A Victorian woman who held the lone winning ticket in this week’s $60 million Powerball jackpot has revealed her plans for her new fortune. The woman, from Daylesford in central Victoria, has scooped Australia’s second-biggest lottery win of 2023 so far. “I’ve won $60 million. I don’t know what to say! I never thought I’d get this call,” she told the Lott on Thursday night. “I’m in a bit of shock at the moment. Oh my god! I can’t believe this is happening. “My husband is walking around dumbfounded. He accidentally hung up on you in a frenzy.” The winning numbers in Thursday’s draw were 11, 19 ..read more

St Bernard dogs, one of Switzerland’s national symbols that were internationally renowned for helping in alpine rescues, are now saving people in other ways. The Barry Foundation – a non-profit that took over breeding of the dog in 2005 from the world’s oldest St Bernard kennels high in the Swiss mountains – has helped the dogs transition to their new role as therapeutic and educational support dogs for vulnerable people. “The St Bernard today is a breed that works on the social front,” Andrea Zollinger, spokeswoman for the foundation, said during a visit to its kennels in the city of Martig ..read more

A painting by Vincent Van Gogh that was stolen from a small Dutch museum in 2020 during a COVID-19 lockdown has been recovered. The painting, which dates from 1884, was stolen from the Museum Singer Laren, east of Amsterdam, where it was on loan from the Groninger Museum for an exhibition. “We have incredible good news. The painting Spring Garden … is back with the Groninger Museum three and half years after the theft,” the museum said in a statement on Tuesday. The theft took place during weeks-long lockdowns around the world as the pandemic took hold. At the time, Dutch police released secu ..read more

Rescue teams in Turkey have successfully carried an American researcher up from the depth of a cave at 1040 metres to the 700-metre mark, where he will rest at a base camp before they continue the taxing journey to the surface. An experienced caver, Mark Dickey, 40, started vomiting on September 2 because of stomach bleeding while on an expedition with a handful of others in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, one of the deepest in the world, according to experts. A rescue operation began on Saturday afternoon (local time), with doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers fro ..read more

Four 1900-year-old swords, complete with wooden and leather scabbards, have been discovered in a remote cave in an Israeli desert, leading archaeologists to believe they were the booty of Jews who rose up against Roman rule. The fashioning of three of the blades recalls Roman “spatha” swords, and the fourth has a ring-pommel handle consistent with the period, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said. The rare find included a shafted Roman “pilum” spear. The desert location, overlooking the Dead Sea, was a hideout for Jewish rebels against the Romans, who controlled what was then Judea betw ..read more

The University of Nebraska has claimed a world attendance record for a women’s sporting event, with 92,003 fans flocking to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to watch its volleyball team play Omaha. The previous highest crowd, 91,648, watched Barcelona host Wolfsburg at Camp Nou in April last year in a Women’s Champions League football match. The outdoor Memorial Stadium, which usually hosts the university’s American football games, has a listed capacity of 85,458, but attendances have exceeded 90,000 in the past. Nebraska calculated the crowd by adding tickets sold to a head count of all team and ..read more

In one of the  oddest incidents ever witnessed in baseball, a star major league batter has been denied a home run after a pint-size fan snatched the ball from a fielder’s glove. Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Tommy Pham stepped up to the plate and sent a towering short ro the wall, where Reds outfielder Spencer Steer timed his leap perfectly and had the ball in his glove, seemingly robbing Pham of the homer. One problem: a little kid snatched the ball from Steer. Also wearing a glove, the kid reached into Steer’s glove and pulled the ball out, leaving the left fielder slumped against the ..read more

Sam Kerr showcased her incredible talent in the World Cup semi-final against England, and crowds erupted in celebration. While Australia certainly went mad for the Matildas, one politician didn’t even watch the right game and missed an epic penalty shootout against France. World Cup aside, a Maui resident revealed tourists aren’t showing much respect after the wildfires. And if you ever wanted to see the behind-the-scenes of Play School then you’re in for a treat. Sam Kerr scores The Matildas may have lost to England in the semi-final, but Sam Kerr’s incredible goal is a winner in our eyes. P ..read more

A Chinese zoo has denied accusations that its sun bears are humans dressed in costumes, after footage of a bear with a lean physique and standing on two legs went viral online. But the denial came in the form of a bizarre statement written from the perspective of Angela, one of Hangzhou Zoo’s sun bears and the unwitting star of the viral footage. “Some people think I stand like a person. It seems you don’t understand me very well,” the statement from the zoo in eastern China read on Tuesday (AEST). “When it comes to bears, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge figure and astonish ..read more

A program that looks after the pets of people fleeing domestic violence has received a $1 million funding boost. Pets in Crisis provides emergency accommodation and vet care for animals until they can be reunited with their owners. On Saturday, the Queensland government committed $1.04m to the service over five years. Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said many perpetrators used threats against pets or actual harm to control their partners and it could be hard to find emergency accommodation that also welcomed animals. “For many animal lovers, pets are part of the family unit and we want to ensur ..read more