'Too fat to fly' passenger sues airline

  * A PASSENGER who was told she was "too fat to fly" has announced is suing the airline that told her she would have to buy a second seat.

Kenlie Tiggeman, from the US, said Southwest Airlines’ controversial "Customers of Size" policy is discriminatory towards the obese and claims the airline ignored her “constitutional rights”.

She’s not after a payout but wants an industry-wide standard to be put in place.

“'We need to know if we need one seat or two, because this eyeballing happening at the gate is incredibly discriminatory, and it's so unnecessary,” she said.

Ms Tiggeman and her mum Joan Charpentier were waiting during a stopover at Dallas Airport last year when she claims they were singled out by a Southwest Airlines employee because of their weight.

"I asked him what the weight restrictions were and he said that he didn't know, just that we were too heavy to fly,” Ms Tiggeman told MSNBC. “Too fat to fly."

She said that she was humiliated by the incident, which developed into a 45-minute confrontation over the airline's weight restrictions in front of other passengers.

The women say during the public stoush with the Southwest employee he even told them they could board the plane but only if they sat next to a third overweight person in a row.

Ms Tiggeman claims she can fit comfortably into airline seats.

A supervisor eventually intervened and they were able to board their flight without any special conditions. They also received flight vouchers and an apology, which Ms Tiggeman has recorded on her blog.

Southwest has already taken flack over the policy with high-profile and sizeable film director Kevin Smith also told he was too fat to fly.

Fergie's secret film could land her in jail

Sarah Ferguson tried in absentia in Turkey
* Charges relate to secret film of orphanages
* Maximum sentence is 22 years in prison

A TURKISH court has begun a trial against Britain's Duchess of York for allegedly taking part in the secret filming of orphanages in the country, the state-run news agency says.

The Anadolu Agency says Sarah Ferguson, who is being tried in absentia, faces charges of going "against the law in acquiring footage and violating privacy" of five children. If convicted, she could receive a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison.

Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, allegedly made an undercover trip to Turkey in 2008 during which two state-run orphanages outside Ankara were secretly filmed for the British ITV program Duchess and Daughters: Their Secret Mission.

Anadolu quoted Ferguson's lawyer Cansu Sahin as saying the duchess is seeking an out-of-court settlement.

Teen drowned in Bali 'wanted just one last swim'

THE grief-stricken family of drowned Central Coast teenager Jack McCabe tearfully told how his quest to dive "as deep as he could go" cost him his life in Bali.

On a family holiday, they left their hotel for a day trip snorkelling in a remote bay off the island of Nusa Penida.

"We were having such a beautiful time," said Jack's mother. "We had all been snorkelling around for an hour together. He knew his stuff, had done marine studies and was always in the water with his friends at home.

"He knew the safety procedures and we discussed them when we were all out together. Jack kept showing us how deep he could go. He just wanted one last swim.

"We were all watching him and then took our eyes off him for a couple of minutes and the next we knew some local divers who were in the bay brought him up.

"He just went too deep, there was no sign he had hit his head or anything," she explained, dismissing reports that he was knocked out after hitting his head against a boat.

"They couldn't get him on the boat so I jumped in," explained Jack's father John McCabe. "His mum started CPR and I was doing compression but there was no one to help us, no one spoke English and our 12-year-old, daughter who had seen it all happen, was screaming."

After about 30 minutes of trying to revive their son with CPR with no assistance from the local boat operators, they took him to the beach and continued to try everything to bring him back.

"I kept telling my husband, he's gone,'' said Mrs McCabe. "We couldn't communicate with anyone, there was no one to help us. When we took him to the local clinic it was filthy and there were no facilities,'' she said.

Now, the family are planning to return home with their beloved son's body.

"We are not leaving without him, we don't know when his body will be released and we are not leaving without him, we just want to go home,'' said Mrs McCabe from her hotel in Legian Bali.

Trapped on the island for four hours before transport could be arranged to take them back to Bali, they finally arrived at Bali's Sanglah hospital seven hours after the accident.

Jack was a popular boy and keen on his sports.

"He really knew what he was doing. He was always watching those shows on television and would come down at night with his laptop and show me things he had found on the internet about diving and underwater studies. He knew and we knew what to do and how to snorkel safely, how to equalize, we think he just dove down too deep and couldn't get his air.''

"The family's nightmare continues as they battle with their UK based insurance company who told them it was Friday afternoon in the UK when they called and they would not be able to provide immediate assistance.

"The Australian consulate is trying to help but we still don't know when we will be able to take him home and we are not leaving," explained his grieving father.

The couple spoke of the pain their twelve-year-old daughter suffered watching the whole thing unfold, losing her brother in a remote island bay. Their older daughter waits at home, distraught.

"We just want to be together and we can't get him home.''

The medical examiner at Sanglah made a statement that the boy's injuries were consistent with drowning.

The family says he never surfaced and waved, he had no injuries apart from the scratch on his nose. They spent seven long hours with him before finally reaching the hospital in Bali far too late to change the outcome and save their beloved son.

Local divers claim he may have been a victim of shallow water blackout, a syndrome that often affects experienced divers when they free dive and take in too much air before going down.

"Technically it is like hyperventilating, when the body has too much carbon dioxide and the brain doesn't register. It can cause a black out and results in drowning,'' said Dewi Kartika, a local dive expert yesterday.

The family agree this is probably what happened. They have not requested an autopsy, they simply want to go home with their boy and grieve together with their family.

"We can't leave the room, we can't stop crying, our daughter is not okay, she saw it all.''

Jack McCabe lies waiting in the local morgue while consular officials attempt to sort out the red tape so that the family can finally return from the Bali holiday that started so well and ended in tragedy.

I'm so sexy I can still pull $100,000 on runway

CANADIAN supermodel Linda Evangelista has told a court she can still command about $100,000 to walk a runway, though her career has slowed since its 1980s and '90s heyday.

In an unusual peek into high fashion in Manhattan Family Court, Evangelista took the witness stand to begin telling her side of her child support standoff with French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault.

But their five-year-old boy didn't come up in Evangelista's brief testimony; she's expected to continue testifying on Monday.

Rather, answering questions from her lawyer, the high-flying model who once famously said she and her peers "don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day" sketched a portrait of herself as a woman whose first job - harvesting cherries on a farm in her Canadian hometown - paid $10 a day. She did that work at the age of 12 to earn money for a bicycle, she said.

She said she had pounded the pavement in two continents to get her start in modelling and felt pressured into getting her now-signature haircut, she said.

When she first got her famous cut in the late 1980s on advice from some fashion heavy-hitters, she said she cried and organisers cancelled 16 of about 20 fashion shows she was about to do. But soon, she added: "I had every Vogue cover around the world ... and then people came around and decided they like the short hair."

Asked about her career now, the 46-year-old model paused.

"I'm active," she said in a calm, careful voice.

"I would like to work."

Evangelista is on the latest cover of Italian Vogue, recently did a roughly $US90,000 ($88,000) advertising shoot, and still gets some runway requests, including a 2010 Paris show she had to turn down for a court date - ultimately cancelled - in the custody battle, said Evangelista, dressed for court in a tailored white skirt, stylishly boxy grey linen jacket with tan collar and cuffs, and tan spike-heeled pumps.

But her lawyer, William Beslow, has said Evangelista's roughly $1.8 million-a-year income took a dive last year after a contract with L'Oreal ended, and that's why she's asking a court to order Pinault to chip in for son Augustin's expenses. She says she spends $46,000 a month on bodyguards, 24-hour-a-day nannies and other care for the boy, known as Augie.

Pinault, who is CEO of luxury-brands powerhouse PPR and now the husband of actress Salma Hayek, says he has offered for years to pay Evangelista child support, but she responded with the lawsuit. His lawyer, David Aronson, has termed the possibility of a $46,000-a-month child-support bill "just ridiculous".

Pinault was grilled earlier on Friday about his own spending, including the roughly $62,000 in clothes, $100,000 on a watch and half-share in a $250,000 sports car he bought himself in 2010. Holidays cost him $200,000 that year, and upkeep on the garden at his Paris apartment about $45,000, he said.

His testimony pulled back a curtain on personal difficulties, as well as financial details. He said he had postponed formally recognising Augie as his son for some months in 2007 because he and Hayek were caught up in concern about her own pregnancy with their daughter, Valentina. For a time, they were told the baby would have Down syndrome, he said.

"The situation was very, very complicated. We almost lost the baby," he testified.

Pinault, now 49, and Evangelista dated over about four months in 2005 and 2006. He said they spent only about seven days together in all. Augie was born in October 2006.

Pinault also has two children by a previous marriage.

PPR owns Gucci, Yves St Laurent and other high-end brands. Forbes recently estimated his family's net worth at $13 billion.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/evangelista-sues-billionaire-for-child-support/story-e6frfmqi-1226347546703#ixzz1u05oEYty

Three Diggers wounded by bomb in Afghanistan save

THREE Australian soldiers have been wounded by a roadside bomb in southwest Afghanistan.

The special operations soldiers were wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED), which detonated midway through a mission on Thursday in northern Helmand, the Defence Department said.

Two of the soldiers suffered serious blast and fragmentation wounds in the incident.

Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Ash Power said the men were in a satisfactory medical condition.

The third soldier suffered minor wounds and is likely to return to full duties soon.

The two seriously wounded soldiers will return to Australia in the coming days, possibly through the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany.

Two coalition soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

Two youths charged over tourist rape attack

POLICE have now charged two more youths over the alleged rape of two tourists in Alice Springs.

The 17-year-old youths were caught  yesterday, one in Alice Springs and the other in Hermannsburg, about 120km west of Alice Springs, the Northern Territory News reports.

Police this morning laid charges against them over Wednesday's shocking attack of two women, aged 21 and 28, who were asleep in their car at Mount Johns in Alice Springs when the vehicle was broken into and three men allegedly forced them to have sex.

Detective Acting Superintendent Travis Wurst said one of the youths was charged with sexual intercourse without consent, acts of gross indecency, deprivation of liberty, assault and threaten with a firearm along with numerous other offences.

He said the other youth has only been charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle, but that police expect to lay further charges as the investigation continues.

A third 17-year-old youth was charged yesterday and has made his first appearance in Alice Springs Magistrates Court on sexual assault charges over the attack.

BY CROOK: Abbott hooks recluse MP to outnumber Labor in parliament

    * Tony Crook will now sit and vote with Coalition
    * Gillard controls parliament with help of Greens
    * Crook strongly criticised the carbon and mining taxes

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott's parliamentary numbers have won a boost, with Nationals MP Tony Crook formally joining the Coalition.

The West Australian MP, who has been on the cross benches, will sit with his party's colleagues in parliament from Tuesday, The Nationals say.

The move by Mr Crook, who has voted with Labor more than 30 times in the lower house since the last election, puts the Coalition's numbers at 72 members to Labor's 71.

While Prime Minister Julia Gillard still controls the house through her deals with the independents and Greens, Tony Abbott now has bragging rights for which major party has more members, and more discipline over Mr Crook's vote.

Nationals Leader Warren Truss welcomed Mr Crook's move today following the WA Nationals' central council meeting in Perth.

"After extensive consultation with his constituency and his Nationals WA colleagues, Tony has made a decision that I am certain is in the best interests of his electorate of O'Connor and the nation," Mr Truss said.

Mr Truss said Mr Crook's decision to sit on the crossbenches after the 2010 federal election had "raised a few eyebrows", but that the party understood he was simply trying to get the best possible results for his electorate.

Read more: ht

NRL Late Mail - round nine

The first eight rounds of the season have proven that NRL tipping is a tough caper.

But never fear, we've called on the crew at Fox Sports Stats to provide you with a valuable statistical insight into round nine.

Read our predictions based on the key numbers and tell us whether you agree or disagree on the selections by posting a comment below.

The Adjudicator
The Adjudicator NRL

    * R9: 'Not much chop but he tries hard'

Canterbury-Bankstown v Parramatta, Friday, 7.35pm (EST), ANZ Stadium

TAB Sportsbet: Bulldogs $1.45, Eels $2.85

Despite their perilous position, this fixture offers a glimmer of hope for embattled Parramatta. The Eels have won eight of their past 11 clashes against the Bulldogs, and they will be encouraged by scoring 83 points in their past three games compared with the Bulldogs' 56. But that's where the good news ends. Pick any number of stats and it makes for some pretty ugly reading for the Eels. Lose this game and the Eels fall to their worst start to a season since 1960, when they went 0-9. If that isn't bad enough, they have also lost 15 of their past 16 away matches. And they have been held scoreless in at least one half of football in six of their eight matches this season. Enough of the Eels bashing, though. The Bulldogs, themselves, have hardly been in great form of late. They have won only one of their past five matches and have only scored a total of 32 points in their four loses this season. Looking for a first tryscorer? Look no further than Josh Morris, who has scored six tries in his past six ANZ Stadium appearances.

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Late Mail: Bulldogs 1-12

North Queensland Cowboys v St George Illawarra, Friday, 7.35pm (EST), Dairy Farmers Stadium

TAB Sportsbet: Cowboys $1.65, Dragons $2.30

St George Illawarra have certainly had the measure of North Queensland in recent years, but that has been away from Townsville. The travel-shy Cowboys have been no match for the Dragons in Sydney since 2009, conceding 87 points while scoring only 34. But it's a completely different story at Dairy Farmers, where the home side have won six of their past eight matches. The Dragons, in fact, haven't picked up two points in Townsville since 2005. But they do enter this clash in good heart after consecutive wins and with the knowledge the Cowboys have lost three of their four home games this season. Interestingly, the team that has led at half-time has won all of the Cowboys' matches this season. Brett Morris has dominated this fixture, scoring eight tries in his past four games, including four on his only appearance in Townsville.

Late Mail: Dragons 1-12

Warriors v Brisbane Broncos, Saturday, 5.30pm (EST), Mt Smart Stadium

NRL: Round Nine
NRL Weekly Preview

    * Greg Alexander's NRL round nine preview

TAB Sportsbet: Warriors $2.30, Broncos $1.65

Something has to break here. The irresistable home force against the road warriors. Home is certainly where the heart is for the Warriors, who have won 16 of their past 22 matches at Mt Smart Stadium, including their past two. They also boast seven wins from their past 10 matches against the Broncos. That success has been built on a solid foundation of defence, defence and more defence; in 13 of those wins, they have conceded 12 points or less. And they'll need to be on their game against a team that averages almost 24 points per game - second only behind Melbourne this season. The Broncos have won all four of their away matches this season and have not conceded more than 14 points in any of those games. Manu Vatuvei could become the leading all-time try-scorer at the venue - ahead of Stacey Jones - if he scores one try.

Late Mail: Broncos 1-12.

Gold Coast Titans v West Tigers, Saturday, 7.30pm (EST), Skilled Park

TAB Sportsbet: Titans $3.75, Tigers $1.28

Tim Sheens has every right to be concerned! Wests Tigers' recent record against Gold Coast Titans certainly doesn't inspire great confidence. They have not only lost two of their past three games against the Titans, but also four of their past five at Skilled Park. Add to that the fact the Tigers are making the equal-fewest linebreaks in the competition and are busting the fewest tackles, then two points, even against a team whose struggles are more pronounced, is no guarantee. There is no certainly no respite from the mediocrity for Titans fans, though. The home side have lost their past five matches at home - and 11 of their past 12. They have also scored the fewest points (106) and fewest tries (18) in the NRL this season, and they have been held scoreless in the first 40 minutes in three of their matches this season. Maybe the home fans can look to David Mead for some salvation. The flying winger has scored 11 tries in his past 11 matches at home.

NRL Line-ups
NRL Lineups new logo

    * Round nine: NRL line-ups for the weekend

Late Mail: Tigers 1-12.

Penrith v Melbourne Storm, Saturday, 7.30pm (EST), Centrebet Stadium

TAB Sportsbet:  Penrith $6, Storm $1.14

Penrith haven't beaten Melbourne since 2005, when they did the double. That's six years of struggle - and this year promises to be no different. Home or away, Melbourne are proving unstoppable. They have won their past three matches at Centrebet Stadium, and five of their past nine. Nine of their past 17 wins against the beleaguered Panthers have been by 20 points or more. To make matters worse for the home side, defeat on Saturday will create an unwanted record of eight consecutive losses at home. The Panthers have lost their past four matches and 12 of their past 15. Worryingy, they have been outscored 94-14 in their past three matches. They looked to have picked the wrong game to try and find some form. Billy Slater, unbelievably, hasn't scored a try in his past three matches after scoring nine in his first five of the campaign.

Late Mail: Storm 13+.

Manly v Canberra, Sunday, 2pm (EST), Brookvale Oval

TAB Sportsbet: Manly $1.18, Canberra $5

If Manly could hand-pick an opponent, Canberra would be a runaway winner. The Sea Eagles, who have won only two of their past six matches, take into the match a record of eight wins from their past 10 against the Raiders. The positives don't stop there for the home side, either. Seven of their past eight wins over the Raiders have been by 13 points or more, while they have also won 16 of their past 19 Sunday afternoon matches at Brookvale. Canberra enter the match desperate to arrest an alarming form slump. They have picked up two points in only two of their past nine matches, and four of their last 16 away games. In the first half of their last three defeats at Brookie, Canberra have leaked 38 points without scoring. Brett Stewart, who has scored six tries in his past four Brookvale appearances against the Raiders, has not played on a losing side at Brookvale since 2008.

Late Mail: Manly 13+.

Sydney Roosters v Newcastle Knights, Sunday, 3pm (EST), Allianz Stadium

TAB Sportsbet:  Roostes $1.57, Knights $2.45

If the alternating win/loss pattern of the past five seasons continues, then you want to be on the Roosters in this one. No team has got a run of consecutive wins since 2007 - and that's nine games. The Roosters may have been ordinary in recent weeks, but they do enjoy facing the Knights at Allianz Stadium. The Knights may be doing the business at home, but they have lost five of their past seven matches on their travels. Points have been hard to come by in this fixture in recent times. Last season, only 50 points were scored in two games - Roosters won 12-10 in round 11, and the Knights won at home 18-10. Anthony Minichiello, who signed a new deal with the club on Friday, has scored 13 tries in 18 games against the Knights.

Late Mail: Roosters 1-12.

South Sydney v Cronulla, Monday, 7pm (EST), ANZ Stadium

TAB Sportsbet:  Roosters $1.57, Knights $2.45

Cronulla may be riding high but they have traditonally struggled to tame South Sydney. The Rabbitohs' best winning percentage (64.3 per cent) over the past eight years has been against the Sharks. To make matters worse for the visitors, they haven't picked up two points at ANZ Stadium against Souths since 2008. But records are meant to be broken, and Cronulla will have no better opportunity to claw back some respect on Monday night. The third-placed Sharks will not only be chasing seven consecutive wins for the first time since 2002 but also four wins in a row on the road. Interestingly, the Sharks have lost their past four matches - and seven of their past eight - after scoring 40 points in their previous match. Greg Inglis has never lost a match against the Sharks - winning five out of five.

Bikie boss faces nervous wait to see if his bail will be revoked

HELLS Angels bikie Scott Orrock faces a nervous wait until Tuesday, when a court will decide if his bail is to be revoked.

Orrock is charged with torching a police car outside Newtown police station two weeks ago, but was granted bail in court last week- a decision met with stinging criticism of the judiciary by Premier Barry O'Farrell.

Police allege Orrock stormed into the police station and told them to remove a police car parked outside his King St tattoo parlour within 10 minutes "or I'll burn it down."

The car was discovered, destroyed by fire,  on the street a short time later.

The DPP took carriage of the Orrock matter and appealed the decision to grant him bail to the Supreme Court.

When the prosecution attempted to bring up the recent spate of drive-by shootings in south western Sydney, he was scolded by Justice Peter Garling for "grandstanding."

"This is not trial by speculation or suspicion," Justice Garling said.

Orrock's barrister Deone Provera tried to submit it was not a strong case, suggesting it may have been someone the 47-year-old knew who did it "without his knowledge or consent."

But Justice Garling noted that Orrock had handed himself in to police the day after the torching.

The Crown submitted that Orrock is "a volatile and aggressive individual", but the court heard he had no prior convictions relating to assaulting police or resisting arrest.

Justice Garling has reserved his decision on bail until Tuesday.

The former Nomads boss will remain on bail until then.

Outed - the man who made chips inaccessible

T

HERE'S a couple of issues at play in the story you're about read.

One involves wtf chip companies were thinking when they make their bags so goddamn hard to get into.

The other centres around the type of people who struggle to open a chip packet.

An undisclosed number of years ago, John Spevacek was working for a company called Hercules in Delware, US, which specialised in chemicals and gunpowder.

A chemical engineer, one of Mr Specavek's first tasks at Hercules was making "multilayer polypropelene films" for food packaging.

"It was my first job right out of school," he wrote in a blog post confession yesterday.

"One of our larger clients used our films to make potato chip bags.

"The problem they had with our existing films was that the ... seal was too weak."

Too weak? Yes, there are those among us that remember such a day existed when opening a bag of chips - think Chickadees or Monster Munch - didn't involve using dangerous solvents or spreading a sterile groundsheet first.

Which was wonderful for small children and sun-shy public servants, but not so good for the "larger client" of Hercules who had to transport their chips from the Rocky Mountains to California.

"Some of the seals would open up due to the pressure difference between the high altitude air and the air sealed inside the bag," Mr Spevacek wrote.

"And so they needed a stronger seal from us, which was then passed down to me."

Suffice to say, he succeeded. Anyone who's struggled with a family-sized pack of Doritos knows the feeling when the top seal parts with such force that it splits the entire bag and they've got just three seconds to collect the lot. (Or 10, as the case may be.)

You can blame John Specavek, or "that guy" as he's become known since his last post.

Mr Specavek then details how chips bags are made - which is more interesting than you might think - and why they chose the simple "more glue" option over others, such as reducing the air pressure inside the bag.

(Side note: Whenever someone complains that their bag of chips is more air than chips, you can now tell them that it's to stop the chips from breaking, silly.)

"The best option was to develop an adhesive that sealed at a lower temperature," Mt Specavek wrote.

"Something that was successfully accomplished, or so I'm led to believe from all the complaints that colleagues pile on me now that they know I'm that guy."