Western Australia

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On 4th Day, a Break for Family Stuck in Flooded Outback

Rescuers reach group of 7, including a celebrated artist and member of nomadic family

(Newser) - "Bush savvy" though they are, fears for a family of seven lost in the Australian outback had mounted Wednesday with what was initially no sign of the group for a fourth day. Three elderly people and four children ages 7 to 17 had set out in two vehicles around...

Court: Wife, 62, Can Have Dead Man's Sperm Retrieved

But the Western Australia woman can't use it

(Newser) - A 62-year-old Australian woman has been allowed to remove sperm from her dead husband—but not use it. The Guardian reports the unnamed woman's husband, 61, died at home on Dec. 17 and his body was transported to a Western Australia hospital. But after Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital declined...

Mystery Object That Washed Up on Aussie Beach Identified
Mystery Object
That Washed Up on
Aussie Beach Identified
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 5, 2023 4:15 PM CDT

Mystery Object That Washed Up on Aussie Beach Identified

Australian Space Agency says it's space junk from Indian rocket; India's space group needs to confirm

(Newser) - The mystery of a giant metal object that washed up on an Australian beach may finally be solved. Phys.org reports that when the "bulky, barnacle-encrusted cylinder" turned up in mid-July on the shores of Green Head, located north of Perth in Western Australia, whispers circulated that it could...

97 Pilot Whales Gathered Tightly, Then Beached
In Australia, a Massive
Whale Tragedy Worsens
UPDATED
Jul 27, 2023 9:23 AM CDT

In Australia, a Massive Whale Tragedy Worsens

All 97 whales from beached pod are dead

(Newser) - Peter Hartley, a manager at Western Australia's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions says it was one of the hardest decisions he has made in his 34-year career. The department says 45 long-finned pilot whales, survivors of a pod of 97 that beached themselves, were euthanized Wednesday to avoid...

Cleo Smith's Abductor Wanted Girl to 'Dress Up'

Terence Kelly is now paying for living out a fantasy: authorities

(Newser) - The man who kidnapped a 4-year-old girl from a campsite in Australia and held her captive for nearly three weeks was sentenced Wednesday. Terence Kelly received 13 years and six months in prison for the October 2021 abduction of Cleo Smith and won't be eligible for parole for 11...

Men Praised After Sea Rescue Were Drug Smugglers: Cops

Australian Federal Police hunting for 2 of 3 men who alerted emergency beacon off WA

(Newser) - A trio of men praised by authorities after they were found clinging to a cooler in the ocean off Western Australia earlier this month are now suspected of smuggling 800 pounds of cocaine. Aristides Avlontis, 36, Mate Stipinovich, 49, and Karl Whitburn, 45, claimed they were fishermen whose boat capsized...

Crisis Averted: Radioactive Capsule Is Found

Exposure unlikely as capsule located along lonely stretch of West Australia highway

(Newser) - The radioactive capsule lost during an 870-mile journey through Western Australia has been located. "The search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack," Australia's Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said at a Wednesday news conference, per Reuters , adding the tiny silver capsule containing Caesium-137...

Nuclear Agency Joins Hunt for Tiny Missing Capsule

Radioactive item smaller than a dime poses serious health risks

(Newser) - Australia's nuclear safety agency has joined the search for a tiny capsule containing radioactive material , about the third of the size of a dime, believed to have fallen from a truck during a journey equivalent to driving the entire length of Great Britain. Large sections of Western Australia are...

Rio Tinto: Sorry We Lost That Radioactive Capsule

Mining giant says hunt is still on in Western Australia for tiny container with cesium 137

(Newser) - One of the largest mining companies in the world is now apologizing for losing a teensy capsule filled with a whole lot of danger. "We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community," Simon Trott, CEO...

Kids Survive 2 Days in Outback After Parents Killed in Crash

'Nobody knows what they went through,' relative says; 5-year-old credited with saving baby brother

(Newser) - Three young children survived two days in the Australian Outback after a Christmas Day car crash that took the lives of their parents, and the eldest sibling deserves some thanks for that. Sky News reports that 25-year-old Cindy Braddock, 28-year-old Jake Day, and their three kids—a 5-year-old girl and...

Cops: Kangaroo Kills Man in 86-Year First

Alpaca breeder Peter Eades had already dug his own grave

(Newser) - An animal lover in Australia has died following an attack by his pet kangaroo in what the BBC reports is the first fatal kangaroo attack reported in the country in 86 years. A relative found 77-year-old alpaca breeder Peter Eades with serious injuries on his property in Western Australia on...

'Island Within an Island' Ends 696-Day Border Closure

Western Australia is welcoming visitors again

(Newser) - Australia is now fully open to vaccinated travelers. On Thursday, Western Australia became the last state to lift border restrictions. The state, which covers one third of the nation’s land area, closed its borders to most international and interstate travelers on April 5, 2020, to slow the spread of...

Elderly Sweethearts Sought in Manhunt Die 48 Hours Apart

Ralph 'Terry' Gibbs said he abducted his sweetheart from nursing home out of love

(Newser) - An elderly couple's love story, which included an escape from a nursing home and a mad dash across Australia, has come to a sad end—and not just with a conviction for unlawfully detaining a mentally ill person. Ralph "Terry" Gibbs, 80, pleaded guilty to deprivation of liberty...

Cruz Rants Against 'Killjoys' After Mixing Up US, Australian States

He thought dancing ban was in Washington state, not Western Australia

(Newser) - Sen. Ted Cruz deleted a tweet after mixing up Washington state and another WA—Western Australia. The Republican senator retweeted a screenshot in which a WA Government account confirmed that dancing was banned at all New Year's events, PerthNow reports. "Blue-state Dems are power-drunk authoritarian kill-joys," wrote...

She Says She Administered Vaccine. Cops Say She Didn't

Nurse is accused of pretending to give vax to teen at clinic in Perth, Australia

(Newser) - A nurse in Western Australia has been charged with fraud, accused of pretending to administer a COVID vaccine at a private clinic. The Guardian notes it's the first recorded instance of someone allegedly faking such a vaccination. ABC Australia reports that 51-year-old Christina Hartmann Benz had apparently received a...

Rescued 4-Year-Old Doing Well, With New Charges in Case

Terence Kelly, 36, hit with charges in case of Cleo Smith, who went missing for 18 days in Australia

(Newser) - Update: A 36-year-old man has been charged in the case of a 4-year-old Australian girl found safe Wednesday after vanishing 18 days earlier. Terence Darrell Kelly appeared Thursday in a Carnavon court, where he was charged with forcibly or fraudulently taking or enticing a child under 16, per the BBC...

Police Believe Girl, 4, Was Abducted From Tent

Australian police offer $750K reward in Cleo Smith case

(Newser) - A 4-year-old girl who disappeared from a campsite in Western Australia almost a week ago was probably kidnapped, police say. The parents of Cleo Smith say they last saw her asleep in their multisection tent around 1:30am Saturday, their first night at the remote Quobba Blowholes coastal campsite, the...

Man Escapes Hotel Quarantine—for 8 Hours

A bed-sheet rope got him out

(Newser) - An Australian man ordered to spend the night in a quarantine hotel made a temporary escape early Tuesday down a rope made from bed sheets, which he dangled from his fourth-floor window, police said. The 39-year-old had arrived in Perth, Western Australia, from the Queensland capital of Brisbane on a...

City of 2M Locked Down After One COVID Case

Infected Perth resident worked in quarantine hotel

(Newser) - The state of Western Australia has recorded just nine deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began—and it is taking very tough measures to keep it that way. A strict five-day lockdown in Perth, Australia's fourth-largest city, was brought in Sunday after a single case was detected, reports Reuters...

Aussie Surfer Believed Dead in Shark Attack

Police are searching for him, though witnesses say he couldn't have survived

(Newser) - A surfer is believed to have died off the south coast of Western Australia after numerous witnesses saw him attacked by a shark. Police are searching for the local man who suffered a "serious shark bite" while surfing at Kelp Beds Beach in Wylie Bay near Esperance just before...

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