Sydney Morning Herald
Village cops battering as freak twister pays a visit
Trail of destruction ... the tornado blew the walls out of St Matthew's Anglican Church.
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Heath Gilmore and Manuel Mitternacht
October 28, 2007
A FREAK tornado with winds up to 150 kmh that tore through a northern NSW village was one of the rarest weather events to happen in a populated area of Australia.
Storm chaser Jimmy Deguara, who relocated from Sydney to the Far North Coast for the storm season, recorded the devastation.
The tornado rampaged through the village of Dunoon after clipping nearby Lismore, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Destructive twisters are more commonly associated with the Midwest of the United States, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said yesterday, and rarely seen by Australians.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/freak-tornado-hits-nsw/2007/10/27/1192941400158.html
Howard targets Afghan shirkers
Frank Walker
October 28, 2007
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PRIME Minister John Howard yesterday urged NATO countries to get more involved in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
His move came after the Taliban shot and killed Australian SAS Sergeant Matthew Locke in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan.
Nine hundred Australians are in the province, where fighting has been the most fierce, and two soldiers have been killed in two weeks.
Mr Howard made a surprisingly bitter attack against NATO countries, saying they were not involved in the "heavy lifting" in the battle against the Taliban.
He said the Taliban was targeting Australian, American, Canadian, British and Dutch troops.
"These are the countries doing the heavy lifting," Mr Howard said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/howard-targets-taliban/2007/10/27/1192941401756.html
Fires contained but the damage is done
October 28, 2007
FIREFIGHTERS say they're making progress against California's wildfires but about 22,000 homes remain threatened by the blazes that have killed at least nine people, gutted 1800 properties and caused over $1billion of damage.
Cooler temperatures and calmer winds have allowed firefighters to contain most of the 23 fires that erupted last week.
They've triggered the evacuation of more than half a million people - the biggest mass evacuation in Californian history.
With diminished winds, an aerial armada of helicopters and tanker planes has been able to fly non-stop, dropping water and fire retardants
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-fires-cause-1bn-damages/2007/10/27/1192941401771.html
Cot crusader lashes Australia
Maxine Frith
October 28, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S medical establishment is under fire for its attitude towards pregnancy and labour.
British childbirth guru Sheila Kitzinger MBE will launch an attack on the nation's high caesarean rate and low levels of home birth at a conference in Sydney this week.
The author of more than 20 books - including The Complete Book Of Pregnancy And Childbirth - accuses Australian obstetricians of ignoring women's needs in favour of their own protection and profits.
In an interview with The Sun-Herald, she said Australia was lagging behind other countries, which are moving to less hospital-based models of childbirth.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cot-crusader-lashes-australia/2007/10/27/1192941404609.html
Four year old swims with whale
2007-10-27 12:10:33
After seeing a Beluga Whale at an aquarium, a four year old Chinese boy asked his grandmother if he could swim with it.(01:16)
http://media.smh.com.au/?category=Breaking%20News&rid=32738
Timberlake donates $100,000 to Irwin zoo
October 28, 2007
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US pop star Justin Timberlake has kicked off the Australian leg of his world tour at Brisbane's Boondall Entertainment Centre by making a $100,000 donation to the Irwin family's Australia Zoo.
Performing hit singles from his latest Future Sex/Love Sounds album and his first offering Justified, the multi-award winning artist stopped the show and his screaming fans tonight to make a serious point.
He told the crowd he had taken a private tour of the world famous Queensland wildlife park during his last visit to the country and had been very impressed by Australia's love of its animals.
"And when I came here last time, it really hit me ... I said to myself 'what can I do?'
"So what I did was 50 cents from every ticket sold on the Australian tour goes to Wildlife Warriors."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/timberlake-donates-100k-to-irwin-zoo/2007/10/27/1192941405283.html
Motorists driving on dangerous medication
Maxine Firth
October 28, 2007
ONE-QUARTER of NSW drivers have taken prescription and over-the-counter drugs and then got behind the wheel, despite warnings that the medication could seriously impair their ability to drive, research has found.
Drivers are risking their lives and the lives of others by ignoring vital warnings on the labels of a range of common medicines, insurers say.
A survey of more than 2000 Australians - conducted by a market research company for the AAMI insurance firm - found 22 per cent of NSW drivers had driven while taking legal drugs that carried clear warnings about side effects such as drowsiness, confusion and vision changes.
Many admitted knowing the result might be dangerous, even fatal.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/motorists-driving-on-dangerous-medication/2007/10/27/1192941400188.html
We said our brave son was invincible
Heath Gilmore
October 28, 2007
THE father of Matthew Locke, the Special Air Services soldier who was killed in action in Afghanistan, left his NSW property last night to make the long journey to Perth to comfort the dead soldier's wife and son.
Norm Locke will wait with his daughter-in-law Leigh Ann and 12-year-old grandson Keegan at Perth for the arrival of Sergeant Locke's body.
The soldier died after being shot in the chest in a firefight with Taliban extremists in Oruzgan province on Thursday. He was the second Australian casualty this month. A roadside bomb killed trooper David Pearce on October 8.
Mr Locke's wife, Jan, who has never flown, will wait until the funeral arrangements are made for her son before she travels to Perth.
Speaking from Bellingen on the Mid North Coast yesterday, Mr Locke said he always thought his youngest son, who had been awarded the Medal for Gallantry for courage under fire, was invincible.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/we-said-our-brave-son-was-invincible/2007/10/27/1192941401753.html
Afghan force is insufficient, US general says
October 28, 2007
NATO is taking a risk by not sending enough troops to Afghanistan and restrictions on deployment of some countries' soldiers hampers operations, NATO's commander in Afghanistan said on Saturday.
Afghanistan has seen an increase in violence this year, with more clashes with Taliban insurgents and more suicide bombings, killing as many as 5,000 people since January.
While the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) claims significant battlefield successes against the Taliban, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has led calls for NATO nations to send more soldiers and allow them to do more.
ISAF commander General Dan McNeill said NATO countries had not even sent troops already promised.
"NATO agreed last year to a force level here ... it prescribed a minimum force ... that force has not been filled yet. On that basis alone, I think, no, I don't have enough force here," he told Reuters in an interview.
"We are taking a certain amount of risk by having an unfilled force," he said.
Many of the 37 nations contributing troops impose tight restrictions, known as caveats, barring them from offensive operations or from deployment in the more dangerous south.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/afghan-force-is-insufficient-us-general-says/2007/10/28/1192941410405.html
Duke's heart alert
October 28, 2007
PRINCE PHILIP has a heart condition and aides are on constant watch to take him to hospital if he becomes dizzy or breathless.
A senior royal official reportedly told the Evening Standard: "The Duke of Edinburgh has lived with a heart condition for years for which he takes medication.
"Those who work close to him are informed of the symptoms and if he shows any sign of them he is to be taken straight to see a specialist."
Buckingham Palace refused to comment on claims that the 86-year-old Prince has been suffering from a heart condition for 15 years.
"We never comment on the health matters of the royal family," a Palace spokeswoman said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/dukes-heart-alert/2007/10/27/1192941401777.html
Most deadly job in world's most dangerous place
October 28, 2007
Lives on the line ... a British bomb disposal operator in Iraq.
Photo: Reuters
Chris Hunter says he sleeps well. For four months in Iraq he did what he calls "the most dangerous job in the world, in the most dangerous place in the world" but, meeting him now, you would scarcely believe he hadn't taken up his alternative career choice and become a restaurateur.
Bomb disposal experts are known in the army as "Felix" because they are like cats with nine lives, and Hunter is certainly a cool cat. He has written his memoirs, Eight Lives Down, under an assumed name and he lives under tight security for fear of reprisals from jihadists who have much to pay him back for, yet he claims that his only worry is how to pay his mortgage on the house near Hay-on-Wye, on the England-Wales border.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/deadliest-job-in-the-world/2007/10/27/1192941405279.html
A smack on the wrist
Miranda Devine
October 28, 2007
JUST as the United Nations was warning Australia to prepare for a flood of heroin after bumper poppy crops in Burma and Afghanistan, the NSW Police Force went soft on petty crime. Great timing.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma last week announced that police would start issuing on-the-spot fines for such offences as shoplifting, minor fraud or theft, possession of stolen goods, offensive conduct or unlawfully entering a vehicle.
These crimes will be treated with as much gravity as a traffic ticket, with a criminal infringement notice (CIN) carrying a fine from $150 to $350.
For former Cabramatta whistleblower and detective sergeant Tim Priest, it's a sickening case of deja vu. A similar system of on-the-spot fines, known as field court attendance notices (CANs), was used in Cabramatta in the late 1990s for drug offences.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/miranda-devine/a-smack-on-the-wrist/2007/10/27/1192941405414.html
Google algorithm tweak spooks WWW
Darren Rowse, a full-time blogger from Melbourne who also runs the b5media blog network, noticed the PageRank of a number of his sites drop significantly.
Photo: Paul Jones
Asher Moses
October 26, 2007 - 2:14PM
In the brave new world of online media, fortunes can be won and lost on the whim of Google's key search algorithm.
And when, without warning, Google tweaked that mathematical formula this week, there was panic on the world wide web.
Swarms of bloggers and webmasters of major sites like Washingtonpost.com, Forbes.com, Engadget.com and SFGate.com noticed a downgrading in their PageRank, Google's measure of a web page's value.
A site's PageRank impacts not only its ranking in Google search results but also the price it can charge advertisers. A drop in ranking can have serious financial consequences, especially for smaller operators.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/google-algorithm-tweak-spooks-www/2007/10/26/1192941308334.html
New Qantas chairman brands Heathrow 'appalling'
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Incoming Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford took a parting shot at London's Heathrow airport as he prepared to leave the city he has called home for the best part of a decade and return to Australia.
Reflecting on his time in London at an Australian Business lunch today, Mr Clifford added his voice to heavy criticism levelled at Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, which is beset by delays and congestion.
"I have to say, I think Heathrow is appalling," Mr Clifford said.
"I hope Terminal 5 will make a difference, but it's not about the physical infrastructure, it's about how you manage it."
Heathrow has come under fire for the dilapidated state of its infrastructure, overcrowding, long security queues and lost luggage.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/new-qantas-chairman-brands-heathrow-appalling/2007/10/26/1192941292302.html
Our right-minded friends storm the exits
Mike Carlton
October 27, 2007
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The Prime Minister's curious facial twitch during the not-so-great debate on Sunday evening set the radio talkback phone lines ringing on Monday. Some people called it a spasm. Others thought he'd been about to drop from a heart attack.
If you missed it, you can catch a replay on YouTube. Type in "John Howard spasm" and up it comes. His face contorts in a weird grimace, eyelids batting, lips chomping furiously. His hands grip the lectern for support. One contributor has unkindly added some rap music.
To me, it looked as if he'd swallowed a blowfly, although it might have been a nervous reaction to a prickly question he was being asked about al-Qaeda and Iraq. Or perhaps it was the sudden realisation that the Channel Nine Worm, manipulated by the treacherous Ray Martin's hand-picked studio audience of trade union thugs, was almost certainly nose-diving towards the carpet in lounge rooms around the nation. It was not a good look.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/our-rightminded-friends-storm-the-exits/2007/10/26/1192941334031.html
You Tube Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3445956553847641929&q=John+Howard+spasm%22&total=5&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2
Howard's 'Old Man' Face Twitch
Mon, 10/22/2007 - 16:09 — Mr. Speaker
John Howard lost control of his face during the great debate against Kevin Rudd. Medical advisors to the PM have come to the consensus that his brain is deteriorating at an alarming rate; mainly due to his extremely old age. Watch for yourself as a question about Iraq sends Old Man Howard into a brain-face spasm:
http://www.john-howard-is-too-old.com/
Warning: focus groups are addictive - just ask them
Annabel Crabb
October 27, 2007
All politicians rely to some extent on focus groups. Why not? It's the simplest and most effective way to gauge popular opinion; you get your pollster to pay a bunch of folk 50 bucks each to sit in a room with some limp sandwiches and say what they think of you. You never have to meet them and they never know it's you who's asking.
At first it's an experimental thing; you might convene a series of focus groups to help sharpen your plans for transport reform, or health care. After a while, though, focus groups can get addictive. When things are going well they're like an organised series of overheard compliments, and who doesn't like to hear that stuff?
When tough times come, the urge gets worse; it becomes a nasty, scratching compulsion as you comb through them over and over, desperately scanning the transcripts for the seeds of salvation.
The Prime Minister had some strong words to say about focus groups on Tuesday, during an interview with 2GB's Ray Hadley.
"There's one thing I will not do is, I'm not going to sit down with a focus group and work out what I've got to say," John Howard said. "I've always said what I believe. Sometimes your listeners have agreed with me, sometimes they've violently disagreed with me. But they know what I stand for, they know what I believe in, they know what kind of Australia I want and I'm not going to muck around with focus groups and body language experts and gurus and all these other things …"
Now there are many nice things that can be said about the Prime Minister. He is courteous, in the main. He is an excellent father, by all accounts. He knows how to hug.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/warning-focus-groups-are-addictive--just-ask-them/2007/10/26/1192941334038.html
Facebook security loophole warning
Daniel Dasey
October 28, 2007 - 12:24AM
USERS of the networking website Facebook are exposing themselves to identity theft and embarrassment because of security loopholes that allow personal information to be accessed, experts warn.
Facebook profile holders are helping the thieves by posting sensitive information such as phone numbers online, then allowing strangers to join their online friendship networks.
A Sydney conference last week advised users of the networking site - which is regularly visited by 1.5 million Australians - to reconsider their approach.
"If someone is motivated to launch an [identity theft] attack against an individual, it's been made easier by these networking sites and aggregating sites," said Keith B. White, security services director for the global computer firm Alcatel-Lucent.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/28/1192941408684.html
New Zealand Herald
'Swirly' winds before fatal crash - survivor
5:00AM Sunday October 28, 2007
By Michelle Coursey and Nicola Shepheard
Aleisha O'Reilly dreamed of being a top pilot.
At just 21, Aleisha O'Reilly was destined to become one of New Zealand's top female pilots - but her love of flying has cost the flight instructor her life.
The aviation community has been left to mourn one of its brightest young stars after O'Reilly's Cessna 152 crashed in the Urewera National Park during a routine training flight on Friday.
Her co-pilot, 19-year-old student Chris Slee, miraculously survived the impact and indicated "swirly" winds may have contributed to the crash.
The plane, nicknamed Kid, with O'Reilly at the controls, plunged into dense bush in a gully near Ruatahuna, north-west of Lake Waikaremoana, around 5pm. Slee sustained injuries to his ankle, a broken finger and a swollen eye, but managed to stumble across 500m of steep terrain to a nearby road, where he was taken by car to the Papuera Marae. He was later airlifted to Rotorua Hospital, where he remained yesterday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10472534
Charred bodies bring California wildfire toll to 12
3:50PM Friday October 26, 2007
California fires have now killed 10. Photo / Reuters
Los Angeles - Border patrol agents have discovered four charred bodies in rugged mountains near the Mexican border, bringing the probable death toll from California's wildfires to 12, even as firefighters gained the upper hand in their five-day battle.
Agents found the badly burned remains, thought to be three males and a female, at the bottom of a rocky ravine in the mountains east of San Diego, about 5km from the Mexican border.
Together with two other burned bodies found earlier Thursday in a house in San Diego county, the discovery doubled the probable death toll from the fires. At least 60 people have been injured.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10472241
Congo floods kill 30
8:50AM Saturday October 27, 2007
KINSHASA - Floods, landslides and falling power lines killed 30 people during a night of heavy rain in Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling and dilapidated capital Kinshasa, a government ministry said.
Rains started late on Thursday local time and continued into Friday, causing floods that cut off roads, destroyed bridges and triggered landslides in the city of at least six million people.
"Until now, the toll is at 30 identified dead. Others are wounded. Some houses are damaged. Many were completely destroyed," said Saleh Kinyongo, spokesman for Congo's Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
He said some victims were electrocuted when power cables fell into standing water during the storm. Others were crushed when their homes collapsed during landslides.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10472449
Killer bug sweeps Auckland Hospital
5:00AM Sunday October 28, 2007
By Rebecca Milne
Auckland Hospital is on high alert. Photo / James Madelin
Patients have been infected and hundreds more could be at risk from a killer superbug that has swept through Auckland Hospital.
Anxious hospital bosses were last night trying to downplay the threat, saying no one had died as "a direct result" of contracting the extremely rare superbug. But the Herald on Sunday can confirm a 62-year-old female patient who died last week from what has been described as "excess bleeding" had been infected with the bug. However, it is unlikely the bug was the reason she died.
In a statement, Auckland District Health Board chief medical officer David Sage said patients who had been treated for Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) had died, but VRE "had no real part to play in their death".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10472538
1000 march on jail over police raids
5:00AM Sunday October 28, 2007
Police attempts to gather evidence under the Terrorism Suppression Act have angered Maori. Photo / Michael Craig
Up to 1000 people, including politicians, joined activists yesterday in a march to Auckland's Mt Eden Prison to protest against recent police raids.
A bus filled with people from Tuhoe arrived especially for the march, one of 13 organised in centres around the country.
Seventeen people were arrested under the Firearms Act and the Terrorism Suppression Act on October 15 following raids in Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North, Hamilton, Christchurch, Whakatane and Ruatoki, 20km south of Whakatane.
The raids were the culmination of a year-long investigation into weapons training camps alleged to have been held in the Urewera country, and netted a haul of weapons.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10472511
Lack of sleep may trigger fight mode
5:00AM Saturday October 27, 2007
A few nights without sleep can not only make people tired and emotional, but may actually put the brain into a primitive "fight or flight" state, researchers say.
Brain images of otherwise healthy men and women showed two full days without sleep seemed to rewire their brains, redirecting activity from the calming and rational prefrontal cortex to the "fear centre" - the amygdala.
"It's almost as though, without sleep, the brain had reverted back to more primitive patterns of activity, in that it was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses," said Dr Matthew Walker of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the study.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10472308
Standing by my man was the right move: Hillary
5:00AM Sunday October 28, 2007
Applause from Bill Clinton as wife Hillary hugs daughter Chelsea at Hillary's 60th birthday bash. Photo / Reuters
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says it has been worth it to stand by her man, Bill Clinton, despite the marital challenges they have faced.
Their marriage was rocked in 1998 when it was revealed President Bill Clinton had had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which set off an extended drama that led to his impeachment and a failed attempt to remove him from office.
New York senator Hillary Clinton, 60 last Friday, talked about life with Bill in an interview with Essence magazine.
Many have wondered why she stood by Clinton, who has also been accused of sexual improprieties by other women.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10472503
Chad catches French adoption group
5:15AM Saturday October 27, 2007
Police in Chad arrested nine French people as they prepared to fly more than 100 children to France to have them adopted.
They included the head of a group called Zoe's Ark, which said this year that it intended to bring orphans from the Darfur region for adoption.
Chad's Interior Minister said Chadian children were among the 103 infants, aged between 3 and 8. He said not all of them were orphans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10472337
Bad weather and sequels keep cinemas buzzing
5:00AM Saturday October 27, 2007
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter.
It was the summer of'69, as the Bryan Adams song goes. Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight paced the streets of New York in Midnight Cowboy, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda took to the road in Easy Rider, and cinema audiences lapped it up in droves.
Fast forward to the summer of 2007 and, for the first time in nearly 40 years, British cinema attendance has returned to the same level.
A combination of bad weather and blockbuster sequels - from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to The Bourne Ultimatum - has lured people back to the movies.
Figures from the trade body, the Film Distributors' Association, show 50.8 million visits to UK cinemas between June and August - an increase of 27 per cent from the same period in 2006 and an increase of 44 per cent compared with 2000.
The last time British cinemas saw such a high attendance was in 1969, when 50.4 million people visited in the summer months and 215 million over the whole year.
British film-going reached a peak in 1946, with 1.6 billion cinema visits.
- Independent
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10472302
Cool weather brings relief to California (+video)
9:10AM Saturday October 27, 2007
By Adam Tanner
SAN DIEGO - Cool, damp weather has moved into Southern California from the Pacific Ocean, boosting efforts to beat down stubborn wildfires, while weary families return to hundreds of homes burned to rubble.
After six days of relentless blazes from Los Angeles to the Mexican border, most of the raging fires had either been doused or brought under relative control as the emergency turned to the long business of recovery.
At the height of the fires, some 500,000 people were evacuated from their homes. But on Friday, the few hundred remaining in the largest emergency shelter - San Diego's Qualcomm sports stadium - were being moved to several smaller centres. The stadium, which at one time had housed and fed more than 10,000 people, was due to close Friday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10472453
G-strings out of favour with Kiwi women
5:00AM Sunday October 28, 2007
By Alice Hudson
G-strings like the one held by Carly Holland have lost popularity. Photo / Getty Images
Hate to break it to you guys, but the Kiwi gal's obsession with the G-string appears to be well and truly over.
Where five years ago G-strings produced by major brands Jockey Woman, Holeproof, Bonds and Berlei had a 35 per cent share of the lucrative women's underwear market, that figure has now fallen to just 5 per cent.
And, according to at least one underwear firm, it's a downward trend that's set to continue - at least in the short term.
So if G-strings are out, what's the new fad in women's briefs?
According to top New Zealand underwear retailers, sleek and seamless boy-shorts - made of innovative and eco-friendly fabrics - are now replacing the once well-loved "gee".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10472525
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