Australian archbishop ‘deeply troubled’ by country’s Oxford vaccine deal

A senior Catholic archbishop has warned he is “deeply troubled” by Australia’s vaccine deal with AstraZeneca, saying the potential vaccine uses a fetal cell line that creates an “ethical quandary” for Christians.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher penned a letter — also signed by Anglican and Greek Orthodox religious leaders — to Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlining concerns of some Christians over the vaccine’s apparent use of a cell line derived from an elective abortion performed decades ago.

The letter, seen by AFP, calls on Morrison to ensure that if the vaccine being developed by Oxford University researchers is rolled out in Australia it is not made mandatory.

It also urges him to pursue other “ethical” vaccine candidates to ensure religious objectors have a choice.

Australia last week announced a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture the “promising” vaccine if it is proven safe and effective, with plans to offer it for free to the entire population.

Morrison initially suggested it should be made compulsory for its 25 million citizens — with an exception on medical grounds — before reversing his position.

Fisher, writing in the forthcoming edition of Catholic Weekly, says he believes it would not be unethical to receive the vaccine “if there is no alternative available” but adds he is “deeply troubled by it”.

“I’m a strong advocate of vaccinations -– and not just for COVID-19 –- as long as they are safe and ethically obtained,” he adds.

In 2017, the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life decreed that vaccinations “can be used with a clear conscience” and doing so “does not signify some sort of cooperation with voluntary abortion”.

A government spokesperson told AFP that Morrison — himself a devout Christian — “respects the views of Australia’s many religious communities and understands the issues that are being raised”.

“The government is investing in research and technology that we hope will produce a range of vaccines that will be suitable for as many Australians as possible,” the official said.

Among those is the University of Queensland’s vaccine candidate, which the official said does not contain fetal cell lines and has received Aus$5 million in government funding.

It is currently in Phase 1 efficacy trials, while the Oxford vaccine is among a handful globally that have reached Phase 3.

The Australian government estimates that up to 95 percent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be eradicated.

Agence France-Presse

Buzzfeed closes news operations in Britain, Australia

SYDNEY — Groundbreaking website Buzzfeed said on Thursday that it would be shuttering part of its loss-making news operations in Britain and Australia, as it scales back global ambitions to cut costs.

“For economic and strategic reasons, we are going to focus on news that hits big in the United States during this difficult period,” a company spokesperson said.


Many news outlets have been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with plummeting advertising revenues and already struggling operations pushed deeper into the red.

Ten staff in Britain and four in Australia will be furloughed, in a move that is expected to become permanent.

The company will no longer cover local news in the two countries, but said: “In the UK, we still plan on retaining some employees who are focused on news with a global audience — social news, celebrity, and investigations.”

The four Australian posts were “no longer essential during this time of sharply limited resources,” the company added.

Once maligned as a funnel for little more than celebrity gossip, clickbait lists and cat pictures, Buzzfeed has developed into a news force to rival more established outlets.

“BuzzFeed gave us space to experiment with covering politics for a young audience,” Australian news editor Lane Sainty tweeted.

She lauded her staff’s work to “tackle important and often under-covered beats like abortion, LGBTQ rights, Indigenous affairs, immigration and internet culture.”

“I’ve always been grateful for that & very proud of our work.”

More cost-cutting measures are expected, including in the United States, where “workshare programs” are being touted as a way of avoiding furloughs.



“Those options need to meet our savings goals, be legally and logistically workable, and allow us to keep producing kinetic, powerful journalism,” Buzzfeed said.

This year “news will spend about $10 million more than it takes in,” it added.

Agence France-Presse

Australian charged over 80s alleged hate crime murder of gay American

More than 30 years after American Scott Johnson was killed in a suspected gay hate crime in Australia, police said Tuesday they had arrested and charged a man with his murder.

Detectives arrested the 49-year-old in the leafy Sydney suburb of Lane Cove on Tuesday and laid murder charges the same day.

The suspect's name was not released.

The breakthrough in the cold case came two months after the victim's family doubled a police reward in the case to Aus$2 million (US$1.3 million).

The 27-year-old mathematician Johnson's naked body was found at the base of a cliff in the Sydney suburb of Manly in December 1988, and police at the time ruled his death a suicide.

But a coroner found in 2017 that it was likely Johnson had been killed in a hate crime, suggesting he was either pushed over the cliff or fell while trying to escape unidentified assailants.

The inquest found that gangs roamed Sydney at the time searching for gay men to attack, and had been known to rob or assault men at the "gay beat" where Johnson's folded clothing was discovered.

In 2018, police announced an Aus$1 million reward for information leading to an arrest in the case, which was doubled when Johnson's brother, Steve, matched the amount in March.

Steve Johnson, who had long pushed police to investigate his brother's death, said it was "remarkable" the alleged killer had been apprehended almost 32 years later.

"This is a very emotional day. Emotional for me, emotional for my family who... love Scott dearly," he said in a video statement.

"It's emotional, I'm sure, for the gay community for whom Scott had come to symbolise the many dozens of other gay men who lost their lives in the 1980s and '90s in a world full of anti-gay prejudice and hatred."

In 2018, New South Wales police acknowledged that at least 27 murders between the 1970s and 2000 were homophobic hate crimes, admitting the force had played a part in marginalising the LGBT community and enabling society's "acceptance of shocking violence directed at gay men" during the period.

"It is clear and beyond question that levels of violence inflicted upon gay men in particular were elevated, extreme and often brutal," police said at the time.

The suspect in Johnson's murder is due to appear in a local Sydney court on Wednesday.

Agence France-Presse

Taylor Swift pulls out of Melbourne Cup gig

Pop superstar Taylor Swift has pulled out of a performance at the Melbourne Cup, with animal rights activists taking credit after a campaign to highlight cruelty to racehorses.

The Grammy Award-winner was announced as the headline act for the “race that stops a nation” earlier this month and was due to sing two songs from her latest hit album “Lover”.

But it sparked a backlash on social media and a push by the Campaign for the Protection of Racehorses, which claimed she had “put money before compassion” and was “endorsing animal abuse”.

More than 6,500 people signed an online petition urging her to cancel.

In a statement late Saturday, promotor Mushroom Events cited scheduling issues as the reason for Swift’s no-show.

“Changes to her Asian promo schedule have made it logistically impossible for her to be here,” it said.

The Campaign for the Protection of Racehorses applauded the decision.

“The pressure on Taylor Swift to cancel her performance was significant,” it said on Facebook.

“Her fans did not want to see her supporting animal abuse. Whilst the reason being used by the racing industry is a scheduling mix-up, it appears to us that she has responded to those calls.”

Six horses have died at the Melbourne Cup since 2013, including one last year when Irish five-year-old The CliffsofMoher was euthanised after suffering a fractured right shoulder during a race that has been run on the first Tuesday of November since 1876.

“Obviously, this (Swift pulling out) is disappointing for everyone,” said Victoria Racing Club chief executive Neil Wilson.


“We understand how important the pre-Cup entertainment is and we look forward to providing an update (on other acts) shortly.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Emboldened Australia closes on another first at Fiba World Cup

A historic win over the United States, then three victories in a row at the World Cup in China to top the “Group of Death” — Australian basketball is setting new landmarks for itself.

Now the Boomers are eyeing another first, having never gone beyond the quarter-finals in 11 previous World Cup appearances.


“We speak about it a lot: in international basketball, you need the size, you need the beef, there’s big men playing this game,” said coach Andrej Lemanis after his team beat European heavyweights Lithuania 87-82 in a gritty encounter in Dongguan.

The hard-earned victory on Thursday — the game was tied with just under two minutes left — made it three wins in a row to start their World Cup, a first for the Boomers.

Australia not only survived the “Group of Death” also including Canada and Senegal, but they also topped it.

Putting the gloss on the evening, defeat for neighbors New Zealand against a Giannis Antetokounmpo-inspired Greece propelled Australia into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the best team in Oceania.


Next, San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills and the rest of the Boomers play surprise-package the Dominican Republic on Saturday in the second round.

They will be favorites to triumph over the Dominicans, who have the joint-shortest roster at the 32-team World Cup and were well-beaten 90-56 by France on Thursday.

On Monday, with the quarter-finals in sight, Australia will face their toughest task yet in the form of France, who finished third at the 2014 World Cup.

– Going for gold –

Australia, the Asian champions and 2016 Rio Olympic semi-finalists, have been building up to this.

They are missing a couple of big players in Philadelphia 76er Jonah Bolden and his teammate Ben Simmons.

But their roster still has a slew of NBA standouts and in the lead-up to the competition they ended the USA’s run of 78 consecutive wins in major competitions and exhibition games.

The 98-94 victory in Melbourne was the Boomers’ first victory against the world and Olympic champions.

But rather than being cowed by increasing expectations, the likes of Mills, the Utah Jazz’s Joe Ingles and seasoned veteran Andrew Bogut have flourished.

Phoenix Suns center Aron Baynes roared to the fore against Lithuania with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and two assists.

“Phenomenal, right?” Lemanis purred.

Veteran United States coach Gregg Popovich labeled Australia “top contenders” in China in the build-up.

Mills called it “Australia’s best-ever team”.

And in a refreshing change from coaches who trot out the usual banalities about “one game at a time”, Lemanis refuses to talk down his team.

“Our goal — I think like every team here — is to win the gold,” he said after the Lithuania victory.

“That’s the goal that we set ourselves and as a group we have a great belief that that’s something we can achieve.

“Our goal, absolutely, is to win the gold medal,” Lemanis repeated for emphasis.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Software that can predict athletic performance created by researchers

Researchers in Australia have developed prototype software that studies the impact of fatigue on athletic performance.

Published in the journal Plos One, the study measured athletes’ metabolic and neuromuscular fatigue. The software algorithm developed by the researchers enables athletes’ energy levels to be calculated and predictions to be made about how their level of fatigue might affect their performance.

“Let us say you have a game tomorrow and the model predicts you are going to be very fatigued, that might change the coach’s strategy,” said Dr. Paul Wu, a researcher at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology and the study’s lead author.

While metabolic fatigue requires only a few hours of recovery, the same is not true for neuromuscular fatigue, which can take up to 48 hours or more to recover from.

“In the elite sports setting, athletes often train twice a day, five days or more a week. If you develop neuromuscular fatigue and have training or competition the next day, you will still be fatigued and have an elevated risk of injury,” Dr. Wu said.

Comparing your performance to others


To design the software, Dr. Wu’s team subjected a dozen non-professional athletes to a “countermovement jump” test, which involves standing on a force plate, squatting and jumping as high as possible.

“In our study, we tested the athletes after low, moderate and high-intensity training sessions. We did many jumps over time, from just before training sessions, to right after, and then at regular intervals up to 48 hours later,” he explained.

The scientists then used a statistical analysis tool to process the athletes’ physiological data. “By doing a few jump tests up to 30 minutes after training, and then doing our analysis, we can predict the degree of neuromuscular fatigue,” said Dr. Wu, who also sees it as an opportunity for athletes to compare their performance with others. HM/JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Prince Harry and Meghan start Aussie tour with baby gifts

SYDNEY — A beaming Duke and Duchess of Sussex thrilled thousands of fans outside the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday during their first meeting with the general public since the former Meghan Markle’s newly announced pregnancy.

Prince Harry and Meghan spent longer than the 20 minutes allocated in their schedule to speak to and shake hands with as many well-wishers as possible. Meghan, wearing a beige trench coat over a sleeveless cream dress by Australian designer Karen Gee, accepted cards and flowers from an enthusiastic crowd.


The news of the pregnancy was announced after the couple arrived in Sydney on Monday and 15 hours before their first public appearance. The two are on a 16-day tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand that their Kensington Palace staff said would not be altered despite confirmation that the American former actress is pregnant.

Among those taken by surprise by the announcement were their Sydney hosts, Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Lynne Cosgrove. The governor-general, who represents Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s head of state and Harry’s grandmother, sent staff to hastily buy a toy kangaroo with a joey in its pouch and a tiny pair of Australian sheep skin boots for their pregnant guest.

“Here’s your first gift for the nursery,” the governor-general told the couple during a welcome ceremony at his official residence, Admiralty House.

“Thank you, that’s so sweet,” Meghan said as she received the toy.

The pregnancy has made front-page news across Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald ran the headline: “A smooth ride to Sydney, but royals reveal bump on the way.”

Darwin’s irreverent NT News chose the headline: “Ginger Pregs” — a play on a long-running Australian comic strip about a mischievous red-head boy called “Ginger Meggs.”

Outside the Opera House on Tuesday, Harry lingered longest with war widow Daphne Dunne, 98, whom he hugged as they chatted.

It was the third time that they had met since Harry’s eye caught sight of a Victoria Cross medal on her chest during a Sydney visit in 2015. She explained that her first husband Albert Chowne had been given the highest award in the British honors system after he died in Papua New Guinea in 1945.

This time, Meghan joined Harry in greeting the Dunne, who admires the prince’s work with veterans.
“Oh my goodness, is this Daphne?” Meghan asked.

Dunne later said Meghan told her “she had heard all about me; she’s so beautiful.”

“I wished them well with the baby on the way and said this is what Harry has been waiting for so long,” Dunne added.
Before Megan donned her coat, her tight-fitting dress barely revealed a bump as they were welcomed at the first event of the day at the Sydney Harbor-side mansion where the two are staying.

The main focus of that engagement was to meet Invictus Games representatives from the 18 countries competing in the event that starts Saturday. The sporting event, founded by Harry in 2014, gives sick and injured military personnel and veterans the opportunity to compete in sports such as wheelchair basketball.

Several of the representatives congratulated the couple on their baby news. Meghan replied: “Thank you so much. We are very excited.”

The couple later traveled by boat to Taronga Park Zoo where they opened a research center and met two 10-month old koalas that had been named after them.

They watched an indigenous dance company rehearse inside the Opera House before meeting the public.

The announcement of the pregnancy confirms weeks of speculation from royal watchers about why Meghan was not joining Harry on his Sydney Harbor Bridge climb set for Friday.

Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37 — along with Prince William and his wife, Kate, the duchess of Cambridge — have stepped to the fore in the last year as the 92-year-old queen slightly reduces her public schedule. MKH

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Hugh Jackman saves children from Australia surf–reports

Australian movie star Hugh Jackman helped save children from dangerous surf at Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach, video on local media showed Sunday.

Footage aired by Nine Network showed Jackman, known for his roles in the “X-Men” blockbusters, hauling a man and a child from the waves.

He also then reportedly helped his own son Oscar out of the same rip, a dangerous ocean current.

“He wasn’t rescuing me; I was assisting him to get his daughter up to the sandbar. He then grabbed my hand to get us up,” Peter Adam told the Nine Network.

“He then went to get his son.”

Jackman, who is a regular at Bondi Beach with his family when he is in Australia, had reportedly returned home after promoting his most recent film “Eddie the Eagle.”

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Chris Brown vows to raise awareness about domestic violence Down Under

American R&B singer Chris Brown has said he will raise awareness of domestic violence if he is granted a visa to tour Australia, after authorities indicated he could be banned from entering the country.

Brown, who was convicted of assaulting his then-partner pop star Rihanna in 2009, may be refused entry despite plans to bring his "One Hell of a Nite" tour to Australia in December.

The government confirmed on Sunday, just a day before tickets were due to go on sale, that he had been issued with a "notice of intention to consider refusal."

"People to whom these notices are issued have 28 days to present material as to why they should be given a visa to enter Australia," Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Sunday.

Now Brown has taken to social media to say he could help shed light on domestic violence if he is allowed entry.

"I would be more than grateful to come to Australia to raise awareness about domestic violence," he tweeted late Tuesday.

Im not the pink elephant in the room anymore."

Brown's clean image crumbled in June 2009 after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna while they were driving to a pre-Grammy Awards party.

The Grammy award-winning performer was sentenced to five years' probation -- now lifted -- a year-long domestic violence programme and 180 days of community labor.

"My life mistakes should be a wake up call for everyone," he said. "Showing the world that mistakes don't define you.

"The youth don't listen to parents nor do they listen to PSAs (Public Service Announcements). The power that we have as Entertainers can change lives."

Brown has visited Australia twice since 2009 but newly appointed Minister for Women Michaelia Cash last week suggested he may be banned this time amid heightened awareness about family violence.

Activist group GetUp! has also questioned whether Brown's tour should go ahead, saying it would send the wrong message about violence against women.

Brown is due to perform in the Australian cities of Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from December 9-16. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Australia set to refuse visa for US singer Chris Brown

SYDNEY - Australia intends to refuse a visa for US singer and hip-hop star Chris Brown, a government spokesman said on Sunday, following through on a threat made last week over the singer's history of domestic violence.

Brown, 26, had been due to perform at a series of concerts in four Australian cities in December.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said a notice had been sent to the singer indicating the government intends to consider refusal and he had four weeks to respond.

"People to whom these notices are issued have 28 days to present material as to why they should be given a visa to enter Australia," the spokesman said in a statement.

A final decision on whether to issue the visa would be made after considering any material presented on the singer's behalf, the spokesman said.

In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna, and was sentenced in the United States to five years probation, which was lifted in February.

He has been denied entry by Britain and Canada since his conviction.

Australian Minister for Women Michaelia Cash last week urged Dutton to consider refusing Brown entry.

Neighboring New Zealand has already ruled Brown ineligible for entry as a result of Britain refusing him admission, casting doubt over the Antipodean leg of his world tour.

The Australian government last week earmarked A$100 million ($70.2 million) to combat domestic violence. — Reuters

Tiny Australian town rocks to AC/DC's new album

Sydney, Australia - Thousands of AC/DC fans Sunday flocked to a small, rural Australian town for the launch of the group's first new album in six years -- and also their first without founding member Malcolm Young, who is suffering from dementia.

Wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with images of the veteran band and the trademark caps with protruding red horns, fans gathered in the New South Wales town The Rock to be among the first in the world to listen to the new "Rock or Bust" album.

The band -- which has endured controversy in recent weeks after drummer Phil Rudd was accused of drug possession and threatening to kill -- did not attend the launch but the album tracks were played by record executives at an event at the town's market.

Councilor John Paterson said thousands endured sweltering temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) to attend the event.

"There were at least a couple of thousand (fans), it was very well supported," Paterson told AFP. The Rock is some 500 kilometers south-west of Sydney and has a population of less than 1000.

"It was probably one of the biggest crowds we've seen for a very long time.

"'Rock or Bust' obviously went over very well because of the association with the name of our town... I can assure you that the song will be a new anthem for our little town here at The Rock."

It is not the first time a world-famous musical group has opted to launch an album in a rural Australian town.

Recent setbacks
French group Daft Punk last year launched their "Random Access Memories" in remote Wee Waa, a far-flung town with a population of just 1,653 in the state's north.

AC/DC, which was founded by Malcolm and Angus Young in Australia in 1973, is one of the biggest-selling bands in history.

The group plans to back the new album with a global tour in 2015, although their line-up is unclear after recent setbacks.

The rockers were dealt a blow when it was revealed in September that dementia had forced one of its founding members, Malcolm Young, to retire and move into a Sydney care facility.

They were hit with a further setback when New Zealand prosecutors filed a murder-for-hire case against drummer Phil Rudd before quickly dropping it, citing insufficient evidence.

Rudd, 60, is still accused of drug possession and threatening to kill, which carries a jail term of up to seven years. He is expected to appear in court on November 27 on these charges.

Singer Brian Johnson and guitarist Angus Young hinted last week that the band may look to replace him ahead of the tour.

The Grammy award winners were inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 after a string of hits including "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Jailbreak" and "Highway to Hell".

The "Rock or Bust" album is their first since 2008's "Black Ice" and features 11 tracks. It will be officially released on December 2.8 passengers and crew, two-thirds of them from the Netherlands. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Hot air balloon shaped like Rio’s famous Christ statue flies over Melbourne

The city of Melbourne woke on Tuesday to a vision of Rio De Janeiro's famous Christ the Redeemer statue flying over their city, with a message urging Australia's Socceroos fans to "#KeepTheFaith."

Local media reported that religious groups were not pleased with the stunt.

In a statement, Australian betting company Sportsbet.com.au—which flew the balloon—said, "Let's be honest, the Socceroos need some divine intervention to win a single match at the World Cup!" and urged Australian fans to keep believing in their team.

The stunt took aeronautical engineers, designers and seamstresses five months to get the balloon off the ground, with the final product being bigger than the real Christ The Redeemer statue in Brazil, Sportsbet said.

The balloon measured 46 meters high and was made in the UK, the betting company said. — Reuters

source:gmanetwork.com

Australia says cost not a concern in MH370 search

PERTH - Australia said Wednesday cost was not a concern in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, after the mini-sub plumbing the depths of the Indian Ocean for wreckage ended its ninth mission empty-handed.

Australia is leading the multinational search for the Boeing 777 which vanished on March 8 carrying 239 people, and is bearing many of the costs of the mission expected to be the most expensive in aviation history.

"There will be some issues of costs into the future but this is not about costs," Defense Minister David Johnston told reporters in Canberra.

"We want to find this aircraft. We want to say to our friends in Malaysia and China this is not about cost, we are concerned to be seen to be helping them in a most tragic circumstance."

China, whose citizens made up two-thirds of the passengers onboard the ill-fated flight, and Malaysia are among eight countries including Australia which have committed assets to the Indian Ocean search.

But with no confirmed sightings of debris from the flight on the surface so far, the search moved underwater nearly two weeks ago and is yet to find any sign of the aircraft.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said searchers still believed the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean.

"Our expert advice is that the aircraft went down somewhere in the Indian Ocean where they have identified a probable impact zone which is about 700 kilometers (435 miles) long, about 80 kilometers wide," he said.

Abbott said based on the detections from what Australia still believed was the black box recorder, an underwater search area of just under 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) was being scoured.

"We haven't finished the search, we haven't found anything yet in the area that we're searching, but the point I make is that Australia will not rest until we have done everything we humanly can to get to the bottom of this mystery," he said.

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said the device looking for the plane on the seabed had scanned more than 80 percent of its target zone and was now on its 10th dive.

"No contacts of interest have been found to date," it said.

The torpedo-shaped autonomous underwater vehicle called a Bluefin-21 is searching an area at least 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) deep defined by a 10-kilometre radius around a detection of a signal believed to be from the plane's black box heard on April 8.

'Reasonable hope'

A surface search involving up to 10 military aircraft and 12 ships was also scheduled for Wednesday, despite suggestions last week that this effort would be scaled down in coming days.

JACC later suspended the air search activities due to bad weather, which had resulted in heavy seas and poor visibility, but said the ships would continue their work.

The visual hunt covers an area totaling about 37,948 square kilometers, some 855 kilometes northwest of Perth, JACC said.

Johnston said Australia was tracking the cost of the mission, and if the Bluefin-21 failed to spot wreckage the search would move into a new phase, but said Canberra was committed to the task.

"We move to the next phase which is a more intensive single sideband sonar type program, I suspect, but let's take advice of the experts as to where we go forward," he said.

Johnston said Australia was talking with its partners about the assets needed for the next phase of the search for the plane which mysteriously diverted en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Abbott said Australia would not abandon the search and let down the families of the six Australians and 233 other people onboard "by likely surrendering while there is reasonable hope of finding something."

"At the moment we are conducting an underwater search with the best equipment that is currently available," he said.

"If at the end of that period, we find nothing, we are not going to abandon the search. We may well re-think the search, but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery." — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Volkswagen recalls 26,000 cars in Australia

Sydney — German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) on Wednesday recalled nearly 26,000 vehicles in Australia due to a gearbox problem that could cause cars to lose power on the road.

The recall follows growing safety concerns sparked by the death in Australia of a woman while driving a 2008 Golf.

The 32-year-old's car slowed and was hit from behind by a truck on a Melbourne freeway in 2011, a coroner's inquest heard last month.

The news sparked complaints from other VW owners whose cars had also cut out or stopped on busy roads.

"In isolated cases, an electronic malfunction in the control unit inside the gearbox mechatronics may result in a power interruption," VW's Australian branch said in a statement.

The models affected include Golf, Jetta, Polo, Passat and Caddy cars produced between June 2008 and Sept. 2011.

Last week, VW Australia managing director John White said the company "stands by the quality of our cars and integrity of our engineering excellence" and offered free inspections as customer concerns grew.

The move follows similar recalls in other countries, including China where more than 380,000 vehicles were recalled in March over gearbox defects. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

14-year-old Pinay student holds art exhibit in Australia

The artworks of 14-year-old Filipina Kelsy Marie Senturias were selected for display in the annual "Step into the Limelight-Voyage Art Exhibition" in Australia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The DFA said Kelsy is the daughter of Priscilla Senturias, Records and Communication Officer of the Philippine Embassy in Australia.

A  Year 9 student at the Stromlo High School in Canberra, Kelsy chose her younger sister Kaithlyn Marian, as the subject of her acrylic painting,

Kelsy emphasized her sister’s sporting and musical interests, such as handball and the xylophone, as the focus of her paintings, the DFA said.

The exhibit was organized by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Education and Training Directorate.

The DFA said the exhibit was officially opened at the Australian National University (ANU) School of Art Foyer Gallery on August 8 and ran until August 18.

The exhibit includes over 150 artworks representing students from 25 ACT public schools. - VVP, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Andy Whitfield died at the age of 39

Andy Whitfield, who starred on the Starz show, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," died - Sunday, September 11 in Sydney, Australia at the age of 39 after an 18 month battle with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, manager Sam Maydew said.


Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with the form of cancer after finishing up the first season of Spartacus and he was forced to leave the show when he was diagnosed with the disease 18 months ago.