Happy birthday Dad.
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Child obesity epidemic 'a myth'
Doubts have been raised over the so-called childhood obesity epidemic, with an Australian researcher saying obesity rates have stalled.
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Binge drinking solution: Make light beer cheaper
Excises should be removed on light beer to cut alcohol-related crime and health complications, VicHealth chief executive Todd Harper says.
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UN halts aid to Gaza over safety fears
The United Nations halted aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday, citing Israeli attacks on its staff and installations hours after it said gunfire from an Israeli tank killed one of its drivers.
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Police attacked by 100 teens at MySpace party
Police were forced to take cover as up to 100 drunken teenagers pelted them with rocks and bottles when they tried to break up a wild party advertised on social networking website MySpace.
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Gaza attacks claim more than 700 lives
Palestinian fighters killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded several more on Thursday in clashes and rocket attacks on Israel, the military said.
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Australians killed by freak glacier collapse
Two Australian tourists were killed when 100 tonnes of ice collapsed on them at the Fox Glacier in New Zealand's Southern Alps, after reportedly ignoring a safety barrier.
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Democracy activist jailed for six years in China
A 65-year-old democracy activist who tried to set up an opposition party in China has been sentenced to six years in jail, a human rights group said on Thursday.
A court in Hangzhou, a prosperous city in eastern Zhejiang province, sentenced Wang Rongqing on Wednesday on charges of subverting state power for organising the banned China Democracy Party, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Wang was detained in June, two months before the Olympic Games started, the group said.
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Barack Obama urges spending jolt to avert 'severe' recession
By P Parameswaran
US president-elect Barack Obama warned that only immediate and massive spending to jolt the world's largest economy could avert a deep recession and double-digit unemployment.
The economic costs of not launching a huge stimulus even in the face of a budget deficit forecast to top $US1 trillion ($A1.41 trillion) this year could be far worse, he said.
"I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years," Obama said, as he prepares to take office on January 20.
He warned that if nothing were done "the unemployment rate could reach double digits ... Our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world. In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse."
Despite a Democratic majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Obama will need to sell the stimulus package to a Congress where Republicans have expressed strong opposition, complaining of opacity and open-ended promises in the stimulus while questioning how much of the huge sums would actually trigger growth.
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US ambassador says Britain in Guantanamo talks
THE outgoing US ambassador to London says talks have been held with British officials about Britain accepting some Guantanamo Bay detainees if the camp for terrorist suspects is closed.
"I would hope that if the UK could see its way through to take some detainees, that would certainly be helpful," Ambassador Robert Tuttle told The Times of London.
"Certainly there have been discussions over that issue," said Tuttle, who is due to leave his post next month.
The US Embassy confirmed the ambassador's quotes were accurate, but declined to elaborate.
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LONG MAY WE DWINDLE
Tim Blair
All hail the dwindling rearguard:
Cold snaps are routinely seized upon by a dwindling rearguard of climate skeptics as “proof” that climate change is exaggerated or an outright fabrication, [leading French climate scientist Jean] Jouzel said.
We’ll give it up as soon as this decade-long cold snap ends.
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GAZA STRIPS
Tim Blair
The Middle East Media Research Institute reports:
The following excerpt was broadcast on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV on January 7, 2009 at 3:00 am. Presumably, the Hamas technician on duty got bored with the live image of Gaza at night, and decided to view other satellite channels, focusing on the Polish erotic channel Patio TV.
What he did not realize was that the images were being aired live on Al-Aqsa TV. This went on for about six minutes; the image of Gaza at night was then restored.
For six minutes, the production of modest, home-made rockets was temporarily halted.
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TURNED AWAY AT THE INN, JUST LIKE JOSEPH AND MARY
Tim Blair
Keith Olbermann and Margaret Carlson discuss the terrible Blair House snubbing of Barack and Michelle Obama. Carlson – a fake turkey believer, of course – suggests that John Howard’s Washington visit is part of a Bush-led anti-Obama hotel conspiracy:
Considering that no opinion polls have recently asked about the popularity or otherwise of Howard – there’s no point, seeing as he’s retired – that exchange is puzzling
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