Waiting Room News 19, July 15 by Nick Moore

H FRES

Waiting Room News

World TIGER ATTACK: Five men were rescued in an Indonesian national park after five days trapped in trees surrounded by Sumatran tigers, officials said. Several tigers attacked the group after they killed a tiger cub. A sixth man died in the initial incident, BBC News reported.

Australia BAG BAN: A ban on plastic bags and a crackdown on companies dumping NSW rubbish in Queensland landfill were being considered by the State Government. Environment Minister Andrew Powell said more bins in public places was also being considered, BrisbaneTimes.com.au reported.

Volume 19 July 15

Entertainment CLOONEY DUMPED: Stacy Keibler, 33, had broken it off with George Clooney, 52. The former wrestler had been dating the actor for about two years but after months of rumours the relationship was on the rocks, Stacy had reportedly finally called time on it, News Corp reported.

Northern Life DODGY DEALINGS: Corruption and bribery were perceived as getting worse in many countries, and trust in governments was falling, a survey showed. The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 said one in four people paid a bribe in the past 12 months when accessing public institutions and services, Voice of America reported online.

Odd Spot AS at June 15, at least 5109 Americans had died by shooting in the US in the past six months, compared with 4409 US soldiers killed in Iraq. Source: Online magazine Slate

LEAKING MILLIONS: The cost of maintaining a 24-hour guard outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to prevent the escape of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had risen to £3.8 million, the Metropolitan police had revealed, Guardian.co.uk reported.

VIEWER STRIKE: The new Sunrise partnership of David Koch and Samantha Armytage struck early problems, with 40,000 viewers switching off nationally last week in what industry insiders said was a negative backlash after the departure of Melissa Doyle who, sources claimed, was forced to another role with a big pay cut. THAT’S a bike, corner Bilsen and Goss roads, Virginia, Tuesday, July 9. PERTH PRICIEST: Perth was Australia’s most expensive city and the 10th priciest to live in worldwide, an online cost of living index said. Numbeo also named Perth as the most expensive city in the southern hemisphere, with the rest of the top 10 taken up by cities in Switzerland and Norway, WA Today reported. TRIP SCRUTINY: Kevin Rudd would consider “sharpening up” rules around overseas study tours to prevent politicians going off on a “jolly” at taxpayers’ expense. NT senator Trish Crossin recently took a 12-day study trip to France and the UK with her husband, even though she leaves parliament at this year’s federal election.

Did You Know? TALK show queen Oprah Winfrey made an estimated $US77 million from June 2012 to June 2013. Pop star Lady Gaga earned $US80 million in the same period. Source: Forbes.com

FORTUNE FIGHT: A fight had erupted over the $70 million fortune of Sopranos actor James Gandolfini between his widow and his ex-wife. Both women are battling on behalf of their kids for the estate, which includes million-dollar properties in New York and LA, News Corp reported.

C Visit issuu.com/waiting-room-news and read Waiting Room News for FREE anytime you like. World MURDOCH GRILLING: British lawmakers recalled Rupert Murdoch, 82, to testify in the northern autumn after a tape recording emerged of the News Corporation tycoon slamming the police investigation into alleged phone hacking and bribery by his journalists, Fairfax reported. GFC CUTS BIRTHS: Fewer babies were born in Europe because of the world economic crisis. If unemployment rose one percentage point, the birth rate per woman for 20 to 24-year-olds sank 0.1 across the continent and 0.3 in southern Europe, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research study said.

Australia TRASH TACTIC: A Victorian nightclub was forced to cancel a promotion that rewarded drunk patrons with free drinks, after it was accused of encouraging binge drinking. The promotion called for people to post photos of drunk patrons on the club’s website, with the winners rewarded with free drinks and the title of “Trasher of the Week”, Nine News reported.

Northern Life

CRICKET in July?!?, 7th Brigade Park, Chermside, Sunday, July 7.

Entertainment SINGER JAILED: Former Fugees singer Lauryn Hill had begun a three-month prison sentence in Connecticut in the US for tax evasion. The 38-year-old was sentenced in May for failing to pay tax on $US1.8m of her earnings between 2005-07, BBC News reported. DJ SUES: “Royal prank” DJ Mel Greig had taken legal action against her employer, 2Day FM, accusing the station of failing to provide a safe workplace. Greig – who has been off the air since British nurse Jacintha Saldanha killed herself in December – had filed a claim with the Fair Work Commission, Fairfax reported.

DALE Irby, a teacher in Dallas, Texas, wore the same polyester shirt and vest for his yearbook photo for 40 years, Telegraph.co.uk reported. It started as a mistake but became a running joke.

WESTFIELD APPEAL: Westfield had appealed a Moreton Bay Regional Council decision to ban the introduction of paid parking at its North Lakes Shopping Centre, Quest reported. The retailer said it merely wanted to reserve its right to start paid parking in future. But unionist Chris Ketter, who represents shop workers, said it was just a matter of time at North Lakes.

THE Good Reverend Pow Jackson, Pipitty L. Jackson, and Mutley P. Gore Jackson the 3rd – those are the names pop singer Mariah Carey has given to her new dogs, according to PeoplePets.com.

DRONE LANDING: A US Navy drone landed on an aircraft carrier, in a first for robotic flight. The navy said the X-47B experimental plane took off from a naval air station in Maryland before heading to the USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier off the Virginia coast.

TASSIE FREEZE: Residents in parts of Tasmania’s central highlands shivered through their coldest morning on record. Just before dawn on Tuesday last week the mercury plunged to –12.2C in Liawenee, a small town 140km north of Hobart. It was the lowest temperature in the area since records began in 1985 and close to Tasmania’s lowest recorded temperature of –13C in 1983.

ELTON AGONY: Sir Elton John revealed he could have died while struggling through his European tour, unaware he was suffering from appendicitis. The star told British newspaper The Sun he felt “grateful to be alive” after discovering the source of his recent “agony”.

Odd Spot

Fun Fact

Did You Know?

Odd Spot

BRITISH women spent 59 days of their lives shaving their legs, a study found. And 35% of women polled said it was their least favourite beauty chore. The second most detested was hairstyling, with eyebrow plucking third.

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$US6 BILLION - that’s how much tax the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, says he’s paid in total. He has given $28 billion to charity and was still worth $56 billion. His three kids will inherit ‘just’ $10 million each. Source: Guardian, Fairfax

I don’t agree that if you’re born rich you’re born more intelligent.You’ve only got to look at some rich people to understand that’s not the case.”

Did You Know

ACCORDING to Aboriginal legend, there is a cave on the Wessel Islands off Australia’s north filled with doubloons and weaponry of an ancient era. African 1000-year-old coins had been found on the islands, News Ltd reported.

— Labor senator Doug Cameron, rubbishing Productivity Commission research linking poor kids' genes to their failure at school.

C BE KIND: Please place me back neatly for the next person to enjoy. THANK YOU! Technology

Health INFERTILITY CLUE: A lack of a type of immune system cell could explain why some women were infertile. The immune cells, known as macrophages, created a healthy hormone environment in the uterus, reported Australian researchers in the Journal of Clinical Investigations.

SAT-NAV ON SCREEN: Sat-nav firm Garmin had made a portable head-up display for cars that projected directions on to the windscreen. The portable HUD worked with a smartphone and Garmin app to generate navigation information. The gadget could project arrows, distances, and speed limits on the windscreen.

Business JOBLESS JUMP: The unemployment rate rose to the highest level in almost four years in June, as the number of people looking for work topped 700,000 for the first time, increasing the chances of an August interest rate cut. The jobless rate rose from 5.5% in May to 5.7% in June.

Northern Life QUIT CAGE: A 42-year-old Turkish smoker locks his head in a cage to kick his habit of 26 years. Two-pack-a-day Ibrahim Yucel, 26, hands over the keys of his cage to his wife and daughter as he leaves home every day. This helped him fight his craving as he was unable to open the cage during the day, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Did You Know? ANXIETY, or excessive worrying, is the most common psychological problem in Australia and affects 14% of the population, according to the Bureau of Statistics. BEDDED DOWN: Going to bed at different times every night in early childhood might disrupt brain development and learning, researchers at University College London found. Irregular bedtimes at age three were associated with lower scores in reading, maths and spatial awareness.

Odd Spot

KID BUYS CAR: Sorella Stoute bought a 1962 Austin Healey Sprite on eBay last month. She’s 14 months old. Sorella opened the eBay app on her US dad’s phone and bought the car for $225 — without his knowledge. Her dad, Paul Stoute, didn’t know until he got a congratulatory email from eBay, Koin.com reported. MOBILE SHOPPING: Visa launched its V.me digital wallet service in Australia, for shopping online from a mobile device or tablet. The digital wallet, which Visa said would be available before Christmas, would let people securely store the details of their delivery addresses, credit and debit cards, News.com.au reported.

Fun Fact

THE average Australian household paid $8.94 a week in bank fees, a reduction of 19c a week compared with the previous year. Customers paid a record $11.3 billion in fees last year, the Australian Bankers Association admitted.

THE sun’s core is so hot that a piece of it the size of a pinhead would give off enough heat to kill a person 160km away. Source: QI television show

Did You Know? AT some point, genes from at least eight retroviruses became incorporated into human DNA. They now perform important functions in reproduction, yet are entirely alien to our genetic ancestry. CHINA DIPS: The value of China’s exports fell for the first time in 17 months. Official figures showed the world’s second-biggest economy exported 3.1% less in June than the same month last year. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected exports to rise by 4%, ABC News reported.

Did You Know? THE antioxidant concentration in hot cocoa was almost twice as strong as red wine, two to three times stronger than green tea and four to five times stronger than black tea, a study at Cornell University determined.

MORE than 23,000 Northsiders a week are within arm’s reach of a Waiting Room News. Call Nick Moore on (07) 3359 0797 to discuss advertising for $49 a week.

Q: Via lactea is the classical Latin name for which celestial body?

Q: Which is the only number in English with its letters in alphabetical order? Q: Is Helsinki the capital city of Norway, Sweden or Finland? A: Finland

A: The Milky Way

A: Yazz

Q: What is the highest Australian mountain?

Q: What did baseballer Babe Ruth keep under his hat to stay cool? A: A cabbage leaf

Q: Which singer had a hit with the 1988 dance track The Only Way is Up?

A: Forty

Fun Fact:

RAINFOREST in suburbia, Huxtable Park, Chermside West, Sunday, July 7.

CUT TIPPED: The NAB moved its forecast for interest rate cuts forward after the bank’s business conditions survey hit a four-year low. NAB expected the Reserve would now cut interest rates next month to boost the non-mining sectors of the economy, earlier than its original prediction for a rate cut in November.

A: Mawson Peak, on Heard Island, stands 2750m

C BE KIND: Please place me back neatly for the next person to enjoy. THANK YOU! Health AIR HARM: Air pollution, chiefly from traffic exhaust fumes, was having a serious and sometimes fatal effect on health, said two studies that linked it to lung cancer and heart failure. Pollution raised the risk of lung cancer even at levels lower than those recommended by the European Union.

Science TRAVELLING SPHINX: Archaeologists in Israel found the feet of an Egyptian sphinx linked to the pharaoh Menkaure, who ruled Egypt more than 4000 years ago. The fragment was found in Hazor, just north of the Sea of Galilee. Researchers think the sphinx was brought to Israel during the second millennium B.C.

Business APPLE GUILTY: A US judge ruled Apple conspired to raise the retail prices of ebooks in violation of antitrust law, in a decision that could reshape how books were sold online, ABC News reported. Apple was accused of colluding with five publishers to boost ebook prices from late 2009.

Brisbane Life MUM FLU HITS BUB: Women who conceived in May were more likely to give birth to underweight, premature babies who had a higher risk of health problems in later life, a study found. It was most likely due to women who become pregnant in mid-spring being affected by flu in the winter, News-Mail.com.au reported.

Fun Fact THERE are 200-400 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and a German supercomputer calculated there were 500 billion galaxies in the universe. Source: BBC Schools online

DISEASE MYSTERY: Horse owners around Pinjarra, near Perth, were warned about a mysterious disease that might be transferable to humans. There were reports humans in contact with affected horses had developed similar mouth papules, CollieMail.com.au reported.

Odd Spot PEOPLE’S closest friendships were formed with their colleagues – particularly if their workplace environment was stressful, research conducted by the Lancaster University in the UK concluded.

GO the mighty Lions, The Gabba, Saturday, July 6. BETTER TIME: Scientists had found a more accurate way to keep time. Atomic clocks are used to count seconds but tests on another atomic timekeeper had revealed it was more precise. French researchers said optical lattice clocks lost one second every 300 million years, three times as accurate as caesium fountains. ANCIENT TEXT: Primitive inscriptions dating back about 5000 years – and believed to be 1400 years older than the most ancient written Chinese language – had been discovered in Shanghai, archaeologists reported. The Chinese inscriptions were found on more than 200 pieces from the neolithic Liangzhu relics site.

Fun Fact IF YOU drilled a tunnel straight through the Earth and jumped in, it would take 42 minutes and 12 seconds to get to the other side. Source: QI television show

PALMER ‘TIRADE’: Clive Palmer had been recorded lashing out in expletive-laden tirades of abuse against executives of one of China's largest companies. In one of the rants, obtained by The Australian, the resources tycoon twice told an executive of CITIC Pacific to “tell your chairman to stick it up his a---”, News Ltd reported.

Did You Know? AT the Santa Rita do Sapucaí jail in Brazil, inmates can pedal to generate electricity in return for a cut in their sentences - a day off for every 16 hours of effort on bikes hooked up to batteries. GOLDEN FROWN: US hedge fund manager John Paulson’s gold fund had reportedly lost 65% this year after the portfolio fell 23% last month. The fund, which mostly invests billionaire Paulson’s own money, sank from about $US700 million at the end of the first quarter.

Did You Know? AN original Apple-1 sold for $US640,000 at an auction in Germany in November. The computer was priced at $US666.66 (about $US2700 in current money) when made in 1976, The New York Times reported.

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Q: Which sea captain commanded the First Fleet to Australia?

Q: Which is the only state in the US that begins with the letter ‘P’? Q: Is jujitsu a Japanese martial art or paperfolding craft? A: Martial art

A: Wilbur Smith A: Arthur Phillip

A: Paul Newman

Q: Cut, clarity. colour, and carat set the value of which gemstone?

Q: Who wrote the novels Rage, Monsoon, Warlock, and Men of Men?

A: Pennsylvania

Q: Who starred in movies The Hustler, Hud, Harper, and Harry and Son?

A: A diamond