Tag Archives: oceania

Heineken sells Russian business for $1.70

Heineken has announced its departure from Russia following the sale of its business in the country for a symbolic €1 ($1.70).

The Dutch beer maker said in a statement on Friday that it had received the necessary approvals to sell its operations to Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer, completing a withdrawal process it initiated in March 2022.

Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink said that "recent developments demonstrate the significant challenges faced by large manufacturing companies in exiting Russia".

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"While it took much longer than we had hoped, this transaction secures the livelihoods of our employees and allows us to exit the country in a responsible manner," he added.

The brewer expects to incur a total loss of €300 million ($506 million) from the deal.

When Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a slew of multinational companies left Russia, or announced plans to do so.

But over the past 18 months, the Kremlin has made it increasingly difficult for Western firms to sell their Russian assets.

It now also obliges them to pay a hefty fee to the Russian government on such sales.

READ MORE: Kremlin denies role in plane crash believed to have killed Wagner boss

In March, Heineken said it had decided to "do everything possible" to avoid its Russian business being nationalised, while leaving the country "as quickly as possible".

"First, we don't think the Russian state or the people closest to it would have the best interests of our people at heart. Second, we were uncomfortable that the Russian state should benefit from forced appropriation of major business assets," it said in a statement.

Arnest Group, which manufactures cosmetics, household goods, and metal packaging for consumer goods, has provided all 1,800 of Heineken's employees in Russia with employment guarantees for the next three years as part of the deal.

All VIP lounge signs to be removed within days in NSW

NSW pubs and clubs have less than one week left to remove all external gambling-related signage to reduce harm and tackle money laundering.

The signage, including digital video displays and terms like VIP lounge and players' room, must be taken down by September 1 as part of the NSW government's gambling reforms.

Liquor and Gaming NSW (LGNSW) will begin conducting checks in September and from December there will be "no exceptions", with members of the public encouraged to report venues in breach of the regulations.

READ MORE: Police investigate street racing link after two boys die in horrific Sydney crash

Signage such as this 'VIP lounge' on Oxford street, Darlinghurst, will have to be removed within three months under the new legislation.

Gaming Minister David Harris said it was the next step in the government's commitment to reform in the industry.

"Pubs and clubs have one week until this ban will take place and we will begin enforcement from day one," Harris said.

"Let me be clear, if you have gambling-related external signage after September 1 and cannot demonstrate that reasonable steps have been taken to remove it, you will be fined.

"I'm also calling on the community to help us enforce this ban.

"If you see a sign which may breach the guidelines after September 1, please report to Liquor and Gaming NSW who will investigate further."

Teenager dies after ute crash on the Gold Coast

A teenage boy has died after a ute crashed into a parked truck on the Gold Coast.

A Nissan Navara was travelling along Gooding Drive in Merrimac about 2.10am when it hit an unoccupied truck.

The 17-year-old passenger from Tallai died at the scene, while the driver, also 17, survived.

READ MORE: Two children die in car crash in Sydney's south

A teenage boy has died and another has survived after a ute crashed into a parked truck in Gold Coast.A teenage boy has died and another has survived after a ute crashed into a parked truck in Gold Coast.

"The driver of the Nissan, a 17-year-old Eagleby boy, was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital, however is not believed to have sustained serious injuries," Queensland Police said in a statement.

Police are calling on witnesses or anyone with dashcam to come forward.

Investigations are ongoing.

Two Australian families able to leave hospital with babies after Greece surrogacy scandal

Two Australian families have been allowed to leave hospital with their babies as six others remain in limbo after a surrogacy scandal in Greece.

DNA results have come back and found they were a biological match, allowing them to move to a hotel after the Mediterranean Fertility Institute in Crete was accused of exploiting 169 women.

The two families have been told they can pick up their babies' birth certificates, have a final health check and go home on Monday.

READ MORE: Two children die in car crash in Sydney's south

Some families have been allowed to leave hospital with their babies but are in limbo after a surrogacy scandal in Greece.

It's alleged the women – from countries including Ukraine, Romania and Georgia – were forced to be surrogate mothers or egg donors and kept under surveillance.

The alleged trafficking syndicate is also accused of illegal adoptions and fake IVF treatments.

The saga has come as a shock to the hundreds of parents who have successfully used its services.

Melbourne surrogacy lawyer Sarah Jefford told Weekend Today it was deeply distressing.

"It is really a relief this morning to hear that some of those DNA testing results have come back positive," Jefford said.

"The parents must be very relieved, but we have also still got many intended parents that have a baby on the way or embryos in storage that they don't know what the future holds."

She said the industry in Greece is largely unregulated but surrogacy in Australia was very difficult.

READ MORE: Surfer undergoes further surgery after great white shark mauling in Port Macquarie

Inside the walls of Crete's Chania hospital are newborns at the centre of the surrogacy scandal. Australian couples who have been left in limbo after Greek police raided the Mediterranean Fertility Institute and arrested its medical team. It is accused of exploiting 169 women from countries including Ukraine, Romania and Georgia, forcing them to be surrogate mothers or egg donors and keeping them under surveillance.

"There's only about 110 surrogacy births in Australia each year, and many more, maybe 250 or 300 babies born overseas for Australian intended parents because there are prohibitions on advertising for a surrogate in Australia," Jefford said.

"Most intended parents that are able to do surrogacy here find somebody within their family or friends.

"So often it's a sister carrying for a sibling.

"Unless you've got somebody in your existing network, the other options are to go overseas and find somebody there.

"Intended parents that look at Australian laws will see that overseas options are actually much more viable."

Jefford said it was time for the government to consider a shake-up of surrogacy laws in Australia.

"If they want to make it safe for surrogates and babies and for the intended parents, we need to consider ways to make it easier to do here in our own country where we have the best options for healthcare and regulation then to compel intended parents to go overseas because that's an easier option than doing it in their home country," she said.

Families are waiting for an update from Greek police, which is expected on Monday.

Surfer undergoes further surgery after great white shark mauling

A father-of-two is recovering in hospital after a horrific shark attack on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Toby Begg, 44, is in a critical but stable condition in John Hunter Hospital following a second surgery after he sustained significant leg injuries during the "sustained and prolonged" attack at Watonga Rocks on Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie.

It is believed he tried to fight off the four-metre shark for 30 seconds while surfing about 10am yesterday.

READ MORE: Two children die in car crash in Sydney's south

Toby Begg 44 was attacked by a shark in Port Macquarie.

An off-duty emergency department doctor was on the beach and helped to stop the bleeding from what were described as "serious injuries from his hip to his calf and lower legs" until paramedics arrived.

He touched down at John Hunter Hospital yesterday evening, after being airlifted by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

Witnesses and experts believe it was a 3.8-to-4.2-metre great white shark but the Department of Primary Industries and Surf Life Saving NSW crews haven't been able to find it after searching waters yesterday.

Bite marks on Begg's fibreglass surfboard show the power of the shark's jaws during the attack.

Beaches have remained closed this morning.

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Toby Begg's board after he was attacked by a shark in Port Macquarie.Toby Begg's board after he was attacked by a shark in Port Macquarie.Port Macquarie shark attack

Begg is a local and well-known father in the Port Macquarie community.

Yesterday, Chief Inspector Martin Burke from NSW Police said the luck of having an emergency doctor on-scene would be a key part of Begg's survival.

"The reports are that a man has tried to fight this shark for 30 seconds and has then swum himself to shore where he has realised he has sustained significant lower leg injuries," he said.

Burke said he had spoken to some members of the surfing community, who all understood they were "in nature's playground" when they were in the ocean.

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Port Macquarie shark attack

Inspector Joshua Smyth from NSW Ambulance said Begg sustained significant trauma and blood loss.

"The bystanders obviously did a remarkable job on the patient initially and to initially arrest that hemorrhage and call triple zero," Smyth said.

A teenage witness told 9News it was "really scary".

"I have never seen anything like it," the girl told NBN.

"His foot ripped off and basically he was bleeding everywhere.

"They were trying to talk to him, he was silent, he was frozen."

A search to find the shark will continue.