Father charged with bridge death in 'acute psychiatric state'

January 29, 2009

A man charged with the murder of his daughter after she was allegedly thrown from the West Gate Bridge is in an "acute psychiatric state", a court has heard. Arthur Phillip Freeman, 35, of Hawthorn, did not appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court where he was charged over the death of his four-year-old daughter, Darcey Iris Freeman. http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/general/girl-dies-after-being-thrown-from-bridge/2009/01/29/1232818626826.html

Could Lithium Shortages Impede Future Electric Car Deployment?

January 23, 2009

LITHIUM is a soft alkali metal with a silver-white color, it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Most treehuggers and electronics-geeks will be familiar with it as one of the key chemical components of lithium-ion batteries, using in portable electronics and the most recent generation of electric vehicles. www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/lithium-shortage-electric-cars-batteries.php

Australian PM Condemns Muslim Cleric's 'Beat Your Wife' Advice

January 22, 2009

AUSTRALIA'S Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called on a Muslim cleric to apologize for comments in which he condoned marital rape and advised men to "shape up" their wives by beating them. In a lecture on marriage, Samir Abu Hamza told his male audience that they were allowed to force their wives into sex and hit them if they were disobedient, as long as they didn't draw blood. www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481475,00.html

New York plane crash: black box shows both engines failed

January 19, 2009

Federal investigators have said that the black box flight data recorder of the US Airways jet that made a safe emergency landing in New York's Hudson River last week showed that the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 3,200 feet and lost power simultaneously in both engines. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4286114/ New-York-plane-crash-black-box-shows-both-engines-failed.html