“It's not a crime - it's artwork. He's an intellectual”
— Kaylan Sherrard, cellmate of Joseph Gibbons, the former MIT Professor arrested for robbing banks as part of an 'art project'
Abroad | Millions march across France
THE GIST. 3.7 million people have participated in demonstrations across France, in tribute to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks. 1 million people and 44 world leaders marched through Paris - the largest demonstration in the city since the end of World War II.
RECAP. 17 people in total were killed over three days in Paris. The two men who killed 12 people in the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hedbo initially escaped, but were gunned down by police after a subsequent hostage siege. Another attacker killed four people and took 15 hostages in a kosher supermarket, after also killing a policewoman. He was killed by police.
MOST WANTED. The parter of the supermarket attacker, Hayat Boumeddiene, is on the run and wanted as an accomplice to the Paris attacks. Authorities think she has fled to Syria, and say she is "the companion of a dangerous terrorist who needs to be questioned."
UNITY? The right-wing National Front party, which has been a vocal critic of France's immigration policies and radical Islam, is expected to gain support in the aftermath of the attacks. Marine Le Pen, the party's leader, was excluded from yesterday's march by President Francois Hollande. Le Pen didn't appreciate being left out, and called the move "astounding cowardice". Polling shows support for Le Pen in the upcoming 2017 election to be about 30%.
THE GIST. A US report has ranked Australian internet speeds as 44th world-wide, four spots worse than last year. Average internet speeds are faster in places like Thailand, Portugal and Slovakia.
WHY. Experts say the fall is due to delays and confused policy in the NBN rollout process. It also apparently doesn't help that we're going for the whole 'fibre to the node' approach, while countries like New Zealand are forking out for faster (but more expensive) 'fibre to the premises' broadband.
PITCHFORKS. Everyone blames everyone else for what's happening with the NBN, although the government says the situation is getting better. When the government struck a new deal with Telstra in December, Labor man Jason Clare said that Australians were getting a "second-rate broadband network". Malcolm Turnbull said the government is working to overcome the "mess" it inherited from Labor, and that Australians will get "access to very fast broadband". Apparently not as fast as 43 (and counting) other countries, though.
Skinny dip. The United States Senate has a pool. It turns out that until 2008, female senators were banned from using the pool, because the male senators liked to swim naked. This season on House of Cards...
Darts riot. Spectators at a darts tournament in Melbourne turned violent, built a giant pyramid out of chairs and trashed the place. Police were called after the darts enthusiasts started body-slamming each other through tables. Bullseye.
Steer clear. As of this year, people can donate their bodies to be studied atAustralia's brand new human body farm after they die. The 49-hectare plot in the Blue Mountains will be used by scientists to observe how bodies decay in the Australian climate. The development is said to be great news for both the scientific community and the producers of Wolf Creek 3.
