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☆ Western Australia assesses Cyclone Ilsa's 'path of destruction'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, April 15 (Reuters) - Emergency authorities in Western Australia were assessing damage on Saturday from a tropical cyclone that hit the state's northwest, sparing heavily populated areas but affecting several remote communities. Ilsa, downgraded to a severe weather system, made landfall in the sparsely populated Pilbara region of Western Australia early on Friday with an intensity rating of 5, the highest. Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner Rick Curtis said crews were surveying damage in the "very large area" hit by Ilsa. "It’s quite a remote part of Western Australia so getting support services to the area will take some time and effort." Australia's weather forecaster warned of possible severe weather on Saturday in parts of the neighbouring Northern Territory, including potential flooding in the outback town of Alice Springs, as the ex-cyclone tracked east.

☆ Cyclone Ilsa hits Australia's northwest, misses iron ore export hub
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, April 14 (Reuters) - A tropical cyclone smashed into Australia's northwest coast as a category 5 storm, setting new wind speed records, but has largely spared populated regions including the world's largest iron ore export hub at Port Hedland, authorities said on Friday. "Port Hedland ... escaped the brunt of the cyclone at this stage. "As it moves inland and the sun comes up, we can expect it to still be a severe tropical cyclone," the weather bureau's hazard response manager Shenagh Gamble said. Ilsa is expected to weaken to a tropical low overnight and move into the southern parts of the Northern Territory. Destructive winds could hit the remote inland mining town of Telfer, where Newcrest Mining (NCM.AX) operates a fly-in-fly-out gold and copper mine.

☆ Australia's northwest braces for strongest cyclone in a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Cyclone Ilsa, located about 300 km (186 miles) off Australia's coast in the Indian Ocean, was on Thursday morning upgraded to a category four storm - one rung below the strongest category five. Port Hedland is the world's biggest export point for iron ore and is used by BHP Group (BHP.AX), Fortescue (FMG.AX) and billionaire Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting. Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) exports out of Port of Dampier, which lies to the west of Port Hedland. It will be the strongest system to hit the country's far northwest region since Cyclone Christine crossed the coast in December 2013, weather bureau forecaster Jessica Lingard said. BHP in an emailed response said it was closely tracking the cyclone but its mining and rail operations were continuing.

☆ Australia did not vow to help US defend Taiwan in submarine deal -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, March 19 (Reuters) - Australia "absolutely" did not promise to support the U.S. in any military conflict over Taiwan in return for a deal to acquire U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines, Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Sunday. Canberra is to buy the U.S. Virginia-class military submarines, with Britain and Australia eventually producing and operating a new submarine class, SSN-AUKUS. Australia's centre-left Labor government says the A$368 billion ($246 billion) deal is necessary given China's military buildup in the region, which it has labelled the largest since World War Two. He said there was "absolutely not" a quid pro quo obligation on Australia from the deal. President Joe Biden has said the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of "an unprecedented attack" by China.

☆ Factbox: Full list of winners at the 2023 Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LOS ANGELES, March 13 (Reuters) - The 95th Academy Awards took place at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday and were broadcast live on ABC television. The following is the full list of 2023 Oscar winners:BEST PICTURE"Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST ACTRESSMichelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST ACTORBrendan Fraser, "The Whale"BEST DIRECTORDaniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST SUPPORTING ACTORKe Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESSJamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM"All Quiet on the Western Front," GermanyBEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM"Navalny"BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY"Everything Everywhere All at Once," written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel ScheinertBEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY"Women Talking," screenplay by Sarah PolleyBEST ORIGINAL SCORE"All Quiet on the Western Front," Volker BertelmannBEST ORIGINAL SONG"Naatu Naatu," from "RRR," music by M.M. Keeravaani; lyrics by ChandraboseCINEMATOGRAPHY"All Quiet On The Western Front," James FriendVISUAL EFFECTS"Avatar: The Way of Water"SOUND"Top Gun: Maverick"FILM EDITING"Everything Everywhere All at Once"PRODUCTION DESIGN"All Quiet On The Western Front"COSTUME DESIGN"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Ruth CarterMAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING"The Whale"DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM"The Elephant Whisperers"SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION"An Irish Goodbye"SHORT FILM, ANIMATED"The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse"Reporting by Mary Milliken; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Winners at the 2023 Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - The 95th Academy Awards are taking a place at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday and are being broadcast live on ABC television. The following is a list of Oscar winners so far:BEST SUPPORTING ACTORKe Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESSJamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM"Navalny"CINEMATOGRAPHY"All Quiet On The Western Front," James FriendSHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION"An Irish Goodbye"Reporting by Mary Milliken; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel hails movie-going rebound, cracks wise about 'the slap'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, returning for a third stint as Oscar host, led a back-to-basics show on Sunday that sought to celebrate a moviegoing rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic while avoiding the kind of unscripted outburst that marred the 2022 telecast. "We know this is a special night for you," Kimmel told the crowd of Hollywood luminaries. Kimmel, who was cheekily promoted ahead of Sunday's telecast as an "unflappable, unslappable" Oscar host, then went on to give a mock recitation of "strict policies in place" to prevent a repeat of last year's incident. "If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just sit there and do what you did last year, nothing," Kimmel added. It was a departure from many years in which relatively little-seen, but critically acclaimed, films have dominated the Academy Awards.

☆ Australian officials warn of bushfire threat as heatwave grips Sydney
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A total of 33 fires are burning across New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state of which Sydney is the capital, with 12 not contained yet. Five public schools have been shut amid a total fire ban across large parts of the state. Two bushfires have been downgraded from emergency warning levels overnight, but officials said they could flare up again. Since late 2020, Australia's weather has been dominated by La Nina, which brings more rain and floods. Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney, Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia has not received advice to ban TikTok from govt devices -Treasurer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 1 (Reuters) - Australia has not received advice from its security agencies to follow the example of the United States, the European Parliament and Canada to ban Chinese video-sharing app TikTok from government devices, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday. Canada banned TikTok from government-issued devices on Monday and the following day the European Parliament banned the app from staff phones citing concerns over who could access user data. The White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have TikTok on federal devices. That hasn't been the advice to date," Chalmers told ABC television, when asked if the government would consider a government-wide ban on TikTok. India banned TikTok in 2020.

☆ Australian university professor taken hostage in highlands of Papua New Guinea, prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An Australian university professor has been taken hostage in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea's prime minister has confirmed. The Australian man is an archaeologist who works for an Australian university and was accompanied on a field trip by several Papua New Guinean students from a local university who were also taken hostage, two sources with knowledge of the incident told Reuters. Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape told local reporters on Monday that police and the military were on stand-by, and the government was working with missionaries who were acting as mediators. "There is no place to run, there is no place to hide," Marape added. A source in Papua New Guinea told Reuters on Monday morning the situation was in "a crucial moment" and they could not comment further.

☆ Australia's top central banker to face lawmaker ire over rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Australia's top central banker will face a grilling at parliamentary hearings this week after surprising many with a hawkish turn on interest rate hikes that are adding to already punishing cost of living pressures. After the latest rise last week, the central bank compounded the blow by flagging yet further increases would be needed to contain inflation, which is running at three-decade highs. Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers highlighted the broader issue in the review about how the bank communicates the context for its decisions on Sunday. Chalmers said he would receive the review on March 31, and the government would make a decision about Lowe's re-appointment towards mid-year. The review, announced by Chalmers in July, is assessing issues such as how the RBA communicates with the public and which inflation targets to follow.

☆ Australia's Norfolk Island braces for Cyclone Gabrielle impact
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Cyclone Gabrielle, headed for New Zealand, brought destructive winds to Australia's Norfolk Island on Saturday as it continued to track towards the tiny external territory in the Pacific Ocean. Gabrielle, a Category 2 tropical cyclone with winds of up 155 kilometres per hour (96 mph), was 325 km (miles) northwest of Norfolk Island, where conditions were deteriorating, Australia's weather bureau said early on Saturday. "The community are doing the right thing and we're in as good a place as we can be," Norfolk Island Administrator Eric Hutchinson told ABC television. The country's weather forecaster, MetService, said it expected Gabrielle to move towards New Zealand in coming days. Last month, Auckland and parts of the North Island were hit by record rainfall that sparked widespread floods and killed four people.

☆ Cyclone Gabrielle heads toward Australia's Norfolk Island, New Zealand
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/David GraySYDNEY, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Residents in Australia's Norfolk Island and in New Zealand braced for heavy rain and gales over the weekend from Cyclone Gabrielle, with authorities also warning of hazardous surf conditions and strong winds along Australia's east coast. "It is looking like making a direct hit at Norfolk Island," Australia Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan Howe told ABC television. "We might see the centre of the tropical cyclone pass directly over Norfolk Island." Norfolk Island, an Australian territory 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Sydney, covers just over 34 square km (13 square miles) in the Pacific Ocean, between New Caledonia and New Zealand. Australia's mainland will not be significantly impacted though some eastern coastal areas may experience large waves and strong winds.

☆ 'Shark Tank'-winning CEO who started in a garage with $2,000 got a $250,000 offer from Cuban, Greiner
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Those details helped Lady land a $250,000 investment offer from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner , a lucrative deal that took some effort to assemble. The second-generation Honduran-American launched her Concord, New Hampshire-based startup FryAway out of her garage with $2,000 in 2021. Greiner, Cuban celebrate after landing a $250,000 deal with Lady for a split 22% of FryAway. John echoed Greiner and Cuban, also calling Lady a "dream entrepreneur." "[Cuban and Greiner] are a power team, and I think the three us of are going to be absolutely unstoppable."

☆ Australia to speed up purchase of sea mines to shore up maritime defence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Australia said on Monday it would accelerate plans to buy advanced sea mines to protect its maritime routes and ports from "potential aggressors" amid China's plans to increase its influence in the Pacific region. The so-called smart sea mines are designed to differentiate between military targets and other types of ships, a defence department spokesperson said in a statement. "(Australia) is accelerating the acquisition of smart sea mines, which will help to secure sea lines of communication and protect Australia's maritime approaches," it said. The federal government will soon announce a contract to buy "a substantial number" of sea mines from a European weapons supplier, the report said, citing unidentified defence industry sources. So we have looked at missile defence, we're looking at cyber security, we're looking at all of these issues," Albanese said.

☆ Brad Pitt sells 60% of his Plan B production company to French media conglomerate Mediawan, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Brad Pitt is selling 60% of his production company, Plan B Entertainment, to French media conglomerate Mediawan in a deal that's set to be announced this weekend, according to people familiar with the matter. Neither Plan B nor Mediawan responded to requests for comment. For TV, Plan B's productions have included HBO's 2014 adaptation of "The Normal Heart," directed by Ryan Murphy, and Amazon Prime Video's 2021 miniseries "The Underground Railroad." Candle Media also acquired a minority stake in Westbrook Inc. — the production company founded by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith – earlier this year. The boutique investment bank Moelis led the sale for Plan B.

SYDNEY, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia's release of convicted Bali bomb maker Umar Patek will be a "difficult day" for Australians who lost loved ones and relatives in the attacks, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday. Patek was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 for his involvement in bombings that ripped through two Bali nightclubs, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians. "I think this going to be a very difficult day for many Australians – all Australians – to hear about the release of Umar Patek," Marles told ABC radio. "I'm particularly thinking right now of the families of those who were killed and injured in the Bali bombings." [1/2] Indonesian militant Umar Patek walks after reading his final defence at the West Jakarta court May 31, 2012.

☆ Progressives returned for third term in Australia's Victoria state poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The progressive government of Australia's Victoria state won re-election on Saturday, clearing the way for spending on infrastructure, education and healthcare. After eight years in power, centre-left Labor was tipped to defeat its Liberal-National coalition opposition, and the government, led by Daniel Andrews, was comfortably returned at Saturday's poll. "I'm humbled and so grateful, so so grateful, that Victorians have re-elected a majority Labor government," Andrews told ABC television on Sunday morning. Four years ago, Labor returned to power in a landslide, winning just under two-thirds of seats, but polling in the final days of this campaign had suggested a tighter race. Victoria, with its capital of Melbourne, is Australia's second most populous state after New South Wales.

☆ Australia battles floods as frustration swells over relief, warnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Australia's east has been devastated by frequent floods over the last two years due to a multi-year La Nina weather event, typically associated with increased rainfall. "We had no food, no clothing, no one telling what's gonna to happen next because no one was here. What's your answer to some of that before I keep on going," resident Peter Jones was heard asking Perrottet. "Significant risk remains," New South Wales emergency services Chief Superintendent Ashley Sullivan told ABC television. In Hay, the Murrumbidgee river has exceeded the levels hit during the floods in 1974, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Two weeks later, we're back into major floods," NSW emergency services' Chief Superintendent Ashley Sullivan told ABC television from Forbes. To help with relief efforts, 18 flood rescue specialists from Singapore reached Sydney on Thursday, authorities said, who will join a team from New Zealand and hundreds of Australian defence personnel already deployed to the worst-hit regions. Help has also been sought from the United States for the relief operation, which authorities have flagged will be the biggest flood rescue exercise in New South Wales' history. The damage from the latest flood could cost "billions of dollars", Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said. "The bill is really racking up and that's before we look at the immense cost of road and infrastructure repairs which lies ahead," Watt told ABC radio.

☆ Australians rescued from rooftops as torrential rain ravages rural towns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Renju Jose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Emergency crews deployed more than a dozen helicopters to rescue trapped people from rooftops in the worst-hit towns in New South Wales (NSW) state, officials said. More than 200 flood rescue operations were conducted in the state over the past 24 hours to Tuesday morning, while 24 emergency warnings remained. A damaged road is seen following flooding in the town of Canowindra, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, November 15, 2022. Heavy rain smashed parts of southwest New South Wales and northeast Victoria over the weekend. Flooded highways near several inland towns are hampering rescue operations as emergency services said they were undertaking what would be the biggest flood rescue operations in New South Wales' history.

☆ How Patti Smith Found the Dark Side of ‘You Light Up My Life’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Rich Cohen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The tune had been written by ad man Joseph Brooks for the soundtrack of Brooks’s self-produced, self-directed film of the same name. Brooks made an inspired choice in Boone. She was young (21), pretty in a generic West Coast sort of way, operatic and the inheritor of a great schlock tradition. Her father Pat Boone’s cover versions of R&B hits by Fats Domino and Little Richard are what people really mean when they denounce cultural appropriation. Pat Boone singing Little Richard is a crime.

☆ Australia seeks to reassure citizens on COVID after cruise ship outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Australia's Home Affairs Minister on Saturday sought to reassure the public that COVID-19 protocols were adequate after a cruise ship with hundreds of infected passengers docked in Sydney. The incident has sparked comparisons with a notorious 2020 outbreak onboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship. That outbreak, also in New South Wales, led to 914 infections and 28 deaths, an inquiry found. Carnival Australia, part of global leisure company Carnival Corporation & plc, said COVID-positive passengers were isolating onboard and being cared for by medical staff, according to New South Wales Health. The agency said it was working with cruise ship staff to monitor the health of passengers and crew members.

☆ Australia to consider banning paying of ransoms to cyber criminals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil on Sunday said the government would consider making illegal the paying of ransoms to cyber hackers, following recent cyber attacks affecting millions of Australians. Australia's biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), last month suffered a massive cyber attack, as Australia grapples with a rise in hacks. Asked on ABC television on Sunday whether the government planned to look at outlawing ransom payments to cyber criminals, O'Neil said "that's correct". Around 100 officers would be part of the new partnership between the two federal agencies, which would act as a joint standing operation against cyber criminals. The AFP earlier this week said Russia-based hackers were behind the attack on Medibank, which compromised data from around 10 million current and former customers.

☆ Australia flood crisis enters third week as heavy rains lash east
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Already-flooded towns across Australia's east were on high alert on Monday after a weekend of heavy rains, with authorities warning a wild weather system could persist until later this week and trigger renewed riverbank bursts. About 200 flood warnings remained in place in both states as of Monday morning, with 132 of those in New South Wales. A severe weather warning was cancelled on Monday, but the region is still on flood alert. Many agricultural regions have been severely impacted, including Moree where the local river peaked near historic flooding levels. In neighbouring Victoria state, residents of Echuca remain sheltered behind a dirt levee erected last week as the Murray, Australia's longest river, broached a near 30-year high.

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