Tag Archives: oceania

Why massive crowds gathered outside watch stores globally

Hundreds of Aussie watch enthusiasts queued up outside stores to get their hands on the Audemars Piguet X Swatch collaboration.

Audemars Piguet, a luxury Swiss watch company, created the pocket watch with fellow Swiss company Swatch, which is known for its affordable watches.

The highly sought-after collaboration, a pocket watch called the Royal Pop, hit shelves worldwide on Saturday, May 16, with Aussies lining up outside Swatch stores in Sydney to get their hands on the colourful pocket watch.

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LINES OUTSIDE uk SWATCH STORE

Videos of the winding line of fold-out chairs and tents in Sydney's Pitt Street have ended up online, with some adding they had seen people lining up since Thursday. 

Audemars Piguet is one of the most expensive and exclusive watch companies in the world, so the thought of owning a watch with their branding for under $1000 sent collectors into a frenzy.

The watch is only available at select in-person stores globally.

 Audemars Piguet x Swatch collab

Swatch stores all across the world have experienced similar crowds of people trying to get their hands on the lucrative pocket watch.

Some Swatch stores in the UK actually refused to open their doors due to safety concerns of a crowd crush.

Following the intense crowds and lines, Swatch have released a statement on its website, discouraging people from lining up.

Lines on Pitt Street outside Swatch Store

"To ensure the safety of both our customers and our staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product," the statement reads.

"The Royal Pop Collection will remain available for several months.

"In some countries/regions, queues of more than 50 people cannot be accepted, and sales may need to be paused."

In Milan, a brawl broke outside one store, while police in Paris used teargas to disperse the crowd.

The idea behind the collaboration came from pop art, according to the Audemars Piguet website.

"Audemars Piguet and Swatch unveil Royal Pop, a new collection that brings together creativity and audacity with haute horlogerie," it reads.

"Inspired by Pop Art, this collaboration reinterprets Royal Oak iconic codes through a disruptive pocket watch, available in eight models and designed to be worn in multiple ways."

The pocket watch is encouraged to be worn in a number of different ways, including as a necklace and a bag charm. 

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Mother’s ‘life sentence’ after daughter brutally murdered by husband

Part of Maria Gotencio died the day her daughter Czarina was violently murdered.

Fourteen months on and the pain remains constant as she struggles to support her four young grandchildren through their grief.

"This loss is permanent and irreversible," she told the Victorian Supreme Court today through tears.

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Father-of-four Jessie James Tumaliuan, 42, accepted a sentence indication of 20 years as he pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court this morning.

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"It is a life sentence of grief. The damage done to this family can never be undone."

Czarina's killer Jessie James Tumaliuan, 42, barely reacted as he listened to Gotencio read her statement at his pre-sentence hearing.

He admitted he murdered his wife Czarina Tumaliuan, 42, in the backyard of their Werribee home in Melbourne's southwest on March 27 last year.

Tumaliuan had forced his way inside the property and called his wife abusive names as he yelled at her about money.

She tried to flee out the back door but he chased her down and used a kitchen knife to stab her eight times to the neck, head, chest and abdomen.

The entire attack lasted 10 seconds.

Tumaliuan then dragged his wife's body to the back door before he sat down and called triple zero twice.

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He refused to let paramedics in but co-operated with police when they arrived.

Gotencio said she wished she could have been there to protect her daughter.

"A part of me died with her," she told the court on a video link from the United States.

Tumaliuan's teenage son also read a statement to the court, saying he had lost the most important person in his world.

"My mum is someone you would call a super-mum," he said over the video link.

"Now there is a big empty space in our hearts that cannot be fixed. It hurts so much that she is no longer with us."

Tumaliuan's barrister Chris Hooper accepted the attack would have been terrifying for his wife, who was entitled to feel safe in her own home.

He conceded it was a very serious example of murder but argued his client had not attended the home with the intention of killing his wife.

Hooper told the court Tumaliuan also made no attempts to hide evidence or frustrate the police investigation, instead calling triple zero himself and waiting at the scene.

The barrister accepted the only expression of remorse has come from Tumaliuan's guilty plea, which followed a sentence indication hearing in January.

Justice Amanda Fox indicated she would sentence Tumaliuan up to 26 years behind bars if he pleaded guilty to murder.

Hooper said while Tumaliuan had no diagnosed mental health or substance abuse issues, his time in custody would be more difficult as he was facing deportation back to the Philippines.

But Justice Fox said Tumaliuan effectively had no ties to Australia, noting his family lived in the Philippines and his children were in the United States.

"Whatever life he made here, he decimated when he committed this crime," she said.

Tumaliuan will officially be sentenced at a later date.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Cake dust that put Gold Coast toddler into coma recalled nationwide

A metallic cake decorating powder is being recalled nationwide after a Queensland toddler ended up in an induced coma after inhaling it.

The 'Creative' branded powder has been for sale since 2019, but has now been found to contain copper and zinc, which can be toxic if inhaled or ingested.

All five colours of the lustre dust are included in the recall.

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A Queensland baker has sent a warning to parents after her toddler ingested cake decorating dust and ended up in an induced coma. Professional baker Katie Robinson was making a Bluey cake for a first birthday last Friday when her son Dusty Wildman found a canister of cake decorating gold.
"Dusty was just pottering around like he normally does," she said.

Gold Coast toddler Dusty Wildman spent days in a coma in Queensland Children's Hospital after he found a canister of the cake decorating dust while at home with his mum on May 1.

His mother, Katie Robinson, is a professional baker and had been making a Bluey first birthday cake when Dusty managed to get the lid off the little container.

He became unwell almost immediately, started to cough and became "really distressed", Robinson told 9News.

Robinson learnt the dust contained copper, which would not dissolve in blood and had gathered in Dusty's lungs.

Dusty has since come off his breathing tube and is making a good recovery, although doctors have warned there could still be longer term health impacts.

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Gold Coast toddler Dusty Wildman.

The label on the cake dust said the product is "for use on removable cake parts" and that it is non-toxic, but Robinson said that it was placed on shelves next to edible products.

The supplier Crumb Australia had already pulled the product from shelves and contacted all stockists prior to the official recall by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The ACCC warned anyone who has purchased the product to stop using it immediately, keep it out of reach of children and return it to the place of purchase for a refund.

The 'Creative' metallic cake powder has been sold at the following locations between 2019 and May 2026: Bake & Deco, Cake Bake Decorate, Cake Deco Supplies, Cake Tinz & Thingz, Cakers Paradise, Cakers Warehouse, Choice Cakes, Chrissie's Cake and Supplies (in the UK), Cupid's Cake Decorating Supplies (since closed), Embellished Cakes, Gold Coast Cake Supplies, Hollywood Cake Decorations, Latorta, One Stop Cake Decorations, Parties Plus More, Silver Stars and Sugartime.

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‘Loophole’ will allow millions of homeowners to negatively gear after July 2027

A loophole in the federal government's move to abolish negative gearing will allow millions of Australians who currently own their own home to continue to access the tax breaks after July 2027.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week announced the major tax reforms as part of the federal budget, which include winding back the tax concession for property investors from July next year in an effort to help younger Australians trying to enter the housing market.

Until now, any homeowner was able to deduct a net loss from a residential investment property from their overall income, thereby reducing their yearly tax bill.

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Phasing out negative gearing may not solve Australia's housing crisis but reforming the controversial tax-writeoff could have a meaningful impact, say economists.

From July 2027, that will only apply to new build homes, superannuation funds and those who purchased their properties prior to budget night.

A spokesperson for Chalmers has now confirmed to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) that those property purchases also include owner-occupiers.

This means that Australians who currently own their home bought before budget night could later purchase another property and convert their current home into a negatively geared investment.

KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne told the AFR the grandfathering arrangements would mean existing owners of both investment properties and owner-occupied homes would be more likely to hold on to their properties so they could retain the option to negatively gear.

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"What that's going to mean is that that housing turnover is probably going to be a bit less than what we've seen in history," Rynne said.

It's thought that defining investment property status in legislation would have been prohibitively complex, so the loophole was likely deemed a necessary part of simplifying the reforms.

The impact of the changes to negative gearing and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) were put to the test for the first time at Saturday auctions on the weekend, with some prospective buyers saying they had already noticed a shift in the market.

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The negative gearing exemptions may seem friendly. One property expert warns it's a' trap'

The friendly tax exemption which still allows newly-built homes to be negatively geared may be a "trap" for inexperienced investors, a property expert has explained.

While negative gearing will be abolished from July next year for established properties bought after the 2026 Federal Budget, investors who purchase brand-new homes can still offset any net losses from their yearly taxable income.

This could inspire new investors to buy into sprawling apartment developments or house-and-land packages on the outskirts of major cities – but these types of properties historically "underperform" as investments.

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Property expert negative gearing Chris Gray

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Property investment guru and Your Empire chief executive Chris Gray said the federal government's new build exemption may "screw investors" who buy solely based on their freedom to apply negative gearing.

"These massive towers in Docklands in Melbourne or Zetland in Sydney, or the thousands and thousands of blocks of land where all the properties are the same, there is not necessarily lots of natural demand and typically they don't grow in value," Gray told Nine.com.au.

"It's basic economics. If something's in short supply and lots of people want it, the price goes up. Where you've got lots of supply, it won't."

Pemulwuy

First-time Australian investors who weren't lucky enough to buy before 7.30pm on budget night now have two choices: buy a newly-built home for the negative gearing benefit, or lose the tax break and buy an existing property.

Gray, who has 30 years of experience buying and selling property, said seasoned investors will know to give new builds a wide berth.

He would still choose the option of buying a second-hand home in a high demand area, despite the chance it won't be positively geared for at least a decade.

Some inexperienced buyers, however, could still be fooled by something called "manufactured capital growth".

And it could take years before the reality of their bad investment sinks in.

"Developers might sell 20 at a time and slowly release them. They sell the first lot at say $500,000 and the next one at $525,000 and then $550,000," Gray added.

"Everyone thinks that it's rising, but it's not.

"It's not until you get someone selling it to another person in maybe five years' time that you actually realise, potentially, the property hasn't grown in value at all."

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‘Fast, destructive and highly visible’: The arson tactic taking over crime wars

As Melbourne's hospitality venues are being crippled by a string of alleged arson attacks, police and crime experts are scrambling to figure out the motive behind the fires.

Last week, police arrested two teenage boys after an alleged arson attack on Melbourne's Bar Bambi, marking the venue's third suspicious fire this month.

Forensic Behavioural Science expert Dr Lauren Ducat at Swinburne University of Technology says while there is no clear motive behind the alleged attacks, arson is an "effective weapon" for intimidation.

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CCTV vision of arson attack Maribyrnong Melbourne

"It is fast, destructive and highly visible," she explained.

"It sends a message, creates fear and can shut down businesses quickly.

"When offenders see similar tactics succeed elsewhere, that behaviour can be replicated."

She added that the recent alleged attacks would be seriously impacting the confidence of business owners across the state.

"When motives are unclear, there is a sense of unpredictability about the behaviour and uncertainty about how to protect businesses," Ducat said.

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Bar Bambi fire

"That can affect confidence for owners, staff and patrons alike."

Ducat added that arson cases can be hard to prosecute as "evidence is often destroyed" and "offenders can flee" quickly after an attack.

"Motivation can be difficult to discern when there are not clear links to the target of the behaviour," she said.

"We often assume there are direct links between target and motive, and when that is not the case, it takes a more nuanced understanding of why people set fires."

Last week's alleged attack appears to be fuelling a mounting underworld war involving hospitality venues across Melbourne.

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Bar Bambi is not the only venue being caught in the crossfire.

Five Molotov cocktails were thrown towards The George Hotel on Cecil Street in South Melbourne on May 2.

Police have established Operation Eclipse to investigate these incidents and whoever is behind them.

The task force has arrested 51 people since 27 April in relation to 38 incidents.

"Thirty-eight of the 51 arrests have been achieved on the hop, so as people were about to commit offences, they've been arrested," Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly said last week.

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Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly said police were keeping an open mind as to who was behind the spate of attacks.

"Victoria Police response is working. We are catching people as they're about to commit these offences.

"We're out there every night, every morning, and we're catching them in the act."

Despite making more than four dozen arrests, detectives admit they haven't been able to get to the bottom of who is behind the attacks.

"We haven't had those clear demands from serious and organised crime that you'd expect and that we saw through the illicit tobacco conflict," Kelly said.

"We are keeping an open mind. Everything is still on the table."

"We are working heavily in relation to some avenues of enquiry and that includes offshore [sydnicates]."

Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers online or on 1800 333 000.

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Fighter jets collide mid-air at air show, pilots eject

Four US Air Force personnel had a miracle escape after their jets collided at an air show at a base in Idaho.

In a string of social media posts, the Mountain Home Air Force Base confirmed the accident at the Gunfighter Skies air show in front of crowds overnight.

Social media vision showed the pair of fighter planes crashing together mid-air before all four people ejected and triggered their parachutes.

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"The aircrew involved in the incident are in a stable condition," one post read.

A fire triggered by the crash was also safely contained, the base confirmed.

The base had been locked down after the incident, but has since been reopened to allow guests to leave.

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The collision involved two US Navy EA18-G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Commander Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, US Pacific Fleet.

Shane Ogden said he was filming the two jets as they came close together.

A video he captured shows the two aircraft appear to make contact and then spin in tandem as the crew members eject and their parachutes open.

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The planes then fall together, exploding into a fireball upon impact as the crew members drop to the ground nearby.

"I was just filming thinking they were going to split apart and that happened and I filmed the rest," Ogden said in a text message. He said he left soon after the crash because he did not want to get in the way of emergency responders.

This year's Gunfighter Skies event was the first at the base since 2018, when a hang glider died in a crash during an air show performance.

With Associated Press.

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Ukraine hits Russia with fatal drone attack

One of Ukraine's largest drone strikes on Russia has killed at least four people, including three near Moscow, and wounded a dozen others, local authorities say.

Debris fell on Russia's largest airport without causing damage before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the drone strikes on Sunday, saying they were "entirely justified".

Russia has repeatedly launched similar attacks on Ukraine's capital and other cities during the war, and an expert said that the strikes appeared to be retaliation for recent Russian attacks on Kyiv.

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Russian drone strikes on Ukraine overnight wounded eight people, Ukrainian authorities said.

In Ukraine's strikes on Russia, a woman was killed after a drone hit her home in Khimki, a Russian city just northwest of Moscow, and two men died in the village of Pogorelki, which is 10 kilometres north of the capital, according to local Governor Andrei Vorobyev.

Ukrainian drones had also damaged unspecified "infrastructure" and several high-rise buildings, Vorobyev said on social media.

One man was killed after a drone struck a truck in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, according to local authorities.

In Moscow itself, at least 12 people were wounded in the night-time strike, mostly near the entrance to the city's oil refinery, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported. Sobyanin reported that the "technology" of the refinery hadn't been damaged.

Russia's largest airport — Moscow's Sheremetyevo — said that drone debris had fallen on its grounds without causing damage or affecting flights.

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Russian defences shot down 81 drones headed for Moscow overnight, state agency Tass reported, citing Sobyanin, marking one of the largest attacks on the city since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Russian air defences destroyed 556 drones over Russia overnight, the country's defence ministry said Sunday morning. Shortly after midday local time, it reported that more than 1000 drones had been shot down or jammed in the previous 24 hours.

Zelenskyy said that the drones had flown more than 500 kilometres from Ukrainian territory, and that Ukraine was "overcoming" Russian air defence systems concentrated in and around the capital.

"Our responses to Russia's prolongation of the war and attacks on our cities and communities are entirely justified. This time, Ukrainian long-distance sanctions have reached the Moscow region, and we are clearly telling the Russians: their state must end its war," Zelenskyy said.

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Revenge for Russian attacks, expert says

Nigel Gould Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, said that Ukraine's large-scale attack appeared to be "the retaliation or revenge that President Zelenskyy promised after the fierce attacks that Russia carried out on Kyiv."

Those strikes came immediately after the end of a brief ceasefire that allowed Russia to hold its annual Victory Day parade on May 9 commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.

"It brings home the fact Ukraine has the capacity to strike at very significant scale at or around the Russian capital," taking the war home to Russians in a way that would be "most unwelcome" to the Kremlin, Gould Davies told The Associated Press.

"There is no ongoing peace process to disrupt. What (the attack) is more likely to do is add to the darkening cloud of anxiety over Russia which has developed palpably over the last three or four months," he said.

He cited a combination of factors, including Russia's recent battlefield setbacks, a deteriorating economic situation at home, and the Kremlin's intensifying crackdown on the internet, including in Moscow and Russia's second-largest city, St Petersburg.

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