Haiti cholera victims file suit against UN 

MORE than 1500 victims of a cholera outbreak in post-earthquake Haiti have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to overturn the United Nations' immunity from liability for the epidemic that killed more than 9000 Haitians.

The suit, filed in a New York federal court on Tuesday, also is seeking compensation for the deaths and the 700,000 people made ill by the epidemic, and funding for sanitation and clean water in Haiti.
The lawsuit comes days after the US State Department asked a New York court to grant the UN immunity from legal action brought by another group of cholera victims.

Depth, distance reduce impact of US quake 

 ONE of the largest earthquakes to hit California in decades has rattled the state's northern coast, but its depth and distance from shore reduced the impact on land, with no reports of injuries or damage.

The magnitude-6.9 quake struck at 10:18pm on Sunday and was centred 80 kilometres west of Eureka and about 16 kilometres beneath the Pacific seabed, according to the US Geological Survey.
By late Monday morning, it had already produced 20 aftershocks of magnitude-3.5 or larger, and more were expected over the coming days, said Keith Knudsen, deputy director of the USGS's Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California.

Lawyer says Tsarnaev destroyed phone 

 BOSTON Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev destroyed his mobile phone before being arrested, a lawyer for one of Tsarnaev's friends has said in court.

The information was disclosed on Monday during a pre-trial hearing in US District Court as lawyers for three of Tsarnaev's friends asked a judge to order prosecutors to turn over a variety of records and documents to the defence.
The defence requested all communications between Tsarnaev and the three men, as well as all communications between Tsarnaev and other people.

Syrian health care on brink of collapse 

 SYRIA'S health care system is on the brink of collapse, with medics forced to engage in "brutal medical practices" in order to save lives: knocking out patients with metal bars because of lack of anaesthesia, or amputating infants' limbs for lack of other ways to treat their injuries.

International charity Save the Children in a report published on Monday said newborns die in hospital incubators during power outages, while millions of children have been exposed to deadly diseases, some of which are preventable with vaccinations and basic medical equipment.
The conflict has ravaged Syria for three years and has hit the country's health facilities and health providers hard. Hospitals have been bombed by government forces in rebel-held areas. Armed men with the opposition have forced their way into clinics to have their fighters treated. Many doctors have fled the country to escape harassment from the warring sides.

16 killed in Egypt highway crash 

OFFICIALS say a truck has collided with a bus on a highway in southern Egypt that was flooded after heavy rains, killing 16 people.

A security official in the city of Assiut said the bus driver lost control of the wheel on an inundated stretch of road, striking the truck and then overturning. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to reporters.

Key ditches NZ flag referendum in 2014 

NEW Zealanders won't get a chance to vote to change the nation's flag this year.

Prime Minister John Key says there won't be a referendum on changing New Zealand's flag at September's general election, but if National is re-elected the public will have their say in the next parliamentary term.
Mr Key raised the prospect of a referendum in January, saying he personally favoured changing the flag to a black one with a silver fern on it, but in a speech at Victoria University on Tuesday, he put it on hold.

Bieber can't remember coming to Australia 

 JUSTIN Bieber caused havoc during his recent visit to Australia with graffiti sprees, allegations of heavy-handed behaviour by his body guards and visits to strip clubs.

But the 20-year-old apparently can't even remember whether or not he was here.
During a court appearance in the US on Thursday over separate claims the singer instructed his bodyguards to assault photographer Jeffrey Binion, Bieber was quizzed about his past movements.
"Do you remember being in Australia ever?" the photographer's lawyer Mark DiCowden asks in video footage of the four-hour deposition.

Modern Family star a Vegemite convert 

MODERN Family star Ty Burrell is known for his comedic chops, but he also has a refined palate.

In what may be a first for an American, Burrell came away from Australia loving Vegemite.
While Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen and the rest of the Modern Family cast were not fans of Australia's favourite breakfast spread during their recent visit Down Under to shoot an episode of the hit sitcom, Burrell stashed a few jars in his luggage before flying back to the US.
"I love Vegemite," says Burrell, who plays bumbling dad Phil Dunphy.

Man hunts for wife on tsunami anniversary 

ON a chilly morning last weekend, a 57-year-old Japanese man adjusted his diving mask before heading out to sea from the tsunami-hit northeast coast.

Yasuo Takamatsu is learning to scuba dive in hopes of finding the remains of his wife.
As Japan marks the third anniversary of the 2011 tsunami on Tuesday, 2636 people remain missing, their bodies presumably swept out to sea. Another 15,884 have been confirmed dead.
Takamatsu's wife Yuko was at her office when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that spawned the tsunami struck offshore at 2.46pm.

Fatal Vision author Joe McGinniss dies 

JOE McGinniss, the adventurous and news-making author and reporter who skewered the marketing of Richard Nixon in The Selling of the President 1968 and tracked his personal journey from sympathiser to scourge of convicted killer Jeffrey MacDonald in the blockbuster Fatal Vision, has died aged 71.

McGinniss, who announced in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer, died on Monday from complications related to his disease.
His lawyer and longtime friend Dennis Holahan said he died at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.