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Darwin made a brief appearance at Teesside Crown Court Continue reading the main story Convicted canoe death fraudster John Darwin has repaid just £121 of a £679,000 proceeds of crime order, a court has heard. Darwin, 63, of Seaton Carew, Teesside,  faked his own death in 2002 so his then-wife Anne could claim £500,000. He served three years of a six-year jail term for insurance fraud. Teesside Crown Court heard he may now have to use a recently matured pension to repay the cash he cheated out of insurance companies. The father of two appeared in court after police began fresh proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Triathlete Raija Ogden was treated for a head injury Australia's air safety body is looking into reports that a triathlete has been injured by a falling drone. Raija Ogden reportedlysustained minor head injuries after the drone's operator lost control of the device.

An Australian vessel searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected signals consistent with those from aircraft black boxes. Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield acquired the signal twice, once for more than two hours, Australia said. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the search, called it the "most promising lead" so far. But he said more information was needed: "We haven't found the aircraft yet and we need further confirmation." The plane, carrying 239 people, was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March when it disappeared. Malaysian officials say they believe it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. 'Two distinct returns' ACM Houston said that the signals were detected using the towed pinger locator deployed on the Ocean Shield. The signals were heard by the towed pinger locator deployed by the Ocean Shield Two vessels reported hearing signals during the search over the weekend Two separate detections occurre...

Australia is often hit by bushfires during summer months from December to February. Causes can be lightning, arson, power-line arcing, dropped cigarettes or controlled burns that go wrong. On 7 February 2009 a prolonged heat-wave and dry spell led to the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. The fires became Australia's worst natural disaster, killing 173 people and burning thousands of houses. On 16 February 1983 almost 200 fires caused devastation across parts of Victoria and South Australia. Seventy-five people died in what became known as the Ash Wednesday fires. In January 2013, parts of NSW and Tasmania were hit by fires as temperatures soared to record levels, with average national temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius. One person died in Tasmania and several hundred buildings were destroyed. The fires have been burning in the Blue Mountains since Thursday, with a state of emergency declared at the weekend. "There's not been fires quite like this before - so ...

More than 3,000 firefighters in Australia are battling devastating bushfires raging across New South Wales as weather conditions worsen. "This will be as bad as it gets," Rural Fire Service chief Shane Fitzsimmons said, adding there was "real potential for more loss of homes and life". High temperatures, low humidity and strong winds of up to 100km/h (60mph) are forecast for Wednesday. In total, 59 fires are burning across the state, 19 of which are uncontained. Hundreds more firefighters have been deployed to the Blue Mountains, to the west of Sydney, to work alongside the 1,000 already there, making it one of the largest firefighting contingents ever assembled in the state's history. Residents have been urged to leave affected areas. Hundreds of nursing home residents were evacuated late on Tuesday and all schools in the area are closed. "We are all in this together and we are going to get through this day. If you haven't prepared yourself, for ...

Bushfires in Australia's New South Wales could merge to form a massive blaze, the fire commissioner has said, as teams battle fires across the state. LaNUBlog.com latestarticlesbyiykemandela.blogspot.com Three fires near Lithgow, a city by the Blue Mountains, are thought to be at risk of merging into one fire front. New South Wales has been badly hit by bushfires after the hottest September on record. It has declared a state of emergency. Officials say conditions are likely to worsen this week. NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that the fire at State Mine in Lithgow was at risk of merging with the fire at Mount Victoria. "Modelling indicates that there's every likelihood under the forecast weather conditions that these two fires, particularly up in the back end of the mountains will merge at some point... there is every likelihood that these two fires will join up," he said. Teams are faced with almost 60 fires in NSW, at least 14 of th...

Oetzi's genome was published in February, indicating his probable eye colour and blood type. Austrian scientists have found that 19 Tyrolean men alive today are related to Oetzi the Iceman, whose 5,300-year-old frozen body was found in the Alps. Their relationship was established through DNA analysis by scientists from the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University. The men have not been told about their connection to Oetzi. The DNA tests were taken from blood donors in Tyrol. A particular genetic mutation was matched, the APA news agency reports. Oetzi's body was found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991. A reconstruction shows what Oetzi may have looked like before an arrow felled him Walther Parson from the Institute told APA, the Austrian Press Agency, that the same mutation might be found in the nearby Swiss region of Engadine and in Italy's South Tyrol region. "We have already found Swiss and Italian partners so that we can pursue our rese...

Sydney - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was embroiled in a spiralling travel expenses scandal on Tuesday as he defended his use of taxpayer money to take part in an ironman competition and other events. The issue has blown up for Abbott, who was elected to office last month vowing to lead a government that would "live within its means", while in Indonesia for the Apec summit. Last week he voluntarily repaid about $1 600 in travel expenses claimed for attending the weddings of two former colleagues in 2006. He did so following uproar after two senior members of his coalition were heavily criticised after being exposed for billing taxpayers thousands of dollars to go to the wedding of a radio host. One of the weddings Abbott claimed for involved former parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper, who he vigorously pursued last year over his alleged misuse of taxi vouchers to visit Canberra wineries, sparking accusations that the prime minister was hypocritical. ‘Perfectly l...

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has become embroiled in a row over expenses claims, less than a month after taking office. Last week Mr Abbott paid back funds claimed to attend the weddings of two colleagues. On Tuesday he defended claims relating to two sporting events, saying both represented community engagement work. Tony Abbott, who heads a conservative coalition, ousted Kevin Rudd as prime minister in the 7 September election. Speaking at the Apec summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, Mr Abbott, an avid sportsman, said claims related to a triathlon event in which he competed in the town of Port Macquarie in 2011 were justified. ''Let's not forget that Port Macquarie was a marginal seat effectively and I want to assure you that I don't go to marginal seats simply for sporting events, although the sporting event in question was a community event,'' he said. ''I think you'll find there were quite a few other community events involve...

An Australian is thought to have broken the world record for the most bungee jumps in 24 hours, local media report. Jay Phoenix began jumping from a bungee site in Queensland on Thursday at 0600 local time (2000 GMT). He completed 150 jumps by 0330 on Friday. He said he was pleased, but his ankles were "destroyed" after the attempt. If his record is confirmed, he would beat previous record holder Kevin Scott Huntly, from South Africa, who made 105 jumps in 24 hours in 2011. Mr Phoenix conducted his jumps from a 40m (130ft) platform south of Brisbane, with the bungee cord attached to his ankles. "My ankles are destroyed," he told Australian broadcaster ABC. "They're going to take a little bit to recover. I literally couldn't strap them on and jump again if I tried." He added that he would eat between jumps in order to make the best use of time during his record breaking attempt. "I'd just eat in between jumps, on the way up - half of...

Baroness Thatcher's ashes have been interred in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea at a service attended by her family and close friends. The former prime minister's children, Sir Mark and Carol Thatcher, were among those at the central London site. Prayers were said before a solid oak casket containing her ashes was placed in the ground. Lady Thatcher's ashes were placed next to those of her husband, Sir Denis. A private service was held at All Saints Chapel in the hospital's Margaret Thatcher Infirmary, which she opened in 2009. Music was provided by the chapel choir who sang Po Atarau, a traditional Maori song of goodbye in recognition of Lady Thatcher's family connections with New Zealand. Carol Thatcher placed a red rose with her mother's ashes Lady Thatcher - the longest-serving prime minister of the 20th Century - built up a strong relationship with the Royal Hospital Chelsea during the last years of her life. She and her husband often spen...

Australian PM Tony Abbott has dismissed a diplomatic row with Indonesia over his coalition's asylum policy. Australia says asylum-seekers arriving by boat will be returned to Indonesia. Mr Abbot said on Friday, ahead of an official trip to Indonesia, that the issue was a "passing irritant" and would not affect bilateral relations. His comments come as Indonesian officials reportedly said an email listing concerns over Australia's plan was not meant to be released publicly. "The last thing anyone should want is to have Australia's relationship with Indonesia defined by this boats issue, which I am sure will be but a passing irritant," Mr Abbott told Fairfax Radio on Friday. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has held talks with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in New York this week and their discussions touched on the coalition's asylum plans. Some details about these talks were released in an email on Thursday, which cited Ind...

Australian officials have made what they say is one of the largest seizures of the drug ephedrine, hidden in a shipment sent from India to Melbourne. A joint agency task force seized 274kg (604lbs) of ephedrine, which is used to make crystal methamphetamine, the Australian Federal Police said. The drug was hidden in bags labelled as "basmati rice", officials added. At least three men, including two foreign nationals, have been charged in connection with the case. The federal police said in a statementthat a task force with agriculture and customs and border protection authorities has resulted in "one of the largest single seizures of ephedrine in Australian history". They added that the amount seized "could be used to manufacture up to 200kg of crystal methamphetamine". "Dependent on purity this would have an estimated potential street value of up to A$200m [$187m, £117m]," the federal police said The operation started in July, following t...