News: Malaysia solution 'revival', Queen and J-Lo

1. Australia’s shonkiest products revealed

Flood insurance – too baffling to understand – and quail eggs that can help cure erectile dysfunction have been named among Australia’s shonkiest products. A $70 nasal spray which ‘helps’ with weightloss was also featured. The awards were presented by consumer choice magazine Choice.

2. Gillard will take Malaysia solution to election

The Malaysia Solution could become the policy ‘Lazarus’ with a triple bypass if the Prime Minister is re-elected, saying she will take it to the election and wants it made clear the the current move to onshore processing was forced upon her. She said: ‘We don’t want to see people risk their lives on leaky boats with all of the potential for disaster that that entails.”

On that note, did you catch 4 Corners last night? Journalist Sarah Ferguson gained unprecedented access to Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre and spoke to asylum seekers in many others to paint a picture of the toll mandatory detention – especially for children – was taking on them. The program spoke to those who had come by boat and then attempted suicide – “Not even death would have me,” said one – and asked the hard questions of the Immigration Minister Chris Bowen. It is a must watch and you can do so here.

3. Aussie sailor dies of gunshot wound aboard ship in India

A 28-year-old sailor died from a gunshot wound while aboard the HMAS Toowoomba which was in port at Mumbai, returning to Australia from duties in the Middle East. The sailor’s family has been informed. No one else was injured in the incident. The Australian Department of Defence has declined to elaborate on what happened aboard the ship. “The Chief of Navy and all members of the Navy family are saddened by this loss and offer their condolences to the family,” Defence said.

4. Queen lands in flood-recovered Brisbane

If there was any doubt about the power of a Royal visit, the Queen’s touchdown in Brisbane might have removed it. More than 45,000 turned out in Brisbane’s Southbank precinct to welcome Her Majesty. In January this year that same ground was under water from the worst floods in the Brisbane River since the devastating ones in 1974. One lady told Channel 9: “We’ve forgiven the river for what it did. We have to live on it. The Queen’s brought joy to Brisbane again.” The Queen met privately with flood victims.

5. Condoleezza Rice memoir lifts lid on post 911 White House

The former United States of America Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has written a memoir detailing her ‘heated’ clashes with Vice President Dick Cheney, especially when arguing over the treatment of captured terror suspects. She says she confronted Cheney and his staff most frequently when putting the case that these suspects should not be ‘disappeared’. She even threatened to resign over President Bush’s approval of secret military commissions without her knowledge, but claims the President was not represented well by his advisors in this manner. The SMH also reports: “But she writes of one time when she and the president exchanged sharp words in a December 2006 meeting over whether to send more troops to Iraq. He favoured an increase in troop levels and a new strategy to protect the Iraqi population, while she instead wanted to pull troops out of the cities. ”So what’s your plan, Condi?” the president asked testily, as she recounts it. ”We’ll just let them kill each other, and we’ll stand by and try to pick up the pieces?” She writes she was angered by the implication that she did not care about winning in Iraq and retorted that ”if they want to have a civil war, we’re going to have to let them”.

6. The chips laced with more caffeine and guarana than an energy drink

Yeah, that’s not a typo. The new range of CCs chips ‘Energy Cheese’ come loaded with 80mg of caffeine and 469mg of guarana which is collectively more than 171mg more of energy-inducing ingredients than is featured in your average can of V. Pregnant women and children have been told not to eat the chips … but they’re available over the counter at service stations and convenience stores nonetheless.

7. J-Lo breaks down mid love song

She’s been a bit stoic about her break-up with Marc Anthony, the father of her twins Max and Emme, but pop star J-Lo broke down on stage when belting our her song Until it beats no more ‘the last song’ she wrote about love. Lopez and Anthony announced in July that their seven-year marriage was ending.

8. Is this a real alien?

They always tend to look the same, but paranormal writers are saying this footage of something alien-like standing near a light source in the Amazon is hard to discredit. The footage, first handed to the Brazilian Government, was marked ‘top secret’ before being leaked. So, are we alone? Pity the thing doesn’t move…