repeatedly singled out for abuse” in the room, and published a video showing Khawaja reacting to the crowd and pointing out hecklers to a security guard.
He described the comments as “disrespectful” and “really disappointing”.
Australian captain Cummins also said members were “quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players”.
The Sydney paper reported that sources close to the England Cricket Board have denied any of the MCC investigations into the confrontation relate to racial abuse.
Speaking after the second test, Australian captain Cummins also accused the English team of hypocrisy in game tactics – as match footage showed Bairstow trying to stump Australian batters in the same manner two days prior to the final day incident.
Australia has taken a two-nil lead in the Ashes against England, after winning the second test by 43 runs. There are three more tests to go.
A key representative body of doctors in Ghana, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) continues to lament the devastating impact of the increased migration of Ghanaian nurses to pursue employment opportunities in the healthcare sectors of other nations.
GMA is unhappy about the trend and has therefore asked the government to swiftly take action, which includes urgently absorbing the teeming unemployed nurses in the country, to avert the trend.
Expressing displeasure over the situation, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Chairman of the GMA, Dr Alex Egotey, bemoaned the high numbers of trained nurses who still remain at home “having no job to do.”
He, however, said that these health workers play an essential role in health delivery in the country, stressing that “the doctor cannot go to work without the nurse,” thereby, calling for urgent measures to be taken to address the matter.
He further said it was unfortunate and disheartening that many nurses had been in the house since 2019 without jobs, and appealed to the government to employ them.
“I do not blame the nurses who are traveling abroad because they also need to make a living. They must also do something to earn a decent living, so if there is an opportunity, they must go”, he said.
Data from the Ghana Registered Nurses’ and Midwives’ Association (GRNMA) says nearly 4,000 nurses left the country and emigrated to the West in 2022. It pegs the current emigration rate at about 500 every month.
The UK, Ireland, Australia, and Canada have become hotspots for the wave of Ghanaian health workers emigrating daily.
These countries are calling and Ghanaian nurses are answering loudly and leaving the shores of their motherland to seek better working conditions, flexible work schedules and better pay, leaving behind Ghana’s ailing health sector.
There still remains a huge number of communities that urgently need the services of these skilled workers, therefore, the situation is a huge threat to the country’s health sector. Suggesting a solution to this, Dr Alex Egotey said: “In fact, these thousands of nurses cannot continue to stay in the home and overburden their parents.
They also need to develop themselves and have a decent living. So, if we want the nurses to stay, then the government must give them jobs and improve the conditions of service as well.”
Australia has officially increased the age limit for working holiday visas from 30 to 35 years old, opening up the opportunity for approximately 16 million British citizens to apply for the visa.
This change is a result of the free trade agreement between the UK and Australia.
The expansion of the working holiday visa programme will also facilitate easier work and travel opportunities for Australians in the UK.
This development aligns with a similar agreement between New Zealand and the UK, which also extended the age limit for working holiday visas to 35 years old.
Under the revised rules, British individuals working and living in Australia will be eligible to stay for up to three years. Previously, there were limitations on the types of work that Brits could engage in, but these restrictions are set to be lifted by 2024.
Previously, completing 88 days of agricultural work was a requirement for staying in the country, but this rule has now been relaxed, allowing visitors to work across various industries.
Moreover, the three-year visa allowance does not need to be used consecutively and can be utilized until the age of 35.
This update aims to accommodate the growing interest from foreign travelers in recent years, as highlighted by Sally Cope, the UK regional general manager for Tourism Australia.
Australia’s minimum wage currently stands at around $21.38 (£11.22), while the UK’s minimum wage for individuals aged over 23 is £10.42.
England displayed a remarkable turnaround with both bat and ball on the second day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, resurrecting their fortunes.
The opening day of the match, under the leadership of Ben Stokes, was disappointingly lackluster, drawing sharp criticism from former captains Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan, who described their performance as “shambolic” and “utter dross” respectively.
However, England staged an impressive fightback when the game hung in the balance. Their improved seam attack accounted for five wickets, conceding only 77 runs to dismiss Australia for 416.
Although they couldn’t prevent Steve Smith, their perennial nemesis, from notching his 12th Ashes century—placing him second only to the legendary Donald Bradman—they were relieved not to have conceded more after Australia reached 316 for three on the first evening.
A brilliant unbeaten knock of 62 from Ben Duckett led England’s encouraging response of 145 for one.
Despite concerns about a shoulder injury, Ollie Pope contributed an unbeaten 32 at number three. Duckett formed a crucial partnership of 91 with Zak Crawley (48), which marked England’s best opening stand against Australia since January 2011.
Sir Andrew Strauss, who was present as part of the annual ‘Red for Ruth’ day, managed to raise over £270,000 in the process. This special event added significance to the game.
England began day two with Australia in a strong position at 339 for five. Captain Stokes entrusted the ball to his experienced bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The duo had gone wicketless in their 33 overs on the previous day, but they redeemed themselves admirably.
Broad’s first two deliveries of the morning went for boundaries, but he ended the over with a stunning delivery that jagged back into Alex Carey, hitting his front pad and prompting a successful review by England.
Anderson, operating from the Nursery End, drew a thick edge from the new batsman Mitchell Starc, which was safely pouched by Jonny Bairstow in front of first slip.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith calmly watched proceedings from the other end, inching closer to his century. He eventually reached 99 and then elegantly struck a cover drive to the boundary, completing his latest Ashes ton.
Despite Smith’s exceptional innings, England displayed great determination and efficiency, quickly wrapping up the Australian innings. Josh Tongue, who had previously dismissed Smith for Worcestershire earlier in the season, took a superb catch in the gully as Smith swung hard and lost his balance. Ollie Robinson then accounted for Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood in consecutive overs.
With four overs remaining before lunch, Duckett and Crawley safely negotiated the period. In the afternoon session, Crawley took charge, scoring 48 at a rapid rate. His elegant drives and punishing strokes punished anything over-pitched by the Australian bowlers.
Duckett continued his cautious approach, demonstrating control in both defense and attack. The pair added 75 runs in just 13 overs before the drinks break. However, Crawley fell victim to Nathan Lyon’s cunning, becoming the fourth English batsman in three innings to be stumped while attempting to take on the spinner.
Pope emerged from the pavilion, allaying concerns about his shoulder injury, and maintained the high tempo set by Duckett and Crawley.
Both batsmen backed their positive instincts, piling on the runs. Hazlewood and Starc proved expensive, conceding more than seven runs per over as the ball raced to the boundary. Duckett stylishly reached his half-century with a powerful shot through mid-wicket off Starc’s bowling.
A physical education instructor from Australia who killed his wife to start a new relationship with a teen pupil was found guilty of sexual assault.
On Wednesday, Chris Dawson was found guilty by Sydney Downing Centre District Court Judge Sarah Huggett of “carnal knowledge upon a girl above the age of 10 and under the age of 17.”
After killing his wife Lynette in 1982, Dawson started a new life with the same student who is now charged. He then wed the pupil, with whom he had a child, but they later got divorced.
Dawson was found guilty last year of murdering his first wife Lynette in a conviction that ended one of Australia’s longest-running cold cases.
He had long denied the murder, claiming Lynette had left him and their two young children before disappearing.
The student, who can be identified only as AB, alleged Dawson had sexually abused her in 1980, when she was a 16-year-old pupil in one of his classes at Cromer High School in Sydney.
Dawson, who appeared in court via video link from Sydney’s Long Bay jail, had denied that, claiming he began the relationship with AB when she was 17 and no longer his student.
Judge Huggett sided with AB, finding that Dawson had groomed the teenager while she was still his pupil.
AB said she began babysitting for Dawson when she was 16, often staying the night at Dawson’s house.
“He asked me to marry him when I was 16, many, many times, I always felt obligated,” AB had alleged.
Judge Huggett said she accepted the evidence that Dawson had proposed to AB at least once in 1980, when AB was 16.
The judge established there was “powerful evidence” within a 17th birthday card sent by Dawson to AB in early 1981, in which “the accused, a mature man, as opposed to an immature teenager, was confident in the existence of a reciprocal and permanent relationship. And that was because a sexual relationship had commenced” in 1980.
Dawson dedicated the card to “the most beautiful girl in the world” and wrote “knowing we will share all the birthdays to follow.”
The body of Dawson’s wife has never been found. He is not eligible for parole as long as the body remains missing.
AB had testified against Dawson in the murder trial, which saw Dawson jailed for 24 years. The judge in that case found allegations that Dawson had sexually abused his 16-year-old student in 1980 were “truthful and reliable” and that Dawson’s obsession with the teenager was enough to motivate him to kill Lynette.
Dawson responded to Wednesday’s verdict by swearing repeatedly.
He will be sentenced on the “carnal knowledge” charge on September 15.
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