Baby Whale to Yacht: Are You My Mother?

(NEWSER) - A chilling photo of dead newlywed diver Tina Watson sinking near her apparently unconcerned husband has been entered into evidence in his Alabama murder trial. Prosecutors say expert diver Gabe Watson killed his wife in the waters off Australia during their 2003 honeymoon to collect $130,000 in life insurance . He turned off her air long enough to kill her, turned it back on, then let her sink to the ocean floor, they charge. Watson says his wife panicked underwater and knocked off his face mask. By the time he had adjusted it, she had sunk too far away for him to help her, according to his attorney. More»

Owner of bus company in Australia sells firm, feels generous

(NEWSER) - The boss of an Australian bus company dished out $15 million in bonuses to his employees. Ken Grenda sold his company and used the proceeds to give an average $8,500 to every one of his 1,800 workers. Grenda, 79, attributed his generosity to the typically enormous gap between executive and employee salaries, reports the Sydney Morning Herald . More»

Julia Gillard stumbles as she tries to pass through indigenous right supporters

(NEWSER) - It sounds perfectly routine: Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott appeared at a restaurant in Canberra today—which just so happens to be Australia Day—to preside over an awards ceremony. What it turned into was an ugly mess, as some 200 supporters of indigenous rights surrounded the restaurant and started banging on the windows. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the scene grew so unruly that Gillard's security decided she needed to be removed from the building. And as some 50 police pushed a path through the crowd to a waiting car, she stumbled and lost a shoe. More»

...Australia, New Zealand, where 15% of residents used marijuana in 2009

(NEWSER) - It appears that our friends from Down Under are in fact up higher than North Americans—a new study shows that Australians and New Zealanders are the world's top pot smokers, reports the Los Angeles Times . The Lancet found that 15% of Aussies and Kiwis ages 15-64 used some form of marijuana in 2009, as opposed to 11% of North Americans, and just 2.5% of people in Asia. Australians and New Zealanders also are the top users of amphetamines. More»

Two men and their sons stayed afloat long enough for rescue

(NEWSER) - Two friends and their sons were saved from drowning by some quick thinking and an unlikely hero: a beer cooler. Scott Smiles and Rick Matthews were on a fishing trip with their 11-year-old sons off the coast of Sydney, Australia, yesterday, when their 40-foot boat started on fire five miles out to sea, reports ABC News . Smiles tossed the cooler overboard as a flotation device, grabbed a GPS emergency beacon, and the group jumped into the 200-feet-deep water. They were able to stay afloat for the 45 minutes it took a rescue chopper to reach them. More»