Scandals see Australia ministers Mal Brough and Jamie Briggs resign

Sydney : Two Australian cabinet ministers have resigned over unrelated scandals. Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Jamie Briggs quit after a public servant complained about his behaviour at a Hong Kong bar. Special Minister of State Mal Brough quit pending a police inquiry into his role in another politician’s downfall. With two front bench cabinet positions to […]

Sulphuric acid ‘may have leaked’ after Australia train derailed

Sydney : More than 30,000 litres (6,600 gallons) of sulphuric acid may have leaked from a freight train that derailed in Australia on Sunday, police say. Carrying 819,000 litres of sulphuric acid, the 26-wagon train derailed 20km (12.4 miles) east of Julia Creek, in north-west Queensland.A 2km exclusion zone is likely to remain for at […]

Google exec Michelle Guthrie to head up Australia’s ABC

Marlboro : Google executive Michelle Guthrie has been hired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to replace Mark Scott as its managing director. It is the first time the broadcaster has hired a woman for the position.Ms Guthrie joined Google in 2011 and is currently working in the technology giant’s offices in Singapore. ABC said her experience […]

‘Stoner sloth’: Australia anti-marijuana campaign criticised

Sydney : An Australian anti-marijuana campaign that features an intoxicated sloth has drawn expert criticism and online mockery.The Stoner Sloth campaign, financed by the New South Wales state government, aims to stop teens smoking marijuana.The sloth character is shown as unable to cope with various social scenarios after smoking the drug.Australia’s National Cannabis Prevention and […]

Australia’s Tasmania may raise smoking age to 25

Sydney : The Australian state of Tasmania is considering raising the legal age for buying cigarettes to at least 21 and potentially as high as 25.If the plan goes ahead it will give Tasmania some of the toughest tobacco laws in the world.The current legal age to purchase, possess or smoke cigarettes in all Australian […]