Sydney

A global bird flu pandemic could kill as many as 142-million people and wipe about ,4-trillion from economic output, according to a worst-case scenario published by Australian academics. The study, released on Thursday by independent policy body the Lowy Institute, found that even a mild outbreak would have a sustained impact on the world economy.

Australian public broadcaster SBS on Thursday defended its decision to show previously unseen pictures of the abuse of prisoners in Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison by United States troops. Washington has complained that the broadcast could further inflame anti-US sentiment and endanger troops in Iraq.

Australia’s cricketers celebrated their crushing win in the one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa on Wednesday, as national selectors continued to experiment with the team line-up ahead of next year’s World Cup. The world champions had faced criticism recently over the decision to rest key players from some games during the triangular series.

Money doesn’t buy happiness, and now there’s a study to prove it. Australian researchers found that people in well-off Sydney are among the most miserable in the country, while those in some of the poorest areas are much more satisfied with their lives.

Australia have crashed from unbeatable favourites to facing a must-win match in Sydney on Sunday against rejuvenated Sri Lanka to prevent losing a home triangular one-day cricket series for the first time in 13 years. Australia’s suicidal batting performance to hand Sri Lanka a stunning 22-run victory in the opening final in Adelaide on Friday puts skipper Ricky Ponting in a perilous situation.

The New South Wales Waratahs are looking for a more expansive game to go one better in this year’s new-look Super 14 rugby series. The Waratahs lost to the all-conquering Canterbury Crusaders 35-25 in their first Super 12 final last season and under coach Ewen McKenzie they are bullish about winning this year’s provincial tournament.

Australian airline Jetstar on Tuesday refused to back down over an incident on a flight in Queensland in which a mother-of-two was ordered by cabin crew to cover up a tattoo on her shoulder blade depicting a naked couple engaging in sex. Flight attendants on the January 26 flight obliged Peta Bull (36) to wear a jacket until she was off the domestic flight and in the Brisbane airport terminal.

A secret out-of-court settlement on Tuesday averted a second day in an Australian court for out-of-sorts tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt. On Monday the multimillionaire had skipped training to engage in a legal tussle with a Sydney Harbour cruise operator he says invaded his privacy.

Australia was drawn on Monday into the widespread anger over cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad after a weekend newspaper printed one of the images. The president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ameer Ali, urged newspapers not to print the cartoons.

The Super 14 governing body on Monday told the New South Wales Waratahs not to wear their controversial initialled jerseys in the new season’s provincial rugby competition, which kicks off on Friday. The team experimented with players’ initials instead of numbers in a trial game against Canterbury Crusaders in Sydney on Saturday, which the Waratahs lost 32-30.

Opener Adam Gilchrist smashed 88 runs from 66 deliveries on Sunday as Australia compiled a record target of 344 for six wickets on its way to a 57-run win over South Africa in a tri-series limited-overs international. South Africa scored 287 for six in reply with Mark Boucher scoring 76 and Herschelle Gibbs adding 46.

Opener Adam Gilchrist smashed 88 runs from 66 deliveries on Sunday to lead Australia to a record score of 344 for six wickets against South Africa in a tri-series limited-over international. Australia’s total was its highest against South Africa and the second-highest at the Sydney Cricket Ground in one-day matches.

Australia won the toss and opted to bat first in their triangular series limited overs match with South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath was again rested for the match after deciding to spend time with his family. McGrath’s wife was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer last week.

This was an auto accident with a difference. A 2m saltwater crocodile leapt out of a roadside culvert and slammed into the side of a passing car, Australian authorities said on Thursday. The crocodile died in the collision and was given to local Aborigines, who ate it, said a crocodile-management officer at the Kakadu National Park.

A bit of decorum, please. Prime Minister John Howard wants Australia’s television networks to clean up their acts, bemoaning the ”marked deterioration in good manners”. ”I think there are certain vulgar expressions that have no place on television,” Howard told reporters on Tuesday.

A ”brutally honest” review of the Wallabies disastrous 2005 season has highlighted a raft of shortcomings that must be overcome by a new coach if Australia is to have a chance in the 2007 World Cup. Australian Rugby Union chief Gary Flowers said the review had already influenced selectors tasked with picking a replacement for sacked coach Eddie Jones.

A Hungarian hang glider who spent an uncomfortable night dangling from the branches of a 12-metre tree was on Friday rescued unharmed by emergency services, police said. The 42-year-old had been competing in an international hang gliding competition in the southeastern state of Victoria when he crashed into trees on Thursday.

Twelve towns in the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria were on high alert on Thursday against raging bushfires that have already destroyed 27 homes and killed two people and thousands of farm animals. Dozens of fires fuelled by scorching temperatures and rising winds were burning around the state.

In a case of life imitating fiction, a 13-month-old cattle dog named Lassie helped rescue its injured master after he fell from a horse in eastern Australia, the man’s son said on Tuesday. George Crowther, a 90-year-old farmer from Queensland state, broke his hip and pelvis when he was pitched from a bucking horse.

A family on the south Australian coast found a piece of whale vomit on the beach that is tipped to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, national radio reported on Tuesday. The chunk of ambergris, which is sought after by perfume manufacturers, weighed 14,75kg and is worth about per gram.

Officials said on Monday that a limited-range tsunami could potentially have been caused by a magnitude-6,2 earthquake that the United States Geological Survey said struck near the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. No casualties or damage were reported, and there was no immediate word of any tsunami in the sparsely populated area.

A bottle with a message inside thrown in the sea in Britain has turned up in Australia six months later, news reports said on Friday. Alesha Johnson (4) threw the message-in-a-bottle into Morecambe Bay in the north of the United Kingdom in July.

Environmental group Greenpeace on Friday said it had ended its pursuit of Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, which saw protesters attempt to put themselves between the harpoons and giant animals. The ships <i>Arctic Sunrise</i> and <i>Esperanza</i> will prepare to leave the region for Cape Town, the group said in a statement.

Feisty Australian pace-bowler Glenn McGrath believes the time has come for his colleagues to start behaving themselves following a spate of citings for bad behaviour on the field. ”I think at the end of the day it is up to the captain [to talk to umpires] and it should be left that way,” McGrath told a Sydney radio station on Tuesday.

The Australian and Japanese governments weighed in on Monday in the escalating struggle between whalers and activists in the Antarctic, with Canberra urging restraint before someone is killed. The call by Environment Minister Ian Campbell came after a Japanese harpoon narrowly missed a Greenpeace dinghy trying to protect a minke whale on Saturday.

The father of former world number four Jelena Dokic has revealed his daughter paid him nearly one million United States dollars last year, a report said on Saturday, calling it a ”divorce-style settlement”. Damir Dokic told The Daily Telegraph he had received the money last year but that he had not spoken to his tennis star daughter.

Justine Henin-Hardenne survived a three-hour dogfight with Italian Francesca Schiavone to win the Sydney International tennis tournament on Friday. The Belgian eighth seed fought back from dropping the opening set to win a titanic battle 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, her second Sydney title, in a see-sawing struggle.

It’s tipped for Oscar honours and stars one of the country’s biggest screen hunks — but gay western romance <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> is unlikely to be seen by those in Australia’s own "cowboy country". The film will not be shown in parts of north and central Queensland state when it opens later this month because it has "limited release" status.

Australian police said on Wednesday that they will counter an SMS service that tips off motorists about the location of random breath testing (RBT) patrol cars by constantly shifting their location. Road Spy provides subscribers with SMSs alerting them to the locations of RBT patrols as well as radar and speed-camera traps.