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Obama Postpones Asia Trip for Health Care

White House postpones journey until June

(Newser) - President Obama is postponing his already delayed overseas trip as the health care push nears crunch time. The president wants to be in town for an expected vote this weekend, probably Sunday. He phoned the leaders of Indonesia, Australia, and Guam to let them know the trip's been pushed back...

Brit Declared Genderless After Sex-Change Snafu

Norrie May-Welby was born a man, switched, and now...

(Newser) - A British, uh, person who lives in Australia and was born a man had a sex change operation, then became dissatisfied with his/her new gender, finally decided to go "neuter," and is now perhaps the first person to be declared officially genderless. Now 48-year-old Norrie May-Welby's birth certificate...

Miracle Baby Elephant Struts His Stuff
 Miracle Baby 
 Elephant Struts 
 His Stuff 
meet mr. shuffles
Mar 15, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

Miracle Baby Elephant Struts His Stuff

Unnamed Australian calf was thought dead in the womb

(Newser) - A baby elephant who went into a coma in the womb while his mother spent a full week in labor has made his public debut at a Sydney zoo. Nicknamed Mr. Shuffles for his early difficulty walking, the calf captivated onlookers with his first shambling spin around his enclosure. “...

2,500 Atheists Gather in Melbourne

Global Atheist Convention thought to be largest meeting of godless ever

(Newser) - If ever there was a group unafraid of a vengeful lightning bolt, it's the 2,500 atheists converging on Melbourne—likely the largest concentration of godless thinkers ever. The Global Atheist Convention says it doesn't intend to proselytize, and in fact discourages any “missionary zeal." Still, the convention...

Obama Delays Asia Trip to Firm Up Health Reform

 Obama Delays 
 Asia Trip to 
 Firm Up 
 Health Reform 
no holiday for sasha, malia
Mar 12, 2010 12:13 PM CST

Obama Delays Asia Trip to Firm Up Health Reform

Congressional Democrats were irked at president for skipping town

(Newser) - Despite White House assurances to the contrary yesterday, President Obama will postpone his Asian trip for three days to focus on firming up health care reform legislation. Congressional Democrats had expressed dismay that the president was leaving the country as the House approached a deal that may allow them to...

Aussie Charged With Attacking Quantas Crew

Passenger goes berserk on flight out of Tokyo

(Newser) - An Australian man who went berserk on a flight from Tokyo to Sydney is facing multiple criminal charges. The 56-year-old passenger had to be restrained after attacking a Japanese passenger and threatening to kill a flight attendant. Tamas Halasz was arrested when the flight landed and was charged with endangering...

Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog
 Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog 
UN-CROAKED
Mar 4, 2010 12:33 PM CST

Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog

Amphibian was thought to be wiped out in 1970s by fungus

(Newser) - The yellow-spotted bell frog was thought to be wiped out in the 1970s when a deadly fungus invaded its native Australian habitat—until now. That’s right—the “extinct” species has been discovered in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, alive and well. “It was quite amazing,...

Aussie School War Games Under Fire

Paintball firms call schools 'perfect battlefields'

(Newser) - Australian parents are furious that efforts to stamp out school violence are being undercut by paint-balling companies who advertise schools as perfect weekend "killing fields." The head of a parents association in Queensland was "absolutely horrified" to see images of a high school overrun with adults and...

Rain of Fish Hits Aussie Desert Town

Lajamanu is 326 miles from nearest river

(Newser) - Forget about cats and dogs—it literally rained fish for two days in one tiny, landlocked Australian town. Meteorologists say the spangled perch likely got sucked up by a thunderstorm, frozen, then dropped above the town, the Telegraph reports. Local records say it is the third time the town, Lajamanu,...

Tsunami Glances Off Japan, Russia
 Tsunami Glances Off 
 Japan, Russia  
CHILE EARTHQUAKE
Feb 28, 2010 5:00 AM CST

Tsunami Glances Off Japan, Russia

Warnings lifted as waves smaller than feared; no damage reported

(Newser) - The tsunami from Chile's deadly earthquake hit Japan's main islands and the shores of Russia today, but the smaller-than-expected waves prompted the lifting of a Pacific-wide alert. Hawaii and other Pacific islands were also spared. In Japan, where hundreds of thousands were evacuated , the biggest wave following the magnitude-8.8...

Aussies Under Permanent Terror Alert

Major threat comes from homegrown jihadists, warns Rudd

(Newser) - Australia is now under a permanently high threat of terrorist attack, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced yesterday. Rudd announced new counter terrorism measures including tougher visa checks and airport face scans on people from 10 countries considered to be high-risk, the BBC reports. The biggest danger, he warned, is from...

Aquaponics Gaining Converts Among Gardeners

System of fish and fertilizer is catching on

(Newser) - Aquaponics—the word is a blend of hydroponics and aquaculture, the cultivation of fish—is backyard agriculture using only fish droppings as fertilizer. And it's not for everyone, at least yet. One man’s greenhouse “wouldn’t look out of place on a wayward space station where pioneers have...

Aussie Bobsledder Crashes on Track Where Luger Died

Duncan Harvey hospitalized with injuries

(Newser) - An Australian bobsled pusher was hospitalized late last night following a crash on the same track where Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died last Friday. Duncan Harvey was conscious and not believed to have sustained serious injuries in his crash on the first night of training for the Olympic two-man competition....

Aussie Granny Fights Off Shark
 Aussie Granny Fights Off Shark 
Feb 15, 2010 1:47 AM CST

Aussie Granny Fights Off Shark

Snorkler saves her life by 'punching, punching, punching'

(Newser) - A punching, kicking snorkeling grandmother in Australia managed to drive off a shark who "tore out" a piece of her body. Paddy Trumbull, 60, was diving off Queensland from a chartered boat when she felt an "almighty tug" on her backside and turned to see "this huge...

Aussie 'Kangatarians' Jump at New Diet

Converted vegetarians love the taste of free-roaming kangaroos

(Newser) - Some Australian vegetarians have embraced the “ethical and environmental” acceptability of kangaroo meat and are now “kangatarians.” The name was “a bit of a joke initially,” an advocate tells the Telegraph , but the phenomenon is real. Kangaroos run wild, eat naturally, are killed humanely, and...

Men At Work Stole Down Under Riff

Band faces hefty payments for borrowing kid song

(Newser) - The Australian rock band Men at Work is facing major royalty penalties now that a court has ruled they stole "substantial parts" of popular kids' song Kookaburra in their '80s hit Down Under. Music publishing company Larrikan, which owns the rights to the song, could now collect damages from...

Man Catches Fire After Tasering
 Man Catches Fire After Tasering 
Feb 1, 2010 11:26 AM CST

Man Catches Fire After Tasering

(Newser) - A man who was threatening to burn down a house suffered burns to his arms and upper body when police shot him with a taser. Police in the Western Australian capital of Perth resorted to the taser in an effort to arrest the 44-year-old after he had spread fuel throughout...

Aussies Bicker Over How to Murder Toads

State would prefer folks bludgeon, not suffocate invasive species

(Newser) - Residents of Western Australia, Oz’s largest state, are incensed by a government mandate that might seem odd to those in, say, Kansas: When engaged in the mass killing of cane toads, use the cricket bat instead of the bag of carbon dioxide. Aussies have long made a sport of...

Killer Spiders Invade Sydney
 Killer Spiders Invade Sydney 
Jan 21, 2010 1:44 AM CST

Killer Spiders Invade Sydney

Warm weather blamed for influx of funnel-webs

(Newser) - A heavy infestation of funnel-web spiders is giving Sydney residents the jitters. Experts say the spider—one of the deadliest and most aggressive in existence—is arriving in unusually large numbers because of warm and wet weather. The spider's bite can be fatal within two hours, although no Australians have...

Surf Rage Roils Aussie Waters
 Surf Rage Roils Aussie Waters 
Jan 15, 2010 4:13 AM CST

Surf Rage Roils Aussie Waters

Surf etiquette signs posted to defuse conflicts

(Newser) - Sydney is taking steps to defuse the growing number of "surf rage" incidents at beaches shared by beginners and life-long surfers. Signs are going up at popular beaches warning newbies to follow surf etiquette by not "dropping in"—catching a wave claimed by somebody else—or "...

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