The Pigeon Express
The foreign minister of France accused Australia and the United States of lying over a new security pact that prompted Paris to recall its envoys. “There has been lying, duplicity, a major breach of trust and contempt,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian alleged on Saturday. “This will not do,” he told France 2 television. […]
Australia’s police have arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 in Sydney at unsanctioned anti-lockdown rallies and several police officers have been injured in clashes with protesters. Victoria police said six officers required hospitalisation during the violence on Saturday. Several officers were knocked to the ground and trampled, the police said and television footage showed. […]
France has recalled its ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations, in protest at a security deal which also includes the UK. The French foreign minister said the “exceptional decision” was justified by the situation’s “exceptional gravity”. The alliance, known as Aukus, will see Australia being given the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines. The […]
A 64-year-old fugitive walked into a Sydney police station to give himself up almost 30 years after he used a hacksaw blade and bolt cutters to escape from prison, police said on Wednesday. Darko Desic decided to go back to prison because Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown made him jobless and homeless, media reported. Desic surrendered at […]
The UK, US and Australia have announced a special security pact to share advanced defence technologies, in an effort to counter China. The partnership will enable Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time. The pact, to be known as Aukus, will also cover artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and cyber. The three countries are […]
The small furry rabbit-sized marsupial native to Australia, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot that once roamed grassy plains have been brought back from the brink of extinction, officials say. Numbers of the marsupial plummeted because of non-native foxes, habitat destruction and feral cats. Now, after 30 years of conservation efforts, the number has jumped from just […]
An Australian university is calling for a controversial facial recognition study by an ex-faculty member to be retracted by its publisher. The research, which was co-funded by China, used facial recognition software to identify members of the Uyghur minority group. But Curtin University said the study breached ethics guidelines, with the subjects not giving informed […]
Australian graphic design business Canva has reached a valuation of more than $40 billion. The online design platform said it had grown during the pandemic as more customers worked from home. It has revealed a fresh $200 million round of private equity investment more than doubling the company’s value in five months. That makes it […]
A “megapod” of more than 100 humpback whales has been filmed surrounding a boat off the coast of Australia. The whales skirted the boat near Bermagui, about 380km from Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, as they fed on a large bait ball — a tightly packed school of fish swimming in a […]
Audio of an Australian musk duck called Ripper saying what sounds like “you bloody fool” has been released by researchers. The 34-year-old recording appears to be the first documented evidence of the species being able to mimic sounds. Researcher Dr Peter Fullagar recorded Ripper in 1987 at the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve near Canberra. But his […]
A boy who went missing in the Australian bush four days ago has been found safe after a search. Three-year-old Anthony “AJ” Elfalak was spotted by police helicopters on Monday, drinking water from a creek on his family’s property in rural New South Wales. The little boy, who has autism and doesn’t speak, had been […]
A man who was attacked by a shark at Emerald Beach on Australia’s east coast on Sunday died after a “significant” injury to his arm, according to New South Wales (NSW) Ambulance. Four crews, including the Westpac Rescue Helicopter medical team which included a critical care doctor and a critical care paramedic were dispatched to […]