US gun dealer bans rentals after suicides

SHOOT Straight, Florida's largest independent gun-shop chain, has stopped renting guns to prevent its eight Florida ranges from becoming suicide parlours.

Khaled Akkawi, founder of the Apopka-based chain, made the decision last month after the latest suicides at one his gun ranges.

"We've had enough," Akkawi said Friday. "They've been increasing real fast and the one common denominator - everyone is done with a rental gun."

Shoot Straight joins a growing number of gun ranges across Central Florida that have restricted or prohibited gun rentals to stem the deaths.

While no agency tracks gun-range suicides, there have been at least 11 of them in greater Orlando since 2009, according to Orlando Sentinel reporting on the deaths. All were committed with rental guns.

Oak Ridge Gun Range, the scene of the latest suicide last week in Orange County, changed its policy after a previous death more than a year ago. Oak Ridge is now attempting to identify customers who would be a suicide risk.

"We don't rent to any white male Florida resident who comes in alone," said owner John Harvey. "In the past 30 years, we've never had a suicide that wasn't a white male Florida resident who came in alone. They don't want to mess up their families' homes, so they do it here."

The first major Central Florida gun range to ban rentals was Gander Mountain Academy, which adopted the policy along with range safety officers on the gun range at all times when it opened in 2011 in Lake Mary. All of the outdoor sporting goods company's six gun ranges across the nation prohibit rentals.

"We have a perfect record of safety and plan to continue to do that," Gander Mountain Academy's national director Chris Juelich said in a written statement this week.

Local gun range owners said they have no way to check customers' mental health records, and state law does not permit criminal background checks on rental customers to weed out convicted felons.

In addition to the tragedy of each death and distress for gun range employees and customers present when they happen, Harvey said each suicide costs about $US5,000 ($A5,639.20) in lost business and expenses required to reopen.

Some of the only research on gun-range suicides has been conducted at Harvard School for Public Health by Catherine Barber, director of the Injury Control Research Center, who found only 51 gun range suicides out of about 30,000 shooting suicides reported by 16 states from 2005 through 2010.

"It's a very rare occurrence," Barber said of the gun range deaths.

Florida was not among the 16 states that are part of her research.

Restricting or banning rentals has a significant economic effect on gun ranges, where the majority of renters don't own firearms. And about 20 per cent of the renters are gun owners who want to "test drive" new models before deciding which to buy, according to range owners.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Bischoff family seeks Bali answers

The bodies of Noelene Bischoff and her daughter Yvana are already being examined by authorities. Source: AAP

THE family of Noelene and Yvana Bischoff just want to find out what killed them in Bali so they can be finally laid to rest.

Their bodies arrived at Brisbane Airport about 5am (AEST) on Saturday after an Indonesian police investigation found their deaths were not suspicious.

The pair became violently ill and both died last week less than a day after checking in at the Padang Bai resort.

Noelene, a 54-year-old nurse, died while being taken by ambulance to a hospital in Denpasar.

Yvana, 14, died hours later at the clinic without knowing her mother was dead.

Queensland's coroner has immediately began investigating the cause of the Bischoff deaths.

Noelene's brother Malcolm wants to find out quickly so he can bury his sister and niece.

But he knows a thorough investigation is likely to take a long time.

"It doesn't matter what the result is either way, whether it's, you know, food poisoning or some other sort poisoning, at the end of it all we still have two dead people," Mr Bischoff told AAP.

"It doesn't bring them back, but at least it will be clear in our minds what the reason was and lay the girls to rest."

While Indonesian authorities have suggested their deaths were caused by an allergic reaction, relatives think it is more likely they suffered food poisoning, perhaps from fish they ate for dinner.

Mr Bischoff said until investigators find out the exact cause, anyone travelling to Bali could also be at risk.

"My sister and Yvana weren't doing anything dangerous, they were just an average family on an average holiday," he said.

"There were heaps of people on the plane they (Noelene and Yvana) were flown back on this morning, all those people had all been to Bali for the week.

"This could've been any one of them, people need to remember that."

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Japanese whaler stops outside Aust waters

The government is being urged to prevent a Japanese whaling vessel from entering Australian waters. Source: AAP

A JAPANESE whaling ship that was pursuing anti-whaling activists has stopped just outside Australian waters after an apparent intervention by the government.

The Yushin Maru No.3, one of three Japanese harpoon ships, was tailing the Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker vessel.

Sea Shepherd says the Bob Barker crossed into Australia's exclusive economic zone 320 kilometres from Macquarie Island at 2.50pm AEDT on Friday, but the Japanese ship stopped about a kilometre outside the zone.

Sea Shepherd Australia chair Bob Brown said Environment Minister Greg Hunt had been in touch with Japanese authorities over the impending incursion into the Australian Whale Sanctuary.

"Once again Sea Shepherd has seen the Japanese whaling fleet's tactics thwarted," Dr Brown said in a statement.

"But we are mindful that the fleet is publicly committed to killing another 931 Minke whales as well as 50 fin whales and 50 humpbacks."

Australian Whale Sanctuary managing director Jeff Hansen said he called Mr Hunt to pass on Sea Shepherd's sincere thanks and appreciation for his efforts.

Comment is being sought from Mr Hunt.

Sea Shepherd has three ships and about 100 crew members from 21 countries in Antarctic waters to confront Japanese hunting in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, where commercial whaling is banned.

Earlier this week, Sea Shepherd said its ships drove the Japanese fleet's factory ship, Nisshin Maru, out of the Antarctic Treaty zone following a 580km chase.

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Google launches private ferry service

Google has launched a free ferry service from San Francisco to Redwood City for its employees. Source: AAP

GOOGLE workers commuting from San Francisco to the company's Silicon Valley campus can now make part of the trek on an 83-foot, Wi-Fi-equipped catamaran.

The search engine company has launched a free ferry service from San Francisco's ferry terminal to the Port of Redwood City about 42 kilometres away, where employees can then hop on a private bus to work.

Named the "Triumphant," the charter ferry can carry up to 150 passengers and runs twice each morning and evening, with voyages lasting about 47 minutes each way, according to KPIX-TV.

Google is hoping to defuse a growing controversy as the boat service started on the same day San Francisco city officials said Google and other tech companies, including Apple Inc and Genentech Inc, that use public bus stops to pick up thousands of employees on private shuttles, must pay roughly $US1 per stop per day as part of an 18-month pilot program.

But critics of Google's buses are not thrilled by news of the boat, citing concerns that catamarans are worse for the environment than shuttle buses.

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Vic warning about country-wide monk scam

Australians are being warned of bogus Buddhist monks taking cash in exchange for religious items. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS are being fleeced by a group of conmen dressed as Buddhist monks who take cash in exchange for supposedly religious items.

The men with shaven heads and wearing robes are approaching people on the street and asking for charitable donations, in exchange for prayer beads, amulets and spiritual guidebooks, director of Consumer Affairs Victoria Dr Claire Noone said.

"Fake fundraisers, such as these conmen dressed as Buddhist monks, take advantage of people's generosity," she said in a statement.

"Donating money to worthy causes is important, but Victorians need to make sure that they are dealing with a legitimate fundraiser."

The Victoria consumer watchdog issued the warning after similar scams were reported in Perth and Sydney this week.

The Australian Sangha Association, a representative body for monks and nuns of all Buddhist traditions, confirmed that monks were "not allowed to ask for any money as laid down in the monastic rules by the Buddha 2500 years ago", Consumer Affairs said in the statement.

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Indonesian police hold bodies in Bali

Bali police won't release the bodies of a mother and daughter until they can rule out foul play. Source: AAP

INDONESIAN police won't release the bodies of an Australian mother and daughter who died in Bali until they can rule out criminal activity in their deaths.

Queensland nurse Noelene Bischoff and Yvana Bischoff, 14, died on Saturday, a day after checking into the beachfront resort of Padang Bai in Karangasem, on the east coast of the Indonesian island.

The cause of death isn't known at this stage, but there is speculation toxic fish caused them to fall fatally ill.

Indonesian authorities initially agreed to the family's request for the bodies to be flown to Queensland for autopsies.

But lead Detective Adnan Pandibu says local police now want to continue their investigation after finding 29 types of medication in the Bischoffs' hotel room.

"We have not ruled out criminal activity and we will not yet allow the release of the bodies from the morgue," he told the Daily Mail.

Antar-Bangsa Funeral Service, who was contacted by Australian authorities about transporting the bodies, says there has been a delay.

"For now we're not sure, we haven't heard anything after we were first contacted (by Australian authorities)," spokesman Agus Prababe told AAP.

"We don't know what's happened."

Bali taxi driver Kadek Budi has told how he drove Ms Bischoff and her daughter around on their last day alive.

He said when he dropped them off at their hotel, they were healthy and happy.

"She said 'thank you, we are very happy today, you are a good driver and after the Gili Islands, when I am back in Seminyak, I will call you again'," Mr Budi told News Corp Australia.

"She was very friendly, the conversation was good and I thought I would see her again, and drive her again."

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Taliban deny sending Afghan girl to attack

The Taliban say they did not send a 10-year-old girl to carry out a suicide attack. Source: AAP

THE Taliban have denied that they sent a 10-year-old girl as a suicide bomber against Afghan police, a day after she said her brother had put her in an explosives-packed vest but that she refused to blow herself up at a checkpoint in Helmand province.

Border police in the southern Afghan province arrested the girl's father, Abdul Ghfar, and were searching for the brother, a police commander said.

The girl, who was detained on Monday and identified herself only as Spozhmai, said her brother is a Taliban commander.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which he dismissed as government propaganda.

"We never do this, especially with girls," he said.

Spozhmai spoke to journalists Monday after Afghanistan's Interior Ministry announced her detention.

Addressing television cameras, she said her brother, named Zahir, told her to approach a checkpoint and ask the deputy commander for a ride with him to neighbouring Kunar province.

"I agreed, then he attached the vest on my body and told me to spend the night here and leave in the morning," she said.

But after she and her brother spent the night somewhere, she said she had second thoughts.

"I said I won't go, then he took off the vest and tried to convince me that they [police] will die and I will remain alive," Spozhmai said. She said her brother then fled with the vest.

Police said they believed her account.

"The guy named Zahir had the suicide vest and escaped, but she was still there and when our commander of the battalion heard her voice, they surrounded the area and brought this girl to their base, and we all heard her story on how she was forced into this action," Colonel Hamidullah Sediqi said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the Taliban, saying that "using a child as a suicide bomber is un-Islamic and goes against Afghan culture and beliefs".

Although the Taliban deny it, human rights groups say the insurgent group has occasionally dispatched children for suicide bombings. But girls have been used only rarely, according to Heather Barr, Afghanistan senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"There have been very few documented cases of girls being involved in suicide bomb attacks," Barr said. According to Human Rights Watch, an eight-year-old girl was killed in central Oruzgan province in 2011 when a bag of explosives the Taliban instructed her to carry to a police checkpoint detonated.

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NSW gran had cannabis 'for dying daughter'

A great-grandmother claims the cannabis found with cash in her home was used by her dying daughter. Source: AAP

AS a 79-year-old great-grandmother living in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Barbara Stiff did not fit the bill for a drug supplier.

But hidden in her Malabar unit were 67 grams of cannabis, which she admitted to police that she planned to sell.

Stiff was given a four-month suspended jail sentence when she appeared in Waverley Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to drug supply and dealing with the suspected proceeds of crime.

Magistrate Robbie Williams told the court that based on Stiff's submissions to police, she saw monetary gain from the cannabis.

Barrister William Barber told the court that Stiff had allowed her ill daughter to smoke cannabis in her home when she lived with her.

"She was in a great deal of pain and was using cannabis for pain relief," he said of the daughter.

Mr Barber said the daughter, who died last year, would obtain cannabis in bulk with other people in a "similar position" in the public housing that Stiff lived in.

Police raided Stiff's unit on June 27 last year and found 67g of cannabis in multiple locations around the home.

Mr Barber said the drugs had been there for a very long time and Stiff no longer had any use for the cannabis after her daughter's death.

But according to the facts, Stiff admitted to police that $295 found in her wallet was from selling cannabis to six people.

During the raid, police also found $100 cash in a tin with cannabis and five plastic deal bags.

Stiff admitted to police that she planned to sell the cannabis.

Cannabis was also found in a bag in a bedroom and another kitchen tin.

Magistrate Williams told the court that while it was not a sophisticated system, there was a clear system of supply.

He said police also found a "drug ledger" at Stiff's house, with names and amounts of money listed.

The court was told that Wednesday marked nine months since Stiff's daughter died.

Mr Barber said his client was embarrassed by the case, which had attracted wide media coverage.

He said the housing commission was trying to remove her from her unit where she had been for more than 30 years.

Stiff received a four-month suspended jail sentence and a four-month good behaviour bond.

Outside court, Mr Barber said Stiff had been through a very difficult 12 months and was relieved that the case was over.

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Rescued Antarctic group due home on Jan 22

PASSENGERS rescued from an ice-bound ship in the Antarctic are expected to reach Tasmania on January 22.

But the effort that rescued 52 expeditioners, many of them from Australia and New Zealand, will delay the Australian Antarctic Division's shipping schedule, including the resupply of Antarctic stations.

University of NSW Professor Chris Turney led the Australian Antarctic Expedition to the region at the end of last November but the expedition's Russian vessel, Akademik Shokalskiy, became stuck in thick ice on Christmas Eve.

After more than a week of being locked in ice, the 52 scientists, tourists and journalists aboard the ship were airlifted by a helicopter from a Chinese vessel to the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis.

The rescue disrupted the resupply mission of the Aurora Australis to Australia's Casey station as it diverted 800 nautical miles to help the stricken vessel.

The Aurora Australis, with the rescued passengers aboard, is due soon at Casey station.

Australian Antarctic Division director Dr Tony Fleming said the ship should be ready to head back to Tasmania about January 13, arriving in Hobart about January 22.

"This is about two weeks behind schedule and will mean delays to the rest of the season," he said in a statement.

A US Coast Guard icebreaker, the Polar Star, has been sent from New Zealand to go to the aid of the trapped Russian and Chinese ships and is expected to arrive on Sunday.

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Aust trade deficit narrows as exports grow

Australia's trade balance stayed in the red in November, with a deficit of $118 million. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S international trade deficit has narrowed for the fourth consecutive month and strengthening resources exports are expected to support a shift back to surplus.

The deficit on goods and services was $118 million in November, down from October's deficit of $358 million, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

It also was better than the $300 million deficit economists had expected.

During the month, exports were flat, while imports were down one per cent.

The decline in the value of imports helped narrow the deficit, ANZ economist Dylan Eades said.

The figures also showed a small increase in rural goods and resources exports, he said.

"What we have seen in the last six to nine months is that exports, particularly iron ore, are beginning to pick up," Mr Eades said.

"All of that investment that we've seen from Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton and Fortescue, we are beginning to see those projects come to completion and we are seeing them move into the production phase. So, as a result, we are starting to see quite a strong volumes increase.

"Metal ores exports are around 40 per cent higher over the past year and we expect that to continue. We're expecting iron ore export volumes to rise from around 570 million tonnes in 2013 to about 620 million tonnes in 2014 and 680 million tonnes in 2015.

"We would be expecting a continued improvement in the trade balance over the next few months."

The data highlighted Australia's dependence on China, CommSec chief economist Craig James said.

"Australia's annual exports to China totalled over $92 billion, so it will be truly staggering just how much income will be generated from our largest trading partner when all the major resource projects are operating at full capacity," Mr James said.

"Annual exports to China equate to $4,000 for every Aussie man, woman and child.

"Despite the mountain of export revenue being generated from China, Australia's trade accounts are still in the red, rather than the black... That situation should be corrected when all the key LNG facilities are up and running over the next few years."

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League player refused bail

Rugby league player Russell Packer has been sentenced to two years in jail for assaulting a man. Source: AAP

NRL player Russell Packer has had his bid for bail knocked back before an appeal against the severity of his two-year sentence for a drunken assault.

Magistrate Greg Grogan on Monday sentenced the 24-year-old Newcastle Knights recruit to two years behind bars for an assault outside a Sydney hotel last November.

The sentence delivered on Monday caught Packer and his supporters, including Newcastle Knights officials, off guard at Downing Centre Local Court.

Packer's lawyer Murugan Thangaraj, SC, immediately lodged an appeal after the sentence was handed down and later applied for Packer's bail.

The police prosecutor did not oppose bail under certain conditions including that Packer report to police three times a week and abstain from alcohol.

Mr Thangaraj argued there was no evidence Packer would assault again and it was important for him to continue his rehabilitation.

But Magistrate Greg Grogan said he was concerned about community safety if Packer was released on bail.

He said Packer appeared to be a ticking time bomb on the night of the assault and he denied him bail.

Packer kissed his emotional partner as he was placed in handcuffs and led out of the court.

The appeal against the severity of the sentence has been lodged for February 11.

The court was told that Packer had been kicked out of the Chambers Hotel at 1.30am on November 23 last year because he was too drunk.

He moved about 20 metres from the Martin Place pub, then got into a disagreement with another man after being accused of stealing two cigarettes from a woman sitting nearby.

Mr Grogan told the court that Packer punched the man in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground.

Packer punched the man several times as he lay on the ground and then stamped on his head, the court was told, leaving the victim with two fractured facial bones.

Packer pleaded guilty on Monday to assault occasioning actually bodily harm and failing to leave a venue.

Mr Grogan labelled Packer's behaviour "cowardly and deplorable" and said the result could have been much worse.

"The person fell to the ground and luckily it would appear did not suffer those injuries seen in media reports as of late," Mr Grogan said.

"There was potential for that, Mr Packer.

"You added fuel to the fire by attacking a man lying motionless on the ground, punching him and then standing up and stomping on his head."

Mr Grogan said the public was sick and tired of the behaviour Packer showed that night.

In passing sentence, Mr Grogan said that with a 25 per cent discount for entering a guilty plea early, Packer was jailed for a fixed two-year term.

Newcastle Knights football general manager Warren Smiles said the club would support Packer.

"There is a process in place with the appeal going forward to the court date in February," he told reporters outside court.

"From there we will support Russell through the process and his family, his two young children." In a statement on Monday, the Newcastle Knights said Packer's contract with the NRL was not registered and he had previously been stood down from all club duties.

The club said it would make no further comment until the court process was concluded.

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Services sector contracts in December

Australia's services sector continued to contract in December, according to a private sector survey. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S services industry finished 2013 on a sour note, with the sector contracting at a faster rate in December.

According to the Australia Industry Group Performance of Services Index (PSI), employment, new orders and sales all contracted during the month.

The retail sector also continued to decline, despite receiving a boost from Christmas sales.

Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said the sector had shown signs of improvement since the federal election, but the latest figures showed the industry remained weak.

"Continuing weakness in the important services sector underlines the fragility of the domestic economy at a time when a lift in non-mining related activity is needed to meet the challenge of rebalancing in the wake of the mining investment boom," he said.

He added that the Reserve Bank of Australia may need to consider cutting interest rates further if the sector does not begin to recovery in the next few months.

The PSI declined 2.8 points to 46.1 in December.

A reading of less than 50 indicates a contraction in the sector, and the lower the reading below that number, the greater the rate of decline.

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Oscar-winning producer Saul Zaentz dies

LEGENDARY Hollywood producer Saul Zaentz has died aged 92.

The producer passed away at his home in San Francisco, California on Friday after a battle with Alzheimer's disease, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

His nephew Paul Zaentz, a fellow producer, confirmed the news, saying: "He was an extraordinary man. He had a lot of guts, a lot of integrity."

Zaentz began his career in the music business with Fantasy Records, signing rock legends Creedence Clearwater Revival to the label, but later became involved in a notorious high-profile legal battle with the band's frontman John Fogerty.

He went on to gain recognition as an independent movie producer and he won three Oscars for his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus and The English Patient.

In 1997, he also won the Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his work. In the same year, he also received the Producers Guild of America's Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award for The English Patient.

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Man's arm slashed at Sydney park party

A SYDNEY party-goer's arm has been slashed with a broken bottle, severing an artery.

Officers say they were called to Lackey Street in South Granville about 3.45am (AEDT) on Sunday after a fight broke out, and found the 20-year-old Fairfield man with a deep laceration to his left bicep.

The man had surgery in Westmead Hospital, according to police.

Another man, a 20-year-old from Parramatta, was arrested and questioned but released without charge pending further investigation.

Detectives from Rosehill Local Area Command are waiting to speak with the injured man and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

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