Wednesday's news

31 Jul 2013

Gorilla retires age 36, Manning guilty of multiple charges of espionage, patches of Old Trafford pitch appear burnt, Spanish train driver on phone when he crashed, mine approved in Tasmania’s Tarkine Region.

Gorilla retires age 36

Taronga Zoo’s silverback gorilla, Kibabu will retire at the ripe old age of 36.

Kibabu has acted as harem leader, guiding and guarding the other gorillas for more than 17 years.

His retirement package will see him permanently relocated to Mogo Zoo near Batemans Bay.

Accompanying Kibabu will be two of his favourite females and their offspring.

Taronga Zoo’s primate supervisor, Louise Grossfeldt said Kibabu had grown tired of family politics and managing a large group that includes 14 of his own offspring.  “It has definitely made him a little greyer,” she said.

In the wild Kibabu would have been challenged and possibly killed by a younger male for his role.

''The advantage we have here is that we're able to manage his retirement,'' Grossfeldt said.

Read more at SMH. 

Watch Kibabu on Video. 

Manning guilty of multiple charges of espionage

Former US army intelligence officer Bradley Manning faces life in jail after being found guilty of multiple counts of espionage.

Manning was arrested in 2010 after leaking classified government documents to Wikileaks.

The 25 year-old has been cleared of the more serious charge of aiding the enemy.

This decision has been described as a “striking rebuke to military prosecutors”, who argued that giving classified documents to WikiLeaks was akin to aiding Al Qaeda because terrorists could access the documents via the Internet.

Manning’s sentencing will begin on Wednesday where he faces de facto life sentences of more than 100 years.

Read more at ABC News. 

Patches of Old Trafford pitch appear burnt

The Australian cricket team has arrived at Old Trafford in Lancashire, Manchester to find burnt patches scattered around the pitch.

These patches are designed to favour England’s request for a spin deck, which is a weakness of the Australian team.

After inspecting the pitch on Thursday Brad Haddin described the conditions as “different”, while Chris Rogers said it was “interesting”.  

“There's a few cracks there already so it'll be interesting to see how it plays," Rogers said.

This is the first test to be played on the pitch since it was re-aligned 90 degrees so the wickets face north to south.

The Australian team is trailing England two to zero in the five-match Ashes series.

Read more at Ninemsn. 

Spanish train driver on phone when he crashed

Black box data has revealed that the Spanish driver who crashed last week was speaking on the phone when his train derailed.

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo took a call from Renfe railway controllers who advised on the route he should take.

The driver may also have been consulting a map while speaking to officials on his work mobile.

The train was travelling at 192km/h and slowed to 153km/h before it derailed, killing 79 out of the 219 passengers on board.

In a two-hour closed hearing, Amo admitted to a “lapse of concentration” and speeding into the curve where the limit was 80km/h.

He claimed he thought that he was on another section of track.

After what has been labeled Spain’s worst rail accident for seven decades, the driver faces multiple counts of negligent homicide.

Read more at SMH. 

Mine approved in Tasmania’s Tarkine Region

The Federal Environmental Minister has approved Shree Minerals’ mine in Tasmania’s Tarkine region.  

Initial approval for the project was overturned after conservation group Save the Tarkine took court action.

In the new approval Minister Mark Butler outlined 30 conditions that will reduce the project’s impact on wildlife, particularly the endangered Tasmanian devil.

"There are strong environmental protections in place for a development that has significant economic potential for north-west Tasmania," he said.

Read more at the ABC.