'Organ trafficker' gouges boy's eyes out

A six-year-old boy in China had his eyes gouged out by suspected organ traffickers. Courtesy China State TV

A SIX-YEAR-OLD Chinese boy who had his eyes gouged out does not know he has been blinded and asks his family why the sun has yet to rise.

The boy, surnamed Guo, was found covered in blood in the northern province of Shanxi after he went missing while playing outside, Chinese media reported previously.

His eyes, gouged out by an attacker, were recovered nearby, a police officer in Fenxi county who declined to be named said.

The boy was being treated at an eye hospital and was not yet aware that he has been left blind for life, the Beijing Youth Daily said on Wednesday.

The boy's devastated father. Picture: Austral International Source: Austral International Press Agency

A Chinese boy lies in hospital after his eyes were gouged out in what is believed to be an attack by an organ trafficker. Picture: AFP

"He asks why the sky is always dark ... and why the dawn still hasn't come," it quoted an uncle of the boy as saying.

"We could only tell him that his eyes had some injury and have to be bandaged. (We tell him that) they will be fine after the bandage is removed.

"It is such a difficult question to explain to him. It is the most heartbreaking thing," he said.

Earlier Chinese media reports said the corneas were missing when the boy's eyes were found, leading to speculation that the attacker was an organ trafficker.

The kidnapped 6-year-old boy's mother hugs a relative at the hospital. Picture: Austral International Source: Austral International Press Agency

But police said on Wednesday the corneas had been found attached to the eyeballs and ruled out organ sales as a motive, although they were unable to provide an alternative explanation for the attack.

"We are still working on it so we cannot offer any comment or make any assumption on the motives," the Fenxi officer said.

Police offered a 100,000 yuan ($17,918) reward for information leading to the arrest of the sole suspect, who they said was a woman. Reports said she drugged the boy before gouging out his eyeballs.

No-one had been detained by late Wednesday afternoon, domestic media said.

The boy recovers from his shocking ordeal in hospital. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

A video posted online on Tuesday showed the boy - who had a cleft palate - writhing in agony on a hospital bed. Pictures posted online on Wednesday showed him still heavily bandaged, apparently in less acute pain.

The brutal attack has shocked internet users in China, who offered sympathy for the boy and demanded retribution against his attacker on the country's hugely popular microblogs.

His plight was the most searched news story on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, on Wednesday.

"This poor child, he must be suffering more than if he was dead and he has to live in darkness forever," said one poster. "We have to capture the criminal!"

Another wrote: "This is so cruel. I hope we can quickly capture the suspect and bring justice back! She is worse than a monster."

Doctors plan to implant artificial eyeballs in the boy's eye sockets after his inflammation subsides so that people will not be scared by his appearance in future, his uncle said according to media reports.

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Bombers out of finals, Hird banned

James Hird fronts the media to discuss his 12 month ban from all official involvement in the AFL.

SUSPENDED Essendon coach James Hird says the club has been "unfairly dealt with this year", while his lawyer says the Bombers great was "heroic".

Hird held a press conference outside his Toorak mansion this morning after he was suspended for 12 months in a sensational climax to the saga.

"I am deeply sorry for what happened at our football club in 2012," Hird said.

"I do take a level of responsibility for what happened.

"I should have known what was going on, I should have done more and I'm very disappointed that I didn't."

Asked if he broke the rules, Hird said "not at all".

"I didn't break the rules that I was charged with, those charges have been dropped and we've agreed to move on."

Following the press conference, Hird's lawyer, Julian Burnside QC, said the suspended Bombers coach was "heroic" for accepting the AFL's 12-month ban.

"He (Hird) has been brutally maligned in the press over the past six months - I don't know how he has managed to survive it - and he has wanted to show that he is not guilty of anything,'' Burnside told 3AW.

"But against that, he wanted to do the right thing by the club and the game.

James Hird speaks to media at his house on Wednesday. Picture: Mark Dadswell

"I reckon what he did ... was nothing short of heroic.''

Burnside and fellow lawyer Steven Amendola have been among Hird's advisers during the supplements crisis.

Amendola was insistent that the AFL did not find Hird guilty, but rather reached an agreement on his 12-month suspension.

"Fact: he did not admit any charge. Fact: he was not found guilty of breaching (AFL rule) 1.6. Fact: the charges were withdrawn against him,'' Amendola told ABC radio.

Jobe Watson says his teammates would welcome James Hird back. Picture: Colleen Petch

"What happened was there was a negotiation and an agreement about consequence. There was no individual finding against him, in terms of a breach of 1.6.''

While Hird felt he didn't break any laws, he said that senior coaches were "responsible for a lot of things at a football club".

"There were things that went on at our football club that shouldn't have happened last year, and as senior coach I have to take some responsibility for what happened and not doing more to stop it," Hird said.

The Bombers were last night dramatically booted from September action and fined $2 million, with Hird apologising to the AFL Commission and accepting his ban.

But while Essendon has lost its first two draft picks for this year and the 2014 national draft, dogged negotiations delivered it a selection after the first round of the draft next year.

Essendon has been thrown out of this year's finals series as punishment for its 2012 supplements program.

Hird's ban expires on August 25 next year and while he cannot have an official role with his club until then, he could return to play a key role in the 2014 finals.

Hird said he was glad the saga had finally ended.

"For the good of the game and for the good of our football club, and most importantly for two entities, for our players and our supporters, I'm so glad this is finished and the game can move on."

Hird said he had spoken to his players and they were upset with the sanctions handed down.

"Speaking to the players last night and speaking to them this morning, I think we're all disappointed at the level of sanctions that have been put on the club. But we understand that some sanctions had to be placed on our club," Hird said.

"Our football club is a great football club and it has been unfairly dealt with this year. We do own those mistakes but the way it has been treated I don't think is fair."

Hird said ending his Supreme Court fight against the AFL was the "right nothing to do" even though it was a "matter of principle".

While Hird said he was disappointed not to be coaching next year, he said he was keen to return in 2015.

"I've been an Essendon supporter since I was born, it's part of my family, I don't think I could ever step away from the Essendon Football Club," Hird said.

"It's part of who I am, and it's part of who I'll always be."

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He endorsed senior assistant coach Mark Thompson to take his place next year, saying he was "the obvious choice".

In the meantime, Hird said he planned to take some time away with his family before deciding on his next move.

But he said he wanted to "tell my side of the story" in coming days to better explain what happened at Essendon last year.

Meanwhile, Essendon captain Jobe Watson says his teammates would welcome Hird back as senior coach once he has served his AFL-imposed suspension.

Speaking on Wednesday, Essendon captain Jobe Watson says his teammates would welcome Hird back as senior coach once he has served an AFL-imposed suspension.

Watson said the team didn't feel Hird had betrayed them.

"I don't think that's the right word," Watson told Fox Sports.

"In hindsight, people made mistakes. And I think people have accepted responsibility for that.

"I don't think anyone set out to intentionally cause the situation we found ourselves in."

Essendon chief Ray Gunston told Channel Nine at Windy Hill this morning that Hird was "shattered".

"He is obviously disappointed but that is the outcome of the hearing," he said.

AFL Commission Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick reveals the sanctions handed down to the Essendon Football Club, James Hird, Danny Corcoran, Bruce Reid and Mark Thompson.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he would be making no apologies for the tough penalties.

"This reminds everyone that young people, young men that want to play our game should know that when they go to a football club they will get the best care, the best training that will be welcomed into the most, the absolutely best professional environment," Demetriou said on 3AW radio.

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AFL deputy Gillon McLachlan told 3AW that no date had been set the $2 million fine to be paid.

"I think, rather than being too overt about it, it is over a few years," he said.

It comes as controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank refused to answer questions about the sanctions imposed on Essendon.

As he left his Ascot Vale home this morning, he would not say whether he had spoken to the AFL or if he planned to speak to ASADA investigators.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and chairman Mike Fitzpatrick hand down Essendon's punishment.

Thompson, who received a fine, but no ban last night, is the favourite to be Essendon's caretaker coach. Essendon assistant coach Simon Goodwin will coach the club in Saturday's dead rubber against Richmond.

Essendon chairman Paul Little last night said Hird would not only return as senior coach, he would accept a new contract which is believed to include a two-year extension which would take him through to the end of 2016, although he cannot be paid by Essendon.

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"James is very keen to continue his coaching at Essendon and the Essendon Football Club is very keen to have him," he said.

Essendon chairman Paul Little says outgoing coach James Hird accepted the penalties for the good of the club.

"I don't want to give you precise details, but there is an undertaking for James to continue coaching at Essendon."

Hird can attend Essendon matches in 2014 in preparation for a return.

Essendon's VFL side can play finals this weekend.

Essendon players were anxious for the club to come to a settlement, which provided Little with a mandate to strike a deal over their finals participation.

Bombers coach James Hird leaves AFL House.

"The players made their point of view very clearly that they wanted it as a priority to be cleared up now and they did not want it to linger," Little said in accepting the penalties.

Demetriou said Essendon players were still eligible for the Brownlow Medal and All-Australian honours.

Essendon will officially finish ninth.

Hird expressed remorse to the AFL Commission, but that contrition was undermined when his QC Julian Burnside said he had "done absolutely nothing wrong" and had been "heroic" in accepting penalties for the club and players' sake.

AFL Chair Mike Fitzpatrick hands down sanctions to the Essendon Football Club.

While Demetriou said ASADA was still reviewing Essendon's case, he stressed the AFL had not issued infraction notices to players when it reviewed ASADA's interim report.

Little made it clear yesterday he did not believe there would be infraction notices.

But he apologised for Essendon's conduct, saying "we have let down a lot of people ... and we are genuinely sorry".

Essendon great Tim Watson said this morning the matter wasn't completely over, with it still unclear whether there will be sanctions against players including his son Jobe.

Essendon chairman Paul Little responds to the sanctions handed to Essendon by the AFL Commission.

"It is still a little bit unresolved. So in terms of being a parent this morning, I am not feeling completely comfortable about exactly what is going to happen from here on in either because as Andrew and others said last night there is still an ASADA investigation that is to be completed."

Club legend Matthew Lloyd said his club might take a decade to recover, and was not only worried about the "mental scarring" to Essendon players next year but the club's future without key picks.

"For Essendon it's like losing Michael Hurley, Dyson Heppell, Joe Daniher and David Zaharakis; that's four players they could lose out on in the next two years," Lloyd said.

"The draft picks in the first two rounds, it's not often Dyson Heppell can step in and have an automatic impact, but it will hit them in three years' time, those four picks they have missed out on, what a hole it has left. It is something that will haunt them in a few years' time," he told 3AW.

"As little as 14 days ago they couldn't wait for finals. They were all about getting themselves right for a finals game in two weeks' time.

"Just what this does to them, we won't know the spirit it breaks and the damage it does over the coming months and years. The scarring is not just for the next 12 months - it could be for five to 10 years."

Thompson told Channel 9 last night he was unsure if he would step in as the caretaker coach.

"After the two days I have had it's hard to think what I really want to do," he said.

Little said he could see Hird playing a role on the coaching staff if Essendon were finalists in 2014.

"James Hird told the Commission tonight that he took responsibility for the shortcomings in the club's 2012 supplements program... so the club could move on," Little said.

- with Tom Minear

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Bosses show little support for NBN

Shadow Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull defends Rupert Murdoch on Labor's NBN, saying the media mogul probably doesn't expect the NBN to be completed.

It will cost about $40 billion, but a significant number of Australia companies don't think the NBN will make any difference to their business.

The Galaxy poll of more than 400 senior executives found more than one third said it would not boost their productivity.

Fifty-one per cent of respondents said it would make a positive difference their business.

The Coalition claims the NBN project could blow out to $90 billion but the government maintains it will be delivered for $37 billion.

This comes as economists warn the budget is likely to face a further downgrade after the September 7 election. UBS yesterday warned the budget won't return to surplus in 2016-17 as forecast by Treasurer Chris Bowen in the pre-election update.

"We expect a new budget to forecast larger and persistent deficit in coming years," UBS economist George Tharenou said.

But Mr Tharenou is upbeat there will be a post-election bounce in business confidence, if the Coalition wins, supporting a pick-up in the economy in 2014.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott this week abandoned a previous pledge to return the budget to surplus in the next term of parliament.

Mr Abbot declared it would be "foolish" to promise a surplus as the budget was under huge pressure.

The Galaxy survey, commissioned by executive office supplier Servcorp, shows that 62 per cent of corporate Australia is dissatisfied with the Federal government's support for business.

A Coalition victory was regarded by 45 per cent of executive respondents as being better for business, but 37 per cent believe it will make no difference who wins.

Servcorp's chief operating officer Marcus Moufarrige said the NBN rollout is not getting anywhere near the level of cut through with business that it should as a major productivity saving tool.

"There is doubt over whether the infrastructure will be delivered at all: with 30 per cent of the budget already spent, less than five per cent of the NBN has actually been delivered," he said.

"Faster broadband will boost productivity which is a positive for business but the current execution of the plan is the problem. The NBN needs to be more flexible in its approach to technology."

The Coalition and Labor are locked in a battle over the cost of their competing delivery systems to bring high-speed broadband to homes.

Opposition communications spokesperson Malcolm Turnbull claims Labor's $37 billion broadband network could end up costing around $90 billion due to cost blowouts and overoptimistic pricing assumptions.

Labor's NBN pledge is to deliver fibre to 93 per cent of premises in Australia by June 2021 with a peak speed of one gigabit per second.

The Coalition's $29.5 billion plan promises speeds of up to 50 megabits per second by 2019 for at least 90 per cent of consumers using fibre cable to "nodes" up to 800 metres from premises, and then leverages the existing copper infrastructure from the node to homes and businesses.

stephen.mcmahon@news.com.au

###

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Kid on motorbike holds on for dear life

This girl can be seen clinging on as the motorbike driver darts through traffic. Source: Supplied

SHOCKING video has emerged of a man riding a motorbike with a young girl wearing only a cheap bicycle helmet clinging to his t-shirt.

The video already has 8000 views on YouTube where parents have expressed disgust that a man would drive so recklessly with a small child on the back.

The incident took place in Edenvale, South Africa.

Chairperson for the Edenvale Community Police Forum (ECPF), Mrs Linda McKenzie, told the Bedfordview-Edenvale News that the man's registration as well as the video clip had been handed over to the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) for immediate action to be taken.

"We as the ECPF speak out in the strongest terms possible against this type of endangerment of our young children, the devastating consequences were not even considered when this man put that young girl on the back of his bike and drove the way he did," she said.

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Teen who went 'Into The Wild' found dead

Johnathan Croom's body has been found in the Oregon wilderness. Source: Supplied

Johnathan Croom, 18 was obsessed with the 2007 film, 'Into the Wild' starring Emile Hirsch.

THE body of a teen obsessed with the movie Into The Wild has been found in the Oregon wilderness with his dad saying he died of a broken heart.

Douglas County sheriff's spokesman Dwes Hutson said in a statement that the body of Johnathan Croom, 18, was found 300 metres from where he abandoned SUV was found last week. He said police are investigating his death as a suicide.

Johnathan's father, David Croom, said his son was grieving the end of a relationship with "someone back in Phoenix", where the family lives.

"He was a young man who had a broken heart and headed out to try to find himself," Mr Croom said. "We're looking forward to finding out exactly what happened."

The teenager had spoken with his parents about the film Into The Wild, the biographical movie about Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), who left home and disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s where he lived, and eventually died, in an abandoned bus.

Johnathan's mother, Monica Croom, said her son was travelling alone back from Seattle where he had been visiting a friend. He was due to start college in Arizona on August 17.

"He talked with his parents about 'Into the Wild,' and in text messages we've looked at, he does specifically talk about running away, kind of just running away from his life," the sheriff's spokesman Mr Hutson said.

 

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'Six-point' Diaz a no show

Jaymes Diaz cut-out at the Greenway election forum / Pic: Phil Rogers Source: Supplied

Liberal candidate for Greenway, Jaymes Diaz gets grilled by Ten reporter John Hill. Here are the highlights. Courtesy Channel Ten

THE elusive Jaymes Diaz was a no-show at a federal election forum for the federal seat of Greenway last night.

With about 100 locals in the audience at Blacktown RSL Club, candidates fielded questions on costs of living, local business, paid parental leave, coal seam gas, childcare, party preferences and how they would represent the interests of Greenway on the national stage.

However it was difficult to avoid the elephant in the room in the absence of Mr Diaz, who is currently favoured to win the marginal seat.

DIAZ DODGES QUESTIONS AT COMMUNITY FORUM

The other candidates posed with a cardboard cutout of the infamous Liberal, while members of the audience called him a coward for not showing up.

Mr Diaz made an embarrassing gaffe earlier this month when he was unable to name the key points in the Coalition's border protection policy.

Anthony Belcastro, candidate for Katter's Australia Party, took it upon himself to pose the question on everyone lips - "Where is Jaymes Diaz?"

"Here we have a candidate who wants to take your voice to Canberra and what do we end up with - an empty chair," he concluded.

Sitting Labor MP Michelle Rowland was keen to point out her list of achievements over the past three years including grants secured for community projects such as Com4Unity, increased funding for local schools, the redevelopment of Blacktown Hospital and the arrival of the National Broadband Network.

TEN's John Hill talks to Liberal candidate for Greenway, Jaymes Diaz. Courtesy Channel Ten

"In short I believe in equality of opportunity and I don't believe you should be limited by the postcode you grew up in," she said.

"I've delivered on every promise I made in my maiden speech to parliament."

Ms Rowland took aim at the generosity of the Coalition's proposed paid parental leave scheme.

"I don't think it is socially equitable," she said.

"It is more important to maintain our existing scheme as it is being used and it is affordable."

All candidates at the forum made a commitment against coal seam gas mining and promised to push for increased child care funding.

Chris Brentin from the Greens defended the carbon tax while arguing Australia's future lies in the use of renewable energy.

"We care about people and we care about the environment and the harmony between the both of them," he said.

"Clean energy is going to create 70,000 new jobs for western Sydney."

The heated debate had its lighter moments, including when Palmer United Party's Jodie Wootton was forced to defend Clive Palmer's plan to build Titanic 2 in China.

While Mr Diaz never responded to his forum invitation, Tom Lillicrap from the Australian Sex Party and Allan Green from the Christian Democratic Party declined the opportunity to attend.

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Caine slams Connery Alzheimer's claims

British actors Michael Caine, left, and Sean Connery in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Caine has rejected a story in which he is alleged to have said that his friend Connery had "lost his senses." Source: AP

SIR Michael Caine has slammed a German newspaper report alleging he revealed his pal Sir Sean Connery is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Editors at Bild reported the Alfie star said Connery was struggling to cope with dementia, and was quoted as saying, "One must have serious concerns for him.''

However, the article has come under fire from Caine, who is baffled as to where the newspaper got it from.

He tells Britain's Daily Mirror, "It's all bulls&#nbsp;&#nbsp;&#nbsp;, completely preposterous. I did some interviews over in Germany for a new film and I can only assume someone has twisted my words or got the wrong end of the stick.

"I haven't seen Sean for a couple of years, but my wife and I spoke to him on the phone on his birthday this week and he was very well.

"He was fine, in complete control of his senses and his usual self. This stuff about Alzheimer's is just nonsense. I have no idea where they are getting it from.''

Bond star Connery has been plagued by rumours of ill health for several years, and only makes rare public appearances after retiring from life in the limelight in 2011.
 

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Bosses show little support for NBN

Shadow Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull defends Rupert Murdoch on Labor's NBN, saying the media mogul probably doesn't expect the NBN to be completed.

It will cost about $40 billion, but a significant number of Australia companies don't think the NBN will make any difference to their business.

The Galaxy poll of more than 400 senior executives found more than one third said it would not boost their productivity.

Fifty-one per cent of respondents said it would make a positive difference their business.

The Coalition claims the NBN project could blow out to $90 billion but the government maintains it will be delivered for $37 billion.

This comes as economists warn the budget is likely to face a further downgrade after the September 7 election. UBS yesterday warned the budget won't return to surplus in 2016-17 as forecast by Treasurer Chris Bowen in the pre-election update.

"We expect a new budget to forecast larger and persistent deficit in coming years," UBS economist George Tharenou said.

But Mr Tharenou is upbeat there will be a post-election bounce in business confidence, if the Coalition wins, supporting a pick-up in the economy in 2014.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott this week abandoned a previous pledge to return the budget to surplus in the next term of parliament.

Mr Abbot declared it would be "foolish" to promise a surplus as the budget was under huge pressure.

The Galaxy survey, commissioned by executive office supplier Servcorp, shows that 62 per cent of corporate Australia is dissatisfied with the Federal government's support for business.

A Coalition victory was regarded by 45 per cent of executive respondents as being better for business, but 37 per cent believe it will make no difference who wins.

Servcorp's chief operating officer Marcus Moufarrige said the NBN rollout is not getting anywhere near the level of cut through with business that it should as a major productivity saving tool.

"There is doubt over whether the infrastructure will be delivered at all: with 30 per cent of the budget already spent, less than five per cent of the NBN has actually been delivered," he said.

"Faster broadband will boost productivity which is a positive for business but the current execution of the plan is the problem. The NBN needs to be more flexible in its approach to technology."

The Coalition and Labor are locked in a battle over the cost of their competing delivery systems to bring high-speed broadband to homes.

Opposition communications spokesperson Malcolm Turnbull claims Labor's $37 billion broadband network could end up costing around $90 billion due to cost blowouts and overoptimistic pricing assumptions.

Labor's NBN pledge is to deliver fibre to 93 per cent of premises in Australia by June 2021 with a peak speed of one gigabit per second.

The Coalition's $29.5 billion plan promises speeds of up to 50 megabits per second by 2019 for at least 90 per cent of consumers using fibre cable to "nodes" up to 800 metres from premises, and then leverages the existing copper infrastructure from the node to homes and businesses.

stephen.mcmahon@news.com.au

###

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'Organ trafficker' gouges boy's eyes out

A six-year-old boy in China had his eyes gouged out by suspected organ traffickers. Courtesy China State TV

A SIX-YEAR-OLD Chinese boy who had his eyes gouged out does not know he has been blinded and asks his family why the sun has yet to rise.

The boy, surnamed Guo, was found covered in blood in the northern province of Shanxi after he went missing while playing outside, Chinese media reported previously.

His eyes, gouged out by an attacker, were recovered nearby, a police officer in Fenxi county who declined to be named said.

The boy was being treated at an eye hospital and was not yet aware that he has been left blind for life, the Beijing Youth Daily said on Wednesday.

The boy's devastated father. Picture: Austral International Source: Austral International Press Agency

A Chinese boy lies in hospital after his eyes were gouged out in what is believed to be an attack by an organ trafficker. Picture: AFP

"He asks why the sky is always dark ... and why the dawn still hasn't come," it quoted an uncle of the boy as saying.

"We could only tell him that his eyes had some injury and have to be bandaged. (We tell him that) they will be fine after the bandage is removed.

"It is such a difficult question to explain to him. It is the most heartbreaking thing," he said.

Earlier Chinese media reports said the corneas were missing when the boy's eyes were found, leading to speculation that the attacker was an organ trafficker.

The kidnapped 6-year-old boy's mother hugs a relative at the hospital. Picture: Austral International Source: Austral International Press Agency

But police said on Wednesday the corneas had been found attached to the eyeballs and ruled out organ sales as a motive, although they were unable to provide an alternative explanation for the attack.

"We are still working on it so we cannot offer any comment or make any assumption on the motives," the Fenxi officer said.

Police offered a 100,000 yuan ($17,918) reward for information leading to the arrest of the sole suspect, who they said was a woman. Reports said she drugged the boy before gouging out his eyeballs.

No-one had been detained by late Wednesday afternoon, domestic media said.

The boy recovers from his shocking ordeal in hospital. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

A video posted online on Tuesday showed the boy - who had a cleft palate - writhing in agony on a hospital bed. Pictures posted online on Wednesday showed him still heavily bandaged, apparently in less acute pain.

The brutal attack has shocked internet users in China, who offered sympathy for the boy and demanded retribution against his attacker on the country's hugely popular microblogs.

His plight was the most searched news story on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, on Wednesday.

"This poor child, he must be suffering more than if he was dead and he has to live in darkness forever," said one poster. "We have to capture the criminal!"

Another wrote: "This is so cruel. I hope we can quickly capture the suspect and bring justice back! She is worse than a monster."

Doctors plan to implant artificial eyeballs in the boy's eye sockets after his inflammation subsides so that people will not be scared by his appearance in future, his uncle said according to media reports.

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Kid on motorbike holds on for dear life

This girl can be seen clinging on as the motorbike driver darts through traffic. Source: Supplied

SHOCKING video has emerged of a man riding a motorbike with a young girl wearing only a cheap bicycle helmet clinging to his t-shirt.

The video already has 8000 views on YouTube where parents have expressed disgust that a man would drive so recklessly with a small child on the back.

The incident took place in Edenvale, South Africa.

Chairperson for the Edenvale Community Police Forum (ECPF), Mrs Linda McKenzie, told the Bedfordview-Edenvale News that the man's registration as well as the video clip had been handed over to the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) for immediate action to be taken.

"We as the ECPF speak out in the strongest terms possible against this type of endangerment of our young children, the devastating consequences were not even considered when this man put that young girl on the back of his bike and drove the way he did," she said.

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Teen who went 'Into The Wild' found dead

Johnathan Croom's body has been found in the Oregon wilderness. Source: Supplied

Johnathan Croom, 18 was obsessed with the 2007 film, 'Into the Wild' starring Emile Hirsch.

THE body of a teen obsessed with the movie Into The Wild has been found in the Oregon wilderness with his dad saying he died of a broken heart.

Douglas County sheriff's spokesman Dwes Hutson said in a statement that the body of Johnathan Croom, 18, was found 300 metres from where he abandoned SUV was found last week. He said police are investigating his death as a suicide.

Johnathan's father, David Croom, said his son was grieving the end of a relationship with "someone back in Phoenix", where the family lives.

"He was a young man who had a broken heart and headed out to try to find himself," Mr Croom said. "We're looking forward to finding out exactly what happened."

The teenager had spoken with his parents about the film Into The Wild, the biographical movie about Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), who left home and disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s where he lived, and eventually died, in an abandoned bus.

Johnathan's mother, Monica Croom, said her son was travelling alone back from Seattle where he had been visiting a friend. He was due to start college in Arizona on August 17.

"He talked with his parents about 'Into the Wild,' and in text messages we've looked at, he does specifically talk about running away, kind of just running away from his life," the sheriff's spokesman Mr Hutson said.

 

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Bombers out of finals, Hird banned

James Hird fronts the media to discuss his 12 month ban from all official involvement in the AFL.

SUSPENDED Essendon coach James Hird says the club has been "unfairly dealt with this year", while his lawyer says the Bombers great was "heroic".

Hird held a press conference outside his Toorak mansion this morning after he was suspended for 12 months in a sensational climax to the saga.

"I am deeply sorry for what happened at our football club in 2012," Hird said.

"I do take a level of responsibility for what happened.

"I should have known what was going on, I should have done more and I'm very disappointed that I didn't."

Asked if he broke the rules, Hird said "not at all".

"I didn't break the rules that I was charged with, those charges have been dropped and we've agreed to move on."

Following the press conference, Hird's lawyer, Julian Burnside QC, said the suspended Bombers coach was "heroic" for accepting the AFL's 12-month ban.

"He (Hird) has been brutally maligned in the press over the past six months - I don't know how he has managed to survive it - and he has wanted to show that he is not guilty of anything,'' Burnside told 3AW.

"But against that, he wanted to do the right thing by the club and the game.

James Hird speaks to media at his house on Wednesday. Picture: Mark Dadswell

"I reckon what he did ... was nothing short of heroic.''

Burnside and fellow lawyer Steven Amendola have been among Hird's advisers during the supplements crisis.

Amendola was insistent that the AFL did not find Hird guilty, but rather reached an agreement on his 12-month suspension.

"Fact: he did not admit any charge. Fact: he was not found guilty of breaching (AFL rule) 1.6. Fact: the charges were withdrawn against him,'' Amendola told ABC radio.

Jobe Watson says his teammates would welcome James Hird back. Picture: Colleen Petch

"What happened was there was a negotiation and an agreement about consequence. There was no individual finding against him, in terms of a breach of 1.6.''

While Hird felt he didn't break any laws, he said that senior coaches were "responsible for a lot of things at a football club".

"There were things that went on at our football club that shouldn't have happened last year, and as senior coach I have to take some responsibility for what happened and not doing more to stop it," Hird said.

The Bombers were last night dramatically booted from September action and fined $2 million, with Hird apologising to the AFL Commission and accepting his ban.

But while Essendon has lost its first two draft picks for this year and the 2014 national draft, dogged negotiations delivered it a selection after the first round of the draft next year.

Essendon has been thrown out of this year's finals series as punishment for its 2012 supplements program.

Hird's ban expires on August 25 next year and while he cannot have an official role with his club until then, he could return to play a key role in the 2014 finals.

Hird said he was glad the saga had finally ended.

"For the good of the game and for the good of our football club, and most importantly for two entities, for our players and our supporters, I'm so glad this is finished and the game can move on."

Hird said he had spoken to his players and they were upset with the sanctions handed down.

"Speaking to the players last night and speaking to them this morning, I think we're all disappointed at the level of sanctions that have been put on the club. But we understand that some sanctions had to be placed on our club," Hird said.

"Our football club is a great football club and it has been unfairly dealt with this year. We do own those mistakes but the way it has been treated I don't think is fair."

Hird said ending his Supreme Court fight against the AFL was the "right nothing to do" even though it was a "matter of principle".

While Hird said he was disappointed not to be coaching next year, he said he was keen to return in 2015.

"I've been an Essendon supporter since I was born, it's part of my family, I don't think I could ever step away from the Essendon Football Club," Hird said.

"It's part of who I am, and it's part of who I'll always be."

MANAGER SAYS AFL SHOULDN'T RECEIVE DONS' $2 MILLION FINE

He endorsed senior assistant coach Mark Thompson to take his place next year, saying he was "the obvious choice".

In the meantime, Hird said he planned to take some time away with his family before deciding on his next move.

But he said he wanted to "tell my side of the story" in coming days to better explain what happened at Essendon last year.

Meanwhile, Essendon captain Jobe Watson says his teammates would welcome Hird back as senior coach once he has served his AFL-imposed suspension.

Speaking on Wednesday, Essendon captain Jobe Watson says his teammates would welcome Hird back as senior coach once he has served an AFL-imposed suspension.

Watson said the team didn't feel Hird had betrayed them.

"I don't think that's the right word," Watson told Fox Sports.

"In hindsight, people made mistakes. And I think people have accepted responsibility for that.

"I don't think anyone set out to intentionally cause the situation we found ourselves in."

Essendon chief Ray Gunston told Channel Nine at Windy Hill this morning that Hird was "shattered".

"He is obviously disappointed but that is the outcome of the hearing," he said.

AFL Commission Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick reveals the sanctions handed down to the Essendon Football Club, James Hird, Danny Corcoran, Bruce Reid and Mark Thompson.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he would be making no apologies for the tough penalties.

"This reminds everyone that young people, young men that want to play our game should know that when they go to a football club they will get the best care, the best training that will be welcomed into the most, the absolutely best professional environment," Demetriou said on 3AW radio.

AFL's INTEGRITY AT HEART OF PENALTIES
AFL PLAYERS TAKE TO TWITTER

AFL deputy Gillon McLachlan told 3AW that no date had been set the $2 million fine to be paid.

"I think, rather than being too overt about it, it is over a few years," he said.

It comes as controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank refused to answer questions about the sanctions imposed on Essendon.

As he left his Ascot Vale home this morning, he would not say whether he had spoken to the AFL or if he planned to speak to ASADA investigators.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and chairman Mike Fitzpatrick hand down Essendon's punishment.

Thompson, who received a fine, but no ban last night, is the favourite to be Essendon's caretaker coach. Essendon assistant coach Simon Goodwin will coach the club in Saturday's dead rubber against Richmond.

Essendon chairman Paul Little last night said Hird would not only return as senior coach, he would accept a new contract which is believed to include a two-year extension which would take him through to the end of 2016, although he cannot be paid by Essendon.

READ THE FULL CHARGE SHEET HERE
DONS THE ALL-TIME AFL VILLAIN
MIDFIELD FIX MUCH HARDER TO FIX
DANK HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR

"James is very keen to continue his coaching at Essendon and the Essendon Football Club is very keen to have him," he said.

Essendon chairman Paul Little says outgoing coach James Hird accepted the penalties for the good of the club.

"I don't want to give you precise details, but there is an undertaking for James to continue coaching at Essendon."

Hird can attend Essendon matches in 2014 in preparation for a return.

Essendon's VFL side can play finals this weekend.

Essendon players were anxious for the club to come to a settlement, which provided Little with a mandate to strike a deal over their finals participation.

Bombers coach James Hird leaves AFL House.

"The players made their point of view very clearly that they wanted it as a priority to be cleared up now and they did not want it to linger," Little said in accepting the penalties.

Demetriou said Essendon players were still eligible for the Brownlow Medal and All-Australian honours.

Essendon will officially finish ninth.

Hird expressed remorse to the AFL Commission, but that contrition was undermined when his QC Julian Burnside said he had "done absolutely nothing wrong" and had been "heroic" in accepting penalties for the club and players' sake.

AFL Chair Mike Fitzpatrick hands down sanctions to the Essendon Football Club.

While Demetriou said ASADA was still reviewing Essendon's case, he stressed the AFL had not issued infraction notices to players when it reviewed ASADA's interim report.

Little made it clear yesterday he did not believe there would be infraction notices.

But he apologised for Essendon's conduct, saying "we have let down a lot of people ... and we are genuinely sorry".

Essendon great Tim Watson said this morning the matter wasn't completely over, with it still unclear whether there will be sanctions against players including his son Jobe.

Essendon chairman Paul Little responds to the sanctions handed to Essendon by the AFL Commission.

"It is still a little bit unresolved. So in terms of being a parent this morning, I am not feeling completely comfortable about exactly what is going to happen from here on in either because as Andrew and others said last night there is still an ASADA investigation that is to be completed."

Club legend Matthew Lloyd said his club might take a decade to recover, and was not only worried about the "mental scarring" to Essendon players next year but the club's future without key picks.

"For Essendon it's like losing Michael Hurley, Dyson Heppell, Joe Daniher and David Zaharakis; that's four players they could lose out on in the next two years," Lloyd said.

"The draft picks in the first two rounds, it's not often Dyson Heppell can step in and have an automatic impact, but it will hit them in three years' time, those four picks they have missed out on, what a hole it has left. It is something that will haunt them in a few years' time," he told 3AW.

"As little as 14 days ago they couldn't wait for finals. They were all about getting themselves right for a finals game in two weeks' time.

"Just what this does to them, we won't know the spirit it breaks and the damage it does over the coming months and years. The scarring is not just for the next 12 months - it could be for five to 10 years."

Thompson told Channel 9 last night he was unsure if he would step in as the caretaker coach.

"After the two days I have had it's hard to think what I really want to do," he said.

Little said he could see Hird playing a role on the coaching staff if Essendon were finalists in 2014.

"James Hird told the Commission tonight that he took responsibility for the shortcomings in the club's 2012 supplements program... so the club could move on," Little said.

- with Tom Minear

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'Six-point' Diaz a no show

Jaymes Diaz cut-out at the Greenway election forum / Pic: Phil Rogers Source: Supplied

Liberal candidate for Greenway, Jaymes Diaz gets grilled by Ten reporter John Hill. Here are the highlights. Courtesy Channel Ten

THE elusive Jaymes Diaz was a no-show at a federal election forum for the federal seat of Greenway last night.

With about 100 locals in the audience at Blacktown RSL Club, candidates fielded questions on costs of living, local business, paid parental leave, coal seam gas, childcare, party preferences and how they would represent the interests of Greenway on the national stage.

However it was difficult to avoid the elephant in the room in the absence of Mr Diaz, who is currently favoured to win the marginal seat.

DIAZ DODGES QUESTIONS AT COMMUNITY FORUM

The other candidates posed with a cardboard cutout of the infamous Liberal, while members of the audience called him a coward for not showing up.

Mr Diaz made an embarrassing gaffe earlier this month when he was unable to name the key points in the Coalition's border protection policy.

Anthony Belcastro, candidate for Katter's Australia Party, took it upon himself to pose the question on everyone lips - "Where is Jaymes Diaz?"

"Here we have a candidate who wants to take your voice to Canberra and what do we end up with - an empty chair," he concluded.

Sitting Labor MP Michelle Rowland was keen to point out her list of achievements over the past three years including grants secured for community projects such as Com4Unity, increased funding for local schools, the redevelopment of Blacktown Hospital and the arrival of the National Broadband Network.

TEN's John Hill talks to Liberal candidate for Greenway, Jaymes Diaz. Courtesy Channel Ten

"In short I believe in equality of opportunity and I don't believe you should be limited by the postcode you grew up in," she said.

"I've delivered on every promise I made in my maiden speech to parliament."

Ms Rowland took aim at the generosity of the Coalition's proposed paid parental leave scheme.

"I don't think it is socially equitable," she said.

"It is more important to maintain our existing scheme as it is being used and it is affordable."

All candidates at the forum made a commitment against coal seam gas mining and promised to push for increased child care funding.

Chris Brentin from the Greens defended the carbon tax while arguing Australia's future lies in the use of renewable energy.

"We care about people and we care about the environment and the harmony between the both of them," he said.

"Clean energy is going to create 70,000 new jobs for western Sydney."

The heated debate had its lighter moments, including when Palmer United Party's Jodie Wootton was forced to defend Clive Palmer's plan to build Titanic 2 in China.

While Mr Diaz never responded to his forum invitation, Tom Lillicrap from the Australian Sex Party and Allan Green from the Christian Democratic Party declined the opportunity to attend.

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Caine slams Connery Alzheimer's claims

British actors Michael Caine, left, and Sean Connery in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Caine has rejected a story in which he is alleged to have said that his friend Connery had "lost his senses." Source: AP

SIR Michael Caine has slammed a German newspaper report alleging he revealed his pal Sir Sean Connery is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Editors at Bild reported the Alfie star said Connery was struggling to cope with dementia, and was quoted as saying, "One must have serious concerns for him.''

However, the article has come under fire from Caine, who is baffled as to where the newspaper got it from.

He tells Britain's Daily Mirror, "It's all bulls&#nbsp;&#nbsp;&#nbsp;, completely preposterous. I did some interviews over in Germany for a new film and I can only assume someone has twisted my words or got the wrong end of the stick.

"I haven't seen Sean for a couple of years, but my wife and I spoke to him on the phone on his birthday this week and he was very well.

"He was fine, in complete control of his senses and his usual self. This stuff about Alzheimer's is just nonsense. I have no idea where they are getting it from.''

Bond star Connery has been plagued by rumours of ill health for several years, and only makes rare public appearances after retiring from life in the limelight in 2011.
 

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Clarke makes light of push and shove

The dramatic final moments of the Fifth Ashes Test at The Oval.

THE International Cricket Council is expected to examine a heated exchange between Michael Clarke and the umpires during a frantic late finish of the last Test at The Oval.

BAD LIGHT CUTS SHORT THRILLER

TEN THINGS WE'VE LEARNED THIS ASHES

ASHES SCOREBOARD

Umpire Aleem Dar pushed Clarke away as the Australian captain was furiously protesting against the light as England threatened to steal the Test following a sporting Clarke declaration.

Dar and fellow umpire Kumar Dharmasena eventually called the match off at 7.35pm with England requiring 21 runs from four overs with five wickets in hand, much to the frustration of a sell out crowd which booed furiously.

"I can't remember what I said. I remember Aleem touching me and I asked him politely to not touch me because if I touched him I'd be suspended for three matches. That's all I can remember, coincidentally.

"Once they took the reading, I knew it was going to be darker than what it was in Manchester," Clarke said. "I was batting at the time in Manchester."

Michael Clarke of Australia talks with umpires Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena as they take a light reading during day five of the fifth Ashes Test.

He claimed that the light reading had been 8.1 in Manchester when the umpires took the players off and it was down to 5.7 on the last day with only the flood lights keeping the game going.

While Clarke went into specifics during the official after-match presentation he did not want to repeat them at his press conference later.

"I'm not going to get into the numbers. I think I did up there (on stage). I will probably get in trouble for it so I won't go into the number," Clarke said.

"I just asked (the umpires) the question why we haven't got the meter out here and it took a few overs to get it out," Clarke said.

"When you can see your own shadows (from the artificial lights), just going on what's happened in the past throughout this series, you know it's getting to around that time when umpires have consistently taken us off the field."

The light that the last hour of the game was played in highlights how farcical it was to come off for bad light earlier in the tour, showing that the umpires must take a more pragmatic view.

In one of the great ironies of the tour Clarke was booed by the crowd during the presentations despite his declaration saving a dead match.

The team that deserved to be booed was England, which crawled along at two runs an over during the third day.

Michael Clarke concedes that England were just too good throughout the Ashes series.

England's cynical approach was highlighted when it managed to score at around five an over overnight.

Clarke set England 227 in 44 overs, a target that would have been run down if not for the bad light.

Justice was served when the umpires took the players from the field. The way England played the game it did not deserve to snatch victory but it did deserve to win the series 3-0 given Australia's catastrophic batting collapses.

"It doesn't surprise me," Clarke said of the booing. "Look, that's the way I'd like to see cricket played and I'd certainly like to lead the Australian team playing in that type of manner. We had nothing to lose, obviously 3-0 down.

"To me, even if you weren't 3-0 down you got to do everything you can to try and win the Test match. There's obviously the risk of losing and that was there today as well but I think it was what we had to try and do."

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Boy, 8, shoots gran point blank

Neighbours are shocked by an eight-year-old boy who shot and killed his grandmother minutes after playing Grand Theft Auto IV, US authorities said. Sky News.

Authorities believe an eight-year-old boy intentionally shot a woman in the head. Source: Supplied

AN EIGHT-year-old boy intentionally shot his elderly caregiver in the head "minutes" after playing Grand Theft Auto, authorities said.

Police are treating the death of Marie Smothers as homicide after the child shot the 90-year-old with her own gun in a mobile home park near Slaughter, Los Angeles.

She was shot from behind while watching television last Thursday.

Investigators found a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Smothers was the child's guardian at the time of the shooting.

"By accounts of relatives of the victim, as well as friends of the family, the victim and the juvenile had a normal, loving, relationship," said a statement issued by the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office.

Authorities believe an eight-year-old boy intentionally shot a woman in the head. (Pic: WAFB) Source: Supplied

While the boy told authorities the shooting was unintentional and that he was playing around with her firearm, police have found reason to believe the shooting was no accident.

"Although a motive for the shooting is unknown at this time, investigators have learned that the juvenile suspect was playing a video game on the Play Station III "Grand Theft Auto IV", a realistic game that has been associated with encouraging violence and awards points to players for killing people, just minutes before the homicide occurred," the statement read.

Results of an autopsy have not yet been released.

The child will not be charged and has been released to his parents. The boy's name will also not be released.

Louisiana Law prohibits the prosecution of children aged ten years and under. It reads: "Those who have not reached the age of 10 years are exempt from criminal responsibility. However, nothing in this article shall affect the jurisdiction of juvenile courts as established by the constitution and statutes of this state."

The investigation continues.

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Outrage over Cheryl Cole's shocking bum tattoo

Cheryl Cole's new tattoo, and right tattoo artist Nikki Hurtado with Cole. Pictures: Instagram Source: Supplied

CHERYL Cole's bum is coming up roses.

The singer has had her entire buttocks inked with a flowery design - and her tattoo artist has shown it off for all the world to see.

Nikki Hurtado posted a picture of Cole wearing just a pink G-string on Instagram over the weekend, sending social networking sites into a frenzy.

"Here is a in progress shot of a Tattoo I've been covering up and reworking," he posted alongside the pic. "Really exited to show healed shots. It was some intense tattooing sessions. She's tough as nails."

Cheryl Cole's "other" rosy cheeks. Picture: Splash Source: Splash News Australia

While Hurtado didn't name Cole in the picture, he then followed up with a picture of himself and the singer alongside the words: "Awesome seeing @ladyccole again! You are pleasure to be around thank you for everything"

The 30-year-old soon confirmed the tattoo was indeed hers by discussing it on Twitter with her fans.

She told one interested follower: 'I've had it for maybe 7-8 months, it was a long process but only just detailed it."

Before adding to another: "I have personal meaning behind it but English roses are my favourite flowers."

Tattoo artist Nikki Hurtado posted this picture of his artwork on the front page of UK newspaper The Sun. Picture: Instagram Source: Splash News Australia

The star also re-tweeted several messages of support from her fans after receiving a barrage of criticism.

"People are entitled to their own opinion. Personally I've never really concerned myself with other people's body parts!"

But after baring her bum for the world, Cole said she won't be going under the needle again anytime soon.

"I can pretty much safely say I'm now done!"

"Just the big one will do!'

The rose design is believed to have cost around Pound4,000 ($6,900).

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Poor taste Poms pee on pitch

England cricketers have been caught urinating on the pitch at the Oval just hours after the completion of the final day of the Fifth test at The Oval.

ENGLAND'S players have celebrated their Ashes triumph by urinating on The Oval pitch.

BAD LIGHT CUTS SHORT THRILLER

CLARKE ACCENTUATES THE POSITIVES

PUP IN DARK OVER LIGHT

TEN THINGS WE'VE LEARNED THIS ASHES

ASHES SCOREBOARD

In a distasteful display about five hours after the last Test was called off for bad light with England in sight of victory, the players gathered near the pitch celebrating and yahooing.

While the centre of the ground was quite dark, lights were on in the grandstands with dozens of people still cleaning up after a late finish which saw the game go beyond 7.30pm

A number of players including Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson took it in turns urinating on the pitch to the cheers of their team mates.

This could be clearly seen from the outside overflow areas of the press box.

It would have been the only moisture applied to the pitch for quite some time given the deliberate dry and dusty nature of the pitches presented in this Test series to blunt Australia's pace attack and aid spinner Graeme Swann, the highest wicket-taker in the series.

The incident brought back memories of the pitch party in Perth two seasons ago, when Indian film crews took footage of ground staff drinking on the WACA wicket the night before the Test.

The following day a clip titled ''Booze Party on Perth pitch sparks storm'' had attracted 680,000 views on Youtube.

A picture from England wicket keeper Matt Prior's Twitter feed showing the English team having a few drinks in the middle of The Oval post match.

It showed a staff member shadow-batting on the pitch while beer bottles were perched on the surface.

Curator Cam Sutherland agreed it was not a good look and it was unfortunate that administrative staff had walked on the wicket, but all he and his ground staff had been doing was inspecting its ''aesthetics''.

Despite the embarrassment, outgoing WACA chief executive Graeme Wood defended his staff's annual Test-eve drinks.

''It's a traditional event,'' he said. ''The ground staff have put an enormous amount of work into getting the wicket and the ground up to a magnificent state. Some of the support staff and ground staff that were still here at the ground at 8 o'clock just ventured out on to the ground to salute Cam and the guys.''

After the fifth Test England captain Alastair Cook played down the frustration of the game being called off with England needing just 21 from four overs with five wickets in hand following a sporting declaration from Michael Clarke.

Obviously his players took their annoyance out on the pitch later on.

Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Graeme Swann of England watch Jonathan Trott kiss the urn after winning the Ashes during day five of the fifth Ashes Test.

"Of course you understand the frustration, but you can also understand the other side," Cook said.

"You understand the rules and regs. Unfortunately the officials sometimes have to take emotion out oft the game and do their job and be consistently fair to both sides.

"Of course it's disappointing to be sitting here when we felt we could have taken those runs of the last 4 overs. I understand the umpires' decision and why it happened.

"If it was the third day no-one would be moaning about it.

"If the boot was on the other foot we'd probably be asking the same questions. 

"It was a shame for the amazing crowd we've had here but we weren't allowed to play to the finish. There are certain guidelines and that's the way cricket has gone."

Michael Clarke concedes that England were just too good throughout the Ashes series.

With the fifth Test going down to the wire, bad light has caught England 21 runs short of a dramatic victory, leaving them to settle for a 3-0 series scoreline.

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Oh. Miley. God. Can't stop cringing

Mylie Cyrus' recent performance at the MTV Music awards raised more than a few eyebrows. Courtesy: MTV

 Miley Cyrus performed an almost X rated dance with Robin Thicke  at Video Music Awards. Courtesy MVA/Vine

Miley Cyrus twerked a little too hard on the MTV VMA stage. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Robin Thicke, aka the Zebra Man, and Miley blur the lines preeeeeeetty hardcore. Picture: AP Source: AP

THERE'S awards ceremony shock value and then there's Miley Cyrus.

The 20-year-old singer took raunchy performances to a whole new cringe-worthy level at the MTV Video Music Awards today shocking fans with an explicit display of tongue-wagging, twerking and grinding.

While the singer has been keen to shed her teen sweetheart image, we'd like to think there are other ways of doing it.

Cyrus, who was on stage to perform her latest single We Can't Stop first entered the stage from inside a giant teddy bear in a tiny one-piece.

Thrusting her tongue out at the audience as if she's been struck down with a case of rabies, the performance only got more bizarre from there.

Miley Cyrus "twerks" against Robin Thicke and right, on stage. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Surrounded by a gaggle of dancing care bears the star then hip-thrusted and gyrated her way around the stage, provocatively gesturing towards her crotch at regular intervals.

Pulling moves that should only be seen in a really bad porno, the star turned it up a notch when Robin Thicke entered the stage to perform a duet of his single Blurred Lines.

Miley, put the tongue away. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

And just when you thought her outfit couldn't get any skimpier, Cyrus ripped off the garment to dance around in her undies with an oversized foam hand reminiscent of the Coles "Down, Down" adverts.

Cyrus then danced around Thicke in her "underwear" before twerking on his crotch and rubbing her "Coles" foam finger across his privates.

Miley, explain THIS, young lady. Picture: Getty Images Source: Supplied

Naturally, Twitter exploded immediately after the performance, with many expressing their disgust at her racy display.

Stars including Rihanna and One Direction looked on as bewildered as most of the audience.

The reaction of Will Smith's family summed up what most were thinking as they shielded their eyes and dropped their jaws.

Will Smith and his family had the exact same reaction as this newsroom. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

But the performance, however shocking, wasn't entirely unexpected.

Speaking with MTV before the show, Cyrus promised a "crazier" VMA moment than the infamous Britney and Madonna lip lock of 2003 and boy did we get it.

Just for one more look: CANNOT UNSEE. Picture: AP Source: AP

"We've got better in store for you guys, it's going be even crazier than the kiss," she declared.

"This is just the beginning of my movement."

Hold onto your hats folks, if this is just the start, we're not sure we really want to see what else Miley has in store.

Pictures of One Direction and Rihanna's recations have gone viral. Picture: Twitter Source: Supplied

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Swift tells One Direction to 'shut the f--- up'

DON'T mess with a woman scorned, especially when it's Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift was unimpressed by One Direction's speech. Picture: Supplied Source: NewsComAu

DON'T mess with a woman scorned - especially when it's Taylor Swift.

A vengeful Swift managed to take the spotlight at the MTV Video Music Awards, looking less than pleased with ex-boyfriend Harry Styles and his bandmates as they spoke on stage.

Swift appeared to utter "shut the f--- up" to BFF Selena Gomez as One Direction were thanking their fans for being "so awesome" - a moment that lit up Twitter and was immortalised immediately in a GIF online.

The 23-year-old and the boy band frontman called it quits in January after a few months of dating.

Swift later thanked another former beau for helping her win another moonman trophy for I Knew You Were Trouble.

"I also want to thank the person who inspired this song, who knows exactly who he is, because I got one of these," Swift said. "Thank you so much!" 

23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Thompson: Ban disastrous for Hird

Essendon assistant coach Mark Thompson joins AFL 360 immediately after his hearing with the AFL.

THE AFL Commission has halted marathon talks with Essendon and its senior officials after about 14 hours of deliberations at headquarters.

The parties will reconvene at 11am.

Bombers chairman Paul Little and chief executive Ray Gunston were among the last to leave following coach James Hird, club doctor Bruce Reid, senior assistant Mark Thompson and football manager Danny Corcoran earlier this evening.

Thompson earlier said it would be "disastrous" for James Hird to be suspended for 12 months.

"He's a young coach who is learning his way and he didn't deliberately set out to do anything wrong," Thompson said on AFL 360 following prolonged negotiations at AFL headquarters today.

"I would think that if the AFL knocked him out for 12 months he would struggle to want to get back.

"I call it the perfect storm because everybody has had some responsibility to it... not too many have more (responsibility) than others.

"It was a lot of people who probably made the wrong choices based on the current rules that are in place."
Thompson refused to rule out walking away from the game.

"Anything's open... right here, right now is that I've been charged for being a drug cheat - and I'm not.

"I'm fighting for my reputation, my integrity and I want to clear my name."

But Thompson conceded he was ready to plead guilty as long as the AFL withdraw aspects of the charges laid against him.

"There was 80 per cent of it (charge sheet) that I want to fight...so unless it really gets serious and reflective of what I'm responsible for them we're going (legal action).

"We're trying to scrub as many off as we can, to be responsible and to be charged for what we think we are responsible for - what is fair in our eyes.

Negotiations involving Thompson, Essendon, coach James Hird, club doctor Bruce Reid and football manager Danny Corcoran would continue on Tuesday.

Senior Essendon officials, chairman Paul Little and chief executive Ray Gunston remain at AFL House locked in tense negotiations over potential punishment for Essendon.

Hird and his legal team, including human rights campaigner Julian Burnside SC, were expected to tell the commission that his Supreme Court action challenging the Commission's right to hear charges against the Bombers star has not been withdrawn.

SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES AND TO JOIN THE DEBATE

Commissioners arrived about 8am and key Essendon officials were all at AFL House by 1pm.

The Commission is expected to detail proposed penalties against Hird, most likely a 12-month suspension from any AFL activity, and precise details of the formal charges.

It would be open to Hird then to back away from his court action and to accept the sanction, as part of a wider Essendon penalties package, or to declare he will fight on in court.

Hird has claimed he has been denied natural justice by the AFL and said the AFL Commission, including CEO Andrew Demetriou, should be barred from considering charges against him.

HIRD PREPARES FOR THE LONG GAME

Essendon is clinging to the hope it could retain prized draft picks as part of a deal that will see it stood down from the finals today.

A decision regarding what penalties and sanctions will be handed down to Essendon is expected today.

The supplements drama will come to a dramatic resolution when Essendon bows out of finals consideration, with Hird almost certain to have coached his last game of the year.

The AFL Commission is currently meeting at AFL House where it is expected to hand down the punishment for Hird and the Bombers.

Essendon chairman Paul Little and the club's acting chief executive, Ray Gunston, arrived at AFL House at about 1pm.

Commission members were seen arriving at league headquarters this morning.

Hird has been considering abandoning Supreme Court action and submitting to a 12-month ban demanded by the AFL ahead of a return in 2015.

Hird and wife Tania leave talks at AFL House. Picture: Andrew Tauber

The Bombers coach today went to Windy Hill for a few hours before returning home, but did not offer any comment to the waiting media pack.

It is expected senior assistant coach Mark Thompson will escape with a fine of $20,000.

Veteran club doctor Bruce Reid is understood to be preparing to stand down as early as today. He was adamant he would not be part of a compromise deal.

Essendon will be forced to accept a fine of up to $2 million. The fourth individual charged, football manager Danny Corcoran, will be stood down for three months.

The AFL's lawyers, Minter Ellison, and Essendon's QC, Jack Rush, were locked in discussions on Sunday. Hird's legal team was not directly involved.

Essendon's president says he's confident the club can reach an agreement over punishment for the drugs saga.

KEEP HIRD'S SEAT WARM

The AFL Commission began meeting at 8am today and while many facts are agreed between the two parties, it might take all day to reach a resolution.

AFL commissioner and Wesfarmers chairman Richard Goyder arrived at AFL house around 8am.

Expecting a long day he told his driver it was unlikely he would be picked up at 4pm.

Commissioner Sam Mostyn arrived shortly before 8am. Commissioner Bill Kelty at around 8.30am.The former ACTU secretary had said he would excuse himself from AFL Commission meetings due to his friendship with Hird.

Essendon assistant coach Mark Thompson reacts to photographers as he arrives at the AFL Commission hearing. Picture Wayne Ludbey

The Bombers were lobbying the AFL to keep their draft picks or lose just the first two picks at this year's national draft in November.

They argue it would penalise the players and hurt the club for a decade, but the league has pushed for a two-year exclusion from the first two rounds of the draft.

Hird's lawyer Julian Burnside SC labelled the AFL's actions "scandalous" and accused them of bullying Hird.

But the Bombers have effectively conceded defeat. Now the club is trying to limit the damage to its reputation and future success.

An insight into what the AFL might deem acceptable was contained in a draft "accepted facts" document provided to Essendon.

Essendon CEO Ray Gunston and chairman Paul Little arrive at AFL House. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

It stated:

THE club failed to adequately protect the health, welfare and safety of the players.

THERE was an unacceptable risk that players may have been administered substances that were prohibited by the AFL Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code.

THE club is unable to determine whether players were administered substances prohibited by the AFL Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code.

Essendon has refused to sign an agreement that says officials deliberately set out to breach anti-doping rules.

James Hird leaves his Toorak home this morning. Picture: Hamish Blair

Hird will either accept a 12-month ban or Essendon will stand him down for next season while he continues to fight his legal battle.

But that second option looks less likely, with legal figures saying many points in his Supreme Court writ would be undermined by Essendon's guilty plea.

On Saturday night Hird issued two contradictory statements - that he wanted his punishment wrapped up in the club's sanctions, but that he wanted to clear his name first.

"First of all I want to prove I'm innocent of a lot or 99 per cent of those charges," he said.

"I look at those charges and they make me sick that they're out there and that people would believe that is the truth about me.

Bombers club doctor Bruce Reid arrives with is legal team at AFL House. Picture: Michael Klein

"I'm determined to clear that up. Then we'll go from there about suspension or not suspension."

Bombers captain Jobe Watson on Sunday continued to express support for Hird but said the fate of his coach was beyond the club's control.

"I mean, it's not whether or not we want him to coach - it's the decision of the Commission and that's the reason there is a Commission," Watson said.

Reid is determined to protect his reputation as a medical practitioner. He has told confidantes he will continue his fight separate to Essendon.

 Essendon chairman Paul Little spoke on Saturday night of a middle ground, which meant that the AFL was prepared to drop the focus on drug cheating and instead hit the Dons with governance charges.

Essendon football manager Danny Corcoran and his legal team arrive at AFL House Picture: Michael Klein

While the sanctions are unprecedented, attention will quickly turn to who fills the coaching void.

HIRD OPENS UP AFTER GRITTY WIN

Thompson would be available given he will only be fined but has made it known he is not interested in a senior coaching position.

Former Bombers stars Mark Harvey and Neale Daniher have been linked to the club but a one-year secondment would not appeal if Hird was definitely returning.

Hird's barrister Burnside said "the AFL's bullying tactics seem to be the standard in Australia now".

Essendon QC Jack Rush outside AFL House. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

"The AFL seems to think it's OK to bully a bunch of individuals and a club without letting them have a fair hearing. I think the AFL's conduct has been scandalous."

- with James Dowling, Andy Burns 

James Hird and assistant coach Mark Thompson are expected to learn their fate today. Picture: Michael Klein

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Sully: I was bullied for 10 years at Ten

Sandra Sully says good by to the Ten Late News after presenting the bulletin for 18 years. Courtesy Channel Ten

Channel Ten news anchor Sandra Sully says she suffered for a decade at the hands of a female workplace bully. Picture: Taylor Adam Source: News Limited

SANDRA Sully has revealed she was bullied by a colleague who "tormented" her for almost 10 years.

The veteran anchor - who has been with Channel Ten for 20 years - told CLEO magazine that she was left "very distressed" by a woman who tried desperately to sabotage her career.

"She wasn't a fellow presenter but she was a colleague who tormented me or tried to torment me for nearly 10 years," Sully told CLEO.

"Her behaviour was underhanded and deceitful."

Sully says the incidents built up over time and she soon became aware this woman clearly didn't like her and would stop at nothing to try to derail her career.

"It then escalated to a level where I was very distressed.

"She tried to control me by painting me as difficult, demanding and high maintenance.

"She used those old tricks of flirting with bosses and using her feminine wiles to present me as demanding 'talent' to her superiors and they all fell for it. She was a toxic person. It was about control."

Sully shared her story in the hope of inspiring other young women to stand up to bullying. Picture: Channel Ten Source: Supplied

Sully says she felt completely disempowered to deal with it due to the presumption that television presenters are self-centered and egotistical.

"I'd just been through an assault and a divorce at the time, so I was in a particularly vulnerable state. I dealt with it on a very personal level.

"I thought nobody would believe me."

After a succession of bosses and years of distress, the woman was finally ordered to leave Sully alone.

The 48-year-old says that not calling out the bullying was one of the biggest mistakes she has made in her career.

"This isn't about saying, 'woe is me, I've had a terrible time of it.'

"Whether the issue is bullying or something else, it takes courage to stand up and say what's wrong is wrong."

Sandra Sully has marked 20 years with Channel Ten. Picture: News Corp Australia Source: News Limited

CLEO editor Sharri Markson said Sully had been reluctant to talk about the issue in the past but decided to open up in the hope of inspiring young women to stand up to workplace bullying.

"Sandra chose to share her story with CLEO because she wanted to speak directly to young women," Markson told news.com.au.

Added Sully: "It's not just about yourself but also the people that follow you. You create a better work environment if you stand up."

Fellow news veterans such as Seven's Chris Bath and her sports presenter husband Jim Wilson took to Twitter to praise Sully for her bravery in speaking out.

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What caused Karl to lose it this time?

Today host Karl Stefanovic interviews Grumpy cat. Courtesy Channel Nine/Today

Karl Stefanovic loses it on TV during his interview with Grumpy Cat. Picture: Screengrab Source: Supplied

ONE is a global internet sensation with her own YouTube channel and thousands of memes.

The other is pure web gold.

So what happens when Grumpy Cat and Karl Stefanovic go head to head in an interview?

The Today host ended up in hysterics during his "exclusive" interview with Grumpy Cat.

Admitting it was a challenge interviewing a subject who couldn't speak, Stefanovic asked television viewers to concentrate on the cat's face, and not his questions.

He began by asking the popular feline if Monday was her favourite day of the week, but got no response.

Stefanovic then moved onto her upcoming book, before asking about her views on our politicians.

"What do you think of our politicians," he asked.

"Do you like our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd? What about Opposition Leader Tony Abbott?"

Grump Cat frowned.

But fortunately viewers were spared any more political talk after Stefanovic broke into fits of laughter before saying "Look at the cat, she looks like Jabba the Hutt."

He later told co-host Lisa Wilkinson it was hard to talk to a subject with such a funny face.

The TV host struggles to keep a straight face. Picture: Screengrab Source: Supplied

Continue the conversation via Twitter @newscomauHQ | @DebKillalea | @karlstefanovic

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Australian man inserts fork into penis

Oh, for fork's sake. Picture: International Journal of Surgery Case Reports Source: NewsComAu

A 70-year-old Canberra man came to an extraordinarily painful fork in the road when he presented to Canberra Hospital's Emergency Department with a 10cm fork lodged in his penis.

The steel cutlery item was inserted into his urethra for his sexual gratification, a write-up in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports said.

It remains uncertain how the gentleman thought that could be achieved.

The fork was not visible from the outside but doctors were able to feel it.

"The motives for insertion of a variety of objects are difficult to comprehend", the report, titled An Unusual Urethral Foreign Body, said.

Understatement of the year.

###

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Girlfriend's heartfelt tribute to slain baseballer

Danny Ford, Chief of Police in Duncan, Oklahoma, reveals more information on the murder of Australian student, Christopher Lane. Courtesy MMM

THE girlfriend of slain Melbourne baseball star Chris Lane has posted an emotional tribute, describing their time together as "the most amazing years of my life".

Sarah Harper, who was with Lane for four years, added to a raft of tributes for the 23-year-old after he was killed in a random drive-by shooting in Oklahoma.

"The past 4 years have been the most amazing years of my life and that's all because of you babe," she wrote on Facebook today.

"I love you so much babe. From 2009 until forever you will always be mine and in a very special and protected place in my heart."

Ms Harper also posted a photo of a flower memorial erected by locals in the town of Duncan on the corner where he was tragically shot.

It comes after a 16-year-old boy confessed to pulling the trigger and killing Lane, according to police chief Danny Ford.

Chief Ford said the 16-year-old was with two other teens aged 15 and 17 when they killed Lane during a random drive-by shooting in the town of Duncan.

Chris Lane had just left the home of his US girlfriend Sarah Harper when he was shot dead.

He said the three teenagers had no motive other than to make a name for themselves.

All three are facing the charge of first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

Chief Ford told 3AW this morning one of the accused has confessed to pulling the trigger, saying he just wanted to kill someone.

"Lately there has been some pretty weak motives, but I don't know that I've had one that they told us they were just going to kill somebody," he said.

He said the three teens were on a "killing spree" after , leaving a chilling message on Facebook.

Peter Lane said his son had left his mark and his death was just so pointless.

Christopher Lane was killed in a drive-by shooting in Oklahoma.

"There's not going to be any good come out of this because it was just so senseless," Mr Lane told reporters in Melbourne this morning.

"There wasn't anything he did or could have done.

"He was an athlete going for a jog, like he would do five or six days a week in terms of his training schedule.

"It's happened. It's wrong and we just try and deal with it the best we can."

Flowers and a baseball were placed on the home plate at Essendon Baseball Club this morning with a message that summed up the senseless shooting. "A wonderful young man taken too soon," it read. "Why?"

As family and friends grappled with the unthinkable tragedy, the 22-year-old's parents paid tribute to their boy at the field where his love for the sport began.

An investigator near the scene that Chris Lane was shot in an affluent neighbourhood of Duncan, Oklahoma. Picture: Supplied

Peter Lane said he could not have been more proud of a remarkable young man.

"He did all the things a kid should have done," Mr Lane said.  "He caused us some grief but he caused us so much joy. He achieved a lot for a 22-year-old.

"He gave up a lot to follow his dream. He gave up 18th birthday parties to be at the Victorian Institute of Sport at 8am the next morning, ready to go.

"He left his mark."

Mr Lane said the family was still trying to process the circumstances of their son's death.

"There is not going to be any good come out of this. It was so senseless. There was nothing he did or could have done.".

Mr Lane said he was still waiting on news from US authorities regarding the repatriation of Chris's body.

Chief Ford said the teens drove to another house to murder a second unrelated victim just hours after shooting Lane in the back and leaving him to die in an upper-class area of Duncan at 2.57pm local time Friday (5.57am Saturday Melbourne time).

"They wanted to be Billy Bob Badasses," Chief Ford said.

"I think they were on a killing spree.

"We would have had more bodies that night if we didn't get them."

On one of the alleged killer's Facebook pages investigators said they found the message: "Bang. Two drops in two hours".

The teens accused of the shooting murder of an Australian baseballer in Oklahoma were on a 'killing spree'.

The accused are in custody in Stephens County Jail, awaiting formal murder charges expected on Monday local time.

Earlier, Chief Ford said one of the teens had been co-operating.

"He said, 'Yeah, we did it but I'm not going to tell you who pulled the trigger'," he said.

One of the alleged murderers was Caucasian, the other two were black, Chief Ford said.

Lane, 22, grew up in Oak Park in Melbourne's north and was in the US on a sports scholarship.

He was jogging through an area of "high dollar homes" after leaving the home of his American girlfriend, Sarah Harper, when he was followed and shot at the intersection of Country Club Rd and Twilight Beach Rd.

Google Streetview shows the location Chris Lane was gunned down a suburban area of Duncan, Oklahoma. Picture: Googlemaps

A memorial of flowers has already been put up.

Lane's murder has shocked the residents of Duncan, a quiet city of 25,000 people in southern Oklahoma, and his teammates at East Central University (ECU), where Lane won a scholarship to be the team's catcher.

The town has had only one other murder the past five years.

Local Bill Renfrow said Duncan locals had erected a flower memorial for lane on the street where he was shot.

"People here have really responded," he said.

"It's sad to us, more than anything. It's shocking. He was a visitor in our country.

Shooting victim Chris Lane had just returned to the US from an eight-week break in Australia with his US girlfriend Sarah Harper. Picture: Supplied

"This is a very quiet neighbourhood, there's never any trouble here."

Chief Ford told the Herald Sun that Lane had jogged past a house where the teenagers were gathered.

The three boys, in a black Ford Focus near the house, randomly spotted Lane.

"They followed him, I can't reason in my mind what their thought process was," he said.

"He went by and they saw him, and one or all three of them agreed that he was their target.

"They came up from behind, shot him in the back with a small-calibre handgun and sped off."

Chris Lane was popular and well-like in the US where he was studying and in his hometown Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Witnesses saw Lane stumble across the road and then get down on his knees before struggling to a drainage area on the side of the road.

A woman who came from a nearby house tried CPR while another woman who was in a car stopped and called 911.

Despite paramedics and police being at the scene within minutes and transporting Lane to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

Chief Ford said the only information investigators had at the scene was the killers were in a black car that had a white sticker on the front left hand side of the driver's windscreen.

Their big break came about four hours later when a concerned parent called police with the message: "Several juveniles are coming over to kill their son."

Police scrambled to the address and found a black car with a white sticker containing the three teenagers in an adjacent church car park.

Shooting victim Chris Lane had just returned to the US from an eight-week break in Australia with his US girlfriend Sarah Harper. Picture: Supplied

"Luckily we had officers there really quick," Detective John Byers said.

A search of the car found a shotgun, but the handgun was yet to be found, Chief Ford said.

However, ammunition for the handgun was found hidden in a fuse box under the bonnet of the car and Chief Ford said surveillance footage showed, minutes after Lane was shot, the boys hiding a weapon in the air box breather in the car's engine.

In between the shooting of Lane and the boys' arrest one of the boys kept an appointment with juvenile authorities for a previous brush with the law, Chief Ford said.

The boys did not have an apparent link to a gang or drugs, he added.

"I know everybody thinks there has to be a reason, but I've been in this business for 30 years and there doesn't have to be a reason with these kids," Chief Ford said.

Chris Lane as a student at St Bernard's College.

"It is a sad, sad thing what happened with that young man."

Lane had only been back in Duncan for three days when he was killed after an eight-week break in Australia with Ms Harper, whom he had met at college.

Ms Harper, a talented sportswoman, declined an interview request from the Duncan Banner newspaper.

Lane, the youngest of four children, had played for Essendon and Watsonia baseball clubs.

"He was a very talented athlete, he was a very talented junior footballer as well," Mr Lane said.

"He picked baseball because it gave him a chance to go to college."

The former student of St Bernard's College and Oak Park's St Francis de Sales Primary School had been studying business.

Mr Lane said his son had hoped to get into the real estate industry in Australia or the US when he finished his degree.

He had no plans to turn professional, his father said.

"He played for the love of it."

Lane's high school sports teacher remembered him as a happy-go-lucky boy who would give anything a go, from sport to choir and academic challenges.

"He was always a competitor, always willing to give things a go, as you can see by his year book," said St Bernard's director of sport Craig Osborne.

"He was a talented sportsperson, popular with the other kids. Sport was in his personality, it's what he loved to do. He was a natural athlete."

St Bernard's principal Tony Paatsch said 2008 school captain David Ireland had written a moving tribute remembering Lane as "one of the happiest and funniest kids he knew".

"It is a huge shock," Mr Paatsch said.

He said the St Bernard's Old Collegians Association would set up a repatriation fund for Mr Lane's family, with details on the St Bernard's school website later today.

Essendon Baseball Club president Tony Cornish described Lane as a fantastic player and good person.

Mr Cornish said the club was a family: "We love each other. The club will miss him."

The club's match against Melbourne University on Sunday will be turned into tribute to Lane.

The club was also creating new uniforms with Lane's initials and his number, 40, on a logo.

St Bernard's College said a prayer for Lane and his family this morning.

Titled Hold fast to your hope Chris Lane: Class of 2008, the prayer read:

God you gave us reasons to hope - to see beyond the present with faith in your presence that all will be well.

The loss of our friend Chris may rob us of hope, but you promise to be with us in all our difficulties.

"Blessed are you who weep now, for one day you will laugh."

Help us to keep our head facing towards the horizon, even when the tears cloud our vision. Guide us with hope that someday, all will be well.

Give Chris' family hope too, so that one day they will again share the laughter of friendship, galvanised from our heartfelt and unyielding support for them in their time of need.

Plant hope deep in our hearts, deep and firm, and fill us with the knowledge that Your grace is with us always.

We can live fully only if we act according to your light, so shine your light into our darkness and into the life of us all who mourn.

In your light and presence, we can all go forward in hope.

Sustain us that we may live.

- With Aaron Langmaid, Shelley Hadfield and Samantha Landy 

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