News for Week 11 of 2010

News — By ken on March 15, 2010 at 12:03 pm

• Tactics and Luck Kept U.S. Health Care Bill Alive
• P-plater caught driving 250kph
• Russians protest Putin government
• Anti-war protesters take to DC streets
• U.S. Turns a Blind Eye to Opium in Afghan Town
• Aussies line up for world’s largest toilet queue
• Kangaroo knocks runner unconscious
• Airline strike fails to halt British Airways
• Qantas customers will fly during British Airways strike
• Twin bombs rock Athens
• Sixth digger wounded in roadside bomb
• Strong quake hits off Papua New Guinea
• Earthquake shakes New Zealand’s Central Otago
• Sandstorms blanket Beijing in yellow dust
• Irish victims disappointed by Pope abuse apology
• Dutch navy frees suspected pirates
• Police say ‘music producer’ scammed $6.5m
• 5.6 magnitude quake strikes Cuba
• Viacom, Google accuse other of YouTube hypocrisy
• Google working with Intel, Sony on TV project: report
• Facebook trumps Google in visitor rankings
• Facebook agrees to pedophile panic button
• Web of fraud lies in wait for teenagers
• Decision on .xxx porn ‘ghetto’ delayed
• London hospital to treat internet-addicted teens
• Hadron Collider sets record for beam energy
• Kiwi criminals run riot on parole
• Fears of gangland war as vicious Irish criminal released
• Cheap air flight to Thialand for euthanasia drugs
• Virgin Mobile punished for sending spam
• Robot teachers make the grade with pupils
• New media fail to click on the reliability scale
• Social networking in a disaster zone
• Hate taking root on social networks: study
• Killer snowslide big enough to level buildings: police

Associated Press Top Stories

AssociatedPress March 20, 2010
Here’s the latest news for Saturday March 20: Obama rallies House Democrats on eve of health care vote; Pope apologises to Irish abuse victims; Fargo residents holding their breath and a surprise win for St. Mary’s.

Melbourne riot

Police say up to 2,000 people were involved in a protest that turned into a riot at a tyre shop in Oakleigh in Melbourne’s south-east.

Neville Smith, a Bob Jane T-marts store owner, says he was unfairly targeted by car racing fans who trashed his franchise business to protest the cancellation of a race meet.

He said the protesters caused about $15,000 in damage, smashing most of windows on his business, stealing several items and turning over a car.

The protest had started peacefully around 11pm on Friday but quickly grew in size.

The commotion was prompted after the EasterNats race meet at Calder Park Raceway was cancelled earlier this week, and the crowds on Friday night decided to vent their anger on one of the sponsor’s stores.

EasterNats promoter Jon Davison said Bob Jane had cancelled the event, ‘as a result of our inability to finalise a satisfactory contract’.

About 50 police units were in attendance when members of the air wing, dog squad and force response units were brought in to disperse the crowd, which stopped traffic at the intersection of the Princes Highway and Warrigal Road for two hours.

NewsOnABC March 19, 2010
A protest has turned into a riot at a tyre shop in Oakleigh in Melbourne’s south-east.

• Fiery Obama drums up health care votes
• Q&A: US healthcare reform
• Healthcare around the world
• Democrats in fierce talks to secure ‘yes’ votes
• Russia-U.S. tensions remain
• Minister denies reports of deadly mine collapse
• NT youth ‘afraid to walk streets’
• Violence flares as hip hop artist bailed
• Lifesaving titles suspended after teenager’s death
• Robbers placed job ad for accomplices
• Man shot after refusing to give up train seat
• Balcony fall murderer on reign of terror, court told
• Cycleways blamed for fatal accidents
• Israel told to cease settlement activity
• Glow-in-the-dark sperm sheds light on fertility
• ‘Marriages between cousins puts children at risk
• Octuplets, mother could be evicted
• Bus Driver accused of ‘making out’ with disabled woman
• Cardinal sued by woman who accused priest of raping her
• UK ‘ignored torture among asylum seeker
• Fury over $550m scam
• There’s a new routine for brushing killer whale’s teeth at SeaWorld
• Tomorrow’s world – as we saw it
• Hollywood stars help prevent suicide after Twitter alert
• Katherine Heigl’s dress malfunction
• The Curse of the Oscars
• Peter Jackson’s kingdom grows
• On stage nerves for Emma Watson

Associated Press Top Stories

AssociatedPress March 19, 2010
Here’s the latest news for Friday March 19: President Obama lobbies intensively for health care; North Dakota flood concerns; Seven years since U.S. invasion of Iraq and a court loss for Anna Nicole Smith’s estate.

March Madness; A Reason to Get a Vasectomy?

AssociatedPress March 19, 2010
A Wisconsin health care clinic is giving men an excuse to stay home during March Madness. Have a vasectomy, and recover in front of the television.

Too sexy?

NewsOnABC March 19, 2010
Researchers have warned about the damaging impact of an increase in sexualised images of children in advertising.

Carmakers to invest $2 billion in UK

NewsOnABC March 18, 2010
Nissan and McLaren have announced plans to manufacture an electric car and a high production road car, respectively, in the United Kingdom.

AP Top Storiies

AssociatedPress March 18, 2010
Here’s the latest news for Thursday, March 18th: Obama cancels trip; Accused terrorist in court; Auschwitz verdict; NCAA tournament.

Hip, Young Jewish Community Thrives in Berlin

AssociatedPress March 18, 2010
When American Rabbi Joshua Spinner moved to Berlin’s trendy Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood a decade ago, there were no other Jews to be seen. Now the area has a young, vibrant Jewish community.

Fifth Avenue in New York goes green

NewsOnABC March 18, 2010
The world’s oldest and largest St Patrick’s Day celebration has hit the streets of Fifth Avenue in New York.

London calling Australian tourists

NewsOnABC March 18, 2010
Australian tourists in London get more for their money as the dollar rides high against the pound.

• Self-extinguishing cigarettes law welcomed
• All ‘trafficked’ Haiti quake orphans have parents
• Body found under hotel bed as guests sleep
• Berlusconi caught out trying to stifle media
• Shiite rebels release 180 Yemen prisoners
• Drone strike kills CIA attack plotter
• Pakistan charges five US terror suspects
• Mum’s joy as kidnapped British boy found in Pakistan
• Australian troops wounded by roadside bomb
• 35 die in fiery Afghanistan bus crash
• Sabotage behind fatal asylum boat blast
• Jordan demands action to stop Israel
• CIA chief: Al-Qaeda weak as leaders stay in hiding
• ‘I was abused on set’, claims Hey Dad! star
• Vienna Boys’ Choir hit by abuse accusations
• Catholic church urged to hold sex abuse inquiries
• Ex-Scientologist ‘pressured’ to have abortions
• US Tampon ads can’t mention “Vagina”
• 17 Australians missing after Fiji cyclone
• Aid arrives in cyclone-ravaged Fiji
• Alcohol is Pacific’s biggest problem drug
• Dingoes may be world’s oldest dog breed
• ABC expansion within its charter: Conroy
• Conroy ignores order to release broadband report
• Oldest Australian film found and restored
• Prepare for new farming revolution, CSIRO says
• Democrats Inch Toward Securing Votes for Health Bill
• GOP already organizing repeal
• Obama has testy Fox News interview
• Obama set to sign $17.6-billion jobs bill after Senate passage
• China won’t bow to U.S. currency demands
• Wave of student suicides hits Ivy League campus
• Kit Kat spat goes viral despite Nestlé’s efforts
• Black people told to leave Walmart over store intercom
• Pop star Julia Alexandratou’s sex tape gives Greece a welcome break from debt crisis blues
• Kidnapped. Raped. Married. The extraordinary rebellion of Ethiopia’s abducted wives
• Facebook hit by virus-laden spam

Man Wakes Up in Bed With Alleged Burglar

AssociatedPress March 17, 2010
Pittsburgh police say a man broke into a stranger’s home and climbed in bed with the owner, apparently because he was drunk and cold following a rap concert.

Shock Over ‘Electrifying’ French Game Show

AssociatedPress March 17, 2010
In a reality game show, set to air Wednesday night in France, contestants deliver electrical shocks to a fellow contestant every time he gets an answer wrong. But the program is not all it seems.

Jailer Allegedly Rips Out Inmate’s Gold ‘Grill’

AssociatedPress March 17, 2010
When a Tennessee jailer ripped the gold grill from a new inmate’s teeth two days before Thanksgiving last year, it left the 31-year-old man in excruciating pain. The Nashville Metro Council agreed to pay the inmate nearly $100,000 in damages.

Cyclone Devastates Fiji, Damage ‘Overwhelming’

AssociatedPress March 17, 2010
Fiji has suffered overwhelming damage in a powerful weekend cyclone, the prime minister said Wednesday, as the first word of houses blown away, trees uprooted, and roads blocked trickled in from regions cut off since the storm.

US Attorney General Eric Holder: Osama Bin Laden Will Never Face US Trial

AssociatedPress March 17, 2010
Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress on Tuesday Osama bin Laden will never face trial in the U.S. because he will not be captured alive. In exchanges with House Republicans, Holder compared terrorists to mass murderer Charles Manson.

• ‘Hit teams’ kill US consular staff in Mexico
• Georgia accused of approving Russian invasion hoax
• Taliban militants killed in Pakistan chopper attack
• Australian soldiers capture Taliban commander
• Insurgent attacks kill dozens in Kandahar
• Israel captures senior Hamas militant
• Israeli settlement plan ‘insults’ US
• Two arrested for plotting fresh Mumbai attacks
• Islamist plot arrests trigger doubts over racial profiling
• UK ‘ignored torture among asylum seekers’
• Scottish Parliament faces £5m bill for new suicide bomber defence
• Thailand’s red shirts deliver ultimatum
• Beheaded Mexicans dumped in tourist spot
• China blames U.S. for tensions
• Strong earthquake jolts northern Japan
• Powerful quake hits Indonesia
• Fiji, Solomon Islands brace for cyclones
• Cyclone Tomas Fiji’s worst in 20 years – Red Cross
• China warns of double-dip recession
• China Uses Rules on Global Trade to Its Advantage
• Britain poised to axe House of Lords
• Adviser won’t confirm Obama trip to Australia and Indonesia
• Italians protest against Berlusconi
• British pair face jail for kissing in Dubai
• At least 3 dead in Canadian avalanche
• Pardon sought for Breaker Morant
• Solo rower celebrates trans-Tasman feat
• Tiger could return within weeks: PGA boss
• Train drags man along track
• Traders seek free camels from Australia
• Overuse of CT scans ‘putting patients at risk’
• One too many: Qld considers 0.02 drink driving limit
• Mr Shuffles wobbles into new home
• Ancient sarcophagus back in Egypt
• Adventurer finishes solo row across Tasman
• Actor Peter Graves has died
• Lawmaker’s aide casts doubt on Prius control problem
• Priest’s victims forced into vow of silence
• BBC feels force of Bob Geldof’s anger
• How sign language helps babies
• More money makes society miserable
• Canadian scientists uncover poppy’s painkilling power
• Principal’s head kicked like a ball: witness
• NZ-Aust union ‘not going to happen’
• Anglo’s Austrian banking arm in mob-cash probe
• EU in denial over Greek plans

Associated Press Top Stories

AssociatedPress March 14, 2010
Here’s the latest news for March 14th: Lawyer downplays Congressional memo on runaway Toyota Prius; Thousands without power following strong northeast storms; Quake rattles Japan; Baby elephant makes public debut.

Three With Ties to U.S. Consulate Killed in Mexico

AssociatedPress March 14, 2010
Three people with ties to the American consulate were killed in a drug-plagued Mexican city, including a U.S. couple shot to death with their baby in their back seat, officials said Sunday.

US Mom: Daughter Held in Ireland ‘lost Her Mind’

AssociatedPress March 14, 2010
A Colo. woman recalls that her 31-year-old daughter who had been held in connection with an alleged assassination plot announced she had converted to Islam and told her family they’d go to hell if they didn’t follow in her footsteps.

Canadian Avalanche aftermath

NewsOnABC March 14, 2010
Rescuers search for survivors after an avalanche struck during a snowmobile rally in Canada’s Rocky Mountains.

Relations strained between US and Israel

NewsOnABC March 14, 2010
White House Official David Axelrod says Israel’s settlement plan has made the Middle East peace process more difficult and undermines the efforts of the US.

NZ Adventurer completes historic voyage

NewsOnABC March 14, 2010
New Zealander Shaun Quincey has become the second person to row solo across the Tasman Sea.

Inquiry explores Navy ’sex ring’

NewsOnABC March 12, 2010
A second investigation is being held into allegations that sex contests were run by male sailors aboard the HMAS Success.