Near miss in Adelaide for quantas

THE Victorian cricket team and Australian band the John Butler Trio were involved in a tense near-miss in Adelaide when the landing gear of their plane appeared to fail

Cricket Victoria spokeswoman Jessica Cook said the entire squad of 17 - including Australian team members Cameron White and Peter Siddle - and sports staff were on the plane from Darwin to Adelaide last night.

Ms Cook, who was travelling with the team, said after circling the airport several times, the Qantas crew advised passengers a cockpit light indicated a problem with the landing gear, particularly the front wheel.

After a tense 45 minutes, passengers were advised to prepare for a crash landing and get into a brace position.

"Every big name that we have was on the plane," she told AAP.

"There was certainly a bit of angst and we were very happy to get off the plane."



Ms Cook said the John Butler Trio was at the front of the plane and, like everyone else on board, was shaken by the ordeal.

Despite a "bumpy" touchdown, the plane landed safely, she said.

Apple can take your photo and shut down your jailbroken iPhone, iPad

APPLE has been accused of creating "traitorware" for trying to patent security software that tracks down people who jailbreak their iPhones and iPads and locks them out of their devices.
Jailbreaking allows users to access software and features for their devices that have not been sanctioned by Apple.
The process was declared legitimate by a US court earlier this month, but Apple said any such interference in their device will void its warranty.
Apple's patent, which went before the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this week, is for "systems and methods for identifying unauthorised users of an electronic device".
Using the software, Apple can remotely access your sensitive information and data, ostensibly to determine if you are an “authorised user”.

Among the information they can access, the system can take a flashless, undetectable photo of the users' face (with the iPhone 4's front-facing camera) and multiple photos of the surrounding location.
It can also record the users' voice regardless of whether they are making a phone call, monitor their internet usage and record the heartbeat and “vibration signature” of the user.
According to the patent application, if these identifiers do not match the "authorised" user, the system then determines if there is "suspicious behaviour".
Suspicious behaviour, says the application "comprises one or more of hacking the electronic device, jailbreaking the electronic device, unlocking the electronic device, removing a SIM card from the electronic device, and moving at least a predetermined distance away from a synced device".
If Apple decides that all this adds up to unauthorised use they will remotely lock or shut down the offending iPhone or iPad, making it unusable.
It's been labelled by watchdog organisations as dangerous spyware. They even invented a new word for it – “traitorware”.
US civil liberties group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has called the patent "downright creepy and invasive" and overkill for technology that is to track down a lost or stolen phone - something already possible with the "Mobile Me" app.
"This patented process could be used to retaliate against you if you jailbreak or tinker with your device in ways that Apple views as 'unauthorised' even if it is perfectly legal," it said.
There are obvious financial incentives for Apple putting an end to the legal process and the Electronic Frontier Foundation believe this could be the greater motive behind the software.
“This patent application does nothing short of providing a roadmap for how Apple can - and presumably will - spy on its customers and control the way its customers use Apple products.”
Electronic Frontiers Australia shares their concerns.

“There are huge privacy implications.” Colin Jacobs, chair of EFA told news.com.au
“It raises the risk of what happens if someone gains unauthorised access to the information… if this information is stored then it's pretty clear that someone will come looking for it.”

US military's top secret X-37B shuttle 'disappears' for two weeks, changes orbit

AMATEUR astronomers are enjoying a cat-and-mouse game with the US military in keeping track of its secret space plane, the X-37B.
The X-37B was launched in April amid much publicity, but scant detail about its true use.
Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the X-37B program was originally headed by NASA.
It was later turned over to the Pentagon's research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.

Only a very select few in the US military know what it's for, but observers on Earth believe they're putting together the puzzle piece by piece.
Several sources claim quote arms control advocates who say it's clearly the beginning of the "weaponisation of space".
In May, avid skywatcher Ted Molczan studied the X-37B's orbit from his home in Toronto and said its behaviour suggested it was testing sensors for a range of new spy satellites.
Since then, the X-37B been arguably the least-secret secret project on the planet, as fellow backyard astronomers joined in the scrutiny, aided by how-to video guides and apps such as the Simple Satellite Tracker.
That is, they did until July 29, when the shuttle disappeared, causing all kinds of consternation and conspiracy theories about its fate.
It took amateur skywatcher Greg Roberts of Cape Town, South Africa, who noticed that it failed to appear as scheduled above his base on August 14, another five days to find it.
When he did, he noticed it was some 30km higher and on a different trajectory, according to calculations from other colleagues in Rome and Oklahoma.
The X-37B's new track means it takes six days to pass the same spot on Earth, as opposed to its original four-day track.
Mr Molczan believes this may be another small piece to the puzzle about what role the shuttle may play in US military operations.
"This small change of orbit may have been a test of OTV-1's manoeuvring system, or a requirement of whatever payload may be aboard, or both," he said in a release paper about Roberts' X-37B find.
The shuttle has been in orbit now for 124 days. It uses a solar array once in space for power, which theoretically will allow it to stay airborne for up to 270 days.
But the additional presence of large fuel tanks and a rocket motor allows it to change orbit, as evidenced by the latest sudden change of course.
According to the The Register, this is a key component of its surveillance-related capabilities, along with the fact it can land in a much more versatile fashion than other shuttles.
Using its "cross-range" wings, it can duck off elsewhere once its entered the Earth's atmosphere rather than follow its oribital track to a pre-specified landing pad.
This means the X-37B can get up and down from space in one orbit, as its wings allow it to compensate for the slight turn in the Earth and bend it back to its original launch pad.
The Register says that capability would make it difficult to track, as it would only pass over a region once.
Theoretically, it could drop a spy satellite on one run, then pick it up on the next without the satellite having ever been detected.
Other observers claim the X-37B can carry a payload roughly the size of a medium-sized truck bed, or enough to hold a spy satellite.
According to the Pentagon, a second X-37B is under construction, so expect the guessing game to continue for some time about what the US military is really up to in space.
Until now, all that remains known about the X-37B is that is it has at least one trick - the ability to hide from skywatchers for two weeks

New Kindle 3 'everything the iPad isn't'

EARLY reviews for the new Kindle 3 are calling the e-reader "everything the iPad will never be".
Amazon's new device was this week shipped out to North American and UK customers who had been among the first to order the device.
Amazon has been offering its Kindle devices since 2007 and has managed to hold onto a large portion of the e-reader market despite increasing competition.
On the day it began shipping the newest devices, Amazon announced that the Kindle 3 was its fastest-selling device yet - a feat likely due in part to a rise in digital reading driven mainly by the Kindle itself.
The third-generation Kindle is smaller, lighter, and available in both Wi-Fi/3G and Wi-Fi-only versions.
Among reviews, PC World calls it "the first e-reader in months that's left me wanting to read more" and "a winner that shoots to the head of the pack", while PC Advisor says its set of upgrades "vaults it to the top of the e-book reader category".

While the Kindle is competing with a variety of other readers, including major contenders such as the Nook, Kobo, and Sony e-readers, the device's stiffest competition may come in the form of the iPad, Apple's tablet computer.
Wired, however, remarked that Kindle's "continued popularity bodes well for the future of single-purpose long-form reading devices," while The New York Times says "(The Kindle 3) is ingeniously designed to be everything the iPad will never be: small, light and inexpensive."
Among negative points, CNET notes the device's lack of support for ePub files.
All books in the Kindle Store are available exclusively in Amazon's proprietary format, a feature that is frequently cited by reviewers as one of its biggest drawbacks.
The Kindle 3 has a 6-inch-size reading area, measures 7.5 by 4.8 by 0.3 inches and weighs about 245g.
Other small, lightweight e-reading devices include dedicated readers such as the Sony Reader Pocket Edition and the COOL-ER e-reader, as well multi-fictional devices such as the Blackberry, Android phones, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

Motorcyclist Michael Wiles fined after nabbed carrying a barbecue on freeway

A MOTORCYCLIST who was photographed on a freeway with a barbecue strapped to his body has hit a snag.
A magistrate has described Michael Wiles' behaviour as ridiculous and fined him $800 for careless riding.
Mr Wiles, 29, has pleaded guilty to the charge.
The court heard the rider was heading home on the Eastern Freeway in January 2008, when he was spotted carrying a barbecue that had been put out for hard waste collection.
He was effectively “wearing” the barbecue in order to carry it home, and his vision was partly obscured by a steel grate.
Police investigated the bizarre incident after the Herald Sun published a photo of Mr Wiles was taken by a passing motorist.

Mr Wiles' barrister Paul McClure told the Melbourne Magistrates Court today that his client's excuse was “lack of thought processes'' and poverty.
“He was financially a bit under the pump,'' he said.
“It turned out the barbecue was a dud and did not work and that's probably why it was at the side of the road.
“This is stupid behaviour and nobody should do it.''
Mr McClure said that Mr Wiles suffered ridicule from friends and work mates when his identity was revealed in a follow-up article and he was approached by Barbeques Galore to do an ad.
But he refused to glorify his behaviour and instead used the media to promote a road safety message.
Magistrate Lionel Winton-Smith said he couldn't recall seeing anything like it in his years on the bench.
However, he downgraded the charge from dangerous to careless driving.
Mr Wiles also lost his licence for a month.

Man shot in head notices five years later

A MAN living in Germany was shot in the back of his head, but it took him five years to realise it, police say.
The 35-year-old man was hit by a .22-calibre bullet in the town of Herne as he was out in the street partying and drunk on New Year's Eve five years ago, police said overnight.
They say the man recalled receiving a blow to the head, but told them he didn't seek medical assistance at the time.
The bullet did not penetrate the skull, and police say the Polish man only went to see a doctor recently when he felt a lump on the back of his head.
An X-ray showed an object under his skin, and doctors operated and found the projectile.
Police say it may have been a stray bullet fired by a reveller in celebration.

the stig's identity revealed

NEW evidence has reportedly unmasked the mystery racing driver known as The Stig who appears in "Top Gear" disguised in a white helmet and black visor.
Documents naming a former Formula Three driver called Ben Collins, 35, point to his being the famous anonymous figure, NewsCore reports.
Though his name has been suggested before, this is the first time evidence has apparently linked Collins to the arrival of the white-clad Stig on Top Gear in 2003 - replacing the previous “black” Stig.
The accounts of the driver's company, Collins Autosport, show he established an important commercial relationship with Top Gear just as the new Stig appeared.
In December 2003, a month after the new Stig’s first appearance, the firm recorded a “cornerstone year".

This was partly down to "driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear program".

Reader's Comments: The Stig finally unmasked - The Daily Telegraph
Daily Telegraph,
The directors described it as offering “good long-term prospects for continuing income”. The only convincing explanation for such a view is that Collins had become The Stig, NewsCore reports.
On Saturday, Collins was racing in Hungary. Contacted by telephone, he said: “I can’t speak to you. I’m going into a tunnel.”
The news comes only days after it was revealed The Stig was in dispute with the BBC over a planned autobiography. The broadcaster's lawyers are opposing the book because it would necessarily reveal his identity.
Top Gear, currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, is estimated to have 350 million viewers worldwide.

Millions more for scratch-Lotto four-time winner Joan Ginther

A US woman has continued an amazing run of luck after pocketing a fourth multi-million dollar payout from a scratchie ticket.
Joan Ginther's $US10 million ($14 million) win from a $US50 scratchie ticket last week was nothing out of the ordinary - it was the fourth time she has won a seven-figure sum through playing lottery.
Her win has US news networks calling her the world's luckiest ever lottery player.
ABC News said Ginther's first win came in 1993 when she won $US5.4 million. She won a further $US2 million from a $US30 scratchie ticket in 2006.
Ginther then won another $US3 million in 2008, again from a scratchie ticket.
ABC news reported the 63-year-old bought three of her winning tickets from a local Texas store.
The lucky winner requested minimal publicity, according to the Texas lottery commission, and has not given any interviews.

fighting for her life after being struck by a deadly flesh-eating bug

A HONG Kong pensioner is fighting for her life after being struck by a deadly flesh-eating bug when she hurt her finger handling a fish.
The unnamed 68-year-old woman is in intensive care after what is thought to be the necrotising fasciitis bacteria - which can kill within 12 hours - devoured her left hand and ravaged her right leg, the health department said.

The woman, who was already suffering from ill health, injured her left index finger when handling the fish at home on August 18, the Centre for Health Protection at the Department of Health said in a statement.

"She developed fever and pain over left hand and right leg on August 19 and was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on the same day," the statement said.

"She later developed septic shock after admission.

"Operations were performed on August 20 to remove the dead tissues. She is currently in the intensive care unit in critical condition."

Lab tests showed Vibrio vulnificus, a type of bacteria causing necrotising fasciitis, in the patient's blood.

The necrotising fasciitis bacteria can enter the skin through the tiniest cut before releasing flesh and muscle-destroying toxins.

There are just 0.4 cases per 100,000 people worldwide annually, mainly among the over-60s, according to the Medscape online clinical information service. Quick treatment with antibiotics is the only known cure.

the real reason why Wirra left dancing with the stars

FORMER West Coast star David Wirrpanda was fed up with his dance partner's jealous husband shortly before quitting hit TV show Dancing with the Stars.
The Sunday Times understands Liza Van Pelt's husband was seething about seeing his wife and the buff champion footballer together.
His jealousy was so out of control that he sat in on rehearsals at a Perth dance studio until Channel 7 told Van Pelt to tell him to hit the road.
A spokeswoman for Wirrpanda denied the husband's antics pushed the footballer to quit the show - a move which shocked fans last week - and said he left to make way for better dancers.
But she confirmed there had been tension about three weeks ago.
"He was just a pain in the arse," she said yesterday of Van Pelt's husband.
"At the time (David) said, 'I'm sick of it, I don't want to have to deal with the husband, what's he doing there?' He was hanging around.
"I said, 'Well, he shouldn't be, I'll call the show up, he shouldn't be there'.
"I got on to it that day. They solved it.
"They just told Liza that he wasn't allowed to come down and be in the studio - those two were the dance partners and that was it."
The spokeswoman said Wirrpanda was also frustrated that the husband was giving advice on the couple's dance steps.

" David said Liza was listening to what he's saying about their dance routines and he shouldn't have to deal with that," the spokeswoman said.
"He (Wirrpanda) was annoyed about the fact that he was being told by someone else what to do with his dance steps.
"He was just getting frustrated and he's allowed to, because no one else is meant to be giving any input into their dance routine.
"But what he said on the night (he quit) was 100 per cent true in regards to him leaving the show.
"He was getting through on popularity.
"It shouldn't be a popularity vote, it should be voted on skill . . . and it's exactly the reason why he said, 'I can't do it, it's not fair on the others, all these great people are being voted off'.
"And, let's be brutally honest, he can't dance. He was shocking and he realised that and (that's) why he made that decision."
Van Pelt would not comment in detail when contacted yesterday, but said: "I think it's a little bit blown out of proportion."
Read more at Perth Now.

Wedge-tail eagle leaves nuptials in a flap

Birds of prey used at weddings
Rings clipped to bird's legs

FORGET something borrowed and something blue, the latest accessory for the modern Gold Coast bride is a fearsome bird of prey.
A wedge-tailed eagle has been trained to swoop down the aisle over the heads of astonished guests to deliver the wedding rings to the best man or groom, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.
"Ten years after you've been to a wedding you won't remember the food that you ate, but you will remember if an eagle flew in," said Zanna Carey from Broadwings Events.
The eagle can perform its fly-in trick at weddings in churches, on beaches or in garden locations.
At the right moment during the ceremony, the best man or groom raises a gloved hand with a scrap of meat in it and the handler releases the bird.
The rings are clipped to leather straps tied to the bird's legs

Duck! It's the Muhammad Ali of ancient predators

-Prehistoric terror bird was quick and agile
-Bird ruled South America with fighting style
-Used hatchet-type jabs to take down prey
AN ANCIENT "terror bird" has been named the Muhammad Ali of predators, using the famed boxer's agile attack and retreat strategy while attacking prey.
Computer imaging and CT scans were used by an international team of scientists, including an expert from the University of NSW, to reveal the predatory behaviour of the andalgalornis.
Andalgalornis couldn't fly but the 1.4m tall bird, which lived in northwestern Argentina about six million years ago, weighed 40kg and had an unusually large, rigid skull and hawk-like hooked beak.
It would have avoided close combat and used hatchet-like jabs to take down its victims, according to the study published in the journal PLoS ONE.
"We found that this terror bird was well adapted to drive in its deep, narrow beak then pull back with that wickedly recurved tip," study co-author and NSW University School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences'

Computational Biomechanics research group director Dr Stephen Wroe said.
"As a heavyweight, its fighting style was more like that of a bobbing, weaving Muhammad Ali than a Joe Frazier wading into the fray and slugging it out."
Terror birds were carnivorous flightless birds up to almost 3m tall which were the dominant predators in ancient South America.
Researchers tested the mechanical performance of an andalgalornis skull under different simulated feeding behaviours, running computer simulations to model the biomechanics of three ways of attacking prey.
They were a vertical killing bite, pulling back with its neck to dismember prey and shaking the skull from side to side when dealing with struggling prey.
The computer images showed coloured images of the skull, which revealed blue cool areas depicting where stresses on the skull were low, and white hot areas where stresses were high.
"When we simulated shaking its head from side to side, its skull lights up like a Christmas tree," Dr Wroe said.
"It really does not handle that kind of stress well.
"If it was taking big prey it would have to use a very precise bite in a repeated attack-and-retreat strategy.

"Once killed, the prey would have then been ripped into bite-sized morsels or, if possible, swallowed whole."

Filming underway for first 3D porn

Filming underway for first 3D porn
Story loosely based on Chinese classic
Movie likely blocked on mainland China
A GROUP of Hong Kong filmmakers have started shooting what they claim will be the world's first 3D pornographic film.
The US$3.2 million 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, set for release in May, has already generated interest in a host of Asian film markets, as well as Europe and the US, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
Loosely based on a piece of classical Chinese erotic literature, The Carnal Prayer Mat, the movie will star Japanese adult actresses Yukiko Suo and Saori Hara, the Post said.
The film chronicles the story of a young man who, after being introduced to the erotic world of a duke, realises his ex-wife is the love of his life and features "orgies, swinging and some very graphic sex scenes", the paper said.
Producer Stephen Shiu acknowledged that censors would likely block the movie's screening in mainland China, a key market for Hong Kong filmmakers.
9
"(But) we are almost closing deals with some markets including Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and some pay TV channels in Hong Kong," Mr Shiu told the paper.
Italian director Tinto Brass has announced he would produce a 3D remake of his 1979 erotic film Caligula, while Hustler plans to release a pornographic spoof of 3D science fiction film Avatar, the top-grossing movie of all time which has earned about $US2.7 billion worldwide since its release.

Culling farting feral animals could curb carbon, Pew says

Culling animals may help environment - Pew
"Wild animals produce too much methane"
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CULLING the feral animals that burp and fart their way around Australia's outback could eliminate billions of tonnes of carbon emissions, an environmental group says.
A study commissioned by the Nature Conservancy and the Pew Environment Group has found that 9.7 billion tonnes of carbon is stored in the nation's central forests, grass and woodlands.
But through better land management, such as culling wild animals, reducing wildfires, limiting tree clearing and allowing vegetation to regrow, another 1.3 billion tonnes of carbon could be stored by 2050 - the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road every year for the next 40.
Pew spokesman Barry Traill said a program of culling feral camels was already underway, but needed to be extended.
"When feral animals belch they release methane, a particularly noxious greenhouse gas, and every single camel or water buffalo releases the equivalent of around one tonne of carbon dioxide each year,'' he told reporters in Canberra.
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"When you've got hundreds of thousands, in some cases millions, of these feral animals, it's a very large amount of pollution each year.''
Dr Traill said the practical and inexpensive measures should be part of all political parties climate change policies.
"This is not theory, these are not some new ideas which need ... more science, this is work that is being done right now,'' he said.
"If we expand it across much greater areas of the country we will get those inexpensive savings.''
Australian Greens senator Christine Milne welcomed the study, which pointed to potential emissions reductions of 5 per cent by 2030.
"We need substantial investment in techniques to measure terrestrial carbon and in helping the stewards of our land - indigenous people, farmers, land care groups - to make the changes needed to tap the huge potential that is there,'' she said.

POLICE officer leaving his beat to see a dwarf porn star.

A POLICE officer resigned from the force after leaving his beat to see a dwarf porn star.
Officer Richard Bennett, 28, deserted his late night patrol to visit a gentleman's club where adult film star Bridget "The Midget" Powers - billed as "the world’s smallest porn star" - was performing last month.
The officer, who was serving in the Stoughton, Massachusetts patrol, resigned after leaving his beat to see the porn star, The Patriot Ledger reported.

He was in uniform at the time and was reported to authorities by at least five other officers, said Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany.
He then reportedly lied about the visit during an internal investigation into the incident.
“Mama told me there would be days like this,” Shastany said, on confirming Bennett's resignation. “We are not red-faced. In fact, I am pretty proud [other officers] stepped up.”
Bennett, who last month received a commendation for his work in a March murder case, resigned on June 30 rather than face disciplinary action, Shastany said.

Woman strips at restaurant during 'fist fight'

Woman strips at restaurant during 'fist fight'
'Shocked customers rushed children inside'
Fight between women 'was over a man'
A WOMAN stripped off naked in front of dozens of people having breakfast at a popular Darwin restaurant yesterday.
Witnesses said the woman took off all her clothes after she and another woman had a full-on fist fight over a man, reported the Northern Territory News.
"That was just a shocker," eyewitness Fernando Dentes, 34, said. "People were trying to eat." Police said a 39-year-old woman had to be picked up from the median strip on Dick Ward Drive after she bared all in front of the Cool Spot Cafe in Fannie Bay.
Patrons were reportedly unimpressed.
Children were rushed inside the venue and police were called to escort the naked woman away.
The woman was lying naked on the ground smoking a cigarette in full view of customers at the restaurant.

Three uniformed officers, in a paddy wagon and a sedan, arrived at the scene before giving the woman an on-the-spot fine and taking her to her home to Moulden, in Palmerston.
It is unclear whether she was drunk.
Mr Dentes, who was the shift manager at the restaurant at the time, said that staff had alerted police after customers complained about the striptease.
"The two ladies were arguing about the fella they were there with," he said.
"It was pretty verbal. One had the other on the ground," he said.
"She was pretty much just defending herself and then she was lifting up her shirt and showing her breasts.
"She took off her clothes and then she walked to the median strip lid a cigarette and laid down.

92yo woodchopper sharpens axe for competition

One of Australia's oldest and best woodchoppers, 92-year-old Vic Summers, will compete again at this weekend's Mary Valley Country Show at Imbil, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Mr Summers, an eight-time world tree-felling champion, briefly contemplated retiring from competitive woodchopping last year but dismissed the idea.

Longtime friend and fellow woodchopper Max Krogh says Mr Summers is an amazing man.

"Nothing worries him - he's still got nerves of steel, he's just incredible," he said.

"He was always noted as the best hardwood cutter that Australia ever produced.

"He didn't like the softwood so much, but [at] the hardwood he was just unreal - he used to make a hard block look soft."

Mr Krogh says he would not be placing any bets on Mr Summers "giving it away" anytime soon.

"People keep saying 'you're that old you ought to retire' but he just sort of feels like he'll just keep going," he said.

"[For] a man of 92, it's unbelievable."

French woman buries brother, discovers dead son

- A French woman discovered her 42-year-old son had been buried in the same cemetery where she was attending her brother's funeral, after she had tried to invite him to the ceremony, a newspaper said on Friday.

The family were leaving the cemetery near Lille, about 220 kilometres north of Paris, on Wednesday when one of them noticed a temporary wooden gravestone bearing the son's name and date of birth in an area reserved for poor people.

"In two or three seconds, everybody started to scream," the man's father Elie Langlet told La Voix du Nord newspaper. "Josiane (the mother) collapsed. She buries her brother and finds her kid in a grave near him. It's unthinkable," he said.

The local council confirmed the father of one, Olivier, had died on July 5 from natural causes.

Josiane Vermeersch said she had tried to contact her son a few days before to invite him to his uncle's funeral, to no avail, and had thought he was ignoring her after a row.

"Someone hasn't done their job," she told news channel I-Tele. "I demand explanations," Vermeersch said, adding it was unbelievable in a time of modern technology that nobody had attempted to contact the family.

Citing the funeral parlour that buried the man, the newspaper said it was not uncommon for families not to be informed if there is no immediate contact address.

French law stipulates that a burial must take place within six days of a death.

Scottish scientists brew up whisky biofuel

Scientists in Scotland have unveiled a new biofuel made from whisky by-products that they say can power ordinary cars more efficiently than ethanol.

A research team from Edinburgh's Napier University spent two years creating the biofuel butanol that can be used in gas tanks either as a stand-alone fuel or blended with petrol or diesel, they announced this week.

It is derived from distillation by-products pot ale (liquid from copper stills) and draff (the spent grains).

The method is based on an old process that was developed to produce butanol and acetone by fermenting sugar.

Is this the answer for critics of corn-based, energy-intensive ethanol?

"While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them," Professor Martin Tangey, director of Napier's Biofuel Research Centre told the Financial Times.

"This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one of Scotland's biggest industries."

Global exports of Scotch whisky rose to a record $4.85 billion (3.11 billion pounds) last year. Exports of Scotch have risen about 45 percent in the past 10 years.

The biofuel project cost about $400,000 and was funded by the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme. It is no joke, although the blogosphere is overflowing with the descriptions such as: "Whisky to go?" and "One for the road?"

The group has filed for a patent and plans to open a commercial venture to market the product.

Jakarta introduces women-only trains to avoid groping

JAKARTA - Women-only train carriages were launched this week in Jakarta in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, in an attempt to avert groping and sexual harassment on packed commuter trains.

Women can choose to board the female-only, orange and pink-seated carriages at the front and rear of trains in Jakarta, the latest in a growing number of cities to offer women-only services.

The state-owned railway operator, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), said it had not received many complaints about sexual harassment but the company had noticed that many women avoided densely-packed trains.

"The women-only carriages are aimed to make women feel comfortable," an official at PT KAI told Reuters Television.

PT KAI is now providing 20 female-only carriages and plans to add more in the next three months.

One female commuter headed for Bogor city was pleased with the new carriages.

"I feel respected. As you may be aware, sexual harassment took place on packed trains," the commuter, giving her name just as Dennisa, told Reuters Television.

The trains, manufactured in Japan, are the only fast public transport service between the four city suburbs connecting Jakarta. Women account for almost half of the 500,000 commuters a day.

Female-only carriages on trains were first introduced in the festive, year-end season in Japan in 2000 as a way to stop sexual harassment. These carriages are now offered in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's two biggest cities.

Since then the popularity of women-only carriages has spread internationally with countries including India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brazil also operating women-only carriages.

Greens reject ISP filter

LABOR'S hopes of getting its internet filter plan through Federal Parliament look destined to fail, with the Australian Greens calling for a PC-based approach.
Greens communications spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam today released the party's cyber safety policy, opposing Labor's mandatory internet service provider (ISP) level filter.

The $40 million policy involves PC-based filtering, further research into cyber safety risks, strengthened law enforcement, and net literacy education.

"The Greens believe Australians need a world-class national broadband network but we don't need the Australian Government looking over our shoulder and filtering what we see," Senator Ludlam said.

"A voluntary filter at the household level would be more effective to protect kids."

He said an obligation should be placed on ISPs to offer PC-based filtering solutions that can be customised to block a broad range of content.



Police cyber crime units should also be better resourced, he said.

Polls show the Greens look poised to take a balance of power role in the Senate after the August 21 election.

A PRIVATE zoo in Taiwan has become the first on the island to see the birth of "ligers", hybrids of lions and tigresses

A PRIVATE zoo in Taiwan has become the first on the island to see the birth of "ligers", hybrids of lions and tigresses, with the owner facing a fine for violating wildlife rules, officials said on Monday.
The three cubs were born on Sunday at the World Snake King Education Farm in the south, but one of them died almost immediately, the farm's owner Huang Kuo-nan said.

"The pregnancy of the tigress caught me totally unprepared," Mr Huang said.

"The lion and the tigress have been kept in the same cage since they were cubs more than six years ago, and nothing happened."

But the Tainan county government said Mr Huang will face a fine of up to 50,000 Taiwan dollars ($1760) for breeding wildlife without prior approval from the authorities.

According to the Taipei-based Apple Daily, there are only around 10 surviving ligers in the world, with adult ligers capable of growing much larger than average lions

Lennon letter arrives, 34 years later

A LITTLE-known folk singer who worried that financial success might ruin his powerful songwriting has received a letter of advice from John Lennon, 34 years after it was sent.

The late Beatle wrote to English musician Steve Tilston after reading an interview with him in a music magazine in 1971, The (London) Daily Telegraph reports.

In a note, which has been made public for the first time, Lennon said wealth wouldn't change the important things in life.

The letter, signed from him and wife Yoko Ono, was sent just after the Beatles split in 1970, to the offices of the now-defunct ZigZag magazine, but wasn't passed on to Tilston until a collector contacted him five years ago.





Addressing the then 21-year-old singer, Lennon wrote: "Being rich doesn't change your experiences in the way you think.

"The only difference, basically, is that you don't have to worry about money - food - roof etc.

"But all other experiences - emotions - relationships - are the same as (anybody's).

"I know, I have been rich and poor and so has Yoko (rich - poor - rich). So, whatya think of that. Love John and Yoko."

He included his home phone number.

Ono has said she remembers Lennon writing the letter.

Tilston, who is now 60, has gone on to record more than 20 albums during his career, and will mark 40 years in the music business with a concert in Bristol next month.

He said he would have called Lennon if he had received the letter, which is estimated to be worth around £7000 ($A12,200).

"I feel it was a rather brotherly letter really,'' he said.

"Not antagonistic, just offering words of advice.

"If I had received it all those years ago, my young self would definitely have rung him.''

Tilston said he never had to worry about how extreme wealth would affect his creativity.

"Sadly, I was never really able to test this theory out."

Domino's dumps halal menu in UK because of poor sales

DOMINO'S pizza stores which offered halal-only menus in the UK have switched back to traditional ingredients because of declining sales.
Three stores - in the UK cities of Birmingham, Bradford and Blackburn - switched to halal menus in January 2009, in a move which upset some non-Muslim customers.
The halal menu removed pork from Domino's pizzas. Muslims are banned from eating pork under religious law.
But after declining sales, Domino's Pizza released a statement today saying that: "we took the decision to trial a halal menu back in January 2009 ... However, the halal menu hasn’t attracted the custom we had hoped it would, and we have decided to return to a conventional Domino’s menu in all three of these stores.”

German pop singer confesses at HIV trial

A POP star has broken down in tears after admitting keeping her HIV positive status a secret from three lovers.
At the start of her trial for causing grievous bodily harm, 28-year-old German Nadja Benaissa said: "I am so sorry."

She appeared in court in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, dressed in a purple shirt, jeans and with her hair tied back and denied intending to infect anyone with the virus that causes AIDS.

Benaissa, a member of the all-female pop group No Angels, was arrested last April and spent 10 days in custody before being released.

In February, she was charged with causing bodily harm and attempting to cause bodily harm. If convicted, she faces between six months and 10 years in prison.

According to the charge sheet, she had unprotected sex on five occasions between 2000 and 2004 with three people and did not tell them she was infected, even though she had known since 1999.

"It looks as though she infected one of them. That is what we believe," prosecutor Gerd Neuber said.
This man, who was not yet named, was due to appear as a plaintiff in the trial.

Before her arrest, the fact that Benaissa, who is half Moroccan, was HIV positive was not publicly known.

When she was charged, the news was leaked to the press, sparking a debate about trial by media in a country that is highly sensitive about privacy and the presumption of innocence.

The other three members of No Angels were among around 20 witnesses due to testify in the trial, which was being held in a youth court because the first alleged incident took place in 2000, when Benaissa was 17.

In a television interview in July 2009, the singer - who also said she was addicted to crack cocaine when she was 14 - talked about living with being HIV positive.

"I can't just go anywhere I like and be free and be a normal person. I now have this stamp. I will do my best to make the most of it," she said.
A verdict is due on August 26.

JetBlue flight attendant gets reality TV show offer

DISGRUNTLED JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater could join the ranks of the Kardashian sisters, Jon and Kate Gosselin and Kimora Lee Simmons after he was offered his own reality show.
US reality TV show maker Stone and Company Entertainment wants Slater to host a show in which "various disgruntled workers quit their jobs in extravagant ways".
His lawyer already received the offer, celebrity website TMZ reported.
Slater became a hero after his famous exit from a JetBlue plane, where he slid down the jet's emergency chute with two beers in hand.
A Facebook fan page set up the day of his dramatic exit had more than 209,800 members this morning, and even songwriters who penned tributes to Slater were posting them to YouTube.

'Death by hooker' for sacked City banker Colin Birch

-Banker hangs himself from tree
-Escorts paid to act as executioners
-He told them he had harness on
A HIGH-flying banker paid two unwitting escorts to help him commit suicide.
The Sun newspaper reported that Colin Birch, 44, hanged himself from a tree days after he lost his job as an assistant vice president at Deutsche Bank in London.
The women, Marie Laurent and Alex Sturley, both 35, thought he was playing a kinky sex game and wearing a safety harness.
They hurled abuse him, telling him he "deserved to die", while he stood on a wooden step with a noose around his neck.
A police source told the paper: "The girls believe they were used to help kill him without realising what they were doing. It was death by hooker."

Ms Laurent and Ms Sturley, from Katie's Lovely Escorts agency, said that Mr Birch had told them to meet him at a wood Dartford Heath, in south-east England, on July 30 and pose as his executioners.
The married father-of-two from South East London had paid them £60 ($100) each.
The women told the police that they left him for only a moment and that during that time he had killed himself.
The Sun said that in the weeks before his death Mr Birch had hired other women from Katie's Lovely Escorts to meet him at the same spot for sado-masochist games.
"A couple of weeks before he died he had five or six girls out in the woods and paid them to abuse him," the police source told the paper.
"The girls thought it was a bit of harmless fun and easy money. Then he contacted the agency again and sent a text saying he wanted a couple of girls to meet him up on Dartford Heath.
"He said in his message, 'I want them to pretend they are executioners who are going to kill me.'"


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/death-by-hooker-for-sacked-city-banker-colin-birch/story-e6frfku0-1225905345273#ixzz0wat8v4IV

Four dead in shooting outside New York restaurant

FOUR people have been shot dead and four more wounded outside a restaurant in Buffalo, New York.

An argument or fight at a private party inside the restaurant spilled into the street where multiple shots were fired, according to Buffalo Police Department spokesman Michael DeGeorge.

He told AFP that eight people were shot, four of them fatally. The dead included two men and two women.

The violence erupted at about 2.30am today (1630 AEST) on Main Street where as many as 100 people were attending a formal party at City Grill restaurant.

"There was some type of incident" inside the restaurant, "and it then spilled outside and that's when the shootings occurred", Mr DeGeorge told CNN.

He said police were still trying to determine who fired the shots, and whether it was a gunfight between several people or one or more shooters targeted attendees at the party.





"The second possibility is more likely," Mr DeGeorge said. "The search is on" for the shooters.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, while a fourth victim died in hospital, local broadcaster WKBW reported.

Of the injured, all of them male, one is in very critical condition, it added.

Among the dead was a Texas man who witnesses said arrived on Friday in Buffalo, a city in far western New York state near the Canadian border, and was going to be married today.

Third of Aussies want Schapelle freed

ONE in three Australians wants convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby to be freed from jail, but only one in 10 believes she's innocent.

A Nielsen poll published by Fairfax newspapers today found 34 per cent of respondents believe Corby should not serve any more of her 20-year term, while 40 per cent believe she should serve a reduced sentence of between 10 and 15 years.

Just 18 per cent want her to serve her full term, the poll of 1400 people found.

The former Gold Coast beauty therapist was sentenced to 20 years' jail after she was caught at Bali's airport in October 2004 with 4.1kg of marijuana in her boogie board bag.

In a Neilsen poll conducted last weekend for Fairfax, only one in 10 respondents believed she was innocent, while 41 per cent thought she was guilty.

Court told Leonardo DiCaprio's face cut by mistake

A WOMAN charged with slicing Leonardo DiCaprio's face thought he was an ex-boyfriend, a court has heard.
Aretha Wilson appeared in a Los Angeles court today and pleaded not guilty to assault with a deadly weapon.
The 40-year-old is accused of attacking the Inception star with a broken beer bottle at a house party in the Hollywood Hills.
The house belonged to Paris Hilton's ex and sex tape partner, Rick Solomon.
DiCaprio was taken to hospital and needed 17 stitches to close the wound near his right ear.
Doctors said the actor could have been killed if the broken bottle had damaged the carotid artery, the main artery in the side of the neck.

According to a police report, it was a case of mistaken identity as Wilson allegedly confused DiCaprio with a scorned ex-boyfriend.
The alleged attack happened in 2005, but Wilson avoided facing charges because she fled to Canada.
She was extradited back to California last month.
She was ordered to stay at least 500m away from the actor and two witnesses to the alleged attack.
The prosecutor said Wilson was on probation for a previous offence in Canada at the time of the attack.
She is due back in court on August 23 and faces up to seven years' jail if convicted.
The judge raised her bail from $70,000 to $170,000 stating concern about her "willingness and ability to come back to court".
She is currently being held in a Californian jail.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/leonardo-dicaprios-cut-by-mistake/story-e6frfmvr-1225904582998#ixzz0wUd5SobC

Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran admit to drug smuggling role

-Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran admit role
-Admission is part of death sentence appeal
-President shows no mercy to drug smugglers

AUSTRALIAN Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have for the first time admitted their roles in the Bali Nine drug ring as part of their final appeal against their death sentences.
Lawyers for the Sydney pair launched their long-awaited appeal, known as a judicial review, with the Denpasar District Court this morning.
"Our main reason for this appeal is (that) based on human rights, no one should be punished with the death penalty," lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said.
"They should be punished with no more than 20 years in jail."
In appeal documents, the pair finally admit they were involved in the heroin smuggling plot despite repeatedly pleading not guilty at their earlier trials.
The appeal argues previous court decisions erroneously found the pair guilty of exporting drugs even though they were arrested before an exportation took place.
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The appeal asks the Supreme Court to also consider how radically the pair has changed by becoming leaders and role models inside Bali's Kerobokan Prison.
Four witnesses will be asked to testify at fresh appeal hearings likely to take place next month, Mr Lubis said.
Chan, 26, and Sukumaran, 29, were two of nine Australians convicted over the 2005 plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia.
Their judicial reviews are being launched less than a month after fellow Bali Nine death row inmate Scott Rush launched his own.
A panel of three judges is expected to begin hearing that appeal - which pushes for a 15-year sentence for the 24-year-old - next Wednesday.
If the final appeals fail, the three men will be left with just one last chance to avoid the firing squad: clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
But Dr Yudhoyono typically shows no mercy to drug smugglers.
Five other members of the drug smuggling plot - Martin Stephens, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Than Nguyen - are serving life sentences in Bali's Kerobokan Prison.
Stephens' judicial review is currently being considered by Indonesia's Supreme Court.
The final member of the drug ring, courier Renae Lawrence, is serving a 20-year sentence


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/bali-nine-pair-admit-to-smuggling-role/story-e6frfkyi-1225904977386#ixzz0wUc8jBYv

Man arrested after Macchour Chaouk shooting

A MAN has been arrested following the shooting death of crime family patriarch Macchour Chaouk.
A 57-year-old Altona North man was arrested this evening at a residential address in Altona North.
Melbourne Chaouk was gunned down at his heavily secured Brooklyn home by a gunman who got out of a car in a side street to shoot the 65-year-old in the chest shortly before 11am (AEST).

The gunman then got back in the car and fled down Geelong Road.

Chaouk's wife and another family member and three young children were at home at the time.

The shooting comes amid a violent feud with the rival Hadarra family, which Detective Senior Sergeant Murray Fraser said police would be investigating.

The Chaouk family has a long history of violent and drug-related crimes.



Macchour had a string of convictions, including serious assault and two for heroin trafficking.

Two of his five sons, Ali and Matwali, are in custody on charges of assault and attempted murder, and 19-year-old son Omar is on bail following a raid on the house last month.

In 2005, police shot dead another son, Mohamed, during a raid.

Family heroin ring busted in melbourne

AN alleged family-based, multimillion-dollar heroin trafficking ring operated from a modest Melbourne housing commission flat, a court has heard.
Twelve people have so far been charged in connection with the organised crime syndicate while police are interviewing others.

The charges followed a massive raid on 14 properties in Melbourne's inner and western suburbs from 5am (AEST) yesterday.

Police and the Australian Crime Commission arrested 21 people and seized millions of dollars worth of property, heroin, cash and Crown Casino gaming chips during the raids.

About $20 million worth of residential and commercial real estate as well as $3 million in cash and heroin believed to have a street value of several million dollars was seized, police said.

Eight people faced a marathon two-and-a-half-hour, out-of-sessions court hearing before a bail justice at the St Kilda Road police complex late Thursday night, where details of the alleged offending emerged.



Thi Nho Le, 46, of Keilor Downs; her husband Thanh Hai Pham, 46; Le's sister Thi Nho Em Le, 44, of Fitzroy; her de facto husband Khai Sin Mong, 60; Muoi Van Le, 32, of Fitzroy, the younger brother of the Le women; and his de facto wife Nga Thi Pham, 32, also of Fitzroy, have each been charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of a drug of dependence (heroin), conspiracy to traffick a large commercial quantity of heroin and trafficking a commercial quantity of heroin.

Detective Sergeant James Cole of the Drug Task Force told the hearing the six were involved in a sophisticated heroin manufacturing, sale and distribution operation operating across metropolitan Melbourne.

He said the syndicate produced more than 30kg of heroin between December last year and Thursday, gaining more than $20 million in assets from the operation.

Members laundered money by buying residential and commercial properties in Australia and their native Vietnam, hiding money in bank accounts in the names of relatives, sending money to Vietnam and by gambling in the high roller Mahogany Room at Crown Casino.

They also ran a loan-sharking business.

The four from Fitzroy shared the same housing commission flat.

Another woman, Kim Tho Huynh, 41, who lives in the same block of flats, was charged with trafficking a drug of dependence (heroin) and trafficking a drug of dependence to a child.

Det Sgt Cole alleged Huynh used a child to collect quantities of heroin from the first flat.

Houng Vo, 49, also of the Fitzroy, faces a single charge of trafficking a large commercial quantity of heroin.

It's alleged she and Huynh sold the heroin to street-level dealers for distribution.

Det Sgt Cole told the hearing all eight had access to substantial sums of cash and assets and were serious flight risks.

All eight appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today when they were remanded in custody.

Four others charged with drug offences appeared in the same court today.

They will appear again in court on April 1.

Four more people are expected to be charged on summons with drug offences.

After the hearing, Det Sgt Cole said he expected further charges would be laid.

The raids are the result of a 10-month operation - one of the largest of its type - investigating a suspected organised crime syndicate involved in importing and distributing drugs, police said

Topless sunbather accused of sensuously rubbing in sun cream

-Topless woman investigated by police
-Sunbather "sensuously rubbing in sun cream"
-Lawyer calls incident an "outrage"

A TOPLESS sunbather is being investigated by police after being accused of sensuously rubbing sun cream on herself on a public beach.
Police were called to a beach at Anzio south of Rome by a furious mother who said the way the “attractive” sunbather was rubbing lotion on her body had “troubled her sons aged 14 and 12.”

The mother said she had asked the 26-year-old woman, identified only as Luisa under Italian privacy laws, to cover herself up. But the woman, still topless, refused and an argument broke out and police were called.

“A patrol was stopped by a mother of two sons who was angry at a topless sunbather and the way she was applying suntan cream,” a police spokesman said.




“The patrol went and took her details and she argued, still topless, that she could so no harm in what she was doing as it was a public beach.

“We have opened a file on committing an obscene act as we are committed to following the complaint. From what I heard she was very attractive,” the spokesman said.

The complaint has triggered a debate in Italy about topless bathing, with the Luisa’s lawyer calling the incident “absurd”.

“She is amazed that she is being condemned for simply sunbathing topless,” lawyer Gianluca Arrighi said.

“'Let's be clear my client is tall, brunette and has an ample breast and is therefore going to naturally be sensuous when she applies cream to her chest.

'The fact a file has been opened is compulsory following the complaint but I can't imagine any judge in 2010 convicting a woman for sunbathing topless.
Mr Arrighi said there could be grounds for his client to sue for slander if the case is dropped as “you can't be reported for sunbathing topless in 2010”.

Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper waded into the argument by defending the sunbather.

"Summer is the season where everything happens but it is also the time of pathological mentalities ... where was she supposed to apply the cream on her clothes?" said a commentator.

The number of women sunbathing topless on beaches in Italy and France has dropped in recent years, Italian etiquette expert Countess Barbara Ronchi della Rocca told the UK’s Daily Mail.

Ms Rocca said the beach is no longer the place where you go to get a tan, as people spend the winter topping up their tan in salons

YOUR SAY: Is topless sunbathing inappropriate?

Tools used 3.4 million years ago: study

HUMAN ancestors were using stone tools to carve meat from the bone of wild animals nearly a million years earlier than thought, according to a study.
Two mammal bones found in Ethiopia's Afar region with chips missing that could only have been removed by sharp-edged tools are about 3.4 million years old, said the study, published in Nature.
Cut marks show that implements were used to slice flesh, while hammer-like marks suggest blows used to crack open the bone to get at nutritious - and perhaps tasty - marrow.
Up until now, the oldest known evidence of butchering with stone implements was dated to about 2.5 million years ago.
The crafting and sophisticated use of tools is a watershed moment in human evolution, and is often said to set us apart from other animals.
"This discovery dramatically shifts the known time frame of a game-changing behaviour for our ancestors,'' lead researcher Zeresenay Alemseged of the California Academy of Sciences said in a statement.


"These developments had a huge impact on the story of humanity.''
The fossil bones - both from mammals, one the size of a cow and the other a goat - were unearthed only 200 metres from the site where, in 2000, the same team of paleontologists dug up the remains of the most complete skeleton of a distant human ancestor ever found.
Like the famous "Lucy'' discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia's Awash Valley, "Selam'' - who lived some 3.3 million years ago - was an Australopithecus afarensis, an extinct species between ancient monkey and modern man.
"In light of these new findings, it is very likely that Selam carried stone flakes and helped members of her family as they butchered animal remains,'' Alemeseged said.
With stone tools in hand to quickly pull off flesh and break open bones, animal carcasses would have become a more attractive source of food, the researchers speculate.

Paul Darcy Armstrong jailed 11 years for killing Felipe Flores

ALMOST two decades after he picked up Felipe Flores in a Sydney gay bar, the man who brutally bashed him to death has been jailed for at least 11-and-a-half years.
Paul Darcy Armstrong, 47, was sentenced today in the NSW Supreme Court after a jury found him guilty of the murder in April.
Mr Flores, 27, was picked up by Armstrong at an Oxford Street bar on September 2, 1991, Justice Terrence Buddin said during sentencing.
Just half-an-hour after Mr Flores' friends saw him leaving the bar with a "tall Australian man", his body was discovered by a security guard in a deserted area at Woolloomooloo, known as lovers' lane.
"The deceased had been brutally beaten to death," Justice Buddin said.
Mr Flores was found to have sustained multiple injuries including a broken nose, broken ribs, cuts and bruises and injuries to his genitals.
Related Coverage

"It is also clear that his face had been stomped on," Justice Buddin added.
His liver was almost split in two and his face bore the impression of a shoe sole.
"The victim was subjected to a savage and sustained beating," Justice Buddin said.
"Mercifully it appears Mr Flores died almost immediately following the attack."
Mr Flores was HIV-positive and Justice Buddin said sharing that news with Armstrong may have sparked the bashing, after the pair went to Woolloomooloo for "a sexual encounter".
Armstrong, who stands more than 200cm tall, was arrested in 2008 at his Launceston home after DNA matched him to matter found beneath Mr Flores' fingernails and bodily fluids on the victim's shirt.
When shown a photo of Mr Flores, Armstrong denied knowing him or having met him.
However, the father of two did tell police that in 1991 he was living a promiscuous homosexual life in Sydney, often picking up men around the Oxford Street area.
Armstrong, who Justice Buddin said was diagnosed with HIV in February 1999, was sentenced to a full term of 17 years prison, but will be eligible for parole in May 2020 after 11 years and six months.
Mr Flores' sister Ines Flores had previously read an emotional victim impact statement to the court in which she described her brother, who came from Ecuador but lived in Sydney, as "a loyal, generous and caring" man.

perverts put on notice

PERVERTS who spy on people in public toilets and individuals who film bashings and road trauma would be subject to new criminal charges under a proposed beefing up of surveillance laws.
The Victorian Law Reform Commission has also called for civil lawsuit provisions to enable victims of serious invasions of privacy to seek damages.
In its inquiry into surveillance in public places, the commission found privacy had been eroded by the proliferation of surveillance devices, such as CCTV cameras and video-enabled mobile phones, and the rise of sites like YouTube and Facebook.
The commission recommends the appointment of an independent watchdog to regulate the use of surveillance devices and is calling for a suite of new laws to stamp out inappropriate filming.
This would include specific offences to outlaw hidden cameras in toilets, showers and change rooms, and to ban filming of violence for entertainment, known as "happy slapping''.

Charges would also be introduced to ban the filming of accident scenes for entertainment or using cameras to intimidate, for example filming individuals attending an abortion clinic, gay bar or drug rehabilitation.
The proposed reforms follow cases of a group of boys who filmed their sexual assault of a teenage girl, a mother who recorded her daughter attacking another girl, and incidents in Queensland and NSW where bystanders filmed dying road trauma victims.
The commission said while offenders could be prosecuted for inappropriate filming under broad provisions of the Surveillance Offences and Summary Offences Acts, specific charges were warranted.
"The commission is of the view that it is desirable to introduce a new offence that demonstrates clear community disapproval of the growing use of a surveillance device to intimidate, demean or harass people.
"Although there are already some offences concerning certain specific uses of surveillance devices, such as stalking or 'upskirting', and while offensive behaviour of any nature in a public place is unlawful, there is no specific offence concerned with the grossly offensive use of a surveillance device.''
The commission's report, tabled in state parliament today, also raised concerns about compromising images of individuals appearing on Google Street View and footage of drunken celebrities posted online.
It wants civil action to be available through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to victims whose privacy has been seriously invaded, either through misuse of their private information or intrusion.
Liberty Victoria vice-president Spencer Zifcak welcomed the report and said the group had long been advocating for reform.
"Because technology moves so fast we'll always be in a catch-up position ... we have to start somewhere and this seems as good a place to start as any.''
The Opposition expressed concerns the proposed reforms would put obstacles in the way of law enforcement agencies and the media.
Attorney-General Rob Hulls said consultation would be sought on the report, with no decisions expected to be made before the November election.
Some of the recommendations were commonsense but the civil matters were best addressed under a national approach, he said.

Caffine deficiencies may cause insanity

The ottomans believed that the Turks were using their daily caffeine fix as an excuse to discuss political doctrine and plot ways to topple the Ottoman Empire. So, in 1656, the paranoid Ottomans closed down all Turkish coffee houses and banned the consumption of coffee. Coffee drinkers who were discovered feeding their illegal habit were beaten and reoffenders were drowned in the nearest river. So, what we have learned from the caffine deficient Ottomans' misguided attempt to outlaw coffee??
Simply put, a diet with out any coffee/caffine may induce prolonged, paranoid delusions and cause the sufferer to become a real jerk.

2 women 2 countries what is wrong with todays society

What is happening to people today just look at these girls shame shame girls



Adelaide: A WOMAN who received a suspended jail term for duping the Victor Harbor community into believing she had cancer, has again faced court today.

Angie Emma Walsh, 33, today pleaded guilty to stealing clothing and children's dolls from the Rundle Street Target in November 2009.

The court heard a Target employee noticed Walsh was using her infant daughter's pram to conceal the items - worth about $260.

Walsh stole the items two months before being sentenced to 13 months' jail for the Victor Harbor frauds and 18 months jail for using her mother-in-law's credit cards.

The then magistrate, however, suspended both those sentences after a psychiatrist report tendered to the court revealed prison time would undo nearly two years of improvements in her mental health.

In 2008, Walsh scammed $10,000 from the seaside community after telling Encounter Bay media she had thyroid cancer and acute myeloid leukemia which had spread to her brain and kidney.


Magistrate David Whittle today acknowledged Walsh's "significant history" of dishonesty crimes and added 21 days jail to Walsh's sentence, but then suspended that.

"Your offending was committed relatively shortly before you were sentenced earlier this year ... it's put to me, and I accept that, if this offence was dealt with at that time, there would have been little or no difference to how the magistrate sentenced you," Mr Whittle said.

He also placed Walsh on a $500 one-year good behaviour bond and ordered her to pay court costs.

TORONTO (Reuters) – A woman in the Toronto area has admitted to faking cancer, running a bogus charity and collecting thousands of dollars from people who thought she was dying, a Toronto newspaper reported.
Ashley Anne Kirilow, 23, shaved her head and eyebrows, plucked her eyelashes, and starved herself to look like she was going through chemotherapy treatments, the report in the Toronto Star said.
She befriended different local groups and recruited volunteers to help her organize events and benefit concerts in her own honor, and even convinced a cancer awareness organization -- Skate4Cancer -- to fly her to Disney World to fulfill what she said was a dying wish. All told, she raised C$20,000 ($19,400), volunteers said.
Her charity 'Change' for Cure, was never registered with tax authorities. On its Facebook page, which has over 4,000 members, she said it was "started October 2009 one very late night while I was sick in bed after my 'Chemo Day.'" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142167031235)
The Star said Kirilow contacted the paper, saying she was sorry for what she had done.
"I was trying to be noticed. I was trying to get my family back together. I didn't want to feel like I'm nothing anymore. It went wrong, it spread like crazy, and then it seemed like the whole world knew," the paper quoted her as saying

No dirt on labour - says Abbott

THE Liberal Party does not have any dirt on Labor that could unravel its chances of winning the federal election, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

Speaking on Sydney radio station Nova FM today, Mr Abbott was asked if the Liberal Party had gossip about Prime Minister Julia Gillard that could swing votes his way if it was released.

"Absolutely not," he replied.

Mr Abbott was also asked if there was "colourful gossip" from his university days that could get him into hot water.

He refrained from commenting on his past, except to confirm that he had smoked dope while travelling in India.

He maintained that even if he did know of any scandals that could embarrass Ms Gillard, he would keep them to himself because he wanted to concentrate on policies rather than gossip.

"As far as I am concerned, the only things I think that are relevant in this campaign, is first of all, the policy and the respect of parties, and second, the respect of politicians," he said.





"That's what this election should be fought on."

He was also asked during the interview why he did not update his "old-school, outdated" views on the issue of same sex marriage.

"Like Julia (Gillard), I'm very happy with the existing definitions of marriage," he replied.

"I'm not saying the love (between gay people) is of a different quality.

"I'm just saying by definition, it is a different type of relationship."

If one of his daughters were to say she was gay, Mr Abbott said he would support her.

"She would be entitled to just as much love, just as much respect, just as much honour, all that," he said.

"I would do my best to give it to her."
 

 

Road rage: woman wipes dirty nappy on windscreen

POLICE said a woman wiped a dirty nappy on the window of another woman's vehicle during a dispute in a traffic jam as both were leaving the Fayette County Fair.

Jessica Hollis, 23, of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, has been charged with harassment in the incident which state police in Uniontown said happened about 10.50 pm local time on Saturday.

Police said Ms Hollis smeared the nappy on the rear window of a vehicle driven by 36-year-old Melanie Campbell, of Hopwood.

Police said the women began arguing while they were stuck in traffic leaving the fairgrounds in Dunbar Township.

Online court records don't list an lawyer for Ms Hollis, and a phone number listed in her name was disconnected today.

Perth grandma swims English channel

A PERTH grandmother has become the oldest woman to swim the English Channel, completing the crossing to France in 17 hours and 31 minutes.

Sue Oldham, 64, from Carine in Perth's north, completed the swim from Dover yesterday morning (Australian time).

She first claimed the record in 2006 in a swim of 16 hours and three minutes.

Speaking from England this morning (Australian time) Mrs Oldham said she loved swimming in the ocean.

"When you start something you have to finish it don't you, no point in getting out when it gets a bit tough," she told ABC Radio.

The English Channel was regarded as the most difficult open-water swim in the world, she said.

"You just don't know what you're going to get because you've got currents and tides that could take you anywhere."





Mrs Oldham said she struggled for five to six hours to get her stroke right and her throat began causing her discomfort along with a blocked nose and a sore right shoulder.

"But I would never stop, I would never give up, ever."

Mrs Oldham's Perth trainer Pauline Pratt and fellow Perth endurance swimmer Selwyn Jellie were on the support boat encouraging her.

She was covered in grease and vaseline for the swim and was passed food and water by a pole because once in the water she could not touch the boat or be touched by anyone until the finish.

Mrs Oldham said that after the swim she thought she would "hang up my bathers and goggles and retire gracefully".

But she said that after a glass of champagne to celebrate she thought she might still give the channel another go.

Mrs Oldham said she probably swam 50km on her 2006 swim but the distance had yet to be worked out for her latest swim.

A month before her 2006 solo swim, Mrs Oldham swam as the only female member of a relay team that still holds the world record for the oldest relay team to make the channel crossing.

churchill denies UFO exist

Sir Winston Churchill was accused of covering up a close encounter between an RAF aircraft and a UFO during the World War II, newly-released files revealed yesterday.
The former Prime Minister allegedly ordered that the unexplained incident over the east coast of England should be kept secret for at least 50 years because it would provoke “mass panic”.
The claim, made by a scientist who said his grandfather was one of Sir Winston’s bodyguards, is recounted in declassified Ministry of Defence UFO files made available online by the National Archives.
Allegations of the cover-up emerged when the man, from Leicester, wrote to the government in 1999 seeking to find out more about the incident.
He described how his grandfather, who served with the RAF in the war, was present when Sir Winston and US General Dwight Eisenhower discussed how to deal with the UFO encounter.
The man, who is not named in the files, said Sir Winston was reported to have exclaimed: “This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic among the general population and destroy one’s belief in the Church.” The incident allegedly involved an RAF reconnaissance plane returning from a mission in France or Germany towards the end of the war.
It was over or near the English coastline when it was suddenly intercepted by a strange metallic object which matched the aircraft’s course and speed for a time before accelerating away and disappearing.
The scientist said: “This event was discussed by Sir Winston and General Eisenhower, neither of whom knew what had been observed.
“There was a general inability for either side to match a plausible account to these observations, and this caused a high degree of concern.”
Whitehall officials investigated the claims but could find no records of the discussions between Sir Winston and Gen. Eisenhower, the newly-released documents show.
An MoD official wrote back to the man in September 1999: “It was generally the case that before 1967 all UFO files were destroyed after five years as there was insufficient public interest in the subject to merit their permanent retention.
“Therefore, any UFO report files from the World War II era would most probably have been destroyed.”
And a month later a civil servant in the Cabinet Office told him: “In your letter, you say that the discussion between Sir Winston and Gen. Eisenhower on the UFO sighting should have been recorded.
“We have had a look through our lists of material for this period, and I am afraid that we cannot immediately see anything on this subject. Neither do we have any filed on this matter which remain closed.” Sir Winston is known to have expressed an interest in UFOs. He wrote to his ministers in July 1952: “What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth? Let me have a report at your convenience.”

6 Americans on medical team killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – Ten members of a medical team, including six Americans, were shot and killed by militants as they were returning from providing eye treatment and other health care in remote villages in northern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the team said Saturday.
Dirk Frans, director of the International Assistance Mission, said one German, one Briton and two Afghans also were part of the team that made the three-week trip to Nuristan province. They drove to the province, left their vehicles and hiked for hours with pack horses over mountainous terrain to reach the Parun valley in the province's northwest.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press that they killed the foreigners because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity."
Frans said the International Assistance Mission, the longest serving nongovernmental organization operating in Afghanistan, is registered as a nonprofit Christian organization but does not proselytize.
"This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people as IAM has been doing since 1966," the charity said in a statement. "We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year."
The team, made up of doctors, nurses and logistics personnel, was attacked as it was returning to Kabul after the two-week mission in Nuristan, Frans said. They had decided to travel through Badakhshan province to return to the capital because they thought it would be the safest route, Frans said.
Among the dead was team leader Tom Little, an optometrist from Delmar, New York, who has been working in Afghanistan for more than 30 years, Frans said. Another relief organization, Bridge Afghanistan, said on its website that the group included one of its members, Dr. Karen Woo of London.
Little, who oversaw eye hospitals in Kabul and two other major cities as well as small clinics in three smaller towns, had been expelled by the Taliban government in August 2001 after the arrest of eight Christian aid workers — two Americans and six Germans — for allegedly trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. He returned to live in Afghanistan after the Taliban government was toppled in November 2001 by U.S.-backed forces.
Frans said he lost contact with Little on Wednesday. On Friday, a third Afghan member of the team, who survived the attack, called to report the killings. A fourth Afghan member of the team was not killed because he took a different route home because he had family in Jalalabad, Frans said.
According to Frans, two members of the team worked for IAM, two were former IAM workers and four others were affiliated with other organizations, which he did not disclose. He said five of the Americans were men and one was a woman. The Briton and German also were women.
Gen. Agha Noor Kemtuz, police chief in Badakhshan province, said the victims, who had been shot, were found Friday next to three bullet-riddled four-wheel drive vehicles in Kuran Wa Munjan district. He said villagers had warned the team that the area was dangerous, but the foreigners said they were doctors and weren't afraid. He said local police said about 10 gunmen robbed them and killed them one by one.
He said the two dead Afghans were interpreters from Bamiyan and Panjshir provinces. The third Afghan who survived "told me he was shouting and reciting the holy Quran and saying 'I am Muslim. Don't kill me,'" Kemtuz said.
Frans told The Associated Press that he was skeptical the Taliban were responsible and that the team had studied security conditions carefully before proceeding with the mission. The team trekked from village to village during the two weeks, treating about 400 people for eye disorders and other illnesses.
"We are a humanitarian organization. We had no security people. We had no armed guards. We had no weapons," he said.
In a blog posting last month, Woo said the expedition would include an eye doctor, a dental surgeon "as well as me as the general practioner."
"The trek will not be easy; it will take three weeks and be done on foot and with packhorses — no vehicles can access the mountainous terrain," she wrote. "The expedition will require a lot of physical and mental resolve and will not be without risk but ultimately, I believe that the provision of medical treatment is of fundamental importance and that the effort is worth it in order to assist those that need it most."
Elsewhere, five Afghans were killed and 13 were wounded Saturday when a bomb struck a police vehicle in the Nahri-Saraj district of Helmand province in the south, the Interior Ministry said. Four of the dead were police, but all but one of the wounded were civilians.
The NATO-led coalition also reported the arrests late Friday of two suspected insurgents in Kandahar province and of "several" suspected members of the Haqqani network, a Taliban faction with close ties to al-Qaida, in the eastern province of Khost.
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surgery for teen with no nose

A horrifically mutilated Afghan woman who appeared on a controversial Time magazine cover is to undergo surgery in the United States to rebuild her face, officials said on Friday.

The 18-year-old youngster - identified in media reports only by her first name Aisha - will meet with surgeons to discuss how to replace her nose, which was sliced off by the Taliban after she fled her abusive in-laws.

The Afghan teenager has become a symbol of a debate amongst commentators over the nature of the US mission in Afghanistan, with Time arguing Aisha's case demonstrates why the Taliban should never be allowed to return to power.

"Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years," Time's managing editor Richard Stengel wrote in an editorial accompanying the August 9 edition of the magazine.

Aisha, whose ears were also hacked off in the attack in 2009 in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan, was taken in by the American Provincial Reconstruction Team for Oruzgan and the Women for Afghan Women (WAW) non-governmental organisation after being left for dead.

The Grossman Burn Foundation, a non-profit humanitarian hospital in California which provides surgical procedures to victims of serious injuries worldwide, said Aisha would be treated for free.

"The surgery is being donated by plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr Peter Grossman and the team at The Grossman Burn Center," foundation chairwoman Rebecca Grossman told AFP. "The Grossman Burn Foundation is covering additional cost related to Bibi Aisha."

The foundation cited a United Nations report which estimated nearly 90 per cent of Afghan women suffered from domestic violence.

"Bibi Aisha is only one example of thousands of girls and women in Afghanistan and throughout the world who are treated this way," the foundation said.