- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by D_pat

15 feared dead as boat sinks off Australia

Pat — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:21:25 +0000

About 15 people were feared dead on Monday after a boat carrying 39 sank in rough seas far off northwest Australia despite frantic rescue attempts by a passing merchant ship and fishing vessel.

Defence chief Angus Houston said the unidentified boat capsized and then sank after the LNG Pioneer ship and Taiwanese fishing craft responded to pleas for help in a remote area off Australia’s Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

It was not confirmed whether the boat was one of dozens of people-smuggling vessels that have headed to Australia this year carrying more than 1,700 asylum-seekers, many of them from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

“I understand when the first ship got there, this vessel was still intact,” Houston said.

“Somehow or other during the process of interaction between the ship and trawler and also the stricken vessel, there’s been a capsize and people ended up in the water.”

Australian dwarf race branded an embarrassment

Pat — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:40:35 +0000

The controversial “Midget’s Cup” took place at the Cranbourne Cup in Melbourne on Sunday. The event involved dwarves being carried on the backs of men who were racing each other to the winning post. At one point, one of the...

New twist in Melbourne mafia war - matriarch is charged over family murder

Pat — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:26:28 +0000

It is a tale worthy of a Scorsese script: warring factions and families embark a bloody battle to reign over a city’s organised crime scene, spanning two decades and involving death, destruction and mayhem on the streets of one of Australia’s biggest cities. But this drug turf war is fact, not fiction, and this week it erupted again.

The underworld battle – dubbed Victoria’s gangland war – began in 1998 and has resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people. On Monday, after two years of relative peace, it was re-ignited with the broad daylight killing of a member of one of the leading families.

The alleged murder was followed by a dramatic series of events which left even the hardened police investigating the Sopranos-style saga scratching their heads in disbelief.

Nature Loss Dwarfs Bank Crisis

Pat — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:39:51 +0000

The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5...

Astronomers find a planet denser than lead

Pat — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:21:59 +0000

Before 1995, we couldn’t have said that with any certainty. Now we know of more than 300 planets orbiting distant stars, and we have a fleet of telescopes looking for them. The ultimate goal is to find another Earth orbiting a star like the Sun,...

Fake Signs have Some Folk Fuming

Pat — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:16:11 +0000

A MYSTERY artist is having fun with motorists by installing witty road signs in the Frankston area. But not everyone’s amused. The signs - including a speed hump sign with a couple in bed - have been causing offence among...