Sydney

The New South Wales Waratahs are going to graphic ends in promoting their Super 12 rugby season using the blood, sweat and tears of their players. The Waratahs, the chronic under-achievers of Australian rugby, have devised a promotion campaign with their advertising agency through a series of unusual paintings.

Australia’s high-profile Test spinner Shane Warne said on Sunday he left the country to save his marriage after an affair with a local stripper. Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker told a television interviewer he was embarrassed by the affair in 2003 and fled to Spain with his wife to escape the media spotlight.

Councillors in Alice Springs have offered to take Prince Charles on an Aussie-style stag night when he visits next month, while promising the heir to the throne will not end up chained naked to a lamp post. Charles will arrive in Australia for a five-day visit taking in the remote Northern Territory town on February 28.

A Sydney shopping mall launched a "cereal dating" night at its supermarket on Monday, telling singles to come "get frisky at the fruit counter" for a Valentine’s night out. Singles eager to meet a kindred soul can cruise the supermarket aisles with message-sending breakfast-cereal boxes perched on their carts.

The coach of Australian swimming superstar Ian Thorpe said on Monday the fertility of female swimmers is being threatened by a ”win at all costs” approach adopted by some coaches. Tracey Menzies said the gruelling training regimes could interrupt athletes’ menstrual cycles and affect their fertility.

A 29-year-old suburban Sydney lifeguard, fed up with the life of a bachelor, moved into a giant plastic bubble on Thursday in hopes of attracting a Valentine. Luke, who declined to give his family name, said he will spend the next five days living in the clear plastic ball in a downtown Sydney shopping mall in hopes of finding true love.

Australian police admitted on Thursday they are mystified by a spate of apparent attacks on homes using frozen chickens as missiles. Police in Newcastle, about 100km north of Sydney, said chicken carcasses have damaged at least three suburban homes in recent weeks. They said the chickens hit the homes with great force.

A real-estate agent could lose his licence in Australia after allegedly being caught having sex with his assistant in a client’s bed, Australian radio reported on Tuesday. The homeowner, identified only as James, told ABC radio that his 28-year-old daughter caught the real-estate agent having sex in their master bedroom.

A suburban Sydney fireman has been suspended after his station was unable to answer an emergency call because he had allegedly driven the fire engine on a pizza run, fire officials said on Monday. The New South Wales Fire Brigade has launched an inquiry. "This is extremely rare," said assistant fire commissioner John Benson.

Australian cricket coach John Buchanan on Monday followed up his team’s weekend sweep of their tri-series final against Pakistan by saying one-day international cricket is ”tired” and in need of an overhaul. Buchanan told reporters he feels rule changes are needed for the one-day competitions.

An Australian woman with a blood alcohol level nearly nine times the legal limit when she crashed her car has set a national record for a female, a Melbourne court was told on Wednesday. Leanne Bartelson (44), beat the 0,05% limit with a blood alcohol concentration of 0,448% when she was tested on the morning of May 14 last year.

Chronic gambler Dennis Telford had his hand in the till. Both hands, in fact. Over the years, the 44-year-old family man took Aus-million (about R100-million) from the Adelaide trucking firm where he was company secretary. Telford, who pleaded guilty to 63 fraud charges, got hooked on horse races early in life.

An Australian man who was hailed a hero for allegedly saving more than a dozen lives in Thailand during the tsunami disaster has been arrested by local police on outstanding assault and burglary charges. Thomas David Connell was handcuffed and arrested after he stepped off the plane at Brisbane International airport on Monday.

People who marry drink less — perhaps because they socialise less or are less likely to drown their cares with alcohol. But heavy drinking is more likely to help you find a partner — which, in turn, will help you cut down on your drinking. These are the findings of Australian National University researcher Bryan Rodgers.

A groundbreaking trial of random roadside saliva testing for illegal drugs turned up trumps in Australia on Monday with one in eight of the first batch of drivers turning in a swab that contained traces of cannabis. In the year-long trial, the first of its kind in the world, Victoria police Victoria expect to check the ”gob swabs” of 9 000 drivers.

Severe storms with hail the size of golf balls lashed Sydney on Monday, closing the airport, grounding aircraft and disrupting the travel plans of thousands of people, emergency services said. The storms also closed a major rail line, brought down trees and caused damage to homes around the city.

Australian companies were warned on Friday that unruly office parties could bring an expensive post-Christmas hangover. The party-giver could end up in court in duty-of-care cases involving sexual harassment, fist-fighting or drunken driving, Queensland business leader Graham Heilbronn cautioned.

An Australian company launched a drug on Thursday that eliminates the need to castrate dogs, with what it claims is the world’s first pet contraceptive. Peptech said the drug suprelorin releases a hormone into a male dog’s bloodstream that reduces testosterone levels and renders it infertile.

Australian police said on Thursday they have smashed a gang of rogue hairdressing-industry workers that staged a string of firebombings aimed at a rival in Sydney’s hair-products supply market. Police arrested three men in a series of raids late on Wednesday and charged them over 12 arson attacks on hair-product warehouses.

Employees using company computers to download MP3 music files are costing Australian firms at least Aus-million a year. Melbourne-based network management company Exinda Networks went through data to come up with a picture of the cost of bandwidth stealing in the workaday world.