Month: August 2022

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Entertainment

Kylie Minogue’s lack of dialogue in Neighbors finale was ‘due busy schedules’

Brief: There has been much speculation on social media as to why Kylie Minogue kept so tight-lipped during the Neighbors finale, only uttering: 'Home sweet home'!

Kylie Minogue’s lack of dialogue in Neighbors finale was ‘due to her and Jason Donovan’s super busy schedules only aligning for half a day for filming’

By Alison Boshoff for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Kylie Minogue’s return to Ramsay Street for the last ever episode of Neighbors — sporting a throwback denim boiler suit and retro curls — is one of the great TV moments of the year.

But there has been much speculation on social media as to why she kept so tight-lipped, only uttering: ‘Home sweet home’!

However, I’m told the problem was a lack of time.

Brief: There has been much speculation on social media as to why Kylie Minogue kept so tight-lipped during the Neighbors finale, only uttering: 'Home sweet home'!

Brief: There has been much speculation on social media as to why Kylie Minogue kept so tight-lipped during the Neighbors finale, only uttering: ‘Home sweet home’!

A friend said: ‘There was only one half-day where Kylie and Jason’s schedules aligned.

‘They would have loved to film scenes with Guy Pearce, too, but this wasn’t possible.

‘For Kylie and Jason it was less about a storyline — which would have been hard, given the complexities of the final episode — but just to be on the street, and for viewers to see the love still between them.

‘It was very emotional for Kylie to be back on set. She loved being apart of the finale.’

Difficult: A source has said of the issue pointed out by fans: 'There was only one half-day where Kylie and Jason's schedules aligned'

Difficult: A source has said of the issue pointed out by fans: ‘There was only one half-day where Kylie and Jason’s schedules aligned’

Last week fans expressed disappointment that Kylie and Jason were given such little dialogue.

Neighbors executive producer Jason Herbison told TV Tonight that the pair filmed their special appearance before he had even written the final episode – so what they said had to fit in with the rest of the storyline.

‘Our discussions with Jason and Kylie were always about making a small appearance,’ Herbison told TV Tonight.

Throwback: Kylie and Jason are pictured at the age of 19 on the set of Neighbors where they both began their careers

Throwback: Kylie and Jason are pictured at the age of 19 on the set of Neighbors where they both began their careers

‘They didn’t want to overshadow the current cast or make the finale about them. We also filmed their scenes before I’d written the episode, so whatever we filmed had to fit in with that.’

He went on to defend Kylie after she copped backlash on social media, saying: ‘I hate to see Kylie copping any criticism – she was nothing short of amazing on the day.’

Kylie and Jason’s beloved characters Charlene and Scott Robinson made their much-anticipated entrance to the garden party as they pulled up on Ramsay Street in their recognizable green Mini before surprising their pals.

‘Wow wow wow,’ Scott said as they stepped out of the Mini during the finale.

‘This is crazy. We made it huh?’ I have added. Kylie’s character Charlene then said: ‘Home sweet home.’

The couple returned to Erinsborough for the first time since they bid farewell to the suburb and moved to Brisbane after tying the knot in a romantic wedding ceremony more than 30 years ago.

As well as Kylie and Jason making a final appearance on the show, there were also epic returns made by Holly Valance (Flick Scully), Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan), Guy Pearce (Mike Young) and Ian Smith (Harold Bishop) as they reprized their roles on the soap opera.

Love: Kylie and Jason's beloved characters Charlene and Scott Robinson during their wedding on the soap

Love: Kylie and Jason’s beloved characters Charlene and Scott Robinson during their wedding on the soap

Icons: The couple returned to Erinsborough for the first time since they bid farewell to the suburb and moved to Brisbane after tying the knot in a romantic wedding ceremony more than 30 years ago

Icons: The couple returned to Erinsborough for the first time since they bid farewell to the suburb and moved to Brisbane after tying the knot in a romantic wedding ceremony more than 30 years ago

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Categories
Australia

O’Connor: Driver dead after South Street smash, with Holden crashing through southern suburbs storefront

O'Connor: Driver dead after South Street smash, with Holden crashing through southern suburbs storefront

A man is dead after a devastating crash which ended with a car smashing through a southern suburbs spearfishing shop.

Authorities said a Holden Commodore and Toyota Hilux were traveling along South Street, approaching Stock Road, in O’Connor about 7.15pm on Friday when they collided, setting off the tragic set of events.

The Commodore continued on, striking a large sign and smashing into a precinct occupied by Wetsuit Warehouse and Adreno Spearfishing Perth.

The car’s driver, a 50-year-old man and sole occupant, was critically injured and died at the scene.

The Commodore continued on, striking a large sign and smashing into a business.
Camera IconThe Commodore continued on, striking a large sign and smashing into a business. Credit: nightnews
The 47-year-old male driver of the Toyota suffered minor injuries.
Camera IconThe 47-year-old male driver of the Toyota suffered minor injuries. Credit: nightnews

The 47-year-old male driver of the Toyota suffered minor injuries.

Pictures taken from the crash site revealed the horrific wreck police were confronted with.

The Holden was crunched against the window of the local recreation outlet, while the Toyota was left a mess on South Street, with significant damage to its back-right section.

Major Crash investigators have combed the crash scene and now want witnesses, including those with dash-cam or mobile footage, to contact Crime Stoppers.

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Categories
US

Herrera Beutler in trouble as Kent gains in WA’s 3rd District; Newhouse advances in the 4th

Herrera Beutler in trouble as Kent gains in WA's 3rd District; Newhouse advances in the 4th

Challenger Joe Kent has nearly overtaken US Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in vote counts released Friday, leaving the six-term incumbent teetering on the brink of defeat amid Republican backlash over her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, US Rep. Dan Newhouse has for now survived his impeachment vote, advancing to face Democrat Doug White this fall, as Trump-backed challenger Loren Culp placed third.

Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, had been in second place since election night in the 3rd District race in southwest Washington.

But Kent, her Trump-endorsed Republican challenger, has emerged in later tallies, cutting deeply into Herrera Beutler’s lead and threatening to push her into third place.

Kent has gained ground every day, in a trendline that points to him surpassing Herrera Beutler when more votes are counted next week.

Herrera Beutler “needs a miracle,” wrote Dave Wasserman, an editor and election expert with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, on Twitter, calling Kent the “strong favorite to knock her out of the top two.”

As of Friday evening, Herrera Beutler had 22.6% of the vote to Kent’s 22.5% — a margin of just 257 votes. Kent had trailed by 1,945 on Thursday. An estimated 30,000 ballots remain to be counted in Clark County, the district’s population center, which will count votes again on Monday.

Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez remained in first place with about 31% of the vote, leaving her headed for a November matchup against either Kent or Herrera Beutler.

If it remains this close, the race will be subject to a mandatory recount.

A machine recount is required if the difference between the two candidates is less than 2,000 votes and also less than a half of 1% percent of the total votes cast for the candidates. A manual recount is required if the candidates are separated by fewer than 150 votes and less than a quarter of 1% of the total votes for both candidates.

Kent’s momentum came in late ballots despite a deluge of more than $4 million in outside PAC spending aimed at rescuing Herrera Beutler. Some of the money fueled ads boosting another Republican challenger and Kent rival, Heidi St. John, who placed fourth in the race.

In central Washington’s 4th District, Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, managed to clear the primary despite joining Herrera Beutler and eight other Republicans in voting to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6., 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Newhouse was in first place with about 25.5% of the vote, narrowly ahead of Democrat Doug White, at 25.4%. The Seattle Times has called the race for White and Newhouse.

Culp, the former small-town police chief and 2020 gubernatorial candidate, was in third place with 21%, as the anti-Newhouse vote among Republicans was split among six challengers.

County canvassing boards are set to certify results Aug. 16. The statewide results must be certified by the secretary of state by Aug. 19.

Categories
Entertainment

James Packer parties with young women in bikinis on superyacht

James Packer parties with young women in bikinis on superyacht

Australian billionaire James Packer has been photographed on a yacht hanging out with young bikini-clad women.

On Thursday, Mr Packer was seen enjoying his $250 million superyacht out in the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian coast.

The Australian rich lister was there with two unknown women and an unknown man.

American film director Brett Ratner, 53, was also in attendance, who has directed Hollywood movies including X-Men and the Rush Hour franchise.

In one instance, Mr Packer 54, was photographed clasping the hand of a blonde woman while also leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

At another point, one of the women was spotted drinking and dancing on the boat.

Mr Packer wore sunglasses and a dark blue T-shirt and black shorts while his friend Mr Ratner had a gray T-shirt on.

The Aussie business has been spotted spending a lot of time on his superyacht in the past few months.

In July, it was revealed that Danish model Josefine Hanning Jensen had been on-board the billionaire’s superyacht since at least July 6.

There’s no word yet on whether Packer and Jensen are romantically linked, or whether she will join him when he heads back to Sydney.

It’s unclear whether the two women spotted on the boat on Thursday are also models.

As the son of media head honcho Kerry Packer, James Packer has a net worth of US$1.5 billion (A$2.17 billion) according to Forbes.

Two months ago, Mr Packer revealed he had been seeking to lose weight after telling The Weekend Australian last month that he was ready to start the “third act” of his life as he looks towards a return to Australia.

“I’m roughly 130kg now and want to be back to 100kg by the end of 2022,” Packer told the publication.

speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald around the same time, Packer divulged he was down 33kg after quitting alcohol, limiting his calorie intake and exercising daily.

Mr Packer told the newspaper his life was “pretty good right now”, adding: “My mental health is the best it’s ever been.”

He also revealed his mental health had also taken a turn, having quit the antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs he was taking.

With the $8.9 billion sale of his company shares to US private equity firm Blackstone’s finalized on June 24, which saw Packer pocket an enormous $3.36 billion, he’s now ready to plan his return home.

“I want to swim with my kids at Bondi when we’re all in Sydney together next year and be 100kg,” he said from his home in Mexico.

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Categories
Australia

‘Cocaine drought’ as $280m worth of Netflix-branded blocks seized

'Cocaine drought' as $280m worth of Netflix-branded blocks seized

The Australian Federal Police says it has seized 700 kilograms of cocaine worth $280 million and branded with the word Netflix from a container ship at Port Botany.

The Singaporean vessel Maersk Inverness docked in Sydney last month, where Australian Border Force officials uncovered 700 kilograms of the drug concealed in denim bags inside a container marked as containing wood products.

Twenty-eight denim bags containing 25-kilogram bricks of cocaine were seized.

Twenty-eight denim bags containing 25-kilogram bricks of cocaine were seized.Credit:Australian Border Force

Twenty-eight denim bags, each containing a 25-kilogram brick of cocaine branded with the word Netflix and the numerals 5 and 365, were seized by authorities on July 22.

The ship had docked in ports in South and Central America before arriving in Sydney.

“We are still investigating where the drugs were loaded and who was planning to collect them in Australia,” the AFP’s Detective Inspector Luke Wilson said.

“The interception of this amount of drugs would be a significant blow to a well-resourced syndicate, and prevents millions of dollars of drug profit flowing back into the syndicate to fund their lavish lifestyles or next criminal venture.

The so-called “cocaine drought” in Sydney at the moment means sellers of cocaine can command up to $400,000 per kilogram, federal police say.

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Categories
US

Alabama town moves to dissolve its police department over texted racist joke

Alabama town moves to dissolve its police department over texted racist joke

Lawmakers in a small Alabama town on Thursday moved to fire its police chief and dissolve the entire department after a racist joke was texted among officers.

The Vincent City Council, representing almost 2,000 people about 35 miles east of Birmingham, voted unanimously to begin the process of ending city police services and contracting with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

“I have thought long and hard about this. It’s not a decision that I have come to very easily,” Mayor James Latimer said at the council meeting Thursday ahead of votes to terminate the chief and assistant chief and end the department.

“As all of you know, I’ve always wanted us to have the best police department possible. I think in light of recent events, it’s no longer possible, at least in this moment, for us to continue services of the police department. ”

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said he backed the move.

“The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was recently notified by the Vincent City Council and Mayor regarding the recent allegations of misconduct within the Vincent Police Department and we equally condemn these actions,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement Friday.

“Sheriff John Samaniego stands with the City of Vincent in providing emergency law enforcement related services for the citizens during this time.”

Police Chief James Srygley could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

Assistant Chief John Goss hung up the phone when reached by NBC News and didn’t immediately return voicemail and email messages.

Latimer, a police officer in another city in his day job, said Friday that he informed Srygley and Goss of the council action. The major declined to characterize their reactions.

“I know the community is hurting right now,” Latimer said Friday. “I appreciate their patience and their understanding as we go through the process of trying to recover from this. It is a stressful time for all of us. It’s a heartbreaking thing.”

The racist comment shared on text did not surprise Vincent residents, said Kenneth Dukes, president of the NAACP Shelby County branch, who credited public pressure for the council action.

“This has happened before, they’ve had this kind of attitude and conduct that’s been displayed before (by police),” Dukes said Friday. “A lot of citizens were just fed up and came together in strong numbers.”

David K. Li is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

Helen Kwong contributed.

Categories
Entertainment

Dr Charlie Teo is engaged to his girlfriend Traci Griffiths, social media posts suggest

Dr Charlie Teo is engaged to his girlfriend Traci Griffiths, social media posts suggest

Sydney neurosurgeon Charlie Teo could be trading scrubs for a wedding suit soon after revealing social media posts hinted he has recently become engaged to his girlfriend Traci Griffiths.

The couple met when Ms Griffiths sought Dr Teo’s expert advice in 2009, although they did not begin dating until 11 years later after the brain surgeon split from his wife.

Wedding rumors have followed the well-known surgeon and his former patient for more than a year, but it appears there may now be some truth to the whispers.

Ms Griffiths, a vegan activist and fitness influencer, has used revealing hashtags in pictures of the couple to hint at the change in their relationship status.

The former model has consistently tagged photos of her and Dr Teo with references to “#myhero” and “#mybestfriend” during their relationship, but she upgraded the hashtags in May to “#myfiance” and “#ilovemyfiance”.

The revelations are buried in a number of hashtags attached to photos of Ms Griffiths at the Charlie Teo Foundation Ball more than two months ago.

The engagement hints continued in June with pictures of the costumed couple attending a Great Gastby themed birthday party.

Photos from the night are captioned with the same fiance hashtags and a nod to Dr Teo’s paperboy outfit.

After dropping the tantalizing suggestions, Ms Griffiths has remained quiet on the topic of her relationship.

The animal activist hasn’t posted any further photos of the couple on her social media accounts and there have been no more revealing hashtags.

Neither she nor Dr Teo responded to requests for comments about the engagement.

The exciting hints come as Dr Teo has taken a step back from his work as a neurosurgeon after conditions were imposed on his medical registration last year following complaints from colleagues.

In August 2021, the Medical Council of NSW banned Dr Teo from performing high-risk surgeries without the written approval from a second independent neurosurgeon.

The restrictions will remain in place until next month.

Prior to the review of his medical practices, Dr Teo had built his reputation by operating on those with incurable or inoperable brain cancers.

Read related topics:sydney

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Categories
Australia

Qld farm massacre: Man, 59, charged with gunning down three people, attempted murder of fourth man

Qld farm massacre: Man, 59, charged with gunning down three people, attempted murder of fourth man

Police have charged a 59-year-old man with the murders of three people who were gunned down at their rural property in the Whitsundays and the attempted murder of a fourth man.

Married couple Mervyn, 71, and Maree Schwarz, 59, and their son Graham Tinge, 35, were shot and killed at their cattle farm in Bogie, about 35 minutes south-west of Bowen on Thursday morning.

Their other son, Ross, was shot in the abdomen and bleeding heavily, but managed to flee the scene in a ute and notify police.

He underwent emergency surgery at MacKay Base Hospital on Thursday night and has been well enough to speak to detectives.

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Police charged the family’s 59-year-old neighbor with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on Friday.

Mackay Detective Inspector Tom Armitt told reporters alleged the offender and four victims had arranged to meet that morning.

“What we do know is that all parties are neighbours, some conversation has occurred between the parties and resulted in a meeting up at the parties’ boundary line earlier that morning when the incident occurred,” he said.

“We understand that there was a conversation the night before and that was the reason they met the next morning.

“What I can say is that there was an invitation for them to go there and discuss.”

Police said the distance between the properties is about a 45-minute drive.

The Schwarz family purchased the property in the last 12 months, Detective Armitt said, while their 59-year-old neighbor is a long-term resident.

He will appear in the Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday, August 8.

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Categories
US

Alex Jones must pay Sandy Hook parents $45.2 million more in punitive damages

Alex Jones must pay Sandy Hook parents $45.2 million more in punitive damages

Comment

A Texas jury has determined Infowars host Alex Jones must pay the parents of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim $45.2 million in punitive damages. The Friday decision comes a day after the same jury awarded the plaintiffs $4.1 million in compensatory damages, culminating the final phase of a defamation case first brought in 2018 over Jones’s repeated false claims that the deadliest elementary school shooting in US history was a hoax.

Jones was not in court as the jury read the unanimous verdict.

The damages phase of the trial that ended Friday marks the first time Jones, an influential purveyor of far-right conspiracy theories, has faced financial repercussions in court for the outlandish lies he told via his Infowars broadcast about the shooting. Since the early days that followed the 2012 shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 young children, Jones said on his program that “no one died” at Sandy Hook and that the attack was a ruse “staged” by gun-control advocates to manufacture anti-gun sentiment.

Alex Jones must pay $4.1 million to Sandy Hook parents, jury rules

In the case brought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, the damages hint at what Jones could face in the months ahead in his additional Sandy Hook defamation cases in Texas and Connecticut.

It remains to be seen how much of the punitive damages the parents will ultimately receive as Texas laws cap such awards per plaintiff at twice the compensatory award plus $750,000, according to Carl Tobias, a tort law expert at the University of Richmond School of Law.

That calculation means the plaintiffs could see less than a quarter of the total award determined by the jury, and that amount could be even further reduced if the compensatory damages are for non-economic reasons, such as emotional distress rather than lost wages, Tobias said .

Punitive damages are meant to sting, Tobias said, so juries tend to award sums proportionate to the defendant’s finances despite many states contradictorily having caps on such awards.

“The theory is that the damages are supposed to be significant enough to determine the person who did this — and other members of society,” he said.

Jurors on Friday heard additional testimony about Jones’s finances before they began deliberations on what sum would both punish Jones for his falsehoods and determine him from making them again.

In court Friday, Bernard Pettingill, Jr., a forensic economist and former economics professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, testified he estimated the combined net worth of Jones and his business entities to be between $135 million and $270 million.

“You cannot separate Alex Jones from the companies. He is the companies,” Pettingill said.

The testimony is in stark contrast to Jones’s public statements that he is financially bereft; his defense team originally asked the jury to award the plaintiffs $1 for each claim after contending Jones lost millions of dollars and followers when he was kicked off social media platforms like YouTube and Spotify.

Free Speech Systems, the parent company for the Infowars website, filed for bankruptcy during the trial, though Pettingill and other witnesses said it was impossible to fully scrutinize Jones’s finances since he failed to provide documents to the court.

Jones’s refusal to comply with court orders around documents and other evidence resulted in District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Travis County, Tex., issuing default judgments against Jones last September, which made him liable for all damages.

But in a dramatic courtroom moment Wednesday, it was revealed that Jones’s legal team inadvertently sent the contents of his cellphone to a lawyer representing the parents. The apparent blunder led the plaintiff’s attorney Mark Bankston to accuse Jones of lying under oath when he testified that he did not have any text messages related to the Sandy Hook massacre.

On Aug. 3, attorney Mark Bankston accused Alex Jones of lying after cross-checking facts with the contents of Jones’s phone. (Video: KXAN News)

During the jury’s deliberations, Jones’s lawyers requested a mistrial and demanded that Bankston delete the phone data they had handed over, which the judge denied.

Jones’s lawyers have said the legal battle against him is an attack on First Amendment rights, while the parents’ legal team argued that his rhetoric was defamatory and not protected.

Sandy Hook lawyers say Alex Jones’s attorneys accidentally gave them his phone contents

Heslin and Lewis testified during the nearly two-week defamation phase of the case that Jones’s relentless false claims that their son never died and that they were “crisis actors” created a “living hell” for them.

While on the stand Tuesday, Heslin said as he grieved his son, he also contended with death threats and abuse from those who embraced Jones’s rhetoric.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble reprimanded Infowars founder Alex Jones for lying under oath during his defamation trial in Travis County on Aug. 2, 2022. (Video: The Washington Post)

“I can’t even describe the last nine and a half years, the living hell that I and others have had to endure because of the recklessness and negligence of Alex Jones,” Heslin told the jury.

In his closing arguments Friday, Bankston said jurors are tasked with punishing and deterring Jones with their verdict and implored them to use their vote to “stop Alex Jones.”

“Truly, you have the ability today to stop this man from ever doing this again: from continuing to tear the fabric of our society apart for the great monetary gain that he has received thus far,” Bankston said.

“Speech is free,” he added. “Lies, you pay for.”

Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.

Categories
Australia

Space junk identified at Yambuk by Australian Space Agency

Space junk identified at Yambuk by Australian Space Agency

A year-long mystery has been solved after residents of a coastal took it upon themselves to collect a strange black cylinder wedged into a beach waterway.

Yambuk resident Matt King said he found the unidentified object in September 2021 while walking his dogs along the beach.

He had no idea what the “weird bit of stuff” was but knew it was out of the ordinary in a town known for its beautiful estuary, wild beach and tall slide.

two men on a large black container
Harry Sokol and Matt King inspect the object for clues.(Supplied)

“It’s pretty weird. It’s obviously an expensive container. I don’t know if it’s stainless, wrapped in carbon fiber,” he said.

Curiosity and wariness of ocean contamination compelled Mr King to reach out to Colleen Hughson, an ocean plastics campaigner who was awarded Warrnambool citizen of the year for her hands-on environmental work.

A man wearing green leather gloves stands next to a black cylinder
Matt King first found the object on the beach at Yambuk.(Supplied: Colleen Hughson)

Ms Hughson’s credentials for investigating strange things that wash up on beaches are well established in the region.

She runs several local beach clean-up crews that document and log endless data about the hundreds of kilograms of junk that wash up along the south-west coast of Victoria and has found all kinds of strange objects over the years.

A young woman with a camera in front of a large koala puppet
Colleen Hughson organizes clean-up missions along Victoria’s south-west coast.(Supplied: Rosana Sialong)

Ms Hughson said she reported the cylinder to the local police (in case it was a bomb), notified the Australian Space Agency, shared a photograph of the object on her social media accounts and then waited for the authorities to collect the item.

In the meantime, people began sending her articles about other space junk found around the world.

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“A lady from Tasmania actually sent us an article of a really similar thing that had landed in Washington on someone’s farm,” Ms Hughson said.

“It was this composite pressure vessel that contains the rocket fuel of the rocket ships.”

A large black cylinder wrapped in shredded material on sand
Matt King found the strange cylinder on the sand at Yambuk.(Supplied: Matt King)

The realization that discarded space objects could re-enter the earth without disintegrating sent Ms Hughson down a rabbit hole of information about spacecraft junk that was intentionally directed to an uninhabited zone in the ocean.

Our ocean space graveyard

A graphic showing spacecraft parts scattered across the ocean floor.
An artistic interpretation of the “spacecraft graveyard” at Point Nemo in the South Pacific Ocean.(ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser)

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