Tag Archives: oceania

Ash Barty marries long-time partner

Beloved Australian tennis champion Ash Barty has married her long-time boyfriend, Garry Kissick, at a quiet and concealed ceremony in Queensland.

The newlyweds announced the news via Instagram in a joint post with a photo from the big day captioned "husband & wife".

A private ceremony with just close friends and family was always on the cards after Barty flagged the "very low-key event" earlier this year.

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The 26-year-old who retired from professional tennis said she was looking forward to spending more time with family.

"I have always been a homebody, and this is where I recharge," she said at the time.

"I'm excited to reacquaint myself with my mum and dad and sisters and nieces and nephews. And spend quality time with them as a person.

"Like I said, a new chapter for Gary and I, and it is going to be a lot of fun."

The three-time-major champion admitted she would have retired from tennis even if she had lost the Australian Open.

The couple announced their engagement in November last year.

Ash Barty and Garry Kissick announced their engagement in November 2021

The pair married having just returned from Britain, where they attended the British Open golf major – won by fellow Queenslander Cameron Smith.

Video shows 'uncontrolled' Chinese rocket hurtling back to earth

Remnants of a massive Chinese rocket that was descending uncontrollably back to Earth reentered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean at roughly 2:45am (AEST) on Sunday, the US Space Command said on Twitter.

The Chinese 23-ton Long March 5B rocket, which delivered a new module to its space station, took off from Hainan Island at 2:22pm (local time) on Sunday, July 24, and the module successfully docked with China's orbital outpost.

The rocket had since been in an uncontrolled descent toward Earth's atmosphere – marking the third time that China has been accused of not properly handling space debris from its rocket stage.

Chinese rocket debris burning up in the atmosphere over Malaysia

"No other country leaves these 20-ton things in orbit to reenter in an uncontrolled way," Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told CNN's Jim Acosta on Saturday afternoon.

In a statement on Twitter, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote China "did not share specific trajectory information" as the rocket fell back to Earth.

"All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property," Nelson said.

Chinese rocket launch

"Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth," he added.

In a statement, the China Manned Space Agency said remnants of the rocket reentered the atmosphere at about 12:55am on Sunday, Beijing time – about 2:55am (AEST)..

The agency added most of the remnants burned up during the reentry process over the Sulu Sea, which is between the island of Borneo and the Philippines.

https://twitter.com/US_SpaceCom/status/1553436525404323842

"What we really want to know is did any pieces actually end up sitting on the ground," McDowell told CNN.

"That may take a little while longer for the reports to filter back."

Video posted online appears to show what experts believe are images of the rocket booster burning up in the atmosphere, but CNN cannot confirm their veracity.

Vanessa Julan, a resident of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, shared a video with CNN that shows what appears to be rocket debris burning up.

She told CNN she shot the footage at around 2:50am (AEST).

'Perfect storm': Record number of pet dogs being given up

The number of unwanted dogs in Victoria is reaching a crisis point as a record number of owners continue to abandon their pets, while fewer people are wanting to adopt them.

The surge in the number of dogs being surrendered to RSPCA Victoria began just before Christmas and has not slowed down for the past seven months.

Shelters were receiving about 50 unwanted dogs a month towards the end of last year, but have been inundated with around 150 abandoned pets every month of 2022.

dog from RSPCA Victoria

Nine abandoned dogs were handed to RSPCA Victoria on Tuesday alone.

RSPCA Victoria animal care manager Nadia Peiris said all kinds of dogs were being surrendered – even small dogs and puppies.

"Puppies coming in is just mind blowing," she said

"During COVID, we probably saw one puppy coming in during the whole two years.

"That really shows you the dilemma that we're in."

She said small dogs being surrendered "almost never happened" before this year.

The organisation is also seeing its reclaim rates drop, with owners choosing not to collect their dogs that have been found unattended and turned in.

"When we call the owner to let them know that the dog is in the shelter we're hearing people say, 'Oh, we'd just like to surrender the dog,'" Peiris said.

Around 50 dogs a month are being left unclaimed by their owners.

black dog sitting

Have you got a story? Contact Serena at rspcavic.org to find out more about adoption.