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Viewers desert MasterChef finale amid programming backlash

2011-08-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

THEY poured more big bucks and big names into this year's MasterChef series than you could poke a stick blender at, but it wasn't enough to stop the show recording its worst finale ratings result in three years.

Confetti wasn't the only thing falling last night with viewer numbers plunging to 2.568 million - down 35.2 per cent from last year's final show.

Winner Kate Bracks' showdown with Michael Weldon was expected to top the 3.96 million who watched Adam Liaw take the crown in 2010 and the 3.72 million who saw Julie Goodwin win in 2009.

But the result fell well short of the mark with the evening's contest MasterChef Australia: Finale Night averaging just 2.334 million. Then Channel 10 asked viewers to sit through an entire episode of new reality show The Renovators before announcing the winner.

The DIY reality show recorded its biggest audience to date (1.269 million), but many viewers who were upset at the scheduling tactic switched over to Nine to watch The Block, which sat in third place at 1.82 million.

This is a trick Ten has used before and it certainly did get an additional 300,000 viewers to see the struggling renovation reality show, but has it backfired?

The third series of MasterChef Australia was decided last night with Bracks outperforming Adelaide film projectionist Michael Weldon to take out the title thanks to her version of a carrot sorbet snowman from Copenhagen's famed Noma restaurant, considered the world's best restaurant.

Bracks will receive $100,000 and a cookbook deal for the win, while Weldon gets a trainee placement at one of judge Gary Mehigan's Melbourne restaurants along with $10,000.

The test will be tonight’s episode of The Renovators, which will now be scheduled in the MasterChef timeslot of 7.30pm.

Sunday All People Top 20

1 Masterchef Australia - The Winner Announced Ten 2,659,000

2 Masterchef Australia - Finale Night Ten 2,329,000

3 The Block - Room Winner Revealed Nine 1,820,000

4 Masterchef Australia Ten 1,810,000

5 Seven News Seven 1,618,000

6 Nine News Nine 1,515,000

7 The Block Nine 1,433,000

8 The Renovators Ten 1,254,000

9 60 Minutes Nine 1,203,000

10 Sunday Night Seven 1,148,000

11 Midsomer Murders ABC1 1,106,000

12 Grand Designs ABC1 951,000

13 Great Migrations Seven 794,000

14 Bones Seven 751,000

15 ABC News ABC1 661,000

16 The Gruen Pitch Encore ABC1 628,000

17 Castle (R) Seven 571,000

18 Tropic Thunder (R) Ten 471,000

19 Seven’s AFL: Rnd 20: Hawthorn Vs North Melbourne Seven 452,000

20 Nine’s Sunday Football Nine 441,000

South Australia Premier Mike Rann decides to stand down for Jay Weatherill

2011-08-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

South Australian Premier Mike Rann will step down from office on October 20, allowing Education Minister Jay Weatherill to replace him.

Mr Rann told reporters on Monday he was putting the interests of the state ahead of those of the Labor Party by leaving earlier than he intended.

He had previously planned to stay on as leader until March next year, mid-way through his government's third term.

The premier said it remained his belief that there was no pressing need to make the transition to a new leader, with more than two years to go to the next state election.

A meeting more than a week ago over the transition arrangements had forced a change, particularly after some details were leaked.

"The people of South Australia elected me and they have a right to know when and why I am stepping down," Mr Rann said.

"So I have therefore determined that in order to complete the job I have to do and to best assist Jay and the government in the leadership transition, that I will step down from the office of premier on the 20th of October."

Mr Rann said he still wanted to finalise negotiations with BHP Billiton over the future expansion of the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in the state's north.

A Caucus majority wanted Education Minister Jay Weatherill, who stood beside Mr Rann today as the Premier announced he would move on.

Mr Rann said he had wanted to stay to complete projects - the biggest being the expansion of the BHP Billiton uranium mine at Olympic Dam.

"This is unbelievably complex. It is absolutely important that I do the right thing by the state," he said.

And he made clear he believed his Caucus enemies had broken a previous agreement for him to "mentor" a successor while in office, and then leaked details of the ultimatum delivered two Fridays ago.

"I was disappointed that...inaccurate details of negotiations were leaked in a spirit of obvious mischief and malice," he told reporters.

"It doesn't harm me because ultimately I'll be judged by history on whether out state is in better shape now than when I was elected."

But there was no malice from Mr Weatherill, only praise for the man his backers were in such a hurry for him to replace.

"I've worked with Mike Rann over the last nine and a half years. I've enjoyed every moment of that. I've enjoyed the privileges of being in the port folios he's asked me to serve in, he said.

And I look forward to the insights, the extraordinary insights he no doubt has about this crucial role for our state.

Mike Rann

2011-08-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

Michael David Rann MHA, CNZM, born 5 January 1953, Australian politician, is the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to minority government at the 2002 election, before gaining a landslide win at the 2006 election. Rann Labor was elected to a third four-year term at the 2010 election, retaining majority government despite a swing.

When Rann resigns on 20 October 2011 it will place him 3rd in length of service behind Sir Thomas Playford and John Bannon. He has also served a record time as South Australian Labor parliamentary leader, having led the party since 1994. He has been a South Australian MP in the House of Assembly since the 1985 election.

Early life

Rann was born in Sidcup, England, to working class parents. His father had served in the World War II at El Alamein, while his mother was employed in an armaments factory. Most of Rann's childhood was spent with his father, an electrician in South London. In 1962, when he was nine, his family emigrated from Blackfen to a rural village in New Zealand.

He completed a Bachelor and a Master of Arts in political science at the University of Auckland. He enjoyed and participated in student politics, including becoming a member of the New Zealand Greenpeace executive that sent Greenpeace III to Mururoa Atoll in 1972 in the campaign against French nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. As a member of Princes Street Labour, he also spent considerable time working on New Zealand Labour Party campaigns including that of Mike Moore. After university, Rann was a political journalist for the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. Haydon Manning has stated that "it was reported that" Rann "struggled with being an objective reporter.

Rann visited his brother, Chris Rann, in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1977 and shortly afterwards moved there to accept a position with then Premier Don Dunstan's Industrial Democracy Unit. He subsequently worked as Dunstan’s press secretary, speech writer and adviser, and went on to serve Labor premiers Des Corcoran and John Bannon after Dunstan's retirement from politics.

Manning has stated that one commentator reported that Rann was "frankly inspired by Dunstan's idealism" as opposed to "Bannon's cool electoral pragmatism". Rann sometimes talked during this period of his ambitions to one day become Premier. Rann wrote speeches on, and assisted in policy development for, civil liberties, Aboriginal land rights, gay and women's rights, and opposition to uranium mining. Revealing a vein of idealism, his early predilection was left of centre.

Parliament

Rann was elected to Parliament as the Member for Briggs at the 1985 election. After the 1989 election, he entered the ministry, becoming Minister for Employment and Further Education, Minister of Youth Affairs, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister assisting in Ethnic Affairs. After Bannon resigned as premier over the State Bank collapse, Rann became Minister for Business and Regional Development, Minister of Tourism and Minister of State Services in the Lynn Arnold cabinet from September 1992.

When Briggs was abolished in an electoral redistribution, Rann was elected to the seat of Ramsay at the 1993 election. At the election, Labor lost government in a landslide due to the State Bank. Rann was promoted to deputy leader of his party following the defeat, however Arnold resigned as leader in September 1994. Rann became leader with the support of Labor Right powerbroker Don Farrell, who promised Rann two terms in the position. Rann achieved a 9.5 percent two-party-preferred swing to Labor in the 1997 election, narrowly failing to win government.

Premier

Rann remained Leader of the Opposition until the 2002 election. Labor came up one seat short of a majority, but independent Peter Lewis agreed to support Labor in return for a constitutional convention. The Liberal government was defeated in the legislature on 5 March, and Rann was sworn in as premier the next day. Lewis' decision was controversial, but Rann later secured the support of conservative independent Rory McEwen and the Nationals' Karlene Maywald by adding them to his cabinet, and Bob Such as speaker.

South Australia achieved an economic "Triple A" rating under the Rann Labor government. Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan "praised" Labor's economic management.

Rann led Labor to its strongest win, from a two-party-preferred low of 39% in 1993 under Lynn Arnold, to 56.8% at the March 2006 state election leaving the opposition with 15 of 47 seats.

Rann has personally likened his government to Dunstan's, stating "I'm a totally different person to Don Dunstan, but in the 70s for different reasons South Australia stood head and shoulders above the crowd. We stood out, we were leaders. Interestingly, the federal Government is setting up a social inclusion unit based on ours. Again it's about us not only making a difference locally, but being a kind of model for others, which is what Dunstan used to say he wanted us to be ... a laboratory and a leader for the future." Rann says he expects other reforms to be based upon those enacted under his government, citing the state's strategic plan, a 10-year framework for the development of government and business. "It's a plan for the state, not just promises at each election. A lot of colleagues interstate thought I'd gone mad when we named targets. Well we didn't want to set targets we could easily pass and then pat ourselves on the back for, what's the point of that? A total of 79 economic and social targets were set, and in 2010 Rann commented "with most of its targets achieved, on track or within reach. However, the state's Integrated Design Commissioner, Tim Horton, said in 2011: "Its targets are really great, but I don't think any of us have signed on to why those targets exist or what we can do to further them. It's a top-down approach. I worry the document exists in the minds of agencies but not in the minds of people.

Popularity in earlier years

During Rann's first and second terms, Rann was often the most popular Premier in the country, with his approach to government generally moderate and crisis-free. Newspoll early in 2007 saw Rann peak at a historic 64 percent as Preferred Premier, and 61 percent on the two-party-preferred vote. University of Adelaide Professor of Politics Clem Macintyre said that after the State Bank collapse, Rann had to re-establish Labor's credentials as an economic manager as a matter of urgency, and "in that sense Rann had a whole lot of priorities to concentrate on that Dunstan didn't even think about", with a legacy built on economic achievements, achieving the triple-A credit rating, as well as its capacity to deliver infrastructure projects.

Fourth quarter 2007 polling saw a reduction in the strong support for Rann's Labor government since the previous election, on 54 percent of the two-party-preferred vote, a fall from the previous poll of five percent. Rann's Preferred Premier rating was at 50 percent compared to 25 percent for then Liberal leader Martin Hamilton-Smith. Third quarter 2008 polling saw a more pronounced drop in the primary vote, down three to 38 percent, with the Liberal vote up five to 40 percent, breaking to a two-party vote of 50–50 after preferences – the Preferred Premier figure recorded a six-point drop to 48 percent for Rann and up three to 30 percent for Hamilton-Smith. Some commentators put the poll slump down to "labour movement ructions" over the underfunded WorkCover liability (see 2008 Parnell–Bressington filibuster), consolidation of rural health services, and the continued degradation of the River Murray.

Newspoll saw Labor back in a winning position on 54 to 46 in late 2008, and then 56 to 44 in early 2009 along with increases in the Preferred Premier rating. Polling taken from The Sunday Mail during the 50-50 polling suggested that whilst there had been large swings away from the government in country areas, polling held relatively firm at 2006 election levels in the metropolitan areas.

Affair allegations

On 22 November 2009, Seven Network's Sunday Night current affairs program aired a paid television interview alleging that Rann had an affair with a Parliament House waitress between March 2004 and October 2005. She blamed the affair for the breakup of her marriage, stating "I lost my family over this", although she later revealed that she wanted her estranged husband back.

The waitress said her husband became aware of her relationship with Rann in 2005, and that her husband wrote a series of letters to the Premier. At a Labor Party fundraiser at the National Wine Centre on 1 October 2009, a man later identified as her husband was observed to have hit Rann in the face several times with a rolled-up magazine. An aggravated assault charge was laid over the matter. The charge was subsequently downgraded to basic assault. The accused plead guity to the downgraded charge, and on 4 March 2010 he was given a two-year good behaviour bond, with no conviction recorded.

Rann commented before the interview went to air that claims of a sexual relationship were "wildly sensational", and that once he had seen the program, he would respond with a "brief statement". He also expressed frustration that he had been unable to "clear the air" because matters were before a court.

On 23 November 2009, the day after the allegations were aired, Rann called a press conference where he denied the allegations made in the interview, stating that they were malicious lies aimed at damaging him politically and personally. He said, "I have not had sex with her", that he had "never ever hid the fact that I had a friendship with" the lady "over many, many years, and that friendship was one that was based on confidences and discussions, it was funny, it was flirty, just like any other friendship would be". Rann also responded that "Channel Seven's program was, in my view, outrageous.

In February 2010, the Seven Network paid an out-of-court settlement to Rann and issued an apology for suggesting the affair had an effect on Rann discharging his duties as Premier of South Australia. The following month, during a televised debate as part of the state election campaign, Rann also apologised for any stress that the friendship may have caused.

Polling was conducted by The Advertiser in December 2009 with answers to questions revealing little voter interest in the allegations.

Third Term

The Rann Labor government won a third four-year term at the 2010 state election with 26 of 47 seats though with only 48.4 percent of the two party preferred vote. It was the first Rann Labor election campaign that took to YouTube and social networking. Assuming Labor holds government until the 2014 state election, it will be the longest-serving South Australian Labor government in history. Rann has also served as Labor leader since 1994, a record period as Labor leader. If Rann is still Premier on 31 December 2011 he will also become the longest-serving South Australian Labor Premier and second only to Thomas Playford IV as South Australia's longest serving Premier.

New and continued projects for Rann Labor's third term are claimed to be the biggest infrastructure spend in the state's history, which includes electrification of Adelaide's train lines, expansion of the Adelaide tram line, construction of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Adelaide Oval redevelopment, expansion of the Adelaide Convention Centre, redesigning the River Torrens Riverbank precinct, expanding mining and defense industries, the Port Stanvac Desalination Plant, and various major road works including the duplication of the Southern Expressway.

Public sector budget cuts due to decreased tax receipts stemming from the global financial crisis introduced after the 2010 election caused protest amongst unionists and other traditional Labor voters. Rann defeated a motion against his leadership at the yearly Labor convention.

Personal life

Rann was married to Jenny Russell until the late 1990s and had two children with her, David and Eleanor. On 15 July 2006, he married his second wife, actress Sasha Carruozzo.

Honours

Rann, who retains his New Zealand citizenship, was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to New Zealand – Australian relations, in the New Year's Day Honours of 2009.

Australian market calms after ratings cut shock

2011-08-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

The dollar was trading at around half a US cent lower at noon, as news of America's credit rating downgrade caused traders to take less risky investments.

AEST today, the Australian dollar was trading at 103.94 US cents, down from 104.42 cents on Friday.

Standard and Poor's says its downgrading of the US credit rating will have no immediate impact on Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings, but could have negative consequences over the long-term.

S&P says the downgrade, together with weakening sovereign creditworthiness in Europe, points to an increasingly uncertain and challenging environment ahead.

The share market had clawed back some losses at noon.

AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 32.6 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 4,072.8 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had backtracked 24.6 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 4,145.1 points.

On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was down 17 points at 4,033 points with 48,575 contracts traded.

CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said the domestic share market reacted with shock to US government debt being downgraded by ratings agency Standard and Poor's from AAA to AA+.

Following the huge losses on global sharemarkets last week amid concern about the strength of the US economic recovery and debt problems in Europe, interest rate futures today point to a rate cut in September.

Across the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 index was off 1.1 per cent in recent trade while New Zealand's top 50 index was off 3 per cent.

Hopes for a bounce on the local sharemarket after the Friday's horror were dashed after Standard and Poor's downgraded United States government debt from AAA to AA+, largely because of the failure of US leaders to reach a consensus on containing the country's spiralling debt.

But Treasurer Wayne Swan said Australia’s economy was in good shape and could cope with the worst the world can throw at it.

‘‘There is not a G20 finance minister who wouldn’t swap places with me in the environment we are in at the moment,’’ he said this morning.

Mr Swan said it was too early make a judgment that the world was facing a second financial crisis. ‘‘We will cross that bridge if we come to it."

Some opportunities seen

CommSec market analyst Juliette Saly said the domestic share market reacted with shock to US government debt being downgraded.

‘‘But investors seem to have calmed down a bit this morning after we saw an initial sellout,’’ Ms Saly said.

Gold stocks fared well after the price of the precious metal hit a new record high of $US1699.70 per ounce, up from $US1651.80 on Friday.

Among gold producers, AngloGold Ashanti was up 9 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $8.03, Eldorado Gold Corp had added 37 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $16.97 and Newcrest was 20 cents firmer at $39.40.

Ms Saly said positive corporate news helped to boost the market. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank reported a 41 per cent increase in full year net profit to $342.1 million, but said it expects the market to remain volatile in the period ahead. Shares in the bank were up 9 cents, or 1.12 per cent, at $8.16.

While JB Hi-Fi posted a fall in 2010-11 net profit to $109.70 million, from $118.65 million for the previous financial year, it revealed plans to expand.

‘‘It’s going to open 16 new stores across 2012 and also the dividend they paid to shareholders looked okay, so JB Hi-Fi is bucking the trend in the retail space,’’ Ms Saly said.

JB Hi-Fi shares were up 12 cents at $14.47.

High Court puts Malaysia deal on hold

2011-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

HIGH Court judge has halted today's first scheduled transfer of asylum seekers from Christmas Island to Malaysia under the Gillard government's controversial refugee swap deal.

The first group of 16 men was due to be flown from the island at 11.30am AEST (8.30am local time), escorted by Australian Federal Police.

But Justice Kenneth Hayne ordered last night that the charter flight not depart before 4.15pm, pending the hearing of another application in the High Court in Canberra at 2.15pm.

The injunction, sought by lawyer David Manne from the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre in Melbourne, was granted at a special hearing of the High Court in Melbourne last night.

Mr Manne said last night the High Court challenge on behalf of 42 asylum seekers involved fundamental human rights protection. He said six of his clients were unaccompanied minors.

''The minister, as legal guardian, must act in the best interests of these children,'' he said.

Mr Manne said the injunction dealt with "life and death matters" and the deportation of unaccompanied minors could mean Immigration Minister Chris Bowen was abandoning his responsibilities to ensure their safety and welfare.

"Malaysia has a long-standing record of very serious mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees - arbitrary arrest, arbitrary detention, arbitrary beatings, whippings, canings and even deportation," he said.

The dramatic last-minute stay comes after a second boatload of asylum seekers arrived at Christmas Island.

There are now 105 asylum seekers on the island subject to expulsion under the people swap deal, in which 800 boat people will be sent to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 declared refugees.

The 50 new arrivals are mostly Afghans and include five males who say they are under 18 and one woman.

They were told of their impending deportation as detainees entered the third day of a hunger strike.

Guards said many of the group had been banging their heads against walls as well as refusing food, water and medical attention.

They include a group of men who were due to be deported today.

The aircraft that will take them has been under 24-hour guard due to concerns it could be sabotaged, while AFP officers have been boosted to 109.

While the department said late on Friday it had no knowledge of a hunger strike, it has since acknowledged some people are not eating. A small number had now missed consecutive meals.

"We are treating their welfare as a high priority and detention services provider Serco is continuing to engage with those involved and encouraging them to eat and drink," an Immigration spokeswoman said. She added the hunger strike "will have no effect on their situation.

We warned Tottenham situation could get out of control:community leaders

2011-08-07T14:59:00.001-07:00

LONDON — As London surveyed the damage Sunday in the hours after a small anti-police demonstration in a north London neighborhood spiraled into looting and violent clashes that left 26 police officers injured and led to 55 arrests, many sought to cast the blame wider than the rioters themselves.

In Tottenham, the center of the rioting, residents spoke of twin perils that had converged to leave their streets scarred and smoldering Sunday.

Frustration in this impoverished neighborhood, as with many others in Britain, has mounted as the government’s austerity budget has forced deep cuts in services and aid. At the same time, a widely held disdain for law enforcement here, where a large Afro-Caribbean population has felt singled out by the police for abuse, has only intensified through the drumbeat of scandal that has wracked Scotland Yard in recent weeks and led to the resignation of the force’s two top commanders.

The riot was the latest in what has turned out to be a season of unrest in Britain, with multiple demonstrations escalating into violence in recent months. And there was not long to wait until a new one broke out: on Sunday night, in the northern borough of Enfield, the police were out in force to crack down on looters amid a demonstration hastily organized on Twitter posts, the police said in a statement.

The incident in Tottenham began as a small and peaceful march, in which residents gathered outside a police station to protest the killing of a local man, Mark Duggan, in shooting by police officers last week. Scotland Yard has said that Mr. Duggan, who was riding in a taxi at the time of the shooting, was the subject of a “pre-planned operation” by officers. The policemen involved in the incident have been quoted in newspapers as saying that they had come under fire, which slightly wounded one of the officers, before they began to shoot.

There were also claims that police were warned on Thursday evening and Friday morning by people with knowledge of Tottenham that there could be "significant" community reaction to Duggan's death.

Duggan's fiancee, Semone Wilson, 29, said the family had not wanted trouble, only answers. "When we were outside the police station last night we wanted someone to come out. We want some answers. I have not even told my children that he is dead because we cannot give them any answers."

Of the violence, Wilson said: "I am not happy about what has happened. We didn't want this trouble. We wanted some answers."

Shaun Hall, Duggan's older brother, said the family was "not condoning any kind of actions like that at all, or for this [action] to be taken in my brother's name". He appealed to people in the community who were frustrated and angry to "try and hold it down".

The family were "devastated" at his death, with "the most gruelling" thing for Duggan's parents being that nobody had officially informed them what had happened. He dismissed allegations that Duggan had shot at police as "rubbish".

The IPCC commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne met family members after accusations that they had been left unsupported and isolated since Thursday's shooting.

While Cerfontyne, who is running the independent investigation, is not thought to have met the family until Sunday, the IPCC – faced with criticism from the family – said it had been in regular contact.

Forensic examiners were slowly and painstakingly working their way through the crime scene as part of the police investigation. Officers from the homicide and serious crime command and specialist investigators from the public order branch were reviewing CCTV footage and taking witness statements.

Extra police deployed across London tonight

2011-08-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

LONDON: London braced on Sunday for more violence after some of the worst riots in the British capital for years which politicians and police blamed on criminal thugs but residents attributed to local tensions and anger over hardship.

Rioters throwing petrol bombs rampaged overnight through the deprived district of Tottenham in north London, setting police patrol cars, buildings and a double-decker bus on fire.

"There is Twitter conversations that people are being asked to meet again down in Tottenham, so we are all concerned but clearly we will be much better prepared this evening," Richard Barnes, London's Deputy Mayor, told BBC TV.

Additional officers are on duty in Tottenham and cordons remain in place around Tottenham High Road.

Further rioting has already spread to Enfield Town, with some 200 people clashing with riot police. A police car has been trashed and shop windows smashed.

Commander Christine Jones said: “We do have extra resources out tonight on duty across the capital.

"We are carefully monitoring any intelligence and ensuring we have our resources in the right places. No one wants to see a repeat of the scenes that we witnessed last night in Tottenham.

“Our investigation team is continuing its work and those people responsible for the violence, disorder and crime we saw last night will be identified. Anyone else who thinks they can use the events from last night as an excuse to commit crime will be met by a robust response from us."London Police"

Tottenham: echoes of a history not forgotten as rioting returns

2011-08-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Clashes between police and rioters are taking place in Enfield Town this evening (Sunday), indicating that civic unrest is spreading after violent disorder in Tottenham last night.

Reports from the scene say up to 30 people, many of them young and wearing hooded clothes, have been pushed back from Enfield Town centre by police during a confrontation.

A police car was attacked and badly damaged, while shops came under attack from bricks and slabs of concrete, say as-yet unconfirmed eye-witness reports.

A strong police presence, including the riot squad clad in black, is bidding to protect the town centre from the mob.

Enfield borough borders Haringey, where rioting and looting took place last night. Enfield Town centre is easily accessible by train from Tottenham.

The allegations and counter-allegations of teenagers and the authorities about heavy-handed or incompetent policing are also reminiscent of 30 years ago.

The sequence of events in Tottenham at the weekend has many echoes of the Toxteth riots in Liverpool of 1981, as well as unrest in Tottenham itself in 1985 and other incidents of unrest that decade: a local flashpoint in a deprived urban area, the rapid escalation of a local protest into mayhem as others pile into the area – and long summer nights.

The television producer and commentator David Akinsanya was in Tottenham in the early hours of Sunday morning. He also covered some of the 1980s riots as a reporter. He said: "There are and there aren't similarities between what happened and earlier riots. In those days as a black youth you could be walking down the street, the police would bundle you into a van and nobody would see you for three days. That doesn't happen now. The black community is asking the police to get on top of gun crime, that's another change.

"But there are still many issues about policing in the area, and there are still good kids walking around Tottenham with their hoods up, trying to hide themselves away because they get endless grief from the police."

He added: "The other thing that's the same is the weather. If it had poured down they would all have gone home. We were actually saying earlier, before we knew anything about what was happening, that it was a nice night for a riot."

At least the trouble in Tottenham has not, so far, approached the scale of the worst incidents of the 1980s when thousands were injured, thousands more arrested and millions of pounds worth of damage caused.

In 1981 Toxteth saw some of the worst rioting in Britain. It began when police pursued a man into the area, wrongly suspecting that he had stolen a motorbike. A second man, Leroy Cooper, a photography student who had been at a youth club, intervened and was in turn arrested for assault. That night police were attacked by youths with petrol bombs and paving stones, and in the days and nights that followed more than 500 people were arrested in pitched battles, 470 police officers were injured and 70 buildings were burned down or demolished, including the 150-year-old Raquet Club, a survivor from the district's affluent Victorian heyday, and the famous Rialto Ballroom where the Beatles had played.

After four nights of violence the city's Protestant and Catholic bishops, David Shephard and Derek Worlock, united to appeal for peace and the archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, expressed concern. On 8 July the home secretary William Whitelaw agreed to a request from the Liverpool chief constable that 25 rounds of CS gas should be fired into the crowd by police, its first use on the UK mainland.

Weeks later the battles were over but trouble was still flaring up. On 28 July – the night before the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana – David Moore, who had a bad limp from an earlier car accident, was walking home from visiting friends in Toxteth. He was unable to move fast enough to get out of the way of a police car speeding across waste ground to break up a group of youths. He was hit, and died. More violence on the streets followed. After an investigation by another police force two officers were charged with manslaughter the year after, but acquitted.

Cooper pleaded guilty on legal advice and spent nine months in borstal. This summer he told the Liverpool Daily Post that when he left borstal the area still looked like a war zone. "The riot was a symptom of there being something really wrong with our society," he said. "We smashed our own community up, we destroyed our own homes. There had to be something wrong."

Earlier in 1981 in Brixton, where trouble was sparked when police stopped a young black man who been stabbed but who others thought was being arrested, more than 300 police and civilians were injured. Scores of vehicles and 83 buildings were burned, damaged or looted.

In Handsworth, Birmingham, in 1985, where there had also been trouble in 1981 and would be again in 1991 and 2005, two days and nights of looting and arson followed the arrest of a man. Two brothers died as the post office they ran went up in flames, 35 people were injured and more than 40 shops were destroyed or looted. The local artist and photographer Pogus Caesar told the BBC in 2010, when his images of the riots were exhibited to mark the anniversary: "The scars of 1985 will never heal completely but people of Handsworth are strong, they are resilient. The candles are burning slowly but the flame is bright."

And of course there was Tottenham. In October 1985 the Broadwater Farm estate was the scene of one of the most notorious and chilling incidents, when PC Keith Blakelock was murdered in rioting that followed the death of a local woman, Cynthia Jarrett, who had collapsed during a police raid on her home after her son was arrested. Three local men including Winston Silcott were jailed for the murder but cleared on appeal four years later. Two officers were later cleared at the Old Bailey of fabricating evidence.

In Liverpool 30 years after the riots people still feel aftershocks of the nine nights of street fights, arson, vandalism and looting. The anniversary has been marked by a book and an exhibition at the museum of Liverpool.

The riots led to a reappraisal of policing in black communities, race relations policy in general and the urgent need for regeneration in Britain's post-industrial rundown inner cities.

Lord Gifford's report found that racial discrimination had been "uniquely horrific" in Liverpool. Lord Scarman's report, after the Brixton riots, urged positive discrimination to tackle the problems facing the black community.

Twenty years later, in 2001, many of the same points were made again in official reports on summer riots in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley. The Cantle report, commissioned by the Home Office, found that many lived "parallel lives", never mixing with people from different backgrounds.

It also warned that some regeneration schemes had actually made the situation worse, forcing different communities to compete against each other, breeding resentment and anger.

Riots of the 1980s

• St Pauls, Bristol, April 1980: Sparked by a police raid on the Black and White Café. In the day and night of rioting there were 130 arrests, 19 police were injured, and fire engines and 12 police cars were hit

• Brixton, London, April 1981: People allegedly believed a stabbed youth died through police brutality. Over two nights almost 150 buildings and more than 100 vehicles were damaged. At least 65 citizens and 299 police were injured. The damage was put at £7.5m

• Toxteth, Liverpool, July 1981: Began with the arrest of Leroy Cooper, 20. Over nine days in which CS gas was used by police for the first time on the UK mainland, a man died, knocked down by a police vehicle, 500 people were arrested, 468 police were hurt

• Handsworth, September 1985: Sparked by another arrest. Among the casualties, the brothers Kassamali Moledina and Amirali died in their post office, which burned, 35 others were hurt

• Broadwater Farm, Tottenham, October 1985: Began after the death of Cynthia Jarrett, 49, in a police raid. A small rally escalated into violence. In the evening PC Keith Blakelock was hacked to death at the Farm. Three local men were jailed for his murder, but cleared on appeal in 1991, after evidence that showed police notes had been altered.

London riots set homes, shops ablaze; 48 arrested

2011-08-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

Police in London are in the process of “restoring calm” to an area of the U.K. capital after rioting led to 26 officers being injured and 48 arrests.

Metropolitan Police officers faced “extreme violence” during the disturbances in Tottenham, in the north of the city, late yesterday in which vehicles and buildings were set on fire, Commander Adrian Hanstock said in a televised press conference today. London Fire Brigade said it received 264 emergency calls from the area during the riots.

Trouble flared after a peaceful protest by relatives and friends of a man shot dead during a police operation in the area last week was “hijacked by troublemakers,” Hanstock said.

“There was no indication that the protest would deteriorate into the levels of criminal and violent disorder that we saw,” Hanstock said. “We believe that certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil, took the opportunity to commit disorder and physically attack police officers, verbally abuse fire brigade personnel and destroy vehicles and buildings.”

He said the death of Mark Duggan, 29, was “regrettable” and will be subject to an independent investigation. “It is absolutely tragic that someone has died, but that does not give a criminal minority the right to destroy businesses and people’s livelihoods and steal from their local community.

Rioters threw petrol bombs at police and buildings, the British Broadcasting Corp. said. A bus and two police vehicles were set on fire and business were looted, it reported.

London Fire Brigade said in an e-mailed statement it attended 49 “primary” fires in the Tottenham area.

The rioting was “utterly unacceptable,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said in an e-mailed statement. “There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property.”

Home Secretary Theresa May said “disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated, and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order.

Police said 26 of its officers were hurt, one with a head injury, while arrests were made following the violence in Tottenham, north London, late on Saturday, which sparked condemnation from Prime Minister David Cameron’s office.

“The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable,” a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement.

“There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property. There is now a police investigation into the rioting and we should let that process happen.”

Police on Sunday said they were still having to deal with “isolated pockets of criminality in the Tottenham area involving a small number of people.”

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said all the fires were under control.

“We are still at the scene of some of them to damp them down and make sure everything is out,” he added.

The mayhem, which broke out in Tottenham just before sunset on Saturday, followed a protest over the death of a 29-year-old man last week during an apparent exchange of gunfire with police.

Thursday’s killing of Mark Duggan, a father-of-four, was “absolutely regrettable,” police commander Adrian Hanstock said in a statement, adding that an investigation into the shooting was underway.

“It is absolutely tragic that someone has died, but that does not give a criminal minority the right to destroy businesses and livelihoods and steal from their local community,” he said on Sunday.

“There was no indication that the protest would deteriorate into the levels of criminal and violent disorder that we saw,” Hanstock said.

The demonstration had been a peaceful rally outside the police station on Tottenham High Road before two police cars were attacked with petrol bombs and set ablaze.

S&P cuts US rating, flays Congress

2011-08-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

US cut its "gigantic military expenditure and bloated welfare costs," another downgrade would be inevitable.

But other countries, such as Australia, France and Japan, said they retained their faith in US bonds.

The downgrade ended a week of growing uncertainty for the world economy.

Fears that the US might be headed for a double-dip recession and the eurozone's debt problems were set to spread to Italy and Spain saw stock market sell-offs around the world.

The downgrade is a major embarrassment for the administration of President Barack Obama and could raise the cost of US government borrowing.

This in turn could trickle down to higher interest rates for local governments and individuals.

One initial estimate says that could add an extra $75bn (£46bn) to the US annual interest rate bill at a time when its debt levels are already high.

The other two major credit rating agencies, Moody's and Fitch, said they had no immediate plans to follow S&P in taking the US off their lists of risk-free borrowers.

An unnamed Japanese government official told Dow Jones Newswires Saturday that Tokyo continued to trust US Treasuries "and their attractiveness as an investment will not change because of this action."

India described the downgrade as "grave," while Russia and France said they were untroubled by the rating slip, and Britain's Business Secretary Vince Cable called it "entirely predictable."

The rating downgrade came after a strong pushback from the White House, which called S&P's analysis of the economy deeply flawed and politically-based.

A Treasury spokesperson alleged that there was a "two trillion dollar error", arguing that S&P admittedly used the wrong baseline and erred on spending plans and debt projections.

But John Chambers, chairman of the S&P sovereign ratings committee, defended the decision.

"It's a matter of the medium and long-term budget position of the United States that needs to be brought under control," he said on CNN.

"This is a problem a long time in the making."

He pointed to the White House, Democratic and Republican lawmakers battling for months until the country was on the precipice of default on Tuesday before they finally agreed to a deal to raise borrowing limits and slash the deficit.

Tuesday's fiscal consolidation plan "falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilise the government's medium-term debt dynamics," S&P said in its ratings statement.

"More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned" back in April, it said.

"Our opinion is that elected officials remain wary of tackling the structural issues required to effectively address the rising US public debt burden in a manner consistent with a 'AAA' rating."

A debt downgrade is a symbolic embarrassment for President Barack Obama, his administration and the United States, and could raise the cost of US government borrowing - a move that would likely trickle down to most Americans in the form of higher interest rates.

But S&P, which based its case in part on the assumption that Bush-era tax cuts would remain in place, also pointed the finger of blame at Republicans who had insisted that no new tax revenue be a part of the debt deal.

"We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act," S&P said.

There are worries that the downgrade will wreak unpredictable havoc in global financial markets where the US dollar has long been the most important currency, but some analysts believe the cut will not have much impact.

Indeed, despite a downgrade hanging overhead, the Treasury easily auctioned off tens of billions of dollars in new debt this week, and Treasury yields fell to the year's low.

S&P is considered the most influential of the three major rating agencies ahead of Moody's and Fitch - both of which said this week that they continue to review the country's deficit reduction plan for possible downgrades.

S&P first warned Washington of a possible downgrade in April.

Then in July, during the protracted political standoff over raising the government's debt ceiling, S&P placed the United States on credit watch and warned of a possible cut within 90 days.

The plan finally agreed on Tuesday calls for $US917 billion ($878 billion) in cuts over 10 years, but also mandates an as-yet unnamed congressional panel to come up with another $US1.5 trillion in cuts by the end of the year.

Miranda Kerr looks a million miles away as she dines out with happy husband Orlando Bloom

2011-08-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Kerr was the only model who managed to crack a smile at the David Jones parade in Sydney this week, and it worked for her.

For years now, models have such a grim look on their face when they walk down the catwalk.

Hopefully, Kerr's performance on Wednesday night will change things.

She's been a constant presence by his side since he was born, even taking him thousands of miles across the world to Australia with her.

So it was no surprise to see Miranda Kerr looking like she was missing her baby boy Flynn as she dined out with husband Orlando Bloom last night.

The model, 28, looked a million miles away as she and her actor other half met family for dinner in Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia this week.

Even when they all left the restaurant, Miranda looked itching to get a car home as they stood around talking outside.

Orlando, on the other hand, couldn't stop smiling and looked delighted to have a grown-up night out with his beautiful wife.

He even managed a broad smile for the cameras as he grabbed Miranda's hand and led her to their car.

Miranda has been in her motherland for just over a week now where she has been working and spending time with her family.

She flew out with Flynn and was joined by Bloom last week.

Apart from the modelling work she has been doing for department store David Jones, she has not left Flynn's side.

Dani's food bio turns out to be a write-off

2011-08-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

A great thing that marathon runners get ... when the whole of your body starts shaking. Well, I'm bonking furiously," the cheeky judge said with a wink. And he's not the only one - with pressure now building on grand finalists Michael Weldon and Kate Bracks to turn up the simmering ratings.

Audience figures for the cooking juggernaut slowed this week, falling well short of last year's average of 2.1 million viewers. Competition from The Block and the new digital channels, combined with criticism of this year's format, resulted in Thursday night's final-two decider delivering just 1.69 million viewers.

Weldon was a short-priced $1.80 bookies' favourite yesterday, with Bracks pulling favour with the female vote in online polling.

Back at the kitchen, the motorcyclist still hasn't moved his bike, and is no doubt racking up some serious parking fines by now. Inside, by the same token, Michael is racking up serious disgust at his revolting sauce.

But anyway now it's Kate's turn, and the judges look admiringly at the way Kate has encapsulated her entire childhood in a salad, which is what you want in a cook, really. Moving on to the prawns, and “prawn and pumpkin's lovely isn't it?” lies Gary. And then a perfect dessert! Which is not, to be honest, good news for the next contestant.

Dani steps up with some plates of things and a bucket of ice cream, symbolising the fact that throughout her life she's never actually finished anything. Moran hopes that the presentation may not be there, but the flavours will be. HAHAHAHAHA you're funny Matt Moran.

So to the tasting, and Dani has cooked the soup too long, which, to put it mildly, is ironic. Preston looks extremely depressed. Why didn't he swap Alana and Dani's dishes when he had the chance? Her second dish turns out quite well, though, or at least they say it does, but then there is a limit to how cruel a man can be in one day. And then the dessert: frozen chalk in a bucket next to a crusty banana. Mmmm! Amazingly the judges don't seem to care for it.

The contestants are called back in, and Alana shows she has at last cottoned on to what this show is all about, by bursting into tears. Michael says he finds it hard to communicate how much he wants this, but then the next second he does, so it wasn't that hard at all.

“One of you will be Australia's next MasterChef,” says Preston, and we have to cut to an ad break just to recover from the devastating cognitive dissonance this fact causes within us all. Our brains recalibrate themselves by musing on which brand of paint is the choice of 9 out of 10 Old English Sheepdogs.

Back inside, “For one of you, the dream's about to end,” says Preston, which is a relief for Dani, who is hoping she will now wake up and find that she's able to cook. Michael looks depressed. His hair is beginning to contemplate self-harm. Everyone watching is struck with an urgent and irresistible desire to cuddle the nearest teddy bear.

But he has nothing to worry about, of course, because FINALLY, AT LAST, AFTER ALL THIS TIME, Dani is going home. The internet instantly becomes 26 per cent more smug. Dani confesses she feels at peace and that she has done “really well” to get this far. Which is, I suppose, one way of looking at it. She leaves, while the other three head upstairs to toast her absence with the champagne of schadenfreude and eat the canapés of meanness.

Shane Warne 'addicted' to diet shake, says supplier

2011-08-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

If Liz's smile looks a little on the smug side here it's probably because she's not only pulled off one of the greatest (in terms of challenge rather than result) makeover coups of the decade.

She may have succeeded in buffing, glossing and metrosexualising rough diamond Shane, but she's also achieved some 'Surrendered Male' body language from him at the same time.

Most girls know it's just possible to con their alpha male into the odd pampering session by implying that waxing his legs or plucking his chest hairs are a spiffing warm-up to sex.

But making radical changes to his body language status signals is something else again.

Liz seems to be playing the David Beckham to Shane's Victoria here, walking ahead in confident, semi-protective style, leading her man with her hand on top in the clasp, which is a traditional style of dominance and control.

Not only does Shane's responding hand-curl suggest he's comfortable with this power-balance, his aura of passive submission is emphasised by his free hand, which seems to be tentatively and rather shyly hovering around his belt.

I signed him up about three or four months ago on the diet system," Baker said.

"He loves the stuff, he's addicted."

The St Kilda star said he had even shipped the supplement to India for Warne's final season with the Indian Premier League.

Warne used Twitter to hit out at critics who pointed the finger at his celebrity squeeze for making him shed the pounds.

"I have always taken pride in my appearance and an attack on (Elizabeth Hurley) is unfair. I'm proud of how I look and worked my butt off for four months," Warne said.

A cheeky Hurley this morning offered to let Warne watch her eat real food as he tucked into yet another diet drink.

38 die as US chopper crashes

2011-08-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

US senior administration official said yesterday a Chinook helicopter that crashed, killing 31 US special operations forces and seven Afghan soldiers, was apparently shot down by insurgents.

It was the highest number of American casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.

Twenty-five of the dead were US Navy SEALs, US television network ABC News reported.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to US President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.

Taliban claims to have brought the helicopter down in a rocket attack but it has been known to make exaggerated claims.

NATO said there ‘‘was enemy activity in the area’’.

The helicopter was brought down during an anti-Taliban operation in an insurgent-infested district of the eastern province of Wardak, just south-west of Kabul.

It was shot down by a Taliban rocket that destroyed it, the Wardak governor’s spokesman said after the Taliban had claimed responsibility.

The death toll was given in a statement issued by Mr Karzai’s office and was not immediately confirmed by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

During a joint special operation last night a helicopter crashed and as a result 38 people lost their lives. Among the dead, seven of them are from the Afghan Special Commando Army and the other 31 victims are international forces,” said Zaher Azimy, spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry.

A statement from the Afghan presidential palace said the helicopter crashed in central Maidan Wardak province to the west of the capital Kabul.

The Taliban issued a statement claiming to have shot down the Chinook during a firefight which also killed eight insurgents.

Azimy would not be drawn on the possible cause of the Chinook crash saying: "The incident is already under investigation. As this helicopter belongs to international forces, obviously they will provide details of the crash and the reason.

WA link in Indonesian chopper crash

2011-08-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

INVESTIGATORS have blamed bad weather for the crash of a helicopter in Indonesia that killed two Australian mine workers and eight others.

The Australian men, identified by Indonesian officials as Barry Tomlinson and Adrian Aird, were travelling to the Gosowong gold mine in North Sulawesi operated by Melbourne-based company Newcrest Mining.

All 10 people on board the helicopter died, including two Indonesian crew, four Indonesian passengers and two South Africans. All of the passengers worked at the mine.

He was the life of the party, he had an excellent sense of humour, it was very dry, and everyone loved him. He was good. Too good to be gone," Margaret said yesterday.

Mr Aird followed in his father Sydney's footsteps and chose a career in the mines. He completed an apprenticeship as a fitter in Kalgoorlie before moving to Indonesia for the good pay about three years ago.

Mr Aird has three daughters from a previous marriage in Australia and his mother said he told her, when he visited Australia two weeks ago, that he was excited about becoming a father again.

Meanwhile in Perth, Mr Tomlinson's former colleagues at Remote Control Technologies remembered a talented technician and a proud grandfather.

He had visited his workmates only last Friday.

Former colleague Phil Goode said Mr Tomlinson was based in Perth but travelled regularly to Indonesia to work as an adviser.

He left Remote Control Technologies in April and planned to work at the mine for three years in order to save enough money for a comfortable retirement with his wife Lynne.

Mr Tomlinson was a Perth man while Mr Aird - originally from South Australia - had spent time working on the mines in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

News Ltd is reporting that the other eight victims were employees or contractors of PT Nusa Halmahera Mineral, a joint venture between Newcrest Mining and PT Aneka Tambang.

The group was travelling to Gosowong Mine on Halmahera island. The cause of the crash is not known.

Mr Aird's mother Margaret told the Daily Telegraph her son was about to become a father for the fourth time.

"He was the life of the party, he had an excellent sense of humour, it was very dry, and everyone loved him. He was good. Too good to be gone," she said.

With three children from a previous marriage, Mr Aird was about to welcome his first child with Indonesian wife Joice.

Mr Tomlinson was working as a contractor in Indonesia after previously working for Remote COntrol Technologies in Perth.

Three hurt in suspected drug house blast

2011-08-06T07:43:00.001-07:00

THREE people are in hospital with serious burns after a suspected clandestine drug lab explosion at a house in Perth's north.

Police, firefighters and ambulance officers went to the Balga property at around 2.25am (WST) today after a neighbour reported a loud blast, flames and screaming.

Two men, aged 34 and 37, have been taken to Royal Perth Hospital (RPH), the younger man with extensive burns to his body.

A 43-year-old woman with serious burns later presented at Joondalup Hospital and was transferred to RPH.

Police said a number of people were seen running from the house and driving off in a car.

Items associated with the manufacture of methylamphetamine were found in the house.

Police said a number of people were seen running from the property trying to escape the flames in the house. They got into a vehicle and drive away.

A 37-year-old man who lived at the house and a 34-year-old man from Baldivis were taken to Royal Perth Hospital by ambulance.

A 43-year-old woman presented herself at Joondalup Hospital but was transferred to Royal Perth Hospital. She and the 34-year-old man have serious burns.

The organised crime squad is examining the property after a number of items associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine were found inside the house, according to police.

Maddie Pulver fights back after bomb hoax

2011-08-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

BOMB hoax victim Madeleine Pulver had a return to normalcy, of sorts, this weekend, four days after being subjected to a terrifying 10-hour ordeal at her Mosman home.

The teenager set off before 7.30am yesterday for a swim before returning home with a friend.

After a quick change, she left the house again, this time accompanied by her parents, Bill and Belinda Pulver, to join teammates from Wenona School for Girls for a hockey match, where she was warmly greeted by teammates.

It is believed to be the first school activity she has undertaken since being held in her home on Wednesday as the victim of an elaborate extortion attempt during which a hoax bomb device was chained around her neck.

As she left,, Madeleine said she just wanted to get on with her life.

''I'm doing well,'' she said. ''Every day is getting better. It's good to be getting back to normal.''

The way individuals cope with trauma is influenced by how their lives have been up until that point, according to Sydney neuro-psychotherapist Trisha Stratford, who said not all victims needed counselling.

''If something like this happens to you and you have had a fairly happy, enjoyable life up until that moment, then you cope with it better.''

Mr and Mrs Pulver stood on the sidelines cheering their daughter on.

Mr Pulver, who said his daughter would return to school on Tuesday, said the family would not feel safe until their daughter's tormentor was caught.

The note attached to Maddie - which featured references to Tai-Pan - did not include instructions for a handover of money, but Det Supt Luke Moore confirmed a "demand" had been made.

Yesterday, the 18-year-old donned her shinpads and headed to Sydney's inner west for an inter-school hockey competition.

Leaving home in the company of her father, Bill, and mother, Belinda, soon before 9am, Maddie clearly relished the opportunity to catch up with teammates.

After laughing and chatting with friends in a warm-up session, watched by a slew of television crews, she took to the field for a spirited game.

Her team eventually went down 2-0, but she was commended for her determination in attending.

There were supportive cheers from the crowd, and her teammates patted her on the back as she returned to the change rooms.

Maddie said she had looked forward to rejoining her teammates, saying her friends had been a "very good pillar of support" following her ordeal.

"It will be good to be back to normal," the 18-year-old said.

Earlier, Maddie took advantage of the warmer weather, heading out for an early morning swim with a male friend about 8am.

It was the same friend who had comforted her on Friday night, cuddling and hugging her during a visit from school mates.

But it won't be all fun and games for Maddie in the weeks ahead.

As she tries to come to terms with her horror bomb hoax ordeal, she will also have to resume her studies for her HSC exams.

Along with her fellow year 12 classmates, Maddie had been scheduled to begin the tests last Thursday - the day after she was attacked while studying alone at her Mosman home.

Staff at Wenona postponed the exams in the wake of the attack, citing the distress the incident had caused all students.

4WD driver tested

2011-08-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Epping woman, 34, who was driving a 4WD carrying 10 children when it crashed on Friday night has been released from the Royal Melbourne hospital after taking a blood alcohol test.

Police were last night waiting for the results before interviewing the unlicensed driver.

The 10 children are in a stable condition at the Royal Children's and Western hospitals. The Pajero ran off the Western Highway and rolled.

Militants retreat from Mogadishu

2011-08-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

MOGADISHU — Somalia's Islamist Shebab rebels pulled out of key positions in the war-torn and famine-struck capital on Saturday, with the country's president proclaiming the city "fully liberated."

"Mogadishu has been fully liberated from the enemy, and the rest of the country will soon be liberated too," Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told reporters.

The Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab insurgents abandoned several strategic positions overnight that were then taken over by government troops.

"We are very happy -- the fruits of bloodshed and the wars that we fought against the rebels are finally attained," Ahmed said.

African Union-backed government troops have been battling Shebab rebels in Mogadishu in an offensive to secure aid delivery routes for victims of the drought threatening some 12 million people in Somalia and other Horn of Africa countries.

"We have two enemies to fight - one of them is the Shebab, while the other is those who try to rob the people," the president said.

"We will not tolerate looting, and anyone found committing such a crime will be brought to justice."

Lawless Somalia is awash with rival militia factions. On Friday, food aid being handed out to famine victims in Mogadishu was looted by gunmen, who killed five people.

However, a spokesman for hardline rebels, Ali Mohamed Rage, said Saturday's withdrawal involved merely "a change of military tactics."

"The Mujahideen fighters applied military tactic changes to undermine the allied enemy of Allah, and you will soon be hearing a good news."

Shebab fighters are waging a bloody campaign to overthrow the country's Western-backed transitional government, and control large areas of the south and centre of the country.

Until Saturday morning, government and AU troops controlled just over half of Mogadishu, including the airport and port, while the Shebab controlled the city's north-east.

"The enemy is defeated, they pulled out of Mogadishu -- and we will fight them to eliminate them from the rest of the country," Somalia's prime minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said.

Since February, the African Union mission (AMISOM) with its 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers has clawed back key positions from the insurgents.

Major Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the AU's AMISOM force in Somalia, said they were reacting cautiously to the Shebab's move.

Rebel units began trundling out of the city in pickups before dawn after intense firefights with government forces late Friday night. The Al Qaeda-linked militants headed toward their strongholds across Somalia, a desolate terrain awash with hundreds of thousands of starving families enduring the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

The country "welcomes the success by the Somali government forces backed by (African Union peacekeepers) who defeated the enemy of Shabab," President Sheikh Shairf Sheikh Ahmed told reporters at his residence.

He added: "It is time to harvest the fruits of peace. I call on the Somali people to help and to support their soldiers and point out any Shabab member hiding in homes."

Ali Mohamoud Rage, a Shabab spokesman, told a Somali radio station: "We have abandoned Mogadishu but we remain in other towns. We aren't leaving you. We have changed our tactics. Every one of you will feel the change in every corner and every street in Mogadishu. We will defend you and continue the fighting."

Shabab and its fierce interpretation of Islamic law, which espouses stoning adulterers and public beheadings, were despised in Mogadishu, where residents lived trapped by gunfire and artillery barrages between the rebels and government-backed troops. The capital devolved into a fearful, bloodstained, whittled version of itself as bullet-pocked buildings slumped along the Indian Ocean.

The U.S. has been concerned that the Shabab, which has connections to the Al Qaeda extremists in Yemen, would further disrupt the volatile intersection of Africa and the Middle East. In 2010, Shabab carried out twin bombings in Uganda that killed 76 people; the attacks were retribution for Uganda soldiers taking part in the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

The rebels have been particularly brutal to their own countrymen. In recent weeks, they have deterred humanitarian organizations from reaching drought regions under their control, leaving swaths of the country scattered with starving families. Shabab has also been criticized for preventing hundreds of thousands Somalis facing famine from fleeing their territory to international aid camps.

The Islamic militants began seeping across Mogadishu in 2007, a year after Ethiopian troops invaded the country and a transitional government attempted to form a semblance of order among warring clans and religious extremists. The transitional government has received millions of dollars in Western assistance but is rife with corruption, tribal politics and an often noncommitted, underpaid army.

Surges by Africa Union forces, however, had weakened Shabab's grip on the capital. The rebels had been divided on tactics in recent months, and shortly before midnight Friday they launched attacks on government bases and troop positions. Gunshots and explosions rang across the city for hours as government-backed forces advanced on rebel strongholds.

"The government repelled the attacks and we have cleared Mogadishu this morning," government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman told The Times. "The security committee is in emergency meeting to restore law and order in the vacuum left by" retreating Shabab forces.

Somalis watched as militants streamed out of the city.

"I saw a convoy of about dozen pickup trucks full of fighters coming from Mogadishu," Osman Farole, a resident of Afgoye, about 22 miles outside the capital, told The Times. "Among the convoy were two black-tinted 4x4 vehicles that are supposed to carry their leaders.

Norway polar bear attack: grieving family pays tribute to Horatio Chapple

2011-08-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

JUST before Patrick Flinders headed out on the expedition to the Arctic Circle he and his father posted a short film on the internet to express his excitement over the ''fantastic'' trip.

The 16-year-old, like his friends, Horatio Chapple and Scott Smith, both 17, dreamed of experiencing raw nature and were particularly excited about seeing polar bears in their natural habitat.

However, it was the brutality of the wilderness they had to face after their group was attacked by the world's biggest land carnivore.

A 2.1-metre, 254-kilogram bear rampaged through their camp on Friday, ignoring traps designed to keep it at bay. By the time it was shot, Horatio, an Eton schoolboy, was dead and Patrick, from Jersey, and Scott along with their two guides were seriously injured.

Patrick survived by punching the bear repeatedly on the nose.

Police who arrived by helicopter found the group in shock, the bloody carcass of the bear still lying among the tents and the injured.

The injured have undergone surgery and are recovering in hospital.

The victims were part of a group of 80 that landed last month on the Norwegian arctic island of Spitsbergen, home to more than 3000 polar bears.

Michael Reid sustained injuries to his face and neck in the incident and remained in hospital today, along with fellow leader Andrew Ruck, 27, Patrick Flinders, 16, and Scott Bennell-Smith, 17, who also underwent treatment overnight.

Mr Ruck's and Mr Reid's injuries were described as severe, while Scott and Patrick sustained less serious injuries. All were stable after operations.

The five men and boys attacked were part of a group travelling on a British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) expedition, which was camped on the Von Postbreen glacier near Longyearbyen on Svalbard, north of the Norwegian mainland.

Peter Reid described his shock when the BSES called him on Friday to inform him of the incident in which Horatio, from near Salisbury in Wiltshire, died.

"We were very anxious," he said. "We're upset, but there's a family in Wiltshire with a 17-year-old son who's been killed and we can't imagine the grief they're going through."

On hearing that his son had shot the bear, he felt a "mixture of anxiety and pride", he said.

His son, who lives in London and works as an events co-ordinator for the Royal Geographical Society, spoke warmly of Horatio in his email, he added.

Michael Reid described the schoolboy as "one of the best members of our group" and wrote "I am so devastated".

Hospital staff said it was hoped the survivors could be transferred to a hospital in the UK as soon as possible.

Jane Owen, the British ambassador to Norway, has visited the four survivors and said they were "all bearing up well".<

She said: "It's clearly a priority to get them home as soon as possible. They're receiving extremely good treatment here at the hospital in Tromso.

"We are working with the hospital authorities to establish when will be the right time to arrange for them to be medevaced (given a medical evacuation) back to the UK so that they can be with their families as they go through the recovery process.

"Our priority is obviously to support those involved and respect families' need for privacy at this very difficult time.

More than two dozen U.S. deaths in Afghan copter crash

2011-08-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

Nato helicopter crashed overnight in east Afghanistan following an operation against Taliban insurgents.

Afghan provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the helicopter crashed in the Sayd Abad district of Wardak province. The volatile region borders the province of Kabul where the Afghan capital is located and is known for its strong Taliban presence.

Nato said the alliance was conducting a recovery operation Saturday at the site and investigating the cause of the crash, but did not release details or a casualty figure.

"We are aware of an incident involving a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan," said US Air Force Captain Justin Brockhoff, a Nato spokesman. "We are in the process of accessing the facts."

Nato said insurgents were in the area at the time of the crash.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed the downed aircraft was a US military helicopter and that the Taliban fighters had brought it down with a rocket attack.

The Taliban claimed militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. Mohammad Hazrat Janan, head of the provincial council said Tangi village elders reported that insurgents shot at the craft when it was flying back from an operation.

The incident took place in the eastern province of Wardak, an area rife with insurgent activity. There has been a swell of recent attacks in the country's southern and eastern provinces.

The crash comes just as NATO is drawing down and handing over security control to national forces. Ten thousand U.S. soldiers are scheduled to depart by year's end, while the full drawn-down is expected to take place by the end of 2014.

However, NATO's International Security Assistance Force has not said how the incident occurred. ISAF spokesman Justin Brockhoff confirmed the crash and acknowledged the helicopter had been flying in area where there was reported insurgent activity, but declined to offer additional details.

Officials are being especially tight-lipped because recovery operations at the site are still under way and body identifications and family notifications are just beginning, the U.S. military official said.

Last month, a NATO helicopter was brought down by insurgent fire in the country's eastern province of Kunar. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack, though no injuries were reported.

In a separate incident, a NATO service member died Saturday after an improvised explosive device detonated in southern Afghanistan.

Elsewhere Saturday, a joint Afghan and coalition force conducted raids in the eastern province of Nangarhar, killing "several insurgents," NATO reported.

The operation also targeted a "Taliban facilitator," who NATO says was responsible for supplying ammunition and bomb-making materials to the Taliban.

In July, a series of gun battles in Nangarhar between insurgents and NATO forces left at least 10 militants dead.

Wallabies blacked out at hoodoo ground

2011-08-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

AUCKLAND — An intensive defensive effort by the All Blacks created a 30-14 win over Australia in their Tri-Nations clash Saturday, giving their self-belief a boost in the countdown to the World Cup.

It was a far from perfect performance by the All Blacks who allowed the Wallabies an advantage with possession.

But while Australian attacks were swiftly shut down for most of the match the All Blacks, with Richie McCaw, Piri Weepu and Dan Carter to the fore, were able to find holes around the Australian ruck and out wide.

The three tries to two victory in the clash of the world's top two sides ensured the All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup, the symbol of trans-Tasman superiority, which they have held since 2003.

It also left them on track for an 11th Tri-Nations title in the 16-year history of the competition and gave an insight into the game they are working on for the World Cup which starts here next month.

"I thought the defence was outstanding," said All Blacks coach Graham Henry while playing down any psychological edge it could give them going into the World Cup.

"I think there's far too many occasions in the past where (a Tri-Nations win) hasn't amounted to a result in the Rugby World Cup so if we get complacent about this victory it will be curtains I'd say"

The Wallabies did finish the stronger of the two sides as the pace of the game told on several All Blacks having their first run since the Super 15 series, but Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said the damage had been done by then.

"Tactically we didn't help ourselves. We allowed the All Blacks to establish the D (defence) line and really create some linespeed in their defence and stymie our attack. We left a lot of points out there as well. We lacked a bit of patience in the way and where we attacked."

Weepu, getting a start at number nine after coming off the bench in recent Tests, stamped his mark with a series of breaks close to the maul and the All Blacks backs feasted off a supply of front-foot ball.

Other Wallabies youngsters in their first Auckland Tests were also rattled as New Zealand's biggest crowd of the modern era of 55,000 roared at every slip-up in the 22nd straight home win at their bastion.

The All Blacks burst out of the blocks to lead 10-0 after nine minutes and, when it was 17-0 after half an hour, the game was as good as gone.

Australia had their chances, and more possession in the attacking half but, as hard as they probed, just couldn't convert.

The All Blacks' defence under pressure was superb, a cornerstone for the victory, holding out the Wallabies for 14 consecutive phases in their 22 early on to set the tone.

In contrast, the Wallabies couldn't hold out the ruthless Kiwis when they had a sniff near the line.

Centre Ma'a Nonu shrugged off Adam Ashley-Cooper and Rocky Elsom to dive over in the eighth minute to finish a raid sparked by Piri Weepu while, similarly, Keven Mealamu burrowed over shortly after another Weepu blind-side raid.

Australia's attack wasn't predictable or slow but New Zealand's patient, smart and disciplined defence twice forced five-eighth Cooper into low percentage cross-field kicks which never paid off.

Direct rival Dan Carter delivered a five-star performance to underline his standing as the world's best playmaker, starring in attack, defence and slotting six from six with the boot.

Ironically, Australia's pre-match problem area, the scrum, held firm but they paid dearly for the All Blacks' superiority at the restarts.

When Digby Ioane, Australia's best by far, revived some hope with a brilliant counter-attacking try in the 51st minute, it was an immediate hit-back off the kick-off which snuffed out any thought of a comeback.

Australian economy safe and strong - Labor

2011-08-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's decision for the first time ever to downgrade the US from a AAA to AA+ rating caps a two-week period that has seen the Australian market drop more than 10 per cent, wiping off more than $50 billion.

Wall Street finished up higher after a rally late on Friday following stronger than expected employment figures, but investors remain nervous about toxic debt levels in Spain and Italy.

Amid the turmoil, Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday called on Australians to trust in the "strong fundamentals" of our economy.

Ms Gillard said while Australia was not immune to global events, the nation was in a strong financial position.

We should have confidence that our economic credentials are among the best in the world," she said.

"We should also have confidence that we have handled in the past global instability.

"This Government has a proven track record of handling global instability. And we should also have confidence in the strong fundamentals of our economy.

"We have low debt, low unemployment, the Budget coming into surplus in 2012-13, a AAA credit rating and we are looking to strong economic growth."

Ms Gillard said that with a quarter of Australian exports going to China, Australia had its best terms of trade in 140 years.

"We are in the right part of the world. The part of the world that continues to grow. That means we will continue to see strong economic growth in our region," she said.

Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday assured Australians our AAA credit rating was safe.

S&P attached a "negative outlook" to the new rating.

"The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that congress and the administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilise the government's medium-term debt dynamics," S&P said in a statement.

But Ms Gillard called on Australians to remain confident about Australia's economy and its "strong fundamentals" despite what was happening globally.

"People should look with confidence at our economic credentials and fundamentals, and people should look with confidence at the ability of this government to deal with global instability," she said.

"We have done it before.

"We came out of the global financial crisis without having gone into recession."

Treasurer Wayne Swan today said Australia's own gold-plated triple-A credit rating was safe and secure and could not be more different to the US.

Mr Swan said Australia had known for some time the US faced a long and painful adjustment to get its budget back on a sustainable medium-term footing.

"But they've taken an important first step towards this objective," he said.

"S&P's announcement comes amid heightened volatility over the past week in international financial markets driven by continuing concerns about the weakness of the US economic recovery and sovereign debt levels in Europe."

Mr Swan said Australia was not immune from events in the rest of the world but the Australian economy's fundamentals remained strong.

He said unemployment was low, public finances were strong with very low debt and a huge pipeline of mining investment.

"Australia's gold-plated triple-A rating is safe and secure," he said.

"It's been recently affirmed and we are widely considered to be in the top-tier, even among the exclusive club of developed economies in the world to share the highest rating."

Mr Swan said the parliament had just about passed the budget in full, a budget that included the biggest fiscal consolidation in the nation's history.

Kate Recycles Her Green DVF Dress for Zara Phillips's Yacht Party

2011-07-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

Royal wedding bells just haven’t stopped ringing since Will and Kate said ‘I do’. Queen Elizabeth’s eldest grandaughter, Zara Phillips is the next in line. She’ll wed her rugby playing fiance Mike Tindall on Saturday. Here’s what we know so far.

The ceremony will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland at the quaint church, Canongate Kirk. The couple are hosting a yacht party right now on the Royal Yacht Britannia -- the same boat Prince Charles and Princess Diana honeymooned on after their wedding (which, by the way, was 30 years ago today).

Now let’s address the biggest, most exciting rumor that we’re hoping is true. Kate Middleton may be walking down the aisle again — this time as a bridesmaid! We think the chances of this actually happening are slim to none, but it’s still a slight possibility. Prince William is Zara’s first cousin and she attended his nuptials (although she was not in the wedding party.) If Kate isn’t a bridesmaid, we’re not getting our hopes up for a new outfit — the Princess showed up to the yacht party in same the green DVF dress she wore during her stay in L.A.

As for Zara, The Daily Mail reports she’ll be wearing her grandmum the queen’s favorite designer, Stewart Parvin. Hopefully we’ll be able to see her in it — word has it that Zara doesn’t want any wedding snapshots going public.

Friday, Prince William and Kate surfaced in Edinburgh, where they boarded a family yacht for an evening reception toasting William's cousin and her soon-to-be-groom, rugby player Mike Tindall.

Kate, clad in the same green silk Diane von Furstenberg "Maja" dress she wore for an event in Los Angeles, gave onlookers a new view of her frock, showing off the delicate buttons that run down the back. Her husband followed closely behind.

Also in attendance: Prince Harry, the princes' cousins (and daughters of Duchess Sarah Ferguson) Princess Eugenie in red and Beatrice in purple. Also spotted: Kate's mother, Carole Middleton.

After the wedding ceremony at Canongate Kirk, guests will celebrate with the newlyweds into the night at the Holyroodhouse castle.

Zara Phillips wedding, things you need to know about M. T.

2011-07-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

He ran up a £12k bar bill on his stag do in Florida.

He has broken his nose EIGHT times - and can boast a fans' Facebook page in defence of his hooter.

He has three dogs – Misty, Sway (after Angelina Jolie’s character in ‘Gone In 60 Seconds’) and Storm (after Halle Berry’s character in ‘X-Men’).

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Fellow rugby player Iain Balshaw will be Tindall’s best man at the wedding.

His strong cult following has resulted in the nickname ‘The Fridge’ due to his bulky stature, he weighs 16st and is 6'2".

He has two driving convictions.

He met Zara in a Sydney bar during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He was drowning his sorrows after being dropped by the England team.

He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield - the same school as the crossbow cannibal Stephen Griffiths.

He calls Zara 'Monica' because she's obsessed with cleaning like the character in TV sitcom Friends.

His great-grandad was a blacksmith, while Zara's was the King of England.

Kate Middleton Repeats Green Diane Von Furstenberg For Zara Phillips Wedding Party

2011-07-30T05:52:00.000-07:00

On Friday, the Duchess of Cambridge attended the pre-wedding party for Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, wearing the same green Diane Von Furstenberg dress she wore three weeks before at a reception in California (see the side-by-side photos below).

With its fresh color, half-sleeves and bowed belt, the dress is perfect for a summer party. Of course, her husband Prince William wore his go-to outfit -- navy suit and burgundy tie.

Kate’s “Maja” dress was a huge hit when she debuted it in Los Angles July 8 and it will no doubt be a hit when she gives it a wear across the sea for Zara’s big party!

As always Kate went easy on the accesories, letting the dress be the main focus of her look.

Take a look at the photos above and let us know, when did Kate wear Diane von Furstenberg better.

Duke of Duchess of Cambridge steal the show at Zara Phillips's wedding party

2011-07-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stole the show last night as they boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia for a pre-wedding cocktail party ahead of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall's wedding.

They were among scores of guests invited on board the vessel for drinks ahead of the couple's big day today.

The newlyweds looked a picture of happiness as they mingled with guests and family members - including Prince Harry and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Zara and England Rugby star Mike did not hold back expressing their clear affection for each other, posing for one last kiss in front of well-wishers following their wedding rehearsal at Edinburgh's Canonbury Kirk yesterday.

Zara, who arrived at the rehearsal wearing flip-flops, jeans and a hoodie, swiftly transformed herself in a £500 tie-dye silk dress from the U.S. label Alice and Olivia for the evening celebration - although it did reveal a white mark where he bikini top had been.

Once on board the yacht, she was spotted laughing and joking with friends - many of whom were rugby player friends of her fiancé.

The couple were also joined by the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Zara's brother Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn - and of course the bride's mother Princess Anne and her father Captain Mark Phillips.

Guests were photographed in dinner suits and evening suits sipping pink champagne as the sun set over Edinburgh.

Princess Beatrice looked stunning in a purple dress and belt, while Princess Eugenie opted for a red number.

Prince Harry was last to arrive at the yacht. He was alone, and bounced up the steps two at a time.

As the prince entered the party, a massive cheer could be heard from inside.

The party appeared to be mainly for the younger guests, with no sign of Zara's grandparents the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh or of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Zara, 30, and Mike, 32, arrived with Zara's parents Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.

Anne's second marriage to Timothy Laurence was the last royal wedding to be held in Scotland, and took place in 1992 at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral.

A crowd had gathered on a decking area outside Ocean Terminal shopping centre, which had a view of the yacht. They enjoyed the early evening sunshine while hoping to catch a glimpse of members of the Royal Family.

The Royal Yacht Britannia served the Queen for 44 years. During that time the vessel has carried the monarch and the Royal Family on 968 official voyages.

Zara's parents cruised the West Indies in 1973 on their honeymoon.

Anne's second marriage to Timothy Laurence was the last Scottish royal wedding, taking place in 1992 at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral.

Also believed to be attending are the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, or the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay as they are known in Scotland; the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; Prince Harry; and the Duke of York and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Tindall is likely to have invited some of England's best-known rugby players who are colleagues and friends.

The event, in contrast to the recent wedding of William and Kate, will be private, and the doors will be closed to the media and public.

The wedding may be small in comparison to the scale of the last royal wedding, which was watched by an audience of 2billion internationally, but it has nonetheless been welcomed by Scotland's tourism bosses.

Mike Cantlay, who chairs tourism agency VisitScotland, said: 'The wedding represents an absolutely wonderful showcase, not only for Edinburgh but for the whole of Scotland.

'The Royal Family and Scotland have enjoyed a relationship for hundreds of years, and tourism has become a natural partner.

Latest visitor figures from VisitScotland for the Holyrood House, Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Yacht Britannia, Glamis Castle and Balmoral Castle suggest a surge of interest in the Royal Family.

Second royal wedding, but which unusual places can you get married

2011-07-30T05:47:00.001-07:00

LONDON — Britain will celebrate its second royal wedding of the season Saturday, with equestrian star Zara Phillips — eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II — taking center stage as she marries England rugby stalwart Mike Tindall.

A regal supporting cast is expected as the queen leads her extended brood to Edinburgh, Scotland for the private festivities. Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are expected, along with Prince Harry (still single) and bright lights from Britain's sports and show business worlds.

The nuptials of Phillips, 30, and Tindall, 32, are expected to be far more low-key than William's wedding in late April, which was watched live on television throughout much of the world. Phillips — who does not carry a royal title — and Tindall prefer to stay out of the limelight when they are not competing, and the wedding has been organized to reflect their desires.

The Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips and England rugby star Mike Tindall will be married in the beautiful Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, with their reception in the Palace of Holyroodhouse - the official Scottish residence of the Queen.

But not all of us can afford a castle wedding, so what unusual alternatives are there and can you afford them?

Because the prices for all the venues vary so much according to the size of your party and the type of reception you have, I've put them in price ranges as a guide. Most have various options so if you have a smaller party you can hire out a section of the venue, cutting your costs slightly.

On a ship

HMS Belfast: Right on the Thames and with spectacular views of Tower Bridge and London Bridge, a wedding on this now famous London landmark could be something very special and unique. Voted the eighth most popular wedding location in the world, you can have both your ceremony and reception on board, with a maximum of 450 guests in total.

By the seaside

For something really different, you can get married on Brighton Pier - serve your guests fish and chips, have your wedding photos on the Carousel - there are endless options for your big day here.

At a classic sporting venue

Mad about cricket? Then Lord's cricket ground is a perfect option for you. An iconic ground and a Grade II listed Pavillion, there are various options for different sized receptions and services - the largest being the famous Long Room which can hold up to 230 guests. £££

On an island

No, not a tropical island, an island on the Thames. Temple Island in Henley to be exact. The location for the start of the Henley Royal Regatta this is a beautiful and very intimate location better suited to smaller parties. The ultimate novelty for the bride and groom ? Arriving at their reception by boat.

Mike Tindall

2011-07-30T05:46:00.000-07:00

Michael James Tindall, MBE born 18 October 1978 is a rugby player who plays Outside centre for Gloucester Rugby and has captained the England team. His fiancée is Zara Phillips, the daughter of HRH The Princess Royal and the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II.

Tindall was born in Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and was educated at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield, while his father Phil captained Otley. He refused braces to straighten his teeth, one of his greatest regrets; and served fish and chips from a van while studying.

Bath

Tindall joined Bath straight from school, as an 18-year-old in 1997. At that point the centre pairing at Bath and England were Jeremy Guscott and Phil de Glanville. But after the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Tindall stepped up to become a regular fixture at both club and country level, making his debut against Ireland at Twickenham in 2000 alongside Mike Catt.

Despite receiving criticism over the years, in particular from Will Carling and ex-Bath fly-half Stuart Barnes, he cemented the outside centre position as his own with a partnership with inside centre Will Greenwood, playing in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Tindall played in the number 12 jersey and played at outside centre, with Greenwood in the number 13. The shirt numbers frequently misled people into thinking they played the other way around, though in fact those who watched saw that Tindall all but invariably lined up outside Greenwood. He was dropped for the semi-final in favour of Mike Catt, whose kicking was required in the rainy weather, but reinstated in the final.

Tindall missed the 2005 Six Nations with a foot injury and subsequently failed to regain his fitness for the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. Described by England's former head coach, Andy Robinson as the 'heartbeat' of the side, Tindall was gradually finding his way back to form following a lengthy absence from the game during 2005.

Personal life

Tindall has two criminal convictions for drunk driving. On 8 January 2009 he was convicted, was banned from driving for three years and fined £500 for drink-driving, with £75 costs. This was the consequence of an incident on the M4 motorway on 15 March 2008, following a day out at Cheltenham Racing Festival with Zara Phillips. This was Tindall's second drunk driving conviction. The earlier conviction, in 2000, resulted in a 16-month disqualification (which was in itself in excess of the obligatory 12-month disqualification for a first offence).

On 21 December 2010 it was announced that he was engaged to Zara Phillips, the daughter of HRH The Princess Anne, Princess Royal, and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips. Phillips is the granddaughter of HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The wedding is set for July 30, 2011.

Gloucester Rugby

After returning from injury in the Autumn of 2005, Tindall regained his England place but this time at number 12. However at club level he continued to play at 13 with the 12 shirt going to Henry Paul. The partnership was heavily criticised as being flat and boring and Tindall spent much of the season showing a poor run of form despite selection week in, week out. It wasn't until an incident at Tindall's girlfriend's birthday party that Henry Paul broke club rules and fell out of favour with Gloucester Rugby coach, Dean Ryan. This brought in the introduction of young centre Anthony Allen, which towards the end of the season helped forged what became the start of a very powerful centre partnership. His partnership with Jamie Noon for England was much criticised, with many people claiming that the bulky partnership lacked imagination and play-making ability.Tindall has a strong cult following however, and is often nicknamed "The Fridge" due to his sizeable bulk.

During his recuperation from another injury in 2005, Tindall entered the prestigious British Poker Open tournament, finishing in 3rd place in his heat before being eliminated by John Gale. On 18 November 2006 Tindall made his first Guinness Premiership start of the season against third-placed Wasps. Troubled by a calf injury so far into the 2006/07 season, he had made only two appearances as a replacement, against Worcester and Irish Tindall came back from his injury however with a much more highly rated run of form. His 10, 12 and 13 partnership of Ryan Lamb, Anthony Allen and himself inspired him to play more attacking and exciting rugby and since has become a Gloucester Rugby favourite. Gloucester supporters now affectionately hold him with high regard and he continued the season extremely well in helping Gloucester Rugby with his own running abilities, powerful defence and tactical kicking to top spot of the Guinness Premiership.

Tindall was again included in the England starting line up for the 2007 Six Nations opener against Scotland at Twickenham, under new head coach Brian Ashton. Selected to play outside former Rugby League star Andy Farrell, the pair combined to make what is arguably the largest centre partnership in international history.

In April 2007 playing away against Newcastle Falcons in the Guinness Premiership, Tindall broke his leg in a tackle on Toby Flood and this forced him to miss the rest of the season, including the Guinness Premiership final, where his leadership would have been critical in a young backline. This also precluded his selection for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

In October 2007 Tindall returned to the Gloucester Rugby starting line up after recovering from injury against Worcester Warriors at home in the Guinness Premiership. Tindall had a fairytale comeback, scoring a try to the Shed's delight. He has since played most of Gloucester Rugby's games scoring a handful of tries including one against Ulster Rugby in the Heineken Cup, where he contributed to Gloucester Rugby setting a new record in the Tournament's history, the fastest time to score 4 tries and collect the try bonus point.

On 7 December 2007 against Bourgoin in the Heineken Cup, Tindall limped off the field with a severe shin injury sustained in a similar tackle from that done against Newcastle last season when Tindall broke his leg. Despite this injury, Tindall recovered fast and played the following week, and continued his form for Gloucester.

In February 2008 Tindall was named in England Head Coach Brian Ashton's squad for the upcoming 6 Nations tournament, and thus started for England at outside centre against Wales at Twickenham on 2 February 2008. Early in the second half of the game, Tindall dived on the ball in open play, landing on Welsh full-back Lee Byrne's foot which pressed up into his chest. Tindall was stretchered off showing signs of severe pain, but the immediate belief was damage to his ribcage, however 45 minutes later he was rushed to hospital, where it became clear he had punctured his lung, and also torn a 2 inch tear in his liver, in which 2 pints of blood bled before clotting. Tindall spent the following 5 days in intensive care before he was released to return to his home at Gatcombe Park.

Edinburgh set to benefit from Royal nuptials

2011-07-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

Marriage of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall at Canongate Kirk today is expected to provide a £10 million boost for Edinburgh's economy.

Experts at The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce predict the royal windfall could be even higher as VIP guests travel from around the world to watch the Queen's granddaughter and her England rugby star fiance tie the knot.

Hoteliers have reported a rise in occupancy levels on previous years, according to Marketing Edinburgh, while VisitScotland has announced a boom for regal attractions, including the Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The national tourism body has flown in media representatives from China, Australia and the United States, with around 150 journalists believed to be covering the occasion.

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce spokesman Graham Bell said: "This again bares out that Edinburgh is just a fantastic venue for public events.

"Few cities in Britain can challenge it for streetscapes and views. It is not over-supplied with quality hotels, but this is improving and occupancy levels are second only to London.

"These are the things, alongside efficient transport connections, that attracts people to Edinburgh and keeps them coming back after a great first-time experience."

The wedding celebrations started last night when VIP guests - including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - joined the happy couple for a private party on the Royal Yacht.

Prince Harry was also among the guests, and was cheered by the party as as he went inside.

Earlier in the day, they were greeted by a small crowd of well-wishers as they arrived at the church for a rehearsal, spending about 50 minutes inside before emerging with family and friends to cheers.

Tourist bosses expect the wedding to bring benefits to the capital and the country, according to reports.

Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: “The wedding between Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall is wonderful news for Edinburgh and the whole of Scotland.

“It’s a great opportunity for tourism in this country and we would urge businesses to take advantage of this great occasion.”

According to reports, people were camping out with sleeping bags to ensure a good view of the event which will take place at the city’s Canongate Kirk.

Zara Phillips marry Mike Tindall

2011-07-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

Zara Phillips ties the knot today with strapping rugby hero Mike Tindall – and it’s already clear who wears the trousers.

The Queen’s 30-year-old granddaughter banned 6ft 2in Mike from training in case he suffered a shiner and ruined the wedding snaps.

So it’s a pity best man Iain Balshaw was still sporting a sore-looking shiner from a recent moped accident in France during yesterday’s wedding rehearsal at 17th century Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh.

England captain Lewis Moody revealed Zara’s training ban at a charity event in aid of HopeHiv on Thursday. At the fundraiser, called An Evening with Lewis, Simon, Jamie and Ben, Lewis said: “Mike didn’t play today – he’s afraid he’s going to get a black eye for the wedding. The missus is in charge.”

He added: “There’ll be loads of us going to the wedding. ”

Players from England and Gloucester Rugby Club will be mingling with royal guests, including Prince William and Kate, Prince Harry and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

Then it’s all back to the Queen’s Holyroodhouse for a party. But for the bride-to-be, the celebrations started three days ago. Zara, who will wear a stunning Stewart Parvin ivory dress, was spotted clubbing at Edinburgh’s swanky Tigerlily hotel and later in its Lulu bar, on Thursday.

This wedding won't be a lavish feast for royal watchers, however. "It's a private family wedding," said a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman. "We're not giving out any details."

That said, here are some details. They'll say their vows at Canongate Kirk, the parish church of Edinburgh Castle, with a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the queen's official residence in Scotland. Phillips and Tindall, as well as Princess Anne, were photographed Friday leaving the church after their rehearsal. Zara had also been spotted earlier in the week getting a rare-for-her spa treatment, and some business-as-usual exercise.

That's a bit different than the wedding seen round the world in April -- that of Prince Charles' son Prince William to Kate Middleton, now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Being closer to the front of the line for the throne does have its implications, among them a million people hanging around in the streets for your big day.

Phillips, 30, the daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband Mark Phillips, has long been considered one of the most down-to-earth members of the royal family. The successful equestrian has no royal title. Tindall, 32, plays rugby.

According to the Daily Mail, guests are expected to include Queen Elizabeth II and most of the royal family -- the Tindall family hasn't yet met the queen -- and many sports figures, including a former England rugby player as best man.

Zara Phillips partying prewedding to Mike Tindall

2011-07-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

Zara Phillips, this afternoon – grand-daughter of the Queen, cousin of the Duke of Cambridge and niece of the Prince of Wales – will wed her rugby-playing boyfriend, Mike Tindall. They travelled from their home in Cheltenham to Edinburgh yesterday, to be married by the Rev Neil Gardner, minister of Canongate Kirk and domestic chaplain to the Queen in Scotland. Afterwards, they will celebrate with a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Not that you’d know it.

While the world and its dog knew every detail of the royal wedding – you know, that one, at Westminster Abbey, with the cartwheeling verger and the sister with the bottom – it seems as if this one could pass off without so much as a street party. There will be no need to erect a giant box to accommodate the world’s media, as happened outside Buckingham Palace last April. There will be no bank holiday, and barely any squealing monarchists who have camped out all week to catch a fleeting glimpse of the newly married couple – they can’t, because the streets surrounding the church are too narrow. Granted, a ring of steel will be thrown around the city, but one would expect that at an event attended by the Queen (and the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, stepping out in public for the first time since their triumphant tour of North America).

Mr Tindall, who plays rugby for England and is the captain of Gloucester, is thought to be wearing a kilt. But even the news that Zara is to wear a gown designed by Stewart Parvin, one of the Queen’s favourite couturiers, barely registered on the radar of journalists who salivated over every rumour concerning what Kate Middleton might wear, before combusting in excitement when we finally saw it was Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

Zara has been able to go for jogs and facials relatively unmolested by paparazzi. This week she was photographed near her home wearing a tracksuit, a garment that would have caused the world to topple off its axis had it been worn by the Duchess of Cambridge in the run-up to her wedding.

He added: “There’ll be loads of us going to the wedding. ”

Players from England and Gloucester Rugby Club will be mingling with royal guests, including Prince William and Kate, Prince Harry and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

She followed it up with a boozy three-hour breakfast with 10 female friends in the five-star Balmoral Hotel, where 300 of the 400 wedding guests are staying.

Zara’s group – including Natalie Pinkham, Sky Sports presenter Di Dougherty and brother Peter’s wife Autumn Kelly – sank six bottles of £95-a-pop pink champagne. She told them: “I’m nervous, excited but very happy.” She also admitted she’d been texting Mike that very morning as he celebrated with his rugby pals including Lewis, Iain and Ben Foden.

In the early evening they met up for their dressed-down wedding rehearsal – Zara in jeans and a striped top, Mike, 32, in a white shirt and torn denims.

They kissed after spending an hour in the Kirk being put through their paces by Rev Neil Gardner, watched by Princess Anne and her husband Tim Lawrence, and Zara’s father Mark Phillips.

Then last night, Zara and Mike held a drinks party on the Royal Yacht Britannia, moored at nearby Leith. Close friends and family – including Prince William and Kate, who wore the emerald number first seen on her trip to LA earlier this month – saw the sun set to the strains of a jazz band.

Norway attacks boost political parties' membership

2011-07-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last week's Oslo terrorist attacks are raising delicate questions of immigration and integration here after the admitted attacker cited anti-Muslim views as motivating the assaults.

A country of less than 5 million people, Norway has seen its once homogeneous population change in recent years with new arrivals from Africa and the Middle East. This transformation, in part, drove Anders Behring Breivik, charged with Friday's car bombing and shooting spree that killed at least 76 people in the span of a few hours.

Now, even as this country still grieves for its victims, many say how Norway responds to the attacks could define immigration policy in the future.

Progress Party has fairly mainstream anti-immigrant views. It proposed this year that immigrants should receive lower welfare payments than Norwegian citizens.

However, a leaflet used in the 2005 election featured a gun and the caption "...the perpetrator was of foreign origin."

"We have never expressed such a thing that Muslims are taking over the country, or anything else like that, so I don't think that we have anything to be ashamed of or change when it comes to politics," Keshvare said.

"Problems surrounding this issue haven't changed because of this tragic event," he added.

Labour's Hansen said he hoped rhetoric would be toned down.

"One of the things I hope that we will draw as a lesson from this is that we have to talk about immigration, integration, Muslims and so on in another language .... We have to change language to one more in line with reality," he said.

Norway has lower levels of immigration than most other Western countries.

For Tunisian-born Norwegian Izzeddine al-Saweih, 57, change will not come soon enough.

"There has to be a debate on the right principles, an open debate, and Muslims must take part," he shouted at an outdoor gathering of Labor Party politicians in Oslo Thursday.

Labor turns its back on 'victim' Christine Nixon

2011-07-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Legal expert has suggested the former top cop could be held in contempt of the bushfires royal commission for criticising the inquiry in her new book.

Leading barrister Peter Faris, QC, who has appeared for clients at other royal commissions, said Ms Nixon's comments about a "kangaroo court" could be contempt.

"This is probably a contempt of the royal commission but I can hardly imagine that for practical purposes there would be any prosecution," he said.

He was puzzled that Ms Nixon was upset at the robust way she was cross-examined by Ms Doyle.

"She's a police officer. Police get cross-examined all day," Mr Faris said.

"They are very experienced at being cross-examined.

Former Liberal federal MP Fran Bailey, whose electorate of McEwen was devastated by the fires, said Ms Nixon's "kangaroo court" comment was disgraceful and a betrayal of the Black Saturday survivors.

Ms Nixon writes in her book that royal commissions can become "the worst kind of kangaroo court" and "a public flogging".

Ms Bailey told The Australian: "I would see that as an act of betrayal of all of those good people who survived Black Saturday."

She said Ms Nixon's comments that she had suffered particular criticism from "reactionary male voices" and that there was a "fattist" agenda at work against her, was "an absolute nonsense".

But Ms Nixon defended her comments last night. "I'm not paranoid," she told the ABC's 7.30 program. "I am just suggesting there were people who took delight in what happened to me."

Melbourne University Publishing chief Louise Adler, whose company is publishing the book, said Ms Nixon was treated more harshly because she was a woman and overweight.

"If you want to analyse success in a leadership role, one looks at all sorts of criteria," she said.

"I wouldn't have thought body image was of any relevance whatsoever. The coverage by the tabloid media has been constructed in such a way as to give the impression this woman is not equipped to do this job."

Former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby, who holds Ms Nixon partly responsibly for an Office of Police Integrity investigation that destroyed his career, said Ms Nixon could not shift the blame for the flaws in her testimony to the royal commission.

Carbon cop handed tough new powers

2011-07-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

As part of the government's carbon tax package released yesterday, the new Clean Energy Regulator will be given extensive powers to conduct investigations on company premises, compel people to testify even if it requires providing self-incriminating evidence and to make copies of sensitive documents, according to a report by The Australian.

The new regulator will enforce the new six cents per litre fuel tax that will be charged to some 60,000 businesses, among other measures introduced as part of the carbon tax, the report said.

The new powers given to the regulator come with the threat of up to 10 years in prison or up to $1.1 million in fines for corporations that do not cooperate or who break the carbon tax laws.

Australian Tax Office data shows that this tax increase will directly affect up to 60,000 businesses from 1 July, 2012, and nearly 100,000 companies when an additional 40,000 road transport businesses are captured by the tax on 1 July, 2014," an MCA spokesman said.

He added that it would raise $3.3 billion in the first three years and $16bn to 2020, including the change to aviation excise.

The government has consistently claimed the tax would directly apply to only 500 firms. Last night it argued the fuel treatment in the scheme did not change those figures as the companies concerned faced no extra administrative arrangements and were not liable to directly pay for pollution permits. This was limited to about 500 companies that emitted more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year and would be liable to pay for pollution permits.

The MCA spokesman said that, based on Australian Taxation Office data, from July 1 next year, 22,500 construction firms, 5300 manufacturing businesses and 1500 mining operators would pay more for fuel.

A spokesman for Mr Combet said the government announced on July 10 that there would be a carbon price for off-road business fuel use through reduced fuel tax credits -- but this would not apply to the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries. He said households paid 38c a litre in fuel excise and would pay no more.

"By contrast, off-road business fuel use is normally free of excise, due to fuel tax credits," he said. "The government will reduce the fuel tax credits by around 6c a litre. This will not impose any additional administrative burdens because businesses already fill out the forms for fuel tax credits, but it will create incentives to improve fuel efficiency and lower pollution from the transport sector."

Tony Abbott, speaking yesterday in the northern NSW electorate held by Tony Windsor, taunted Julia Gillard to resume her carbon tax promotion tour. "The Prime Minister is hiding . . . refusing to talk to the Australian people," the Opposition Leader said. "Not only did she not wear out the shoe leather, she didn't even wear the shoes in. At the first sign of a blister she's back in her office hiding . . . because she knows the more she talks about this tax the less people like it.

Truck driver arrested and charged over hacking of NBN provider

2011-07-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

The national broadband network (NBN) was not affected by the alleged hacking of a service provider, a spokesman for NBN Co Limited says,

"NBN Co has evaluated its systems and controls and can confirm the national broadband network was not affected by this incident," the spokesman for the company responsible for rolling out the network said in a statement.

"The company said to have been involved is not yet offering services over the NBN.

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"NBN Co works closely with appropriate law enforcement and government agencies to ensure the security and protection of the national broadband network. We welcome the AFP's ongoing efforts in fighting cybercrime."

A 25-year-old Cowra man has been charged with one count of unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment and 48 counts of unauthorised access to, or modification of, restricted data.

In June, Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigators found a compromise to Platform Networks, a wholesale internet provider in Sydney that is one of the contracted providers of the NBN release. NBN Co says it is not yet providing it services to the NBN.

While Platform Networks had strong cyber security measures in place, even the best security systems are only as strong as the weakest link - it only takes one user with a weak password to put an entire network at risk," AFP national manager for High Tech Crime Operations Neil Gaughan said in the statement.

The AFP has been investigating the Cowra man for six months.

"The AFP will allege this man was motivated by ego in his illegal hacking, proving his skills after complaining he could not get work in the IT sector. He is known to use the online nickname Evil."

He has been charged with one count of unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment, and 48 counts of unauthorised access to, or modification of restricted data.

He is due to appear in Orange Local Court on Wednesday.

The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail while the second count carries a maximum sentence of two years.

Australian Federal Government signs refugee deal with Malaysia

2011-07-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Government now says that those more than 500 claims for asylum will be processed in Australia.

Under the controversial plan, Malaysia will have veto powers to reject asylum seekers if it doesn’t approve of them.

Australia will pay for transfers, as well as health and education costs for those asylum seekers once they are in Malaysia.

The cost of the plan has previously been put at $292 million.

The Government has called the agreement “groundbreaking” and a “true burden-sharing arrangement” that is a step towards a regional plan to stop people smugglers.

In a statement, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the agreement would see up to 800 asylum seekers who arrive illegally by boat sent to Malaysia.

In return, Australia will accept another 4000 extra processed refugees from Malaysia over four years.

“Under the arrangement signed today, those who arrived in Australia before 25 July will not be transferred to Malaysia,” the statement says.

“Consequently, the people who arrived prior to today’s announcement, currently being detained on Christmas Island, will now be processed in Australia.”

Mr Bowen and Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Dato' Seri Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein signed the agreement at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

Ms Gillard and Mr Bowen said the arrangement “reaffirms Malaysia’s commitment that transferees will be treated with dignity and respect in accordance with human rights standards”.

Asylum claims will be considered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Government says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been closely consulted on the transfer arrangement.

Asylum seekers who arrived in Australia before today will not be transferred to Malaysia.

They will continue to be processed on Christmas Island.

Ms Gillard said the deal was a "true burden-sharing" arrangement and that the deal would "smash the people smugglers' business model."

The Prime Minister issued a stern warning to people smugglers who "prey on the desperation of people" to give up now.

She also had a message for asylum seekers considering making the boat trip to Australia.

"Do not do that in the false hope that you will be able to have your claim processed in Australia."

In Kuala Lumpur, Mr Bowen said the deal "sends a very clear signal that Malaysia and Australia are serious about stopping people smuggling".

"As Immigration Minister I hope I never get another call telling me that people have drowned trying to make it to Australia and that children as young as two-months old have drowned trying to come to Australia," he said following the signing.

"This arrangement we've signed today is very clear indication of our commitment."

"Today is not the end of the road. In many senses today is just the beginning. The people who doubted our resolve to get this arrangement this far will test our resolve further. People smugglers will test our resolve further.

AFL player Andrew Lovett acquitted in rape case

2011-07-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

Former Essendon and St Kilda player Andrew Lovett has been found not guilty of two counts of rape.

The Victorian County Court jury handed down its verdict this afternoon after beginning deliberations on Thursday afternoon.

Lovett wept as the jury of seven women and five men acquitted him of all charges, and then hugged his mother, his lawyer and several supporters.

Lovett did not comment outside court, but his manager, Alex McDonald, said Lovett was appreciative of the support he received from his family and friends.

Mr McDonald would not rule out Lovett making an AFL comeback, and said the footballer would consider several options over the coming days.

Lovett and his then-St Kilda teammate, Jason Gram, met the complainant, a model, and her friend at the Royal Saxon Hotel in Richmond on December 23, 2009, and went back to Gram's Port Melbourne apartment.

He was accused of raping a girl as she slept at a teammate's Melbourne house in December 2009.

Lovett testified that the sex was consensual.

The trial, before Judge Meryl Sexton, heard evidence that the girl believed during the sexual encounter that Lovett was another St Kilda player, Jason Gram.

Lovett told the court the girl was a willing participant and he was “dumbfounded” by the rape allegation.

Lovett and Gram had earlier met the model and her friend at the Royal Saxon Hotel in Richmond during the Saints' end-of-year celebration.

They left the hotel just after midnight and went back to Gram's apartment, where the model was put to bed to sober up.

She claims she fell asleep and woke up to Lovett having sex with her, but Lovett said the sex was consensual.

Lovett pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape.

After being found not guilty, he hugged his mother, other members of his family, friends and his lawyer, as tears streamed down his face.

Double murder investigation after young golfer and sister

2011-07-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

Double murder investigation was underway after a talented golfer and his eight-year-old sister were killed in a house fire.

Thomas Sharkey, 21, and his younger sibling Bridget were killed in the blaze which police believe was started deliberately.

Their parents Angela, 46, and Tommy, 55, managed to escape the fire in Helensburgh, near Glasgow, after an off-duty policeman raised the alarm.

They were both being treated in hospital for serious injuries.

The tragic eight-year-old girl is believed to have died after coming home from a planned sleepover because she missed her parents.

The heat of the blaze caused a downstairs window to explode and left an area of severe scorching around the front door of the property in Scott Court.

Detective Chief Inspector Anne McKerchar, the officer in charge of the investigation, added: “This is a tragic event made worse by the fact that it was a deliberate act.”

She appealed for anyone with information to come forward as a “matter of urgency”. Police refused to name the victims until all next of kin were informed but confirmed a 21-year-old man had died.

They said a 55-year-old man, his wife, 46, and their eight-year-old daughter were taken by ambulance to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where the young girl died a short time later.

The man was later transferred to Glasgow Royal Infirmary but both parents were being treated for serious burns.

The tragedy happened while Thomas Sharkey was home from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, USA, where he was working on improving his golf.

A member of staff in a local supermarket, who did not want to be named, said: "It's absolutely tragic. The little girl was in here just last night. She was very talented and even drew us a card at Easter."

She said the family had recently returned from a trip to the US to see Thomas junior. He was a member of Helensburgh Golf Club, where he was a former junior and senior champion.

According to posts on Georgia Southern University's website, he described himself as "ambitious and competitive" and his main hobbies were golf and football.

Fraser Hall, a professional at Helensburgh Golf Club was too upset to discuss the tragedy yesterday. "Things are just too raw just now," he said.

Snow problems ease in south, but ice returning

2011-07-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

Icy winter storm appears to have loosened its grip on parts of the country but forecasters are predicting one last blast with snow, hail and squalls pushing in from the south.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan said people should not be fooled if the sun was shining in their area.

The North Island was in for round two with a second pool of cloud, snow, hail and squalls pushing in from the south and southwest, he said.

Sleet fell in parts of west Auckland, with snow clouds clearly visible over the city - an extremely unusual sight for the region.

The heaviest snow in decades has fallen along the Kaimai Ranges, with heavy snow clearly seen above 500m and lighter snow estimated to have fallen to about 300m on Mt Te Aroha.

The next burst of energy is likely to be the last main one. It brought blizzards to Christchurch and other parts of Canterbury this morning and was now moving towards Wellington and southern Wairarapa, and in the west moving over Taranaki and up the west coast towards northern and central parts of the North Island.

Heavy snow continues to fall at Stratford, Taranaki, and WeatherWatch.co.nz says more is to come this afternoon before easing and clearing.

Heavy isolated hail storms are also expected right up into Auckland and beyond.

It snowed in parts of Wellington, down to sea level, but was isolated and not settling, Mr Duncan said.

The secondary burst could bring snow to the top of the Waitakeres during isolated squally showers, with a higher chance of snow on the Hunua Ranges to the south and the Coromandel ranges to the east.

Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin Airport have all cleared their runways of snow, and limited flights resumed on Monday afternoon.

Lines company Orion says power has been restored to all but a few small pockets in Canterbury, with about 50 homes still without power.

About 1,700 homes in Christchurch were without power earlier on Monday afternoon, including homes in the earthquake-affected suburbs of Burwood and Spencerville.

In Christchurch, where Radio New Zealand reporters measured snow as deep as 15cm, it was falling as fast as contractors could clear it on major routes, including around the four avenues.

Christchurch Airport incident controller Geoff Eban says staff tried to clear snow from the runways and aircraft parking areas for much of the day with snow ploughs and a grader, but each time they did so, more snow fell.

The Fire Service reported power lines down in Christchurch and Rakaia, while tree branches fell on to roads with the weight of snow.

St John Ambulance attended 19 incidents, in which people were injured by slipping on ice or snow, around the South Island during the morning.

Some firms are reporting only a handful of personnel were able to make it in to work.

Kiwi still missing on Norwegian island

2011-07-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

Man accused of the killing spree in Norway was deeply influenced by a small group of American bloggers and writers who have warned for years about the threat from Islam, lacing his 1,500-page manifesto with quotations from them, as well as copying multiple passages from the tract of the Unabomber.

In the document he posted online, Anders Behring Breivik, who is accused of bombing government buildings and killing scores of young people at a Labor Party camp, showed that he had closely followed the acrimonious American debate over Islam.

His manifesto, which denounced Norwegian politicians as failing to defend the country from Islamic influence, quoted Robert Spencer, who operates the Jihad Watch Web site, 64 times, and cited other Western writers who shared his view that Muslim immigrants pose a grave danger to Western culture.

More broadly, the mass killings in Norway, with their echo of the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City by an antigovernment militant, have focused new attention around the world on the subculture of anti-Muslim bloggers and right-wing activists and renewed a debate over the focus of counterterrorism efforts.

A dual New Zealand/Norwegian national was thought to be on the island at the time of the attack.

It has been 48 hours since Anders Behring Breivik opened fire, killing 86 of the 700 youth staying at the camp.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said this morning that there had been no update on the Kiwi's whereabouts since Saturday night.

A MFAT spokesperson said she didn't have any information on how many people were still missing on the island and whether any more bodies had been found.

The New Zealand embassy in The Hague, which was accredited to Norway, was in direct contact with the New Zealander's next of kin in Norway.

The Norwegian authorities were still working to locate all those thought to be on the island at the time of the attack.

MFAT would not disclose the person's sex or age. The girl's relatives in New Zealand had been informed she was believed to be on the island.

Norway,Friday shooting trial start

2011-07-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Calling himself a crusader against a tide of Islam in a rambling 1,500-page online manifesto, the 32-year-old mass murderer wants the opportunity to explain actions he deemed "atrocious, but necessary".

Lawyer Geir Lippestad said his client had admitted to Friday's shootings at a Labor youth camp and a bomb that killed seven people in Oslo's government district, but that he denies any criminal guilt.

"He has been politically active and found out himself that he did not succeed with usual political tools and so resorted to violence," Lippestad told TV2 news.

"I await a medical assessment of him," he said.

That Breivik deliberately surrendered to police when finally confronted on the tiny island of Utoeya after cold bloodily gunning down 86 youngsters underlines his desire to grab a public platform to deliver his radical thoughts.

In other instances of gunmen going on killing sprees the perpetrators often commit suicide when the police arrive or actively provoke officers to shoot them dead.

It was not clear how long Breivik will have to talk in court since the hearing will be about custody and he will not be required to enter a guilty or innocent plea.

Friday's shooting spree lasted for around 90 minutes before Breivik surrendered to police, who immediately arrested him. Police said on Sunday that Breivik had ammunition left over.

"Breivik is being held at Oslo's police headquarters," Al Jazeera's Harry Smith, reporting from Norway's capital, said. "On Monday, he will be transferred across town for an appearance at the city's criminal court."

"His lawyer has said on that occasion [Breivik] will explain fully what he's done, and more importantly, why he did it."

Witnesses described scenes of horror among the more than 500 people attending the youth camp. Some who tried to swim to safety were even shot in the water.

The chief surgeon at a hospital treating victims of Norway's camp massacre says the killer used special bullets designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage.

And ballistics experts say so-called dum-dum bullets also are lighter in weight, can be fired with greater accuracy over varying distances and are commonly are used by air marshals and hunters of small animals.

Sveinung Sponheim, the acting police commissioner, said that all the dead had now been removed from the island and "taken to the coroner's morgue where the autopsies will be carried out".

During weekend interrogation, Breivik told police that his attacks were "cruel" but "necessary".

While he "admitted responsibility", police said, his lawyer Geir Lippestad said he was not accepting "criminal responsibility", and that his client felt he had done "nothing reprehensible".

The attacks have caused outrage in Norway amid calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty, given the maximum prison sentence the perpetrator can face is 21 years' imprisonment.

Police have not ruled out the involvement of a second gunman, and on Sunday they detained several people in a swoop on an Oslo property thought to be connected to the attacks. They were released shortly afterwards and no explosives were found.

Norway shooter to appear in court Monday

2011-07-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

The man blamed for Friday's twin terror attacks in Norway is due to make his first appearance in court.

Anders Behring Breivik, 32, admits carrying out a massacre on an island youth camp and a bombing in the capital Oslo in which at least 93 people died.

Norwegian police prosecutor Viola Bjelland, who spoke to the BBC from the Oslo police station where Anders Breivik is detained, said he had been co-operative during questioning.

Breivik's lawyer, Geir Lippestad, said his client has confessed to both attacks but has denied criminal responsibility. Lippestad said his client wants the proceedings to be open when he appears in court "because he wants to explain himself."

CTV's Omar Sachedina, reporting from Norway, said Sunday night Breivik is expected to plead not guilty despite admitting to his involvement in the attacks. If convicted, he could spend up to 21 years in jail. Norway does not execute convicted criminals, and its justice system does not have a life sentence, Sachedina said.

Meanwhile, doctors on Sunday said the shooter may have used special bullets that explode inside the body during the shooting rampage at an island retreat.

The chief surgeon treating many of the shooting victims said it is his belief that the shooter used bullets that explode inside victims and cause massive internal injuries.

Dr. Colin Poole of Ringriket Hospital in Honefoss, northwest of Oslo, said surgeons who have treated a total of 16 victims have failed to recover bullets.

"These bullets more or less exploded inside the body," Poole told The Associated Press. "It's caused us all kinds of extra problems in dealing with the wounds they cause, with very strange trajectories."

The bullets are lighter and can be fired over longer distances with better accuracy, according to ballistics experts quoted by AP. Hunters of smaller animals, as well as air marshals, most commonly use the bullets.

Police have not released the identities of any of the victims. Investigators, however, did reveal on Sunday that one of the first victims in the island shooting was an off-duty police officer who was hired by the camp directors to provide private security.

Police also said there are still people unaccounted for at both the shooting site and the government building that was bombed. Officials were at both sites Sunday searching for more victims.

Investigators said the massacre could have been far worse, as the shooter still had "a considerable amount" of ammunition for both guns he was carrying when he surrendered.

Both police and Lippestad revealed Sunday that Breivik had published a 1,500-page manifesto online that decries Muslim immigration to Europe. He also said "indigenous Europeans" who have accepted Muslims into society would be punished for the "treasonous acts."

"He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution," Lippestad told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. "He wished to attack society and the structure of society."

Police said they are analyzing the document, and continue to investigate the theory that, despite Breivik's claims he acted alone, a second shooter was involved in the attack on the island.

On a busy day for investigators, police also carried out raids in what appeared to be a residential neighbourhood in eastern Oslo on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Henning Holtaas said police did not find any weapons or explosives, and did not make any arrests.

As investigators continued probing the tragedy, mourners packed Oslo Cathedral to honour its victims.

Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja, as well as Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, joined the mourners, many of whom spilled out into the streets and solemnly stood under a steady rain.

"Many of us knew someone who died," Stoltenberg told mourners. "It's a national tragedy."

The service, which had a "sorrow and hope" theme, left both the king and queen in tears while mourners held each other and wept in the streets long after it was over.

After the service, the royal couple surveyed the damage at the bombing site, and visited victims at Ringriket Hospital.

Bruce Campbell

2011-07-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

Bruce Lorne Campbell, born June 22, 1958 is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. A legendary B movie actor, Campbell has starred in many low-budget cult films such as The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Crimewave, Army of Darkness, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat. He would later spoof his B-movie career in My Name Is Bruce, in which he starred and directed. A cult figure for most of his career, Campbell broke into the mainstream in 2007 with his portrayal of Sam Axe on the USA Network cable TV series Burn Notice and has since made appearances in mainstream films, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Cars 2.

Personal life,Background

Campbell was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Joanne Louise (née Pickens), a homemaker, and Charles Newton Campbell, an amateur actor and traveling billboard inspector. He has an older brother, Don, and an older half-brother, Michael Rendine.

Family

Campbell's first wife was Christine Deveau, whom he married in 1983. They had two children, Rebecca and Andy, before their divorce in 1989. Campbell currently lives in Jacksonville, Oregon, with his second wife, costume designer Ida Gearon, whom he met in the set of the movie Mindwarp.

Career,Early years

Bruce Campbell began acting as a teenager and soon began making small Super 8 movies with friends. After meeting Sam Raimi in Wylie E. Groves High School, the two became very good friends and started making movies together. Campbell would go on to attend Western Michigan University while he continued to work on his acting career. Campbell and Raimi collaborated on a 30-minute Super 8 version of the first Evil Dead film, titled Within the Woods, which was initially used to attract investors.

Major film roles

A few years later, Campbell and Raimi got together with other family and friends and began work on The Evil Dead. Campbell starred and worked behind the camera, receiving a "co-executive producer" credit. Raimi wrote, directed and edited, while fellow Michigander Rob Tapert was producer.

Following an endorsement by horror writer Stephen King, the film slowly began to receive distribution. Four years following its original release, it became the number one movie in the UK. It then received distribution in the U.S., spawning two sequels: Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. The first two films in the series are considered horror classics and are credited with spawning the "horror comedy" genre.

He has appeared in many of Raimi's films outside of the Evil Dead series, notably including all the Spider-Man film series. Bruce Campbell also joined the cast in Raimi's Darkman and The Quick and the Dead, though having no actual screen time in the latter film's theatrical cut.

Campbell often takes on quirky roles, such as Elvis Presley in the film Bubba Ho-tep, and appears in B-Movies and starred in My Name Is Bruce. Along with Bubba Ho-tep, he also played a supporting role in Sky High (2005 film), He also was featured in the Jim Carrey drama The Majestic. Campbell also had a key supporting role in the Coen Brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy.

Other roles for Campbell included the Michael Crichton adaptation Congo, in the McHale's Navy and the remake of John Carpenter's sequel to his classic film Escape From New York, Escape From L.A. Campbell was also the star of the Maniac Cop B-Movie franchise.

Campbell had a starring voice role in the hit film 2009 animated adaptation of the children's book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Television roles

Outside of film, Campbell has appeared in a number of television series. He starred in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. a boisterous science fiction comedy western created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse that ran for one season. He played a lawyer turned bounty hunter who was trying to hunt down John Bly, the man who killed his father. He starred in the television series Jack of All Trades, set on a fictional island, occupied by the French in 1801. Campbell was also credited as co-executive producer, among others. The show was directed by Eric Gruendemann, and was produced by various people, including Sam Raimi. The show aired for two seasons, from 2000 to 2001. He had a recurring role as "Bill Church Jr." on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

In 1996–1997, Campbell was a recurring guest star on the show Ellen as Ed Billik, who becomes Ellen's boss when she sells her bookstore in season four. He is also known for his supporting role as the recurring character Autolycus ("the King of Thieves") on both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, which reunited him with producer Rob Tapert. Campbell played Hercules/Xena series producer Tapert in two episodes of Hercules set in the present. He directed a number of episodes of Hercules and Xena, including the Hercules series finale. Campbell also landed the lead role of race car driver Hank Cooper in the Disney made-for-television remake of The Love Bug.

Campbell made a critically acclaimed dramatic guest role as a grief-stricken detective seeking revenge for his father's murder in a two-part episode of the fourth season of Homicide: Life on the Street. Campbell later played the part of a bigamous demon in The X-Files episode, "Terms of Endearment".

Voice acting

Campbell is featured as a voice actor in several video game titles. He provides the voice of Ash in the three games based on the Evil Dead film series; Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick and Evil Dead: Regeneration. As well as titles such as Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle, Spider-Man: The Movie, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

He provided the voice of main character Jake Logan in the PC title, Tachyon: The Fringe, the voice of main character Jake Burton in the PlayStation game Broken Helix and the voice of Magnanimous in Megas XLR. Campbell voiced the pulp adventurer Lobster Johnson in Hellboy: The Science of Evil and has done voice-over work for the Codemaster's game Hei$t, a game which was announced on the 28 January 2010 to have been "terminated". He also provided the voice of The Mayor in the 2009 film Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and the voice of Rod "Torque" Redline in Cars 2.

Writing,Autobiography

In addition to acting and occasionally directing, Campbell has become a writer, including authoring an autobiography, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. The autobiography was a successful New York Times Best Seller. The paperback version of the book adds a chapter about the reaction of fans at book signings.

"Whenever I do mainstream stuff, I think they're pseudo-interested, but they're still interested in seeing weirdo, offbeat stuff. And that's what I'm attracted to."

If Chins Could Kill... was published in 2002 and follows Campbell's career to date as an actor in low-budget films and television, providing his insight into "Blue-Collar Hollywood".

Comedy

Campbell has also written a book titled Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way, a comical novel featuring himself as the main character struggling to make it into the world of A-list movies. He later recorded an audio play adaptation of Make Love with fellow Michigan actors including long time collaborator Ted Raimi. This radio drama styled interpretation of the novel was released through independent label Rykodisc and spans 6 discs with a 6 hour running time.

In addition to his novels, Campbell also wrote a column for X Ray Magazine in 2001, an issue of the popular comic series The Hire, comic book adaptations of his Man With The Screaming Brain and most recently he wrote the introduction to Josh Becker's The Complete Guide To Low Budget Feature Film Making.

Blog

Campbell maintains a blog on his official website, where he posted mainly about politics and the film industry.

Filmography

Films

1977 It's Murder! N/A Sam Raimi Short film

1978 Within the Woods Ashley J. "Ash" Williams

1981 The Evil Dead

1983 Going Back Brice Chapman Ron Teachworth

1985 Crimewave Renaldo 'The Heel' Sam Raimi

Stryker's War Video newscaster Josh Becker

1987 Evil Dead II Ashley J. "Ash" Williams Sam Raimi

1988 Maniac Cop Jack Forrest William Lustig

1989 Intruder Officer Howard Scott Spiegel

Moontrap Ray Tanner Robert Dyke

The Dead Next Door Voice J.R. Bookwalter

1990 Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat Robert Van Helsing Anthony Hickox

Maniac Cop 2 Jack Forrest William Lustig

Darkman Final Shemp Sam Raimi Cameo

1991 Lunatics: A Love Story Ray Josh Becker

1992 Eddie Presley Asylum Attendant Jeff Burr

Waxwork II: Lost in Time John Loftmore Anthony Hickox

Mindwarp Stover Steve Barnett

Army of Darkness Ashley J. "Ash" Williams Sam Raimi

1994 The Hudsucker Proxy Smitty Joel and Ethan Coen

1995 Congo Charles Travis Frank Marshall

The Demolitionist Raffle Winner Robert Kurtzman

1996 Fargo Soap Opera Actor Joel and Ethan Coen

Tornado! Jake Thorne Noel Nosseck Television film

Escape from L.A. Surgeon General of Beverly Hills John Carpenter

Assault on Dome 4 Alex Windham Gilbert Po Television film

1997 In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory Jeff Erickson Dick Lowry

Menno's Mind Mick Dourif, Rebel Leader Jon Kroll

Running Time Carl Josh Becker

McHale's Navy Virgil Bryan Spicer

The Love Bug Hank Cooper Peyton Reed Television film

Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure Pierce Thomas 'PT' Madison John Power

1998 The Ice Rink Actor Jean-Philippe Toussaint

1999 From Dusk till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money Barry Scott Spiegel

2000 Icebreaker Carl Greig David Giancola

Timequest William Roberts Robert Dyke

2001 Hubert's Brain Thompson Phil Alden Robinson Voice

The Majestic Roland the Intrepid Explorer Frank Darabont

2002 Spider-Man Ring Announcer Sam Raimi Cameo

Bubba Ho-tep Elvis Presley Don Coscarelli

Serving Sara Gordon Moore Reginald Hudlin

Terminal Invasion Jack Sean S. Cunningham Television film

2003 Drugs Bruce Chad Peter Direct-to-video

Intolerable Cruelty Soap opera actor on TV Joel and Ethan Coen

2004 The Ladykillers Humane Society Worker

Spider-Man 2 Snooty Usher Sam Raimi Cameo

2005 Alien Apocalypse Dr. Ivan Hood Josh Becker Television film

Man with the Screaming Brain William Cole Bruce Campbell

Sky High Coach Boomer Mike Mitchell

2006 The Woods Joe Fasulo Lucky McKee

Touch the Top of the World Ed Weihenmayer Peter Winther Television film

The Ant Bully Fugax John A. Davis Voice

2007 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Chicken Bittle Matt Maiellaro, Dave Willis

Spider-Man 3 Maître d’ Sam Raimi Cameo

My Name is Bruce Bruce Campbell Bruce Campbell

2009 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Mayor Shelbourne Phil Lord and Chris Miller Voice

White on Rice Muramoto Dave Boyle

2011 Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe Sam Axe Jeffrey Donovan Television film

Cars 2 Rod "Torque" Redline John Lasseter, Brad Lewis Voice

Sydney helicopter crash bodies recovered

2011-07-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

Sydney businessman Bruce Campbell, 65, and his pilot Col, 35, were killed in the dramatic incident.

Mr Campbell, owner of Davcron Engineering, was making his weekly trip from the company's headquarters in Granville to his home at the family property at Wyee when the chopper crashed.

The helicopter was torn apart as it crashed into bushland at South Turramurra, near Kissing Point Rd, at about 9.15am.

Emergency services found the burning wreck of the Bell 206 at the bottom of a 10-metre cliff and had to abseil down to reach the crash site.

Fire and Rescue NSW inspector Chris Bishop said central impact was at the base of the cliff.

"The scene was horrific," Mr Bishop said.

The chopper was destroyed. It was a horrific scene for all crews working there."

Witnesses have told police the helicopter suffered a mechanical failure before it went down.

"A number of witnesses said they saw a part fly off the back of the helicopter," he said.

Kevin Williams, who is a volunteer with the Ku-ring-gai Netball Association, told the North Shore Times he was in the clubhouse near the crash scene at the time of the accident.

"I heard a clatter, clatter and I rushed outside of the netball clubhouse a couple of paces and I saw black smoke coming from out of the bush.

"Apparently it came across upside down."

He said the clubhouse was being used as a command post.

Another resident who did not wish to be named said she heard a loud noise about 8.30am.

"I think the helicopter must have clipped the top of a tree before going down," she said.

"The helicopter had been overhead for at least 30 minutes before the accident.

Mr Greenwood was not the regular pilot of the helicopter but he had flown Mr Campbell from western Sydney to Wyee more than 40 times, Mr Stephens said.

Heavy rain delayed investigations into the crash on Friday.

The bodies were not removed until 3.25pm (AEST) on Saturday - 30 hours after the helicopter had crashed and caught fire.

Police had originally planned to airlift them out of bushland but chose to put their bodies on stretchers because of the rugged terrain, a spokesman told AAP.

Investigators returned to the site shortly after 8am (AEST) on Saturday, when the rain had cleared.

A forensics team spent much of the day taking photographs.

A police Eurocopter repeatedly flew over the crash site, using a netball court at the end of Canoon Road as a helipad.

Police rescuers were seen preparing to abseil down the steep cliffs during the morning, before the media were asked to move further back.

A couple visited the netball court, used as a police command post, and laid a bunch of sunflowers with a card which said: "In loving memory of Bruce and Col. Love always Sean, Michelle and Liam."

They declined to speak to the media.

The bodies will now be taken to a morgue for a post-mortem.

Kuring-Gai Local Area Command police are preparing a report for the NSW Coroner.

Mr Campbell founded Davcron Engineering Pty Ltd, based at Granville, in the early 1980s, naming the firm after his three sons David, Christian and Simon.

Mr Campbell was a grandfather of five.

His wife Colleen died of cancer several years ago while Mr Campbell himself recently beat bowel cancer.

"That's why we all thought he was made of granite," Mr Stephens said.

Anders Behring Breivik

2011-07-23T04:22:00.000-07:00

Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian citizen, and the suspected perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, although it is yet unknown if he acted alone. On 22 July 2011, he allegedly approached a Labour Party youth camp on Utøya island, posing as a police officer, and then indiscriminately opened fire on the adolescents present, reportedly killing at least 84. He has also been linked with the bomb blasts which had taken place approximately two hours earlier in Oslo. He was arrested on Utøya, and is currently in police custody. Following his apprehension, Breivik was characterized by officials as being a conservative right-wing extremist. According to Reuters and the BBC, deputy police chief Roger Andresen described the suspect as a "Christian fundamentalist.

Breivik studied at the Oslo Commerce School, and is described by newspaper Verdens Gang as conservative and nationalist. He is also a former member of the Progress Party (FrP) and its youth wing FpU. According to the current FpU leader Ove Vanebo, Breivik was active early in the 2000s, but he left the party as his viewpoints became more extreme. He expresses his sympathies for Winston Churchill, Geert Wilders and Norwegian anti-Nazi World War II hero Max Manus on his alleged Facebook profile.

According to the newspaper VG, he has no previous history with the police, apart from traffic violations. According to the same source, Breivik has a Glock pistol, a rifle and a shotgun registered to his name. Breivik moved in late June or early July to the rural small town of Rena in Åmot, Hedmark county, about 140 km (86 miles) northeast of Oslo, where he operated a farming sole proprietorship under the name "Breivik Geofarm. It has been speculated that he could have used the company as a cover legally to obtain large amounts of artificial fertilizer and other chemicals for the manufacturing of fertilizer explosives. According to Reuters, a farming supplier had sold the Breivik 6 tonnes of fertilizer in May.