From bananas to wind farms, alcohol and the sun, the search for alternative energy sources has taken on a new urgency as oil prices hit record levels. Ideas once seen as the preserve of fringe environmental groups are getting more attention, but flicking most switches in cars, homes or industries in Asia still means tapping into fossil fuels.
Australia’s unique slang culture based on "mateship and booze" is under threat from American television shows, an historian said on Monday. The "larrikin" culture, typified by the unofficial national anthem <i>Waltzing Matilda</i>, is fading, said Richard Magoffin, the author of a book on the song.
Australian cricket star Shane Warne’s wife confirmed she is separating from her husband after intense media speculation that the blond spinner was involved in another sex scandal. The record-breaking 35-year-old bowler had begged his wife to take him back after they split over his repeated extramarital affairs.
Australian outside centre Stirling Mortlock is in considerable doubt for Saturday’s Test match against South Africa in Sydney because of a hamstring injury. Australian coach Eddie Jones said on Sunday that Mortlock has less than a 50% chance of playing in the Mandela Cup match after straining his hamstring in Australia’s 37-31 win on Saturday over France in Brisbane.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones is pleased to have matched attacking skills with a lively France but rates next opponents South Africa as having the most confrontational forward pack in world rugby. The Australians sparkled in a six tries-to-four crowd-pleasing win over France here on Saturday, but Jones said the Springboks were different to any other Test-playing nation.
Australia and New Zealand agreed on Saturday on a range of new measures to increase pressure on Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to respect human rights, including referring him to the International Criminal Court.
Cricket Australia acknowledged that the government had a right to impose sporting bans on other countries on Tuesday after officials revealed they were considering campaigning for Zimbabwe to be barred from international cricket. This follows a New Zealand request that Australia and Britain join it in lobbying the ICC to ban Zimbabwe.
Taking extra vitamin C does little to stop most people from catching a cold, according to a new survey, but it helps stop those exposed to extreme physical conditions from coming down with the sniffles. Soldiers and skiers are among those most likely to benefit from taking extra doses of the vitamin.
Australia is likely to join New Zealand and Britain in a call to ban Zimbabwe from international cricket because of human rights abuses by the Harare government, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday. Australia is not scheduled to play cricket this year in Zimbabwe.
Concerned that his pate is starting to resemble an old cricket pitch that’s devoid of turf, champion legspinner Shane Warne is undergoing replacement treatment to regenerate his peroxided blond locks. The notoriously image-conscious Warne discovered he was losing his hair during a recent trip to a hairdresser.
An Australian woman has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 51 tropical fish into Australia concealed under her skirt, customs officials said on Monday. The 43-year-old woman drew the attention of customs officers intrigued by "flipping" noises coming from under her skirt, a customs spokesperson said.
An Australian mining company on Tuesday denied complicity in the massacre last year of more than 100 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Melbourne legal firm Slater and Gordon said it is considering civil action against Anvil Mining on behalf of three Congolese people affected by the massacre.
Samoan coach Michael Jones said on Tuesday the gap between rugby’s rich and poor nations is extending ever further and that he is dismayed over the official indifference to the plight of the sport in the Pacific Islands. Jones is preparing his team for Saturday’s one-off international with Australia in Sydney and is looking to show what Samoan rugby can offer the rugby world.
The crisis-torn Queensland Reds are calling on the Australian Rugby Union to relax restrictions on the use of overseas players as they battle to field a competitive outfit for next year’s expanded Super 14 rugby competition. Queensland have fallen on hard times with the exodus of a large chunk of their squad.
Queensland Reds and Wallabies fullback Chris Latham has won his fourth Australian Super 12 player of the year award despite his team’s dismal performance in the competition. Latham polled 11 votes to win the award, decided by match referees, one vote ahead of Brumbies flanker George Smith.
Not only is Australia ruling Test and one-day cricket but its cricketing culture is spreading throughout the world through its coaches. Greg Chappell and Tom Moody have recently taken to four the number of Australians coaching international teams.
Matt Henjak may own a Brumbies number-nine plate for his car but getting hold of the jumper to go with it sometime in the next two years was never a realistic proposition. Hence the 23-year-old’s far-from-unexpected signing with the fledgling Super 14 franchise for the Western Force on Monday.
Australia will not use trade sanctions to pressure Japan to abandon its plan to kill more whales in Antarctica. It will also not use force to keep Japanese whaling ships out the region, Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday. Japan wants its annual catch of minke whales raised and proposes to start taking humpback whales.
The New South Wales Waratahs have seized underdog status for next weekend’s Super 12 rugby final with Canterbury Crusaders, but coach Ewen McKenzie has warned that their season of firsts may not yet be over. The Crusaders are in their seventh Super 12 final in 10 seasons after obliterating the Wellington Hurricanes 47-7.
Singer Kylie Minogue was on Sunday recovering at a hospital in her hometown of Melbourne following a successful operation to treat breast cancer. The star was said to be feeling fine and is expected to make a complete recovery following a lumpectomy, during which the small growth was removed.
Winger Peter Hewat surpassed a scoring record as New South Wales rallied from a 10-point deficit and beat South Africa’s Bulls 23-13 on Saturday to reach the Super 12 final for the first time. ”We’re disappointed right now, but we gave it everything we had,” Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer said after the match.
A group of Australian police dogs will have to be retrained after it was discovered that they were sniffing out talcum powder rather than cocaine during training exercises, police said on Friday. An investigation is being carried out into how baby powder was used rather than the illicit drug, Victoria state police said.
Australia has more than its fair share of sharks, crocodiles, deadly spiders and jellyfish, and now residents of one town have been warned to beware a new hazard — the exploding toilet. The local sewerage authority will be cleaning the sewage mains with high-pressure jets.
Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has been diagnosed with breast cancer, prompting her to cancel her current Australian tour, her touring company said on Tuesday. Minogue had been due to arrive in Sydney from Melbourne on Tuesday to begin the Australian leg of her Showgirl tour, which started in the United Kingdom.
Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer is more than happy for the rugby community to start planning for a Super 12 final between New South Wales (NSW) and the Crusaders. The South African side slipped into Sydney on Monday for Saturday’s semifinal against NSW, with Meyer declaring his men ready to unlock the Waratahs’ iron-clad defence.
The Waratahs capped their best finish to date to a regular Super 12 season with a 25-20 win over the Blues, but looked to have squandered the chance of a home grand final after failing to score a bonus point on Friday. The Waratahs lacked their usual composure for much of the opening half.
The Australian foreign ministry apologised on Thursday for a travel advisory that warned that Australia’s western city of Perth is dangerous at this time of year. Travel-advice subscribers received an overnight advisory reading: "This is a message to let you know that Perth is dangerous at this time of year."
The Auckland Blues have spiced up their do-or-die joust with the Waratahs for a Super 12 rugby play-off spot with claims that the series front-runners have had a charmed run with referees at the breakdown. Auckland are one of three teams vying for the last playoff slot with South Africa’s Northern Bulls.
New Zealand sides Canterbury and Wellington joined New South Wales in the Super 12 rugby semifinals on Saturday, and South Africa’s Bulls moved into fourth place with destiny in their hands. The Sharks dominated up front at home in the first half, but the Bulls lifted their game after the break and scored a 60th-minute try through lock Victor Matfield.
It was ugly, but after nine lean years, New South Wales will take it. The Waratahs registered their first-ever Super 12 rugby win over Queensland on Friday, downing the Reds 27-8 at Aussie Stadium. The victory assures the Waratahs of a home semifinal, a week before the competition proper comes to its conclusion.
Plans to expand Australia’s rugby player pool and make the Wallabies more internationally competitive have been having an unintended divisive effect with the formation of the Western Force. The Perth-based franchise will become Australia’s fourth team in next season’s expanded Super 14 competition.
In a fishy tale with a different ending, an Australian angler on Tuesday described how a 1,5m mackerel jumped into his boat, knocked him down and injured him — and then got away. Glen Hopper said he suffered bruised ribs and cuts to his face and arms when the mackerel flattened him.