Global Pulse

标签： Oceania

大洋洲

  • Geelong Cats confirm shock exit of star forward Tyson Stengle

    Geelong Cats confirm shock exit of star forward Tyson Stengle

    After weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, AFL club Geelong Cats and premiership-winning small forward Tyson Stengle have officially confirmed their mutual separation, bringing a dramatic, weeks-long contract saga to a close. The 2022 premiership winner and All-Australian selection, who had not featured for the Cats at all during the 2025 season, broke his silence in a joint statement released with the club on Friday afternoon.

    The controversy surrounding Stengle first emerged in April, when Australian broadcaster Channel 7 first reported the forward had stepped out of the public eye and cut off contact with most people connected to the club. Stengle had previously been granted an extended Christmas break on personal grounds, and returned to club training shortly after the break concluded. However, senior football journalist Caroline Wilson later revealed that the 2022 premiership star had severed ties across multiple circles linked to him: he cut off contact with his entire management team, which included Anna Betts, wife of AFL legend Eddie Betts, ended communication with local Indigenous leaders he had previously worked with, and left only a tiny handful of Geelong club personnel with any ability to reach him.

    At the time of the announcement, Stengle remained contracted to Geelong through to the end of 2029, with an estimated $2.1 million still outstanding on the remaining three years of his contract. The mutual termination of this deal closes one of the most unusual and high-profile off-field sagas of the current AFL season.

    In his first public comment since stepping out of view, Stengle expressed gratitude for the support he received during his tenure at the club. “Thank you so much to the Geelong Footy Club. In particular, to my teammates, the coaching staff, the support staff and most importantly to the fans,” Stengle said. “Your unwavering and loyal support through the great times and the tough times has meant more to me than you will ever know. I am deeply grateful and look forward to supporting the club as a fan.”

    Geelong’s executive general manager Andrew Mackie said the club had concluded that a mutual separation was the best outcome for both Stengle and the club moving forward. “We would like to congratulate Tyson on what he has achieved over his career, including his time at Geelong,” Mackie said. “To play over 100 games, earn All Australian selection and be part of a premiership team are achievements we are proud to have shared with him. We thank Tyson for his contribution to the Cats and celebrate what he has achieved in his football career.”

  • Australian company behind Logan Paul’s Prime drink ceases trading amid $8m debt

    Australian company behind Logan Paul’s Prime drink ceases trading amid $8m debt

    The Australian subsidiary of the firm behind one of the most hyped influencer-led energy drinks of recent years has entered administration, leaving more than $8 million in outstanding debts and no clear path to a rescue buyout, new corporate filings confirm.

    Congo Brands Australia, the Melbourne-based license holder for Logan Paul and KSI’s viral Prime energy drink and Mr Beast’s Lunchily snack brand, has already terminated all of its employees amid the liquidation process, administrator Alice Ruhe of The Ruhe Group confirmed during the company’s first creditors meeting held July 17.

    Documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) lay bare the firm’s steep financial decline, which accelerated far beyond the worrying results disclosed in its last 2023 annual filing. The bulk of the outstanding debts are owed to related international entities: parent company Congo LLC is owed $8.85 million, while international arms of the brand including Congo Brands Korea, Japan and Switzerland are owed $361,900, $39,987, and $854,327 respectively. Third-party vendors that handled logistics, manufacturing and packaging for the brand are also out of pocket, with claims totaling more than half a million dollars from firms including BR International Logistics, Refresco Australia and CCL Label.

    Against its more than $8 million in total liabilities, the company holds just $12,000 in cash reserves, alongside $400,000 in remaining inventory and $265,000 in outstanding trade receivables, according to administrator filings.

    The collapse caps a dramatic two-year fall from grace for the Prime brand in Australia, which exploded into mainstream popularity after its 2022 launch, driven by massive social media hype from co-founders Logan Paul and KSI, two of the world’s biggest digital content creators. At the height of its popularity, the drink developed a cult following among Australian schoolchildren, with resold bottles sometimes fetching as much as $30 per can amid widespread retail shortages.

    Financial filings show the brand’s domestic sales have plummeted since that peak. In the 2023 financial year, revenue halved from $31 million the previous year to just $14.5 million, with the firm posting a net loss of $1.42 million for the 2024 fiscal year. Over the 12-month period between 2023 and 2024, the company wrote down $4.57 million in unsold inventory, cutting its total stock holdings from $28.9 million to just $1.7 million. By the end of the last reporting period, the firm held only $84,855 in cash reserves against $7.92 million in already accumulated debts, setting the stage for its eventual collapse.

  • McLaren boss backs Oscar Piastri amid underwhelming start to F1 season

    McLaren boss backs Oscar Piastri amid underwhelming start to F1 season

    It has been a dramatic 12-month reversal of fortune for Australian Formula One driver Oscar Piastri: from leading the world championship a year ago to sitting 7th in the standings as the 2026 season hits its summer break. But McLaren team principal Andrea Stella insists the 25-year-old’s current struggles are just a temporary adjustment period, not a sign of a lasting slump.

    Piastri’s tough start to the 2026 campaign hit a new low at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, a race that started with immense promise. The Melbourne-native surged up to third place on the opening lap and was firmly in contention for a race victory before a collision with backmarker Carlos Sainz, who was driving for Williams at the time, as Piastri attempted to complete an overtake to lap the slower car. Still on track to claim a podium finish after the incident, a late gearbox failure forced Piastri to retire his car early, cutting what could have been a strong result short.

    Heading into the August off-season, Piastri has only secured two podium finishes across the first 12 races of 2026, totaling just 92 championship points. That puts him 17 points adrift of sixth-placed Max Verstappen, a stark contrast to his position this time last year. When the 2025 season entered its summer break, Piastri sat atop the drivers’ standings with six race wins and 284 points, buoyed by a dominant McLaren car package that gave him a clear edge over the competition.

    The 2026 season brought sweeping new regulatory changes, including a shift to lower-grip car specifications that have required a major adjustment from all drivers on the grid. Speaking to reporters after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Stella explained that Piastri is still working to acclimate to the new car requirements, and he sees clear progress behind the scenes.

    “Oscar is still getting in tune with these 2026 cars, low-grip cars,” Stella said. “There’s an opportunity there to find some pace, and there’s great work happening between Oscar, his engineering team, and the wider team. I think we have seen a great trajectory of development for Lando (Norris), and this is honestly the same with Oscar as well. So, I think we will see a very strong Oscar for the second part of the season.”

    Piastri and teammate Lando Norris are currently completing pre-break testing at Portimao before heading off for their scheduled summer breaks. The Formula One 2026 season will resume on August 23 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where fans will get their first look at whether Piastri can deliver on the upturn in form Stella has predicted.

  • The last trio: S.Africa’s zoo elephants await their fate

    The last trio: S.Africa’s zoo elephants await their fate

    On a recent day at Johannesburg Zoo, the three remaining elephants Lammie, Ramadiba, and Mopane walked single file into their public enclosure, where scattered fresh fruit and vegetables had been laid out to encourage natural foraging behavior. For the dozens of tourists and local schoolchildren gathered at the viewing platform, the moment was a rare thrill: a chance to observe Africa’s iconic largest land mammal up close in person. But behind this seemingly cheerful tourist attraction lies a bitter, high-stakes legal battle over the fate of the three pachyderms— the last elephants still kept in a traditional urban zoo enclosure across the entire African continent.

    Animal welfare campaigners, backed by a team of international elephant conservation experts, have taken their case to South African courts to force the immediate transfer of the trio to a dedicated rewilding sanctuary, arguing that their current captive conditions amount to unnecessary cruelty that has left the animals in chronic psychological distress. The three elephants, with ages ranging from 26 to 47, are highly intelligent, socially complex sentient beings, the campaigners argue, and the limited space of a zoo enclosure cannot meet their basic physical and psychological needs. In court filings submitted in May, the legal team documented repeated observations of abnormal, depressed behaviors among the animals that signal poor welfare. They are asking the judiciary to order an urgent relocation to a sanctuary where the elephants can regain a more natural lifestyle and rehabilitate from decades of captivity.

    Megan Carr, senior researcher at the EMS Foundation, one of the organizations leading the legal application, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that a ruling is expected in the coming weeks. She emphasized that this case is unprecedented: Lammie, Ramadiba, and Mopane are the final elephants still held for public exhibition in a conventional zoo setting anywhere in Africa. The legal push follows a recent win for animal welfare advocates earlier this year, when a 42-year-old elephant that spent 40 years in captivity at Pretoria’s national zoo was successfully transferred to a private game reserve after years of negotiations with the South African government.

    During an on-site visit by an AFP reporting team, young children crowded the fence, excitedly calling out for the elephants as the trio slowly moved through their enclosure. Lammie, the 47-year-old matriarch who was born in the Johannesburg Zoo and has never lived anywhere else, focused entirely on foraging for the scattered food. Ramadiba, 28, and Mopane, 26, were brought to the zoo in 2019.

    Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, which manages the facility, has pushed back hard against the relocation effort, arguing that the three elephants are well cared for and have recently received a clean bill of health from veterinary professionals. An anonymous senior official at the zoo noted that the enclosure can accommodate up to five elephants, and each animal has two dedicated full-time keepers. Food is intentionally scattered across the enclosure to encourage natural movement and foraging, in line with modern captive care practices. In court filings, zoo managing director Thanduxolo Mendrew argued that the elephants have lived in captivity their whole lives, particularly Lammie, and are well-suited to their current conditions. Losing the elephants would eliminate a critical educational and research opportunity for the public, he added, especially for schoolchildren from low-income backgrounds who would never otherwise get the chance to see a live elephant in person.

    But campaigners reject this reasoning outright. Carr argues that educational goals do not justify keeping elephants in compromised living conditions, noting that high-quality videos and documentaries can give children a clear view of elephants without subjecting the animals to unnecessary confinement. According to data presented in the case, the elephants are held overnight in two 160-square-meter enclosures—each smaller than a standard tennis court. During the day, they are moved to a larger unshaded outdoor area roughly the size of a football pitch, a space that campaigners insist is still far too small to meet the needs of a species that roams across dozens of kilometers of wild territory in their natural habitat. Carr points out that elephants require vast open spaces to maintain long-term physical and mental health, and no zoo enclosure, no matter how large, can ever replicate that.

    As the nation awaits the court’s decision, South Africa already has one of the largest African elephant populations in the world: official government data from August 2023 counts roughly 44,000 wild savannah elephants across the country, with around 6,000 of those held in private and community-owned reserves and sanctuaries, giving the country ample space to accommodate the relocated trio if the court rules in the campaigners’ favor.

  • Explosion at coal mine kills 34 in southern Pakistan

    Explosion at coal mine kills 34 in southern Pakistan

    A devastating methane-linked explosion at a southern Pakistan coal mine has claimed the lives of at least 34 workers, with search operations ongoing for additional trapped miners, local disaster authorities confirmed Friday. The blast ripped through the mine site in Sorange, located roughly 50 kilometers from Quetta, the capital of resource-rich Balochistan province, during operational hours on Thursday, triggering an urgent overnight rescue mission that extended into the next day.

    In an official statement released in the early hours of Friday, the Southern Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority confirmed that recovery teams had retrieved 34 deceased miners from the collapsed tunnel. The authority noted that joint search and rescue teams remained on site to locate any remaining trapped workers, but declined to share how many miners were inside the mine at the time of the explosion.

    Witness accounts from the site reveal that fellow miners rushed to the tunnel immediately after the blast to attempt a self-rescue before official teams arrived. “Other miners descended into the mine after the explosion for a rescue operation, but they also died,” Ahmed Zada, a mine worker present at the site, told Agence France-Presse.

    By Thursday night, crowds of distraught relatives, first responders, and local mine workers had gathered at the concrete tunnel entrance to await updates. Footage and witness reports show rescuers, some only wearing standard street clothes rather than full safety gear, carrying soot-covered bodies out of the mine on stretchers to waiting ambulances and transport vehicles.

    Mining disasters are a recurring crisis in Pakistan, with Balochistan recording disproportionately high rates of workplace fatalities in the sector. The province, Pakistan’s largest by geographic area and one of its poorest, lags far behind other regions of the country in key development metrics including education, employment access, and infrastructure growth. Despite its vast natural reserves of coal, gold, and copper, weak regulatory enforcement has left the mining sector rife with unsafe working conditions. Labor rights groups have repeatedly called on provincial and national authorities to strengthen mandatory safety standards and increase inspections to prevent preventable accidents, though little substantive reform has been enacted to date.

  • Kyle Sandilands quits Australian Idol after pressure from activist campaign

    Kyle Sandilands quits Australian Idol after pressure from activist campaign

    Veteran Australian radio personality and media personality Kyle Sandilands has announced his immediate departure from his judging role on the hit reality singing competition *Australian Idol*, citing a deliberate activist campaign targeting the show’s advertising partners as the core reason for his exit. The 55-year-old, who has twice held a judging seat on the program, framed his exit as a decision made to protect the long-term viability of the *Australian Idol* brand.

    Sandilands confirmed the exit in comments to Nine Newspapers, explaining that advocacy group Mad F**king Witches had directly targeted both returning and potential advertisers for the Channel Seven-broadcast series, creating significant disruptions for the network’s sales department. “Those activists have attacked the potential clients for Australian Idol or the clients from last year, and has caused a problem in Channel Seven’s sales team,” Sandilands told reporters. “So I’ve told Channel Seven this morning … that I’m standing down from Idol for the good of the brand to continue.”

    Sandilands’ exit caps a turbulent 12 months for the high-profile media personality, a period marked by public splits, legal battles, major health news and an upcoming career pivot. Most notably, he split from his long-time on-air co-host Jackie O Henderson earlier this year, a rift that came after he made controversial public comments calling Henderson “off with the fairies” and “unfocused.” The disagreement led to the early termination of his $100 million contract with major radio network ARN, owner of KIIS FM, in March. Sandilands subsequently filed an unfair dismissal case against ARN, which settled out of court in June for a payout reported to exceed $12 million.

    In addition to his professional upheaval, Sandilands also revealed a serious 2025 health diagnosis: a brain aneurysm located in a high-risk position behind his eye, which surgeons have deemed inoperable. The split from Henderson also sparked public drama, with Sandilands recently sharing that actor Russell Crowe personally urged him to reach out and reconcile with his former co-host amid the ongoing fallout.

    Sandilands first served as an *Australian Idol* judge from the program’s 2005 launch through 2009, before returning to the judging panel in 2022 alongside international star Meghan Trainor and Australian recording artist Amy Shark. His exit comes just weeks after the show wrapped its 11th season on Channel Seven, with the finale airing in April.

    Looking ahead, Sandilands is on track to launch his new independent venture, *Kyle Sandilands Live*, a subscriber-only show distributed via a dedicated mobile app, scheduled to go live mid-August. Access to the new show will cost subscribers $99, and Sandilands has already released a tell-all documentary series detailing his side of the split from ARN and Henderson. This exit from *Australian Idol* clears the way for Sandilands to focus full-time on his new independent project as he navigates ongoing personal and professional transitions.

  • Renowned Nepali climber among 10 missing after Pakistan avalanche

    Renowned Nepali climber among 10 missing after Pakistan avalanche

    A devastating avalanche has left 10 climbers, including world-famous Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, unaccounted for on Pakistan’s 8,047-meter Broad Peak in the Karakoram mountain range, the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) confirmed in a statement released late Thursday. No contact has been established with the entire climbing team since the snow slide occurred, leaving mountaineering communities around the world on edge.

    The expedition team caught in the avalanche is made up of climbers from six nations: five Nepalese, one Pakistani, one Omani, one American, one Chinese, and one additional foreign national, according to the ACP’s official confirmation. All communication devices carried by the group have remained silent since the incident, triggering an urgent large-scale search and rescue response.

    Purja, 43, is one of the most accomplished high-altitude climbers of his generation. Before transitioning to full-time mountaineering and expedition guiding, he built a 16-year career in British military service, serving first in the Brigade of Gurkhas and later in the Royal Marines’ elite Special Boat Squadron. Since turning his focus to climbing, he has redefined the limits of high-altitude mountaineering, breaking multiple world records that stood for decades.

    In 2019, Purja made global headlines by summiting all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter-plus peaks, known as “eight-thousanders,” in just six months and six days — a feat that shattered the previous record by years. In 2021, he led the first team to successfully summit K2, the world’s second-highest peak, in the harsh winter season, a milestone many thought impossible for decades.

    Just days before the avalanche, Purja shared his latest expedition goal on social media platform X: he was attempting to become the first climber in history to summit all 14 eight-thousanders twice without using supplemental oxygen. In his final post before losing contact, he shared a reflective message about his approach to high-altitude climbing: “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down. I take zero mountains for granted. Not one. The moment my foot leaves basecamp, it’s 100%. Always has been. Always will be. My purpose has never been about me. It’s about what I represent. It’s about showing YOU that your own mountains — whatever they are — are climbable.”

    Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain on Earth, is widely regarded as one of the most technically challenging of all 8,000-meter peaks, with unpredictable snow conditions and high avalanche risk that deter even experienced climbers. It was first successfully summited by an Austrian expedition team in 1957.

    In response to the incident, Pakistani authorities have mobilized emergency rescue resources: two Pakistan Army helicopters outfitted with specialized high-altitude rescue gear and experienced search personnel have been deployed to the area to support ground teams, who face extreme conditions in the high-altitude search zone. The ACP noted that the helicopters are intended to boost the capacity of on-the-ground teams operating in the harsh, remote environment of the Karakoram, as rescuers work against the clock to locate the missing climbers.

  • Banking giant HSBC sells $36bn mortgage portfolio to Blackstone, announces retail banking arm will close

    Banking giant HSBC sells $36bn mortgage portfolio to Blackstone, announces retail banking arm will close

    Global banking giant HSBC has unveiled a landmark deal that will end its four-decade-long retail banking operations in Australia, confirming it will offload its $36 billion domestic home and personal loan portfolio to private equity leader Blackstone. The transaction, announced publicly on Friday, forms the core of a planned 18-month wind-down of HSBC’s Australian retail banking division, a process that will wrap up with the deal’s expected closure in the first half of 2027.

    Under the terms of the agreement, non-bank lending specialist Pepper Money Ltd has been tapped to serve as the portfolio’s servicer once the sale is finalized, with the firm tasked with delivering consistent, uninterrupted support to both borrowers and mortgage brokers throughout the transition. HSBC stressed that for the immediate future, existing retail customers will face no disruption to their everyday banking services, and no immediate action is required from account holders. The company confirmed it will proactively reach out to customers in coming months with detailed updates on upcoming changes to their product terms and access.

    HSBC officials framed the decision as the outcome of a full strategic review of the Australian retail business, noting it aligns with the HSBC Group’s broader global push to simplify its operations and streamline its core focus areas. The local review launched shortly after George Elhedry took over as chief executive of HSBC Australia at the end of 2024, with internal leadership signaling the bank’s intent to exit the Australian market more than 12 months ago.

    First entering the Australian market in 1986, when then-treasurer Paul Keating opened the domestic banking sector to foreign competition, HSBC never managed to capture a substantial share of the country’s competitive retail and mortgage market despite decades of operation. This exit is the latest in a string of global downsizing moves for the London-headquartered bank: in July, it completed the $2.1 billion sale of its Singaporean insurance business to European financial firm Allianz.

    For Blackstone, the acquisition builds on the private equity firm’s rapidly expanding footprint in Australia, coming less than a year after it purchased data center operator AirTrunk for $23.5 billion in 2024. Mike Culhane, Blackstone’s Head of International Business Development, said the firm was eager to add the high-quality Australian home loan portfolio to its assets, while committing to delivering a seamless transition for all stakeholders. “This investment is a testament to the power of our franchise and our conviction in the growing opportunities in credit,” Culhane noted in a statement following the deal’s announcement.

  • Richmond coach hits back at ‘outside noise’ over securing top draft pick

    Richmond coach hits back at ‘outside noise’ over securing top draft pick

    As the AFL regular season enters its final stretch, the Richmond Tigers find themselves caught between two competing priorities heading into their Sunday clash with the West Coast Eagles: the short-term goal of winning to avoid the wooden spoon, and the long-term prospect of holding onto the number one overall draft pick that could help them land star talent. Head coach Adam Yze has made his stance unequivocally clear: the team will be playing to win, no matter the consequences for their draft position.

  • Ferrand-Prevot bids to defend Tour de France Femmes title

    Ferrand-Prevot bids to defend Tour de France Femmes title

    The 2026 edition of the Tour de France Femmes is set to get underway this Saturday in Lausanne, Switzerland, and all eyes are on defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot as she chases a historic repeat victory. The French rider, who claimed the 2025 title to end a 36-year drought for home-grown winners of the race, has built her entire 2026 campaign around this nine-stage showdown, and says she is ready to fight for the yellow jersey.

    Ferrand-Prevot, an Olympic champion in mountain biking, made the deliberate choice to return to full-time road racing just two years ago, with the Tour de France Femmes as her sole top priority. That gamble paid off 12 months ago, when she crossed the line in Paris to become the first French rider to win the women’s Tour since 1989. This year, she has stuck to a carefully planned racing schedule tailored to peak in August: she notched up strong results at the spring classics, taking second at the Tour of Flanders and third at Paris-Roubaix, before stepping back from competition after finishing 35th overall at the Vuelta Femenina in May.

    In an online media briefing with reporters this week, the 34-year-old laid out her season-long strategy, emphasizing that her focus has never wavered from the Tour. “My goal, since the beginning, is to be able to be 100% for the Tour de France, so I never really had in mind to win other races,” she said. “I know that I need a specific preparation to be able to win races, so I just pick my battle, and I choose the Tour de France as the battle. I’m not the kind of rider who can and who wants to perform all season long; I just want to have a big goal in the season and to commit to it.”

    Ferrand-Prevot will have strong support from her Team Visma-Lease a Bike squad, which has been constructed specifically to support her bid for a second yellow jersey. The roster includes one of the most decorated riders in women’s cycling, triple Tour stage winner Marianne Vos, adding depth and tactical flexibility to the team’s campaign.

    But the defending champion will face one of the strongest fields in the young race’s history, with bookmakers and pundits marking in-form Dutch rider Demi Vollering as the pre-race favorite. Vollering has enjoyed a stellar 2026 season, claiming overall victory at the Giro d’Italia Women and winning multiple top-tier one-day races, bringing the best current form into the race among all contenders.

    A host of other top riders are also expected to challenge for the overall title: Swiss time trial specialist Marlen Reusser, reigning Vuelta Femenina winner Paula Blasi, and 2024 champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney are all considered legitimate podium contenders, while veteran contenders Elisa Longo Borghini and Anna van der Breggen cannot be counted out of a top result.

    This year’s route, which wraps up with a finish in Nice on August 9, has already been labeled the most difficult edition of the women’s Tour since the race’s modern revival. Riders will tackle nearly 19,000 meters of total climbing over the nine days, including an individual time trial in Dijon and the first-ever appearance of the iconic Mont Ventoux climb in the women’s race. The legendary mountain is set to host a potentially decisive summit finish that could shake up the general classification before the race’s final day. If Mont Ventoux does not sort out the battle for yellow, the demanding hilly final stage around the French Riviera will provide one last opportunity for contenders to attack.

    Race director Marion Rousse highlighted the challenges of the new route when it was unveiled last October, noting that the increasing depth of the women’s peloton called for a tougher, more dynamic course. “This is the toughest women’s Tour so far,” she said. “We’ve made it a little harder because the peloton is stronger. It’s a clever route – every stage has a potential trap.”