Queensland town goes for record-breaking world’s largest pub-crawl

October 11th, 2009 LONDON - Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has become the latest Australian politician to downplay the recent racial attacks on Indian students in Australia. Bligh said Queensland had an "excellent track record" in providing international students with a safe environment.

September 23rd, 2009 SYDNEY - A dust storm covered the New South Wales and southern Queensland on Wednesday and blanketed the states in an eerie red haze and pushed air pollution levels to 1500 times their normal levels - the highest in the history of the states. According to reports, the dust cloud covered almost the whole of New South Wales, and the states were hit with strong winds and low visibility.

September 23rd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Tourism Queensland has received more than 20,000 applications following its announcement that one person and three of their friends can become caretaker Ben Southall's best mates in an all-expenses-paid, seven-week holiday to the Whitsundays. The tourism officials have received applications from 142 countries, including Venezuela, Bosnia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Australia.

September 21st, 2009 SYDNEY - Shoppers in Brisbane were not dreaming when they saw two naked men get back into a police van after running around it in broad daylight in the middle of Australia's third-largest city, Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Stewart said Monday. He admitted that more than two officers might have stripped off and joined in Sunday's streak.

September 6th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Artists in Australia have attempted to grab a place in the record books with a jam session lasting seven days. More than 850 musicians took part in the 150-hour recording session that is yet to be verified by Guinness World Records.

July 21st, 2009 MELBOURNE - A possible record-breaking 1320kg lamington is being given the finishing touches, to celebrate world National Lamington Day. The giant cake has been made by Ipswich locals, who hope that it would make it to the Guinness Book of Records.

July 14th, 2009 SYDNEY - Can double glazing of windows provide an eco-friendly alternative to airconditioning? Effective insulation through glazing could help mitigate the increasing dependence on energy-consuming airconditioners, according to an Australian researcher. John Bell, professor at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Institute of Sustainable Resources, has found how different window glass options can increase the energy efficiency of houses and decrease carbon emissions, saving money too.

June 19th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In the latest UFO riddle to grip Australia, a flaming object has been spotted crashing into a mountain in central Queensland. The spectacle was initially treated as a possible plane crash but is now believed to be a meteor or space junk falling to earth.

June 17th, 2009 BRISBANE - The Indian Australian community in Queensland, Australia, has told a round table forum here that all Indian students residing the state and other southern states are safe from racist violence. Honorary Consul of India Professor Sarva-Daman Singh said he had asked about such problems as he moved through the Indian community.

June 3rd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Maryborough, a small town in Queensland, is out to regain its title for staging the world's biggest pub-crawl. The town has already defeated London, Halifax and Ottawa, but they now need to defeat New York City to reclaim the title.

May 6th, 2009 SYDNEY - British charity fundraiser Ben Southall Wednesday bagged the caretaker's job on an island in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. There were 34,000 applications for the job and 16 people were called to be interviewed.

May 6th, 2009 MELBOURNE - UK finalist Ben Southall has won the World's Best Job competition, organised by Tourism Queensland. TQ's official website congratulated the champ in a formal announcement made at Hamilton Island resort.

April 20th, 2009 Fowler to make debut against Sydney FCSYDNEY — Former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler will make his Australian competition debut for expansion team North Queensland Fury against Sydney FC in Townsville on Aug. 8, the A-League announced Monday.

March 3rd, 2009 MUMBAI - Indian equities markets were trying to crawl back into the green Tuesday with a key index ruling just 0.15 percent below its last closing figure, about 90 minutes before end of trade. The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 8,583.06 points, was at 8,587.12 points, a fall of 12.84 points or 0.15 percent from its previous close.

February 9th, 2009 SYDNEY - Troubled Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds will make his first appearance since Cricket Australia (CA) ruled him out for the series against South Africa. Symonds will play for Queensland against Victoria in the Ford Ranger Cup at Melbourne Cricket Ground Wednesday.