Greg Inglis Calls Last-Second Field-Goal Shot In South Sydney's 8-6 Loss To Dragons 'a Brain Explosion'

Greg Inglis is one of rugby league's best players, but it appears his mathematics ability leaves a bit to be desired.

The Rabbitohs were trailing St George Illawarra 8-6 with just seconds left on the clock in a brutal encounter at a sodden SCG on Sunday when Inglis inexplicably decided a one-point field goal was his best option.

"Put that on the blooper reel, I will sit back at have a laugh at it," Inglis said.

"It was a bit of a brain explosion at the end there, not much else I can say about it."........ Read More

Sam Burgess stretchered off as South Sydney Rabbitohs lose to Dragons at the SCG

South Sydney lost a brutally physical clash with St George Illawarra at the SCG on Sunday afternoon, but the result of the game was secondary to concerns about superstar forward Sam Burgess.

With Souths trailing by two points, the 2014 Clive Churchill medallist took a hard run at the line in the 52nd minute, ducking his head into a tackle by fellow Englishman Mike Cooper.

The ball came loose and the Dragons started congratulating one another, but any jubilation quickly gave way to worry as Burgess' pain became clear.

Trainers worked to secure his neck and the television cameras flashed first to younger brothers George and Tom on the sidelines, before landing on their distraught mother, Julie, in the stands.

Burgess appeared to be moving freely while being seen to on the rain-soaked surface and was eventually taken away by a motorised medicab........ Read More

Melbourne Storm remain unbeaten with win over Warriors, St George Illawarra hold off South Sydney: as it happened

Sunday NRL action in round three kicked off with the Storm sinking the Warriors to go to the top of the ladder as the only unbeaten team in the league after three rounds.

South Sydney could have joined them with victory over the Dragons but, in abysmal weather at the SCG, the Dragons won a war of attrition 8-6.

Both teams suffered injuries, the worst of which was a frightening moment with Sam Burgess, who was taken from the field on a medicab after appearing to injure his neck in a second-half charge.......... Read More

Exiled Tibetans Vote to Elect Political Leader To Succeed Dalai Lama

Exiled Tibetans have started voting to elect a political leader for the next five years in a bid to help sustain their struggle to secure complete autonomy for Chinese-ruled Tibet.

Key points:

Tibetans in exile vote to elect diplomatic and political leader Comes after Dalai Lama's decision to relinquish political authority The Central Tibetan Administration is based in Dharamsala, India Men and women in colourful dresses formed long queues outside temporary polling booths in a Buddhist temple in Dharamsala, a town in India's Himalayan foothills where a community of Tibetans lives in exile with the Dalai Lama.

The second such election follows a decision by the Dalai Lama, the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate, to relinquish his political authority and vest it in a democratic system that could outlast him.

China does not recognise the government that represents more than 100,000 exiled Tibetans living mainly in India, Nepal and Bhutan......... Read More

Mark Hunt KOs Frank Mir with one punch in UFC Brisbane

Australia's Mark Hunt has scored a stunning first-round knockout of two-time UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the UFC Fight Night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

After a tentative opening the 41-year-old landed the decisive blow with the first real scoring punch of the fight, his right hand to the head of Mir ended the contest with one minute and 59 seconds remaining in the round, to the delight of the home crowd.

Mir shimmied to avoid a left jab from Hunt but did not see the follow-up right hand which sent him to the canvas and led the referee to wave the fight off, to give Hunt his ninth knockout in UFC.

Sydney's Super Samoan, who was ranked as the No.9 heavyweight contender will now climb the rankings and is one step closer to a shot at the heavyweight title he craves.

As for Mir (now 18-11), at 36 his dreams of equalling a record by winning the heavyweight crown three times appears in tatters.

In the main undercard attraction, number 9-ranked welterweight Neil Magny stopped Hector Lombard via technical knockout in the third round of their contest......... Read More

Queensland Referendum Closes In On A 'Yes' For Four-Year Fixed Parliamentary Terms

Queensland's political system is set for its biggest shake-up in decades as a referendum for fixed four-year terms looks likely to succeed.

On Sunday afternoon, just under half of the three million votes had been counted, the yes vote held a 53.16 per cent margin to the no vote's 46.84 per cent.

The Palaszczuk Government remained cautiously optimistic after driving the yes campaign with advertisements and a bipartisan promotional tour in the week leading into polling day.

Road Safety Minister Mark Bailey said Queenslanders had decided they wanted a stable government.

"I think Queenslanders are showing good sense in terms of having provisions that other states have had for a long time," he said.

Shadow Attorney-General Ian Walker said the result made sense........ Read More

Wombat Joey's Romp On Tasmania's Flinders Island A Hit On Facebook

A wombat joey named Derrick has caught the attention of thousands of social media users after he took a shine to a photographer on Tasmania's Flinders Island.

Sean Scott was working on the island when he was approached by the pint-sized animal.

"I met a lady who had Derrick and wanted to show me him, so I got a chance to have a bit of look at him," he said.

"I was down on the beach when I met him and he just popped out of the bag and followed me around."

The lady who approached Mr Scott with Derrick works with Kate Mooney, known as the wombat lady of Flinders Island for her work taking care of orphaned and injured marsupials.

Over more than a decade and a half, Ms Mooney has hand-raised more than 100 baby wombats which have been rescued from the pouches of road kill or otherwise orphaned....... Read More

Bus crash in Spain kills 13 people travelling between Valencia and Barcelona

Thirteen people have been killed and 44 injured when a bus carrying foreign exchange students crashed in north-eastern Spain.

All the dead were female, according to a regional government source who requested anonymity.

The students were on a European exchange program in Catalonia and were from 16 different countries including Britain, Ukraine, Switzerland, Sweden but also Japan and New Zealand, said regional government official Jordi Jane.

The casualties' nationalities was not immediately known, said Mr Jane, revising down an earlier death toll of 14.

The accident occurred just before 6:00am (local time) near the small town of Freginals, about 150 kilometres south of Barcelona as the bus was returning from a popular festival in Valencia.

The driver "hit the railing on the right and swerved to the left so violently that the bus veered onto the other side of the highway," Mr Jane said......... Read More

Barrier Reef Coral Bleaching Threat Level Increased, Greg Hunt Announces Funding For Survey

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt says the coral bleaching threat level on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will be increased to its highest level.

Mr Hunt took a flight over Lizard Island in Queensland's far north to view the bleaching event, after researchers working on the island reported the worst level of bleaching in 15 years.

But Mr Hunt said it was not as bad as first thought.

"It is not as severe at this stage as 1998 or 2002, which were both El Nino-related events, it is however, in the northern parts a cause for concern,"' Mr Hunt said.

"The reef is 2,300 kilometres long and the bottom three-quarters is in strong condition, but as we head north, it becomes increasingly prone to bleaching.

"Essentially what you could see was patches of coral bleaching as you approached Lizard Island."........ Read More

Istanbul Bomber Identified As Turkish Member of Islamic State Mehmet Ozturk

A Turkish member of the Islamic State (IS) militant group was responsible for the suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed three Israelis and an Iranian and wounded dozens of others, Turkey's Interior Minister says.

Efkan Ala identified the bomber as a man born in the southern province of Gaziantep, adding that five people have been detained so far in relation to the bombing.

"We have determined that Mehmet Ozturk, born in 1992 in Gaziantep, has carried out the heinous attack on Saturday in Istanbul," Mr Ala said.

"It has been established that he is a member of Daesh," he added, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

Police were on high alert across Turkey on Sunday in the wake of the attack.

Streets across Istanbul — usually bustling with traffic and pedestrians on Sundays — were eerily quiet apart from the sound of police helicopters buzzing overhead. Television footage showed Istiklal Street virtually empty........ Read More

FlyDubai Plane Crash: Russia Opens criminal Case, Commemorates Victims

Russia has opened a criminal investigation into FlyDubai flight FZ981, which crashed during bad weather at Rostov-on-Don airport, killing 62 people.

The Boeing 777-800 was carrying 55 passengers and seven crew when it crashed at 3:40am Saturday local time (11:40pm AEDT).

The plane, which crashed during its second attempt to land, had been in a mid-air holding pattern for more than two hours, the US-based Flight Safety Foundation said.

Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case and said poor conditions, pilot error or a technical failure may have caused the crash, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency said.

FlyDubai's CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith said it was "too early" to determine the cause, but ruled out speculation a bomb was onboard...... Read More

Chelsea Bonner On The Size of Beauty: Why Are Models So Skinny?

Chelsea Bonner is on a mission. She wants the fashion industry to change the way beauty, size and body image are represented.

While Australian women have gained weight over the past few decades, the female ideal has largely stayed the same: tall, skinny — and usually young.

In the last five years alone, the waist measurement of the average Australian women has stretched by two centimetres. That puts the average Australian woman at a size 14 or 16.

But while Australia's women have expanded, the average size of our models has remained at a 6 to 10.

This means there is a large and growing gap between the average woman and the woman depicted in the pages of fashion magazines...... Read More

Company Tax Cuts to Benefit Workers, Economy, Arthur Sinodinos Says

Federal Labor has called on the Coalition to reveal its plans on company tax, after a senior Turnbull Government minister spelled out the case for reducing the burden on business.

Key points:

Arthur Sinodinos says cutting corporate taxes has positive flow on effects He says it encourages investment from overseas He maintains it leads to higher wages for workers, higher employment The Government has backed away from delivering personal tax relief in the May budget, but the option of corporate tax cuts remains.

Cabinet Secretary Arthur Sinodinos said cutting corporate taxation would benefit workers along with the economy.

"Putting money into the hands of consumers obviously encourages more spending and disposable income and has good incentive effects. But cutting company taxes also has good effects," Senator Sinodinos said.

"It can encourage investment, it can encourage higher productivity.

"There are lots of studies that show that that ultimately leads to higher GDP in the economy and higher wages for workers."......... Read More

Madonna Exposes Fan's Breast Onstage During Concert

(CNN) - For pop provocateur Madonna, it's no longer enough to flash some nudity. She's now exposing other people's body parts, too.

The singer startled audience members by inviting a 17-year-old fan onstage during her concert Thursday night in Brisbane, Australia, and then tugging down the teen's corset top to briefly reveal her left breast.

"She's the kind of girl you just want to slap on the a** -- and pull," Madonna told the crowd before exposing the young fan. "Sorry ... sexual harassment. You can do the same to me. Good luck."......Read More

Six Nations 2016: England win Grand Slam with France victory

England have their first Grand Slam in 13 years after holding out to secure a historic victory in Paris.

First-half tries from Danny Care and Dan Cole had given them a five-point half-time lead, only for the relentless penalty precision of Maxime Machenaud to keep France within touching distance.

But a third try in three matches from Anthony Watson calmed rising nerves before a brace of late penalties from Owen Farrell allowed the travelling support to sing their heroes home......Read More

Puerto Rico's Miss Universe Title Holder is Out; She Doesn't Like Cameras

(CNN) - There's a new Miss Universe Puerto Rico after this year's title holder got her crown stripped.

She just wasn't a good fit, according to Desiree Lowry, an organizer of the Puerto Rico franchise of Miss Universe.

There were several incidents during the four-month reign of Kristhielee Caride, but the final straw was what she told the national media.

"When I'm listening and she says, 'I don't like the camera,' I say that is a big problem," Lowry said at a Thursday news conference. "Miss Puerto Rico is a public figure and part of your job is to be in front of the camera."......Read More

Paris Attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'Changed Suicide Bomb Plan'

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has admitted he wanted to blow himself up but then changed his mind, a French prosecutor says.

Abdeslam has been charged with terrorism offences in Belgium a day after he was seized in a dramatic raid.

Abdeslam will fight extradition to France but has been co-operating with police, his lawyer says.

The Paris attacks in November left 130 people dead and dozens injured.

The so-called Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the bombings and shootings...... Read More

Flydubai Plane Crashes in Russia; 62 Aboard Reported Dead

(CNN) - A passenger jet circled a southern Russian airport in high winds and poor visibility before making a second, fatal attempt at landing Saturday, killing all 62 people aboard.

The flydubai Boeing 737 jet crashed at the Rostov-on-Don airport after traveling from Dubai, Russia's Southern Regional Emergency Center said Saturday.

All those on board died, authorities said.

Officials believe bad weather, which kept the plane from reattempting landing for more than two hours, likely caused the crash......Read More