Solar Eclipse Watched By Thousands In Oz

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Thousands of tourists, star gazers, scientists and amateur astronomers gathered in Australia to watch one of nature's biggest spectacles - a total solar eclipse.

Weather forecasters had predicted cloud, but right on cue the skies cleared as the eclipse began and there was a clear view of the sun, moon and Earth aligned.

As the last glimpse of the sun's rays disappeared, there were cheers from people who had gathered on beaches in the state of Queensland.

The tropical region was then plunged into darkness for two minutes. 

Star gazers on the beach set up their telescopes

"Immediately before, I was thinking, 'Are we gonna see this?' And we just had a fantastic display - it was just beautiful," said Terry Cuttle of the Astronomical Association of Queensland, who has seen a dozen total solar eclipses over the years.

"And right after it finished, the clouds came back again. It really adds to the drama of it."

"Wow, insects and birds gone quiet," one tourist, Geoff Scott, tweeted. Another, Stuart Clark, said: "This is it. Totality now. Utterly beautiful."

The beaches darken as the eclipse casts its shadow

Totality was at 6.38am local time (8.38pm GMT on Tuesday), with eclipse watchers donning special glasses to protect their eyes. One local man improvised, bringing a welder's helmet.

"Day into night, unbelievable, goosebumps, speechless, amazing," said Palm Cove eclipse watcher Simon Crerar.

The eclipse cast its 95-mile (150km) shadow in Australia's Northern Territory, crossed the northeast tip of the country and was swooping east across the South Pacific, where no islands are in its direct path.

A cruise ship off Port Douglas as passengers watch

A partial eclipse was visible from east Indonesia, the eastern half of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and southern parts of Chile and Argentina.

Hank Harper, 61, and his two children Harrison, 10, and Reilly, 12, flew from Los Angeles just to see the phenomenon.

The family hopped on board a hot air balloon with other eager tourists and staff from Hot Air Balloon Cairns, crossed their fingers, and were rewarded with a perfect view.

"We gambled everything - drove through the rain and didn't even know if the balloon was going to go up," he said.

The skies cleared in time to give a clear view of the eclipse

Speaking by phone from the hot air balloon as they watched the sun's rays re-emerge from behind the moon while kangaroos hopped on the ground below, he added: "It was everything I could have hoped for."

On a dive boat drifting along the blue waters of the Great Barrier Reef, a cheer of relief erupted as the clouds moved away at the moment of total eclipse, followed by a hush as darkness fell across the water.

One scuba diver floated on his back in the sea, watching it unfold as he bobbed in the waves.

Onlookers protected their eyes with special glasses

Scientists were studying how animals respond to the eclipse, with underwater cameras capturing the effects of sudden darkness on the creatures of the Reef.

Some Queensland hotels have been booked up for more than three years and more than 50,000 people flooded into the region to watch the spectacle, according to local tourism authorities.

The next total eclipse will not be until March 2015, and even then will only be visible from a few remote locations in the North Atlantic.

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Girl Falls Into Deadly Snake Pit - And Survives

A Californian teenager has survived falling into a rattlesnake pit where she was bitten six times.

Vera Oliphant, 16, inadvertently fell into the nest, in a rural area just outside San Diego, while searching for reception to phone her mother.

One adult and six baby rattlers bit her and their venom immediately took hold of her body.

She managed to make it to her uncle's house nearby and he immediately drove her to hospital.

Speaking for the first time since the incident, she told ABC News she felt lucky to be alive.

"I was feeling numb and paralysed. I had black vision and I saw bubbles," she said.

"It felt like needles were stabbing me… it burned so hard and it felt like a bomb just exploded in me. It's really hard to describe."

Vera went into anaphylactic shock twice and lost consciousness four times during the ordeal.

She says the fast reactions of her uncle and staff at the Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa saved her life.

Doctors there administered 24 does of anti-venom and kept her in intensive care for four days.

David Oliphant, the teenager's father and also an occupational nurse, told ABC News: "I am used to dealing with patients, but when it's your own daughter it's different".

Vera is planning to return to school next week. She said the next time she has reception problems she will learn from this mistake.

"Be careful where you step," she said. "If you don't need to, just wait until you are somewhere that you can call people."

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Taser Death: Police Branded 'Thuggish'

Police who tackled and tasered a Brazilian student on LSD could face further action after a damning report on the man's death.

An Australian coroner said officers acted like schoolboys in "Lord Of The Flies" when they crash-tackled Roberto Laudisio Curti and shocked him with 50,000 volts.

New South Wales coroner Mary Jerram said she could not determine what caused the 21-year-old's death but added that it was "impossible to believe that he would have died but for the actions of police".

All of her recommendations were accepted by police, including that five officers involved be referred to an independent watchdog and there be an immediate review of the criteria for use of taser stun guns.

Police have accepted their officers were in the wrong

But Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, who admitted the coroner's report was "quite scathing", said tasers would continue to be used.

"These weapons save lives," he said.

Officers pursued a shirtless Curti - who had become paranoid and was acting erratically after sharing an LSD tab with two friends - in the mistaken belief that he had committed an armed robbery on a Sydney convenience store.

In shocking him at least 14 times, tackling him to the ground and blasting him with pepper spray, the actions of a number of police officers were "reckless, careless, dangerous, and excessively forceful", Ms Jerram said.

"They were an abuse of police powers, in some instances even thuggish."

She said one probationary constable used his stun gun in a "wild and uncontrolled" manner on the Brazilian, who issued terrible screams and groans as police piled on top of him while he lay on a city street.

"A few of the other constables seem to have thrown themselves into a melee with an ungoverned pack mentality, like the schoolboys in 'Lord of the Flies'," she said, referring to the novel and film about boys who turn savage after being stranded on an island.

A coroner said the actions of the police were "thuggish"

Ms Jerram said many of the police had "no idea what the problem was, or what threat or crime was supposedly to be averted, or concern for the value of life".

Police said Curti had shown a "superhuman" strength as he struggled against them, but the coroner said evidence from cameras on the tasers showed he was quickly handcuffed after being thrown to the ground.

A family spokesman said further action should be taken against the police

She said one officer lay across his back, another knelt on him and others held his arms and legs as he was then repeatedly tasered by two officers while another sprayed pepper spray in his face.

Minutes later he was seen to be unresponsive and could not be revived.

Curti's family members welcomed the findings but said they would still be pushing for those responsible to be held accountable.

"Whilst nothing will ever bring Beto back, we continue to push for those responsible to face the consequences of their appalling behaviour on that night," family spokesman Michael Reynolds told journalists.

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April Jones: Police Stop Searching River

Police looking for missing five-year-old April Jones have switched the focus of their search to a forest, the police officer in charge of the operation has said.

Superintendent Ian John, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said officers had stopped combing the river, which had previously been at the centre of the search, and were instead looking at the land around it.

He said they still had 150 officers working on finding April at any one time in a continued effort to find her, more than six weeks after she went missing.

April was last seen on October 1, getting into a vehicle after playing near her home on the Bryn y Gog estate in the town of Machynlleth, Powys.

Her disappearance sparked the biggest search operation ever undertaken by the Dyfed-Powys Police force, covering 23 square miles.

Seventeen specialist teams continue to work on the case and are investigating all lines of enquiry.

Officers and coastguards had concentrated their efforts on the River Dyfi but are now focusing on the 6,000 hectares of surrounding forest land.

Search teams scouring the River Dyfi

Supt John said: "We've still got a number of search areas to investigate, but at the moment teams are primarily working in the Dyfi Forest.

"We are not searching the river actively now. The coastguard have stopped doing that, they have adequately searched the water as much as they can.

"Instead, it's primarily the woodland areas, the old slate quarries and the fields which are the main focus of the operation now."

Hundreds of members of the public joined in the search for April and they continue to raise money to help fund the search.

Supt John said: "I can't truly express how hard going the work is, the guys have been out there in the pouring rain day after day and still they continue.

"We are not searching weekends anymore because they officers all need to rest, but we are still working at an intensive level."

Mark Bridger, 46, a former abattoir worker, has been charged with April's murder and is due to appear in court on January 11.

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McAfee 'Keeping On The Move' After Killing

John McAfee says he is moving every four hours to avoid police who want to question him about the murder of his neighbour.

The anti-virus software pioneer denies killing American Gregory Faull, 52, who was found dead in a pool of blood at his home on Sunday.

Three people who worked for Mr McAfee, 67, are under interrogation, said Belize police.

Mr McAfee, who has amassed a $100m (£63m) fortune, told CNBC television he had been "accused of something I didn't do".

He said he was keeping on the move out of fear for his safety, worried that police want to "shake him down" and extort money from him.

A police report said that Mr Faull was shot in the back of the head. It said there were no signs of a break-in, and a laptop and cell phone were missing.

"We are looking for Mr McAfee to interrogate him," police spokesman Raphael Martinez said, adding he was "not suspected of murder".

Police raided Mr McAfee's mansion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the northeastern coast of Belize, on Sunday to question him about the murder.

Earlier in the year, police searched the property for weapons and drugs, and detained him for several hours.

Mr McAfee claimed afterwards he had been arrested because he refused to make a donation to a local politician's campaign.

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Anti-Austerity Strikes: Protests Grip Europe

A wave of anti-austerity anger is sweeping across Europe with general strikes in Spain and Portugal and walkouts in Greece and Italy - grounding flights, closing schools and shutting down transport.

Millions of workers are taking part in the dozens of co-ordinated protests in a so-called European Day of Action and Solidarity against spending cuts and tax hikes.

Italian media reported that six police officers were injured, including one seriously, as clashes broke out with protesters at demonstrations in Milan and Turin.

Around 20 activists allegedly beat an officer with a stick and baseball bats in Turin, while five officers were hurt during running street battles in central Milan.

In Spain - the fourth-biggest eurozone economy - activists and unions will be staging an evening rally outside the parliament in the Madrid.

Protests got underway early in Madrid and Barcelona, with protesters clashing with police as they attempted to blockade buses and cause disruption at food markets.

Spanish police used night-sticks to quell unrest on picket lines

Riot police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of protesters in Madrid's Cibeles Square and used night-sticks to quell picket line disturbances as more than 80 people were arrested.

:: Live: Follow the protests across Europe as they happen

Airlines operating in the country including Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, Vueling, Air Europa and easyJet cut more than 600 flights including some 250 international routes.

Hospitals in Spain will fully staff emergency and surgery rooms but non-essential care will be scaled back.

Spain, where one in four workers is unemployed, is now teetering on the brink of calling for a European bailout, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy trying to put off a rescue that could require even more EU-mandated budget cuts.

Italy's biggest trade union CGIL called strikes in dozens of cities - and thousands of workers took to the streets calling for more safeguards for jobs and pensions and protesting against Prime Minister Mario Monti's government.

Parts of Rome were at a standstill as protesters clashed with police

Student Mario Nobile, 23, said: "Europe is waking up today - from Rome to Madrid to Athens."

Protests are also being called in 40 towns and cities across bailed-out Portugal, including Lisbon and Porto.

Portuguese airline TAP said it was grounding more than 160 flights, most of them international.

Greece, struggling to satisfy international lenders that it has cut spending sufficiently to qualify for bailout funds and to avoid default, has called a three-hour walkout and a rally in Athens.

The European Trade Union Confederation said it was the first time that it had appealed for a day of action that includes simultaneous strike action in four countries.

"By sowing austerity, we are reaping recession, rising poverty and social anxiety," its general secretary Bernadette Segol said in an online statement.

"In some countries, people's exasperation is reaching a peak. We need urgent solutions to get the economy back on track, not stifle it with austerity. Europe's leaders are wrong not to listen to the anger of the people who are taking to the streets."

Union-led rallies are also being called across France and in Poland, while high-speed Thalys rail services between Belgium and Germany have been cancelled for the day.

Just 20% of Spain's long-distance trains and a third of its commuter trains are expected to run, while Lisbon's Metro will be shut completely with only 10% of rail services in action.

Tensions have been rising in Spain since last Friday when a woman jumped from her apartment to her death as bailiffs tried to evict her from her home in the country's second apparent suicide linked to evictions.

On Monday, the country's largest banks agreed to halt repossessions for the most vulnerable for two years.

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Baby Died After 'Serious Failures' At Hospital

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

A baby died at Birmingham Children's Hospital after "serious failures", a coroner has ruled.

Hayley Fullerton suffered heart failure following corrective surgery in November 2009, one month after her first birthday.

Recording a narrative verdict following an inquest into Hayley's death, Aidan Cotter, coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said: "The failures by a number of the staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital were serious but not gross."

He said he could only make a finding of neglect if there had been a "gross" failure to provide medical attention .

Paula Stevenson holding her daughter Hayley.

Following the verdict, Hayley's mother, Paula Stevenson, said that she planned to sue the NHS over her daughter's "preventable and predictable" death. 

She said: "Today is Hayley's day - I have been waiting three years to speak up.

"Hayley died like an abandoned animal - nobody listened to me while Hayley was dying and nobody listened to me when Hayley was dead."

Ms Stevenson, who flew to the UK from Australia to attend today's hearing with Hayley's father Bobby Fullerton, added: "Our entire family has been completely devastated by what happened and to this day we continue to grieve for Hayley.

"I still cannot understand how trained medics could ignore the fact that she was slowly deteriorating before their eyes.

"They had seven days to spot that something was seriously wrong but all those precious opportunities were missed."

Hayley was born with a condition that restricted blood getting from her heart to her lungs.

After an operation at another hospital, she was sent to Birmingham for corrective heart surgery.

Hayley Fullerton suffered a collapsed lung after heart surgery.

The operation was a success, but complications set in when Hayley's right lung collapsed.

Ms Stevenson, told the coroner's court earlier this year: "I was hoping she would be put in intensive care.

"I was waiting and waiting for someone to come so I was very aware and alert. I was telling her sorry I could not get help."

She also claimed that her child had been failed "abominably" and said her experience at the hands of some staff has been "brutal".

Ms Stevenson, who is originally from Northern Ireland but now lives in Australia, went on to allege that she gave a nurse a £100 gift voucher in an effort to secure better care for Hayley.

"I truly believe if the medical teams had listened to me and my parents, Hayley would still be alive today. They turned their back on her. She was overlooked and neglected," she said.

In an internal review of Hayley's death, the NHS found that a "hierarchy" among medics deterred junior staff from referring Hayley back to a paediatric intensive care unit in the days before her death on November 11.

In a statement issued after the coroner's verdict, the Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "When Hayley died we recognised that some of her care fell below our usual high standards and for this we offer a heartfelt apology for the distress that has been caused.

"We've taken all the steps possible to learn from this."

Ms Stevenson has now set up a website, heal-trust.org, which campaigns for the NHS to use Rapid Response Teams, which families, friends or patients can call if they feel their concerns over treatment aren't being heeded.

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Woman 'Refused' Abortion In Ireland Dies

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Investigations have been launched after a pregnant woman died in hospital in Ireland after allegedly being refused an abortion.

Savita Halappanavar, 31, suffered a miscarriage and septicaemia. Her husband Praveen claims doctors refused to carry out a termination for religious reasons.

Mrs Halappanavar, who was from India, was 17 weeks pregnant when admitted to Galway University Hospital.

She was suffering from agonising pain and, according to her husband, made several requests for an abortion.

Mr Halappanavar, 34, said doctors had refused to terminate the pregnancy because there was a foetal heartbeat and told his wife: "This is a Catholic country."

The young woman, who had been practising as a dentist in the Republic of Ireland for some time, died on October 28 after developing septicaemia - an infection in the blood.

Her death is expected to spark a backlash against the Irish government, criticised by left-wing members of parliament for failing to introduce new laws to permit abortion in life-threatening circumstances.

Clare Daly, a Socialist Party member of parliament, said: "A woman has died because Galway University Hospital refused to perform an abortion needed to prevent serious risk to her life.

"We were told this situation would never arise. An unviable foetus - she was having a miscarriage - was given priority over the woman, who unfortunately and predictably, developed septicaemia and died."

Galway Roscommon University Hospitals Group and the state's health officials have launched an investigation.

The family will be interviewed as part of that review and results are expected within three months.

The Galway hospital said doctors have carried out all standard practices in notifying the death to the coroner, informing the Health Service Executive and completing a maternal death notification.

"It is standard practice to review unexpected deaths in line with the HSE's national incident management policy," it said.

"The family of the deceased is consulted on the terms of reference, interviewed by the review team and given a copy of the final report."

A spokesman added: "The Galway Roscommon University Hospitals Group wishes to extend its sympathy to the husband, family and friends of Ms Halappanavar."

The Department of Health also expressed its condolences but said it would wait for the two investigations to be completed before commenting further.

Abortion remains illegal in the Republic unless it occurs as the result of medical intervention to save the mother's life.

There is, however, no agreed method for determining such circumstances.

Abortion is legal in Northern Ireland but only if there is an immediate threat to the mother's life or a long-term threat to her physical or mental health.

The first private abortion clinic on the island opened in Belfast last month.

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Hamas' Jaabari Killed In Israeli Airstrikes

Israeli airstrikes have hit a series of targets across Gaza City, after one killed the commander of Hamas' military wing.

Two of the group's training facilities were among the sites hit by the bombings in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah.

Palestinian officials say the attacks have killed a total of nine people so far, including a seven-year-old girl.

Israel says the airstrikes are the beginning of a broader operation, launched in response to days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza.

It marks the biggest escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since a 2008-2009 conflict - and came despite signs on Tuesday that neighbouring Egypt had managed to broker a truce in the enclave after a five day surge of violence.

Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai told Channel 2 TV: "The days we face in the south will, in my estimation, prove protracted. The homefront must brace itself resiliently."

Mr Jaabari's car was travelling through Gaza City when it was hit

Hamas said Mr Jaabari, who ran the organisation's armed wing, the Izz el Deen al Qassam, died along with a passenger after their car was hit by an Israeli missile in Gaza City.

Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence service confirmed it had carried out the attack, saying it had killed Jaabri because of his "decade-long terrorist activity". He has long topped Israel's most-wanted list.

It marks a dramatic resumption of Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian militant leaders.

Mr Jaabari becomes the most senior Hamas official to be killed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago.

Crowds of people and security personnel rushed to the scene of the strike, trying to put out the fire that had engulfed the car and left it a charred shell.

Hamas police cordoned off the area around a hospital where at least one body from the strike was taken. It was draped in a white sheet, with a burned leg poking out.

Israeli officials had said in recent days that they were considering assassinating top Hamas officials following a wave of heavy rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, triggering Israeli airstrikes.

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Train Guard Guilty Of Girl's Death

A railway guard accused of causing the death of a teenager who fell under a train has been convicted of manslaughter.

Christopher McGee, 45, gave the signal for the driver to depart as Georgia Varley, 16, was leaning against a carriage.

The sixth-form college student, who had been drinking on a night out in Liverpool with friends, fell between the train and the platform at the city's James Street station in October last year.

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