THE body of a 51-year-old Adelaide man has been found floating in the River Torrens.
Police were called to the Torrens at 2.20pm (CST) on Saturday after a Netley man was reportedly seen swimming in the river, trying to retrieve a remote-controlled boat.
Witnesses saw the man go under water and never resurface.
The man's body was discovered with the assistance of Police Water Operations before 4.30pm (CST).
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
FROM crackle-crusted pork belly to braised wagyu, the humble hamburger has a whole new look. We look at the best of the new breed of burger.
A A WOMAN has died after a house caught fire in Wynnum West this morning.
A MAN, 20, one of six people arrested as part of a police sting targeting drug supply to music festivals this weekend, has appeared in court.
UPDATE: POLICE believe a 21-year-old female cyclist was crushed by a truck this morning after she veered into its path.
QUEENSLAND is paying $450,000 an hour in interest. Treasurer Tim Nicholls reveals how soon the coffers will run dry without asset sales. COMMENTS 400+
Activists at the 2014 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras have targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Source: AAP
SYDNEY'S gay and lesbian Mardi Gras has taken aim at Russia for its anti-homosexual propaganda laws, with a parade aimed at showing the regime's discriminatory polices won't float with an Australian audience.
Amid the bright lights, dancing surf life savers, bikies and angels at the 37th annual parade stood a ten-foot, bobble-headed Vladimir Putin float.
"I am very much so proud to be part of this float," said Tim, who didn't give a last name, on whose shoulders rested the Russian president's massive head.
"I think it'd be a great opportunity to protest anti-gay laws, so I wanted to be part of it myself."
While the float - titled From Russia with Love - condemned Russia's views, it was also used to send love to the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
Sydney's Hyde Park was teeming on Saturday night with hundreds of thousands of revellers dressed in a rainbow of colours - everything from gay pride cowboy dancers to bright blue cast members from the movie Avatar.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said before the parade that the event, which is known for its fun, was still capable of stirring up political debate.
"There's room for very serious political comment in Mardi Gras," she said.
"Everyone is quite alarmed about what's happening in Russia, what's happening in Nigeria and Pakistan.
"This is a global event, the biggest of its kind in the world and it's good to make those statements."
Actress and comedian Magda Szubanski says while Australia is more tolerant towards homosexuality, it is not smooth sailing.
"One recent study shows the incidents of attempted suicide among LGBTI youth is six times higher than in the straight community," she said.
"As much as it's important that we protest Sochi and what's going on in Russia, we have to be mindful that things aren't too great here.
"Speaking as a gay observer, things have a life of their own and at the moment there does seem to be a political focus."
This year's parade - the second largest event in Sydney after New Year's Eve - is bigger than in 2013, with a record 144 floats making the journey down Oxford and Flinders streets amid an estimated 10,000 marchers.
The footpaths of Oxford St were packed with an estimated 300,000 people pressing against barriers along a two kilometre stretch to see the parade.
The popular favourites Dykes on Bikes kicked off early celebrations with a roaring ride up and down Oxford at 7pm, warming the crowds up for the main event.
Among the parade's eccentric features was a nine-metre Strictly Mardi Gras trailer complete with a 98-member cast.
One of the forces behind the float, Strictly Ballroom director Baz Luhrmann, also attended the parade, along with performers Delta Goodrem and Tina Arena.
Federal MP Penny Wong also marched in the parade.
Extra police - those not on duty on the NSW police float - were deployed across the CBD to monitor the influx of visitors.
A British woman has given birth on a New york street after having her taxi stolen. Source: AAP
A BRITISH woman has given birth in the street in New York City - after a taxi she waved down to take her to hospital was swiped by a passer-by.
Polly McCourt, 39, hailed the cab on Monday with the help of the doorman to her apartment block in the city's Upper East Side after she realised she was going into labour.
"He was trying desperately to hail a cab and a lady walked out five metres in front and hailed a cab and got into it," she said from her hospital bed.
"And I went, 'No, that's my cab, I want that cab'."
Her husband Cian McCourt, 40, who reportedly works for a New York law firm, was stuck in traffic when he received the call and arrived just after his wife gave birth to their daughter in the street during rush hour - a scene caught on camera by a passing news crew.
He said: "I knew instantly that it was Polly, but then I feared the worst. You think, 'She's been knocked down'."
Passers-by helped deliver the little girl, who was named Ila, and kept the pair warm with coats and scarves until an ambulance arrived and took them to Lennox Hill Hospital.
Ms McCourt was so grateful to one of them she gave her daughter her middle name, Isabelle, and is now keen to track her down after losing her phone number.
The episode has since been dubbed "miracle on 3rd Avenue".
The couple have two other children, Conor, six, and Adele, four, according to the New York Daily News, and reportedly moved to New York four years ago from Dublin.
A crowd has rallied in support of Aussie journalist Peter Greste who has been detained in Egypt. Source: AAP
A COLLEAGUE of imprisoned Australian journalist Peter Greste has urged the public and media not to lose interest in his case.
Speaking to a rally of about 20 people at Martin Place in Sydney, Al-Jazeera's Andrew Thomas said the case in Egypt was important for free press worldwide.
"Other countries will watch the... success Egypt has had locking up foreign journalists ... and they might try to do something similar," he said.
"That would mean the ... dark corners that governments don't want you to know about wouldn't be exposed."
The award-winning Mr Greste, bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed were arrested in December.
They're among 20 journalists accused of airing false news and misleading viewers about the political situation in Egypt.
Broadcaster Al-Jazeera held "a global day of action" for the trio in 30 cities worldwide and on social media on Thursday.
Mr Greste and his colleagues were denied bail at their first appearance in a Cairo court last week.
Amnesty International activism manager Chris Holley told AAP there was hope the men could be released on bail during their next court appearance on March 5.
"Our call is for them to be released unconditionally," he said.
"But if they're not released they should be given bail ... and I think there's a prospect that could happen."
He did admit it was hard to predict how the Egyptian government would act.
Greste's parents live in Brisbane and could not be at the protest.
In a letter, read by Mr Thomas, they thanked the small crowd and wished "peace and prosperity on the people of Egypt".
A man convicted of raping and killing a teenage girl has been executed in the US state of Missouri. Source: AAP
THE US state of Missouri has executed a man convicted of abducting, raping and killing a teenage girl.
Michael Taylor, 47, was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday, the Missouri Department of Public Safety said.
The execution came amid controversy over the chemicals being used to give death row inmates lethal injections in Missouri and other US states.
Taylor's was the fourth lethal injection in Missouri in as many months.
He was sentenced to death over the 1989 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl who was abducted at a school bus stop.
Taylor was executed after the US Supreme Court denied a last-minute stay.
He was pronounced dead at 12:10 am (0510 GMT) and made no final statement.
He declined to order a special last meal and was served a state-issued meal that included potato soup and a sandwich, the department said.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon also rejected a clemency request.
Nixon issued a statement asking the people of Missouri to remember the young girl killed, Ann Harrison. He noted that Taylor had pleaded guilty, was convicted and sentenced to die.
"That punishment has now been carried out," Nixon said.
He turned aside Taylor's pleas, which were based on the state's use of a secret compounding pharmacy for the lethal dose of pentobarbital and for executing previous inmates while they still had appeals pending, NBC News said.
Prior to this, the last execution was that of Herbert Smulls, who was declared dead on the night of January 29, a little over an hour before the legal period for his execution ended.
Since European manufacturers stopped providing pentobarbital for executions of humans, several states are running low on execution chemicals and turning to new suppliers or products that have not been widely approved.
This has led many US death row inmates to file suits on grounds they fear the new products could subject them to undue suffering.
Victoria's crime rate has risen with drugs, family violence and deceptions among the causes. Source: AAP
TAP-AND-GO technology is helping make credit card fraud the fastest growing area of crime in Victoria.
Drugs and family violence also contributed to an overall 1.2 per cent jump in the crime rate for the 12 months to December 2013.
Deception offences rose by 42 per cent and drug offences jumped by 12.3 per cent.
The introduction of tap-and-go credit cards has made deception easier and police have again expressed concern about the technology, which allow customers to make purchases without a PIN or signature, and say negotiations continue with the banks about a solution.
The 42 per cent figure is up about 12 per cent on quarterly figures released last November.
"It is not a policing issue, it is a whole of community issue and everybody should be working together to try and address these issues and to make it very, very difficult for people to commit offences," Deputy Commissioner Lucinda Nolan said.
A Mastercard spokeswoman said the company is surprised police are concerned about tap-and-go technology since industry data reveals there's been no increase in fraud specifically relating to such cards.
"We have asked Victoria Police to clarify the source and nature of their crime statistics," she said.
Family violence is also up with a big jump in the number of intervention order breaches which have caused the category of other crimes to rise by 15.5 per cent.
Ms Nolan said breaches of intervention orders had significantly increased, but that did not mean they were not working, just that police were stronger in enforcement.
"So that when there are breaches, whether they are minor or major police are taking action," she told reporters on Wednesday.
Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said 40 per cent of crimes committed against a person occurred in the home.
"This underlines the impact of family violence," he said.
There were 12,607 more offences overall committed in Victoria over the year, a rise of 3.1 per cent.
Ms Nolan said methamphetamines are challenging cannabis for the drug related to the most offences, with ice continuing to have a very bad impact on the community.
"You see the impact it has, particularly on the regional centres and rural communities, it is absolutely huge, how it has impacted on those families and those local communities," she said.
But there was some good news for police, with robberies down by 15.4 per cent and property crimes decreasing by 2.6 per cent.
BUNKING with people you just met and have only spoken to online? These are the realities of couchsurfing — a cheap and interesting way to see the world.
YOU'VE heard the facts — Australia is in the middle of a man drought, with 100,000 more women than men. But there's one place where men abound - and they'll sweep you off your feet.
MORE than 20 suburbs in Australia chalked up a huge number of house sales in the past year. Check out where everyone wants to live.
