Tag Archives: oceania

Measles alert issued for Sydney Airport, two flights

An alert has been issued for flights and a city airport after a passenger was diagnosed with measles.

Two flights and both the international and domestic terminals at Sydney Airport were visited by two infectious people.

NSW Health said both caught the disease outside the city, with one returning from South-East Asia and the other from interstate.

READ MORE: Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife and former News Corp director dies aged 81

Jetstar plane

Passengers who were on Garuda Indonesia Flight 712 from Jakarta to Sydney on Tuesday, February 17, and Jetstar Flight 505 from Sydney to Melbourne should monitor for symptoms until March 8.

The person also visited Northern Beaches Hospital, Brookvale Medicare Urgent Care Clinic on the northern beaches, and Advanced Health Pharmacy in Blacktown in the city's west between February 14 and February 18.

READ MORE: Man charged after allegedly ramming Brisbane synagogue with ute

Health experts warned symptoms can take up to 18 days to appear, but have told people to "be alert".

"Symptoms to watch out for include fever, runny nose, sore eyes and a cough, usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body," Dr Vicky Sheppeard said.

READ MORE: Sydney man charged over involvement in $5m scam

Measles morbillivirus structure - 3d rendered image. Abstract background.

The disease spreads in the air when someone who is infectious coughs or sneezes, but a vaccine can prevent it.

"We want to remind the community to make sure they are up to date with their vaccinations. The measles vaccine can prevent the disease even after exposure, if given early enough," Sheppeard said.

The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is free for anyone in New South Wales who was born after 1965 and hasn't had two doses.

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Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife and former News Corp director dies aged 81

Anna Murdoch-Mann, the former wife of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has died at the age of 81.

A former director of News Corp, her death was announced by one of its websites, the New York Post, which said she died on February 17 surrounded by her family at her Florida home.

A cause of death was not revealed.

READ MORE: Texas man was shot dead by a federal immigration agent last year

Anna Murdoch-Mann reportedly played a key role at News Corp when she was on the board of directors.

Murdoch-Mann was born Anna Torv in Glasgow, Scotland, on June 30, 1944, moving to Australia with her family as a child.

She began a career in journalism when she was 18, working for the now-defunct Daily Mirror, as well as the Daily Telegraph.

READ MORE: Sydney man charged over involvement in $5m scam

Anna Murdoch-Mann and Rupert Murdoch were married for more than 30 years.

She later met Rupert Murdoch, with the pair marrying in 1967. During the marriage, she reportedly played a key role in News Corp's growth in Australia and around the world, sitting on the board of directors.

She had three children with Murdoch – Elisabeth, Lachlan and James. Lachlan is now the Chairman of News Corp.

READ MORE: New study debunks theory on why sharks fled Aussie islands after vicious attack

Anna Murdoch-Mann remarried twice after her divorce from Rupert Murdoch.

Their marriage ended in 1997 after Murdoch had an affair with Wendi Deng. It was reported Murdoch-Mann received $1.7 billion in the settlement.

She later reported she was forced off the News Corp board after the split, and claimed her ex-husband was "determined" to see the separation through.

Murdoch man remarried just six months after the separation, to William Mann. They remained married until his death in 2017.

She then married Ashton dePeyster in 2019.

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New study debunks theory on why sharks fled Aussie islands after vicious attack

After six orcas were filmed viciously killing a great white shark off South Australia's Neptune Islands in 2015, sharks disappeared from the waters for over two months.

Their abnormally long absence was attributed to the incident, as a study in South Africa suggested similar instances along their coast caused sharks to abandon their habitat. 

But now, new 12-year research in Australia has debunked that theory.

READ MORE: Aussie researchers capture 'significant' vision of shark in near-freezing water

Six orcas were filmed viciously killing a great white shark off South Australia's Neptune Islands in 2015.

Dr Isabella Reeves, a postdoctoral researcher from Flinders University, led the study and said her team identified six instances when sharks left the Neptune Islands for weeks at a time.

"These were more than 42 days, and only one of them had this killer whale predation, which was the event we had in 2015," she said. 

The encounter that started it all

A cage diving company based in Port Lincoln took a group out to get up close with sharks at the Neptune Islands on February 2, 2015.

But just 20 metres from their vessel, they witnessed six orcas going in for the kill.

Three orcas appeared to fence in a shark, while the others rammed it with their heads.

They pushed the shark underwater and an oil slick appeared on the surface, indicating the liver had been consumed.

The footage of the encounter went viral and gained national interest.

Reeves said it was considered very rare at the time but has been recorded more over the years, particularly in Australia, South Africa, California and Mexico. 

"The fact that killer whales had rocked up to the Neptunes, which is a really small island group that's offshore, and someone was there to actually document it, it was a really rare opportunity to try to dissect the situation more once we had gotten more data over the years," she said.

READ MORE: 50,000 Aussies just got a new job – but there could be an unwelcome flow-on effect

New 12-year research led by Flinders University investigates shark behaviour after an orca attack in the Neptune Islands in 2015.

Sharks disappear from Neptune Islands

Sharks disappeared from the waters in the Neptune Islands for the next 69 days after the orca attack.

Andrew Fox from Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions said he saw an increase in sharks at the Neptunes from the early 2000s, but that changed in 2015.

"It's been very much more patchy since then, and in the last two years, it's been really slow," he said. 

"It seems like there's a lot more than there is, but I'm worried that there has been a bit of a slow decline, and we're certainly seeing a lot less in the last two years than we've ever seen."

There have also been environmental changes in recent years, including record oceanic upwellings and a toxic algal bloom. 

Fox has only seen orcas at the Neptune Islands a handful of times in his 50 years in the business.

"We had a really big Orca, a big male with an extremely tall dorsal fin, come up to the back of our vessel and smash its tail up and down repetitively and scare away a big white shark we knew, a formidable, five-metre male we know as Dragon," he said.

"We haven't seen Dragon since, so I'm a bit worried about what happened to him. But other white sharks did come back a week and a half or 10 days later."

READ MORE: The super mistake which could cost young Aussies $128,000

New 12-year research led by Flinders University investigates shark behaviour after an orca attack in the Neptune Islands in 2015.

Twelve years of research

The research team used acoustic telemetry data, based on listening stations that ping once a tagged shark is near, and sightings from tourism companies to track sharks over 12 years to understand whether the 2015 absence was exceptional or behavioural.

They identified six instances of prolonged absences, including a brief five-day departure during an orca sighting in October 2024 and a four-day absence during the death of a tagged whale.

But they found that not every orca encounter or shark death led to these absences.

Reeves said movement patterns of great white sharks in the Neptune Islands were highly variable. 

"There's definitely long gaps in their presence, which can happen with or without killer whale activity," she said.

"It's really hard to say. There's so much going on in our oceans right now, which could be contributing to this.

"But I think the main takeaway is that it's not the killer whales at the Neptunes that are causing the prolonged absences."

Another study is currently under way to understand what causes prolonged shark absences.

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Man charged with murder after woman hit by car in Melbourne’s north

A man has been charged with murder following the death of a woman in Melbourne's north last night.

Police responded to reports that a woman had been hit by a car on Seston Street at Reservoir at about 7.40pm yesterday.

The woman who is yet to be identified died at the scene.

READ MORE: What happens next after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested

A 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene and has been charged with one count of murder.

He will appear at Melbourne's Magistrates' Court today.

It is believed that the pair were known to each other.

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UK government considering removing former prince from the line of succession to become King

Despite recent controversy, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor remains the eighth person in line to the British throne, however the UK government has confirmed it is considering removing him from the path to becoming king.

UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard told the BBC that regardless of the outcome of Andrew's arrest, wiping his chances of being a successor to the throne is the "right thing to do".

Pollard confirmed on BBC radio that the UK government had been working alongside Buckingham Palace to stop Andrew from "potentially being a heartbeat away from the throne".

He said that the decision would be "something that I hope will enjoy cross-party support, but it's right that that is something that only happens when the police investigation concludes".

In October last year, Downing Street said it was not planning on introducing any legislation to alter the line of royal succession.

Before the former prince's birthday arrest yesterday, momentum had been growing in some quarters to follow the stripping of the 66-year-old's titles with his removal from the line of succession.

But even if that push reaches a tipping point, the ex-duke's removal would be a complicated process and Australia, for which the reigning monarch is head of state, would play a critical role.

In the meantime, Mountbatten-Windsor, who has not been charged with any offence and has denied any wrongdoing regarding his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, remains in line for the throne.

He could technically even serve as regent for Prince George, who is third in line, if the King and Prince William were both incapacitated.

Labour MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, is one of the most prominent voices to call for the King's brother to be removed from the line of succession and his role as a counsellor of state.

"All of these titles and positions need to be addressed, so we are just left with Andrew the citizen, and a citizen that is fully accountable," she said earlier this week, before the arrest.

READ MORE: What happens next after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested

How to remove a royal? It's 'complicated'

University College London professor of government and the constitution Robert Hazell said removing Andrew would be "really complicated".

"It will require legislation, not merely by the British parliament of Westminster, but the other 14 countries around the world, where King Charles is currently their head of state," he told the BBC in the hours after the arrest.

"Countries known as the realms, countries like Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, half a dozen islands in the Caribbean."

READ MORE: King Charles reacts to brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest

He said the last time the Law of Succession was changed, to make it gender neutral, took two years "to get everyone's ducks in a row".

"I really don't think either the British government or the governments of those other 14 countries want to spend two years trying to do that," he said.

"It would be a complete waste of everyone's time."

Could Mountbatten-Windsor serve as regent?

In November, UCL said if the worst were to happen to King Charles and then Prince William, Prince Harry would be next in line to be named as regent but only if he returned to the UK.

Were he to refuse, Mountbatten-Windsor would be next in line, although he was "unlikely to be considered suitable following his fall from grace".

The experts' FAQ noted the government was likely keen to avoid legislation to remove the former prince, in favour of other legislative priorities.

READ MORE: How Andrew went from helicopter pilot to trade envoy to royal pariah

Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed the infamous photograph with Prince Andrew's arm around a then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre is 'fake'.

"A person can only be removed as a counsellor of state by legislation," it said.

"Because seven people can now be called upon to act as counsellors of state, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is very unlikely to be called upon again."

A counsellor of state can be called on to represent the monarch if they are temporarily incapacitated but don't need to be replaced by a regent.

Palace sources told The Times earlier this month there were no plans to remove him as a counsellor of state as he was unlikely to be called upon.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 19: King Charles III attends a reception to mark the Scotland Investment Forum and celebrate Scotland's entrepreneurial economy at The Palace Of Holyroodhouse on January 19, 2026 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow - Pool/Getty Images)

What does it mean for the royal family?

Commentators were divided on what impact the arrest would have on the royal family.

Hazell said he thought people could "distinguish between the individual and the institution", a line echoed by Charles' biographer and friend Jonathan Dimbleby.

"If you think of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Edinburgh, they are all doing their duties," he said.

"They will individually have feelings about this. I do not see that because one member of the royal family has been arrested … that that brings the institution in this respect. 

"On the contrary, it demonstrates that the institution is functioning."

Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, said Dimbleby's comments were "absurd" and called on William and Charles to face the media for questioning.

"This is a very, very serious crisis, the worst serious crisis that has hit the monarchy in living memory, in the democratic era," he told the BBC.

"And you know, we have an institution that is already losing support quite rapidly. We have an institution that most people under the age of 50 are not that bothered about, and now they are exposed to quite serious accusations.

Mountbatten-Windsor had been reported to police by Republic following the release of more than 3 million pages of documents relating to Epstein, who was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

Those files suggested Mountbatten-Windsor had in 2010 forwarded to Epstein reports about Vietnam, Singapore and other places he had visited on official trips.

The former prince has not responded to the release of the files but has always denied any wrongdoing linked to Epstein.

The arrest follows a ratcheting up of allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor in the wake of the release of the US Justice Department's document dump.

Many of the recent allegations centred on claims of sexual impropriety, including those alleged by Australian-based Virginia Giuffre, but he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and was yet to be charged.

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