Forecasters sounded an alert on Tuesday over a cyclone heading for Australia’s coast with wind gusts up to 290kph, saying that if the storm strikes a town directly it could be more destructive than one that killed 65 people three decades ago. The storm is ”a very serious threat” to coastal and island communities between the Lockhart River and Port Douglas.
Australian Super 12 players are concerned about excessive drinking and gambling among their peers, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The Australian Rugby Union Players’ Association survey of 84 professional players, including 27 Wallabies, found that 51,1% believed one to 10 members of their state squad had a serious drinking problem.
Australia and East Timor were resuming talks on Monday on how to carve up billions of dollars worth of oil and gas under the seabed that divides one of the Asia-Pacific’s richest nations from one of the region’s poorest. Three days of talks were getting under way in the Australian capital, Canberra, five months after the acrimonious collapse of the last round of negotiations.
Michael Schumacher confirmed on Thursday that he has had several approaches from formula-one rivals McLaren to quit world champions Ferrari. The dominant seven-times world champion — the past five of them with Ferrari — said McLaren boss Ron Dennis in 2000 tried to get him to join the British team, but the 36-year-old German ace said he was happy where he was.
World number two Lleyton Hewitt will lead Australia’s Davis Cup first-round tennis tie against 144th-ranked Austrian Alexander Peya on grass in Sydney on Friday. Australia’s second singles player, Wayne Arthurs, who won his first career ATP Tour final in Arizona last weekend, will take on Austria’s number-one player, Jurgen Melzer, on Friday.
Super 12 champions ACT Brumbies will have their playing resources fully stretched when they take on South Africa’s Northern Bulls in the second round of the southern hemisphere provincial rugby series in Canberra on Friday. The Brumbies were magnificent in adversity last weekend, repulsing last year’s final rivals Canterbury Crusaders 32-21.
Michael Schumacher believes his formula-one rivals must lay down their championship challenge in the opening three races of the season — starting with Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. Few in the sport are predicting anything other than another season triumph for Schumi, whose domination has raised criticism of the sport’s predictability.
Bulls captain Anton Leonard returns from injury to lead his side out against the defending Super 12 champions, the ACT Brumbies, at Bruce Stadium in Canberra, Australia, on Friday. Leonard, who missed the first game because of injury, has made a miraculous recovery and will start in his traditional eighth-man position.
Former world heavyweight champion and convicted rapist Mike Tyson was unlikely to be granted a visa to fight in Australia, a government minister indicated on Wednesday. Australian boxing great Jeff Fenech said on Tuesday the American had signed on to train with him full-time in a bid to relaunch his career in Australia.
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/ 27 February 2005
The ACT Brumbies started their Super 12 title defence with a costly 32-21 win over Canterbury, overcoming injuries to captain Stirling Mortlock and winger Clyde Rathbone in Saturday’s rematch of the 2004 final. Wellington beat the Queensland Reds 24-10, and the Cats, last year’s wooden-spooners, upset the Bulls 23-17 in Johannesburg.
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/ 25 February 2005
Mat Rogers inspired New South Wales to a 25-7 win over Waikato, and Auckland opened the 2005 Super 12 series on Friday with a dominating 30-14 win over the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin. Waratahs fullback Rogers, one of Australia’s best attackers, missed most of the previous Super 12 rugby season with an injured ankle.
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/ 22 February 2005
An Australian trout farm announced a Aus$1 000 dollar (R4 600) reward on Monday for the capture of a giant eel baptised "Nessie’s offspring" that has suddenly appeared in breeding ponds and begun eating up the fish. Visitors who have seen the creature said it is about 4m long with a head the size of a football.
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/ 21 February 2005
One of Australia’s main airport terminals was shut down for eight hours on Monday as emergency crews hunted in vain for the cause of a mystery illness, which struck down nearly 60 staff and passengers in the building, officials said. Paramedics, firefighters and hazardous materials crews in full protective clothing rushed to Melbourne airport early on Monday.
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/ 21 February 2005
The writing is on the wall for Darren Lehmann’s international cricket career and he won’t tour England with the Australian team later this year, former batsman Mark Waugh said on Monday. Waugh also says England don’t believe they can beat Australia in the five-Test series.
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/ 21 February 2005
The New South Wales Waratahs are going to graphic ends in promoting their Super 12 rugby season using the blood, sweat and tears of their players. The Waratahs, the chronic under-achievers of Australian rugby, have devised a promotion campaign with their advertising agency through a series of unusual paintings.
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/ 20 February 2005
Australia’s high-profile Test spinner Shane Warne said on Sunday he left the country to save his marriage after an affair with a local stripper. Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker told a television interviewer he was embarrassed by the affair in 2003 and fled to Spain with his wife to escape the media spotlight.
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/ 14 February 2005
Councillors in Alice Springs have offered to take Prince Charles on an Aussie-style stag night when he visits next month, while promising the heir to the throne will not end up chained naked to a lamp post. Charles will arrive in Australia for a five-day visit taking in the remote Northern Territory town on February 28.
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/ 14 February 2005
A Sydney shopping mall launched a "cereal dating" night at its supermarket on Monday, telling singles to come "get frisky at the fruit counter" for a Valentine’s night out. Singles eager to meet a kindred soul can cruise the supermarket aisles with message-sending breakfast-cereal boxes perched on their carts.
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/ 14 February 2005
Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart said on Monday he will take motor sport’s governing body to court if it prevents his team from racing at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next month. Minardi plan to use an updated version of their 2004 model car for the first three races of the season.
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/ 14 February 2005
The coach of Australian swimming superstar Ian Thorpe said on Monday the fertility of female swimmers is being threatened by a ”win at all costs” approach adopted by some coaches. Tracey Menzies said the gruelling training regimes could interrupt athletes’ menstrual cycles and affect their fertility.
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/ 10 February 2005
A 29-year-old suburban Sydney lifeguard, fed up with the life of a bachelor, moved into a giant plastic bubble on Thursday in hopes of attracting a Valentine. Luke, who declined to give his family name, said he will spend the next five days living in the clear plastic ball in a downtown Sydney shopping mall in hopes of finding true love.
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/ 10 February 2005
Australian police admitted on Thursday they are mystified by a spate of apparent attacks on homes using frozen chickens as missiles. Police in Newcastle, about 100km north of Sydney, said chicken carcasses have damaged at least three suburban homes in recent weeks. They said the chickens hit the homes with great force.
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/ 8 February 2005
A real-estate agent could lose his licence in Australia after allegedly being caught having sex with his assistant in a client’s bed, Australian radio reported on Tuesday. The homeowner, identified only as James, told ABC radio that his 28-year-old daughter caught the real-estate agent having sex in their master bedroom.
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/ 7 February 2005
A suburban Sydney fireman has been suspended after his station was unable to answer an emergency call because he had allegedly driven the fire engine on a pizza run, fire officials said on Monday. The New South Wales Fire Brigade has launched an inquiry. "This is extremely rare," said assistant fire commissioner John Benson.
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/ 7 February 2005
Australian cricket coach John Buchanan on Monday followed up his team’s weekend sweep of their tri-series final against Pakistan by saying one-day international cricket is ”tired” and in need of an overhaul. Buchanan told reporters he feels rule changes are needed for the one-day competitions.
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/ 3 February 2005
Australian miner WMC Resources rejected an improved takeover offer from Anglo-Swiss giant Xstrata on Thursday and said it would concentrate instead on joint venture projects. Xstrata on Wednesday raised its bid from AUS,35 a share to AUS,20, valuing WMC at more than AUS,4-billion.
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/ 1 February 2005
Ernie Els says golf technology and a more competitive tour means Tiger Woods won’t be as dominant as he once was. ”Everybody has become better players; technology has brought everybody closer together,” Els said on Tuesday at the Heineken Classic, where he begins play on Thursday trying for his fourth win in a row at Royal Melbourne.
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/ 31 January 2005
Lleyton Hewitt struggled to put a brave face on the end of his Australian Open dream on Sunday after his defeat in the final against Marat Safin. Hewitt, who had spent the past nine months carefully tailoring his schedule and training regime for an all-out assault on the title, said he had no regrets following his agonising 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 loss.
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/ 29 January 2005
Serena Williams had lost the first four games and was in pain, wincing on almost every swing. Her shots lacked their usual zing. Her hopes for a seventh Grand Slam appeared to be doomed. Then, with a little help from the trainer, the woman who calls herself the toughest fighter in tennis started getting her power back.
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/ 28 January 2005
Lleyton Hewitt, who seems to feed off controversy and adversity, endured 31 aces to beat second-seeded Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Friday and advance to the Australian Open final. Third-ranked Hewitt, the ”Aussie battler”, was at his aggressive, fist-pumping best against Roddick.
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/ 28 January 2005
The West Indies beat Pakistan by 58 runs in their crucial tri-series one-day cricket international at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Friday. The West Indies, inspired by a dazzling 156 from captain Brian Lara, set a ground-record 339 for four, with Pakistan managing 281 for nine in reply.
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/ 27 January 2005
Marat Safin gave himself the perfect birthday present by scoring a stunning upset over world number one Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final in Melbourne on Thursday. Swiss ace Federer, the overwhelming tournament favourite, saw his hopes of a third consecutive grand-slam title dashed.