Oz Crop Circles Blamed On 'High' Wallabies

Wallabies are getting high on opium from poppy fields and flattening crops, an Australian official has said.

The marsupials have been snacking on poppies growing in fields in Tasmania, the world's largest producer of legally-grown optium for medicines.

Afterwards, they hop round in circles before crashing on top of the crops and trampling them to the ground.

State attorney general Lara Giddings told a parliamentary hearing: "We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles.

"Then they crash. We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high."

Other animals, including deer and sheep, have also been seen "acting weird" after eating the poppy plants, according to an opium industry spokesman.

"There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in circles," Rick Rockliff said.

Tasmania has around 500 farms which supply about 50% of the world's raw material for morphine and other related opiates.

— Sky News

Who Pooped?

Brought to you by the Minnesota Zoo, a new exhibit examining animals' poop is rolled out with an entertaining website: www.WHOPOOPED.org.

The summer educational exhibit runs through September 7, 2008. Visit the website for a "teaser" quiz.

GM joins Chrysler in Chapter 11; International Partnerships Form

General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the morning as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.

GM's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets.

As it reorganizes, the fallen icon of American industrial will rely on $30 billion of additional financial assistance from the Treasury Department and $9.5 billion from Canada. That's on top of about $20 billion in taxpayer money GM already has received in the form of low-interest loans.

GM will follow a similar course taken by smaller rival Chrysler LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April. A judge gave Chrysler approval to sell most of its assets to Italy's Fiat, moving the U.S. automaker closer to a quick exit from court protection, possibly this week.

The plan is for the federal government to take a 60 percent ownership stake in the new GM. The Canadian government would take 12.5 percent, with the United Auto Workers getting a 17.5 percent share and unsecured bondholders receiving 10 percent. Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out.

Albert Koch, who helped Kmart Corp. through its Chapter 11 reorganization, will serve as GM's chief restructuring officer.

— NPR.org Story

In related International News:

Germany has agreed a deal with Magna International, a Canadian car parts maker, to take over Opel, part of the European wing of US carmaker GM.

Talks in Berlin continued into early Saturday before Germany's finance minister announced the rescue deal.

The German government is expected to provide an immediate loan facility of 1.5bn euros ($2.1bn, £1.3bn).

The Magna deal should protect Opel if GM files for bankruptcy protection in the US on Monday, as is expected.

The Canadian company has said it will put more than 500m euros ($700m; £435m) into Opel, which employs more than 25,000 people in Germany.

Significant numbers of workers are also spread around Spain, Belgium, Poland and the UK, where Opel cars are branded as Vauxhall for British customers.

Magna's bid was backed by Russia's state-run bank Sberbank and Russian magnate Oleg Deripaska's truck firm Gaz. The consortium hopes to see GM expand its reach into the Russian market.

— BBC News

The Lame Duck "DUCK"

Liza with a very skinny Z! - She looks great!

21st Century Pirates from Somali

There has been a shoot-out between Somali pirates on a hijacked cargo ship loaded with 33 tanks, the East African Seafarers' Association says.

The maritime group's Andrew Mwangura told the BBC three men where shot in a row over tactics.

Pirates seized the Ukrainian ship last week and have demanded a $20m (£11m) ransom to release it.

Mr Mwangura said the situation is very tense with the ship, the Faina, surrounded by US navy vessels.

US navy spokesman Lt Nathan Christensen said on Monday that destroyers and cruisers has been deployed within 10 miles (16kms) of the hijacked ship.

— Full Report with Video via the BBC

Bosnia's first gay rights festival

Clashes at gay rights festival

At least eight people were hurt after opponents clashed with police at Bosnia's first gay rights festival.

Helen Fawkes reports from Sarajevo. — BBC Video Report

Politics | NPR

Morning News Report from NPR:

RECALL ALERT | BEWARE!

The FDA is NOT removing China dairy products from American grocery shelves. Read labels before you purchase China food products.

Melamine has been found in milk and products made with milk from China. Melamine is a plastic used chiefly for laminated coatings, made by copolymerizing this compound with formaldehyde.

See news released today from the AP:

Smuggled case cash 'totalled $5m'

An alleged plot to smuggle election funds from Venezuela to Argentina may have involved as much as $5m, a court in the US city of Miami has heard.

A Florida-based businessman was stopped at Buenos Aires airport last year with $800,000 (£430,000) in a suitcase.

In court the man, now a prosecution witness, said another case with $4.2m may have breached Argentine customs.

The trial centres on a Venezuelan man accused of being an illegal agent of Venezuela's government in the US.

US prosecutors say the cash was sent by Venezuela to fund the presidential election campaign of Argentina's then First Lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was elected last October.

— Full BBC Story