Tag Archives: oceania

Six more sunscreens recalled over concerns about SPF labelling

Six more sunscreens sold throughout Australia have been recalled over concerns about their SPF claims.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says the products were voluntarily pulled from shelves when testing showed their levels of SPF or sun protection factor were lower than what was shown on labelling.

The recalled sunscreens are: The Fountain of Youth Environmental Defence Cream SPF50+; Ethical Zinc Daily Wear Light Sunscreen SPF50+; Ethical Zinc Daily Wear Tinted Facial Sunscreen (Light); Daily Wear Tinted Facial Sunscreen (Dark); Endota Mineral Protect SPF50 Sunscreen; and Allganic Light Sunscreen SPF50+ 70g – Baby & Kid Sunscreen.

READ MORE: Got one of the sunscreens recalled in Australia? Here's what you need to do

Stock photo of a woman applying sunscreen.

The recalls come after 20 other sunscreens were removed from sale.

Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF 50+ sunscreen was one of the first to be pulled from shelves in August.

Additional sunscreens using the same base formulation have voluntarily cancelled their listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) and are under review by the TGA.

The regulator warned applying the products could increase the risk of sunburn and reduce the long-term effectiveness of preventing skin cancer.

The TGA advises consumers to return the product to the place of purchase and contact the brand behind the sunscreen for a refund.

A full list of recalled sunscreens and sponsor contact details can be found on the TGA website here.

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Man charged with sexual assault of boy 29 years later after DNA breakthrough

A DNA breakthrough has led to the arrest of a 65-year-old man almost three decades after a nine-year-old boy was allegedly sexually assaulted on the NSW Central Coast.

The boy was allegedly sexually assaulted by a stranger on March 26, 1996.

Detectives at the time investigated but were unable to make any arrests.

READ MORE: Russia pushes ahead of Australia in Asia power rankings

DNA stock image

But now, thanks to continued investigation and advances in forensic DNA technology, detectives have arrested a 65-year-old man at Bathurst Police Station.

He was charged with sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 years and attempted sexual intercourse with a person under 10 years.

He was refused bail and will face the Bail Division Court 4 today.

At the time of the alleged sexual assault, the man would have been 35 or 36.

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

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‘Impulsive’ teen cleared of Easter show stabbing murder

The stabbing death of a ride attendant at Sydney's Royal Easter Show was not murder but rather, an impaired 14-year-old's impulsive and immediate action without a thought of consequences.

The teenager was acquitted of murder today after arguing he did not intend to seriously injure when he lunged at and stabbed Uati "Pele" Faletolu in April 2022.

The knife penetrated the heart of the 17-year-old Uati, who was on a break and meeting two friends.

READ MORE: Boy stabbed at primary school in Melbourne's south-east

Uati "Pele" Faletolu was stabbed and killed at the Sydney Royal Easter Show

The confrontation occurred by chance after the killer and two friends – all members of a rival street gang – crossed paths with Uati.

Within 10 seconds, the 14-year-old lunged through a gap in his friends, knifed Uati once and then bolted.

Prosecutors argued the teen's motivation to kill was underlined by self-stated animosity towards people associated with Uati's street gang.

The teen texted "GG 67 motherf—–" after the stabbing and later wrote a rap that "Should have worked at Maccas. Now he's dead. We smoke him up."

He also typed a note into his phone which included, "I didn't beat him up. I took his soul".

He also had a "fascination with knives" and gave each of his weapons individual names, including "Barbie" for the knife used in the killing, the Crown told the trial.

But NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling dismissed the post-killing statements as the boasts of an adolescent trying to bolster an image of being a gang member.

He placed weight on evidence of the teen's troubled childhood, featuring beatings by his drunk father when he tried to stop violence toward his mum, and being stabbed himself aged 13 when walking to football training.

The boy joined the local "Ready for Anything" gang in Mount Druitt afterwards, crediting the members for helping him during his recovery.

READ MORE: Death toll rises to 44 in horror Hong Kong high-rise inferno

He was with other gang members on April 11, 2022, when he attended the Easter show and came across Uati, a member of Doonside's 67 gang.

"The confrontation occurred by chance and without planning," Justice Garling said.

The teen's actions were impulsive and a response to the confrontation, but triggered by his then-undiagnosed PTSD and heightened perceptions of threat, the judge found.

"I'm satisfied the accused's action was impulsive, thoughtless and immediate without any consideration of the consequences," he said. 

"After all, he was a psychosocially immature adolescent who was only 14 years old."

Community standards would recognise young adolescents, especially those who had suffered a hard upbringing, are prone to thoughtless actions, he said.

"These (actions) are not the traits of a criminal mind or criminal behaviour," Justice Garling said.

The boy, who was also of Pacific Islander heritage, faced the judge-alone trial after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in an earlier trial.

He had pleaded guilty to Uati's manslaughter and will be sentenced at a later date.

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Russia pushes ahead of Australia in Asia power rankings

Australia's power and influence in Asia has dropped beneath Russia, while long-held US ascendancy in the region is at risk, new research shows.

The Lowy Institute's 2025 Asia Power Index found the top five countries for overall power are: the US, China, India, Japan and Russia.

Australia drops one place in this year's ranking, to sixth.

READ MORE: Suspect 'not cooperating' after National Guardsmen shot near the White House

Experts from the think tank said Australia's slip down the overall rankings was down to other nations' stronger economic and military resources.

Benefiting from the support of authoritarian partners China and North Korea, Russia regained fifth spot.

Australia faces a long-term challenge to maintain relative power in Asia, the think tank said.

The research also found the US is losing ground in Asia, recording its lowest ever score in the 2025 Asia Power Index.

While the superpower has the "resources and influence that will survive any single administration", the US President Donald Trump's policies have been a net negative for US power in the region.

The benefactor is China, which is closing the gap with the US on the power index to its narrowest margin since 2020.

China is well placed to withstand coercive US economic policies.

It has also successfully positioned itself as a reliable partner amid uncertainty about the US approach to Asia.

Launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018, the index ranks the relative power of 27 countries and territories in the Indo-Pacific region, by assessing their strengths against 131 indicators across eight benchmarks.

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Crowdsourced site reveals devastating reality of Hong Kong inferno

Residents in Hong Kong have set up a crowdsourced app to keep track of who's safe and who remains missing following the deadly fire that ripped through a residential complex.

The website appears to list all the apartments in the Wang Fuk Court high-rises, where dozens of people have died and hundreds remain missing from the devastating overnight blaze.

The rooms are marked either green, to signify the residents are safe, or red, indicating the occupants are still missing and require assistance, with those reports based on information submitted to the site's administrators through a series of forms and spreadsheets.

READ MORE: Death toll rises in horror Hong Kong high-rise inferno

A crowdsourced website tracking the safety of residents affected by the Hong Kong highrise fire.

According to the site, there are more than 100 apartments whose residents remain unaccounted for, as of 11:30am (AEDT), the bulk of whom are in building blocks E and F.

While many of the entries are short and provide little information, some come with more detailed messages about who is missing.

"A 41-year-old man went missing at 16:45," one reads, according to a translation of the message.

"His last message was that he was trapped in (a) stairwell."

READ MORE: Police continue to scour bushland for missing mum Samantha Murphy

Many of the "SOS" entries suggest that a significant number of those who remain missing are elderly residents.

"Three elderly people, one with dementia and another with a back problem, have been missing for nine hours," one reads.

"Grandma Yang has been out of contact since the afternoon," says another.

Hong Kong authorities have arrested three people on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to the fire.

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