$2.5m of cannabis found in northern NSW

Police have seized more than 1200 cannabis plants, worth about $2.5 million, during raids in NSW. Source: AAP

MORE than 1200 cannabis plants valued about $2.5 million have been seized by police during raids in northern NSW.

The plants were found in bushland around Lillian Rock, Barkers Vale, Rappville and Woodburn during the latest round of the cannabis eradication program (CEP), which ran from Monday to Wednesday, police said.

More than $4 million of cannabis was found and destroyed after similar searches in the first week of February.

"The CEP has been running since the mid-1980s and, to date, has prevented cannabis with an estimated potential street value of more than $250 million reaching NSW streets," police said in a statement.

"The CEP is generally operational during cannabis-growing season, which stretches from the late spring through summer and into early autumn."

The drug squad, dog unit, aviation support branch and local police were involved in the raids.

More busts will take place in the coming months.

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Welsh brewer creates lamb-flavoured beer

A WELSH brewer has created a new beer with lamb flavour to mark St David's Day, the national day of Wales.

Conwy Brewery said its Sunday Toast has infused lamb in the brewing process, combining the aromas of a Sunday roast with a dark ale.

The North Wales brewery slow-roasted Welsh lamb before adding the dissolved meat juices and sugar and keeping the brew warm for a week.

"Seasonal beers are a speciality of ours, but we wanted to do something really different to celebrate our country's national day," spokesman Gwynne Thomas said.

Saint David's Day is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on March 1 each year.

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Motorists suffer 'accident anxiety'

MOST motorists are suffering from "accident anxiety", and drivers aged 35-44 are the most worried, according to a survey.

As many as 79 per cent of those taking to the road are anxious about driving, the poll by Allianz Insurance found.

This concern is so great that 17 per cent of drivers have decided not to make a particular journey due to their worries.

Based on responses from 1000 people who drive regularly, the survey showed 83 per cent of drivers aged 35-44 get anxious on the road.

Overall, the biggest worry to drivers is tailgating, followed by road rage and uninsured drivers.

Of those who have accidents, 81 per cent said it was not their fault with 22 per cent saying they felt more worried, more stressed and less confident after a collision, with women being notably more worried than men after a crash.

Yet just seven per cent reckoned more driver training would be the answer.

Allianz Insurance chief executive Jon Dye said: "It's worrying to see that so many motorists feel they will have an accident, and yet so few feel more driver training would help. Drivers can only drive at their best if they feel calm and alert and not unduly worried about what other motorists are getting up to.

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Qantas planes clip wings in LA

Two Qantas planes have clipped wings at LA airport, forcing the cancellation of two flights. Source: AAP

TWO Qantas planes have clipped wings while being towed out of a hangar in Los Angeles, causing the cancellation of two flights back to Australia.

No passengers were on board when the wing tips of an A380 and B747 came into contact at about 9pm LA time, Qantas said on Friday.

The damage was substantial enough to force the cancellation of flight QF94 to Melbourne and QF16 to Brisbane.

Customers have been put up in hotels and will be placed on the next available flights.

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Refugee activists march in Sydney

Refugee activists have clashed with police in a peak-hour march through inner Sydney. Source: AAP

REFUGEE activists have clashed with police in a peak-hour march through inner Sydney.

Riot police were called in as hundreds rallied along George Street on Friday evening chanting "Free, free the refugees".

At times the throngs spilled onto city roads, disrupting traffic and prompting physical confrontations with police.

The demonstration comes after the death of 23-year-old Reza Berati during violent clashes at Australia's Manus Island immigration detention centre.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul told the rally the Iranian's death would not be forgotten.

"They want to push it aside," he said. "They want it to be covered up in the lies and the cover-ups which are now under way on Manus Island.

"We are not going to allow that to happen."

The protesters have called for the Papua New Guinea facility to be shut down and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to step down.

"Scott Morrison, blood on your hands," they cried as the march approached the Immigration Department's Sydney headquarters.

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Bishop spiked rhino program, hearing told

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has spiked plans to help save the Sumatran rhinoceros. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has spiked plans by the former Labor government to help save the Sumatran rhinoceros.

In June 2013, then foreign minister Bob Carr said Australia would provide $3 million over three years to help Indonesian authorities protect the species, of which there are estimated to be fewer than 200 remaining.

But the program did not and would not begin, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Rod Brazier told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

"The current foreign minister has decided not to proceed with the program," he said.

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Signed Mein Kampf copes to be auctioned

TWO rare early editions of Mein Kampf, signed by Adolf Hitler could sell for more than $US20,000 ($A22,373) at an online auction, officials say.

Nate Sanders, owner of Nate D Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles, says he knows he'll catch a lot of flack for putting rare 1925 and 1926 editions of the racist screed up for bid.

"But it is a piece of history. It is a very rare item," he explained.

Hitler was arrested and jailed for the attempt to seize power. He dictated Mein Kampf, two volumes of autobiography and anti-Semitic manifesto, to Rudolf Hess while behind bars to raise money for his criminal defence.

Both volumes' fly-leaves feature Hitler's signature.

Sanders said volumes of Mein Kampf from the 1930s are common, but a copy signed by the author is rare.

Sanders is also auctioning off a leather trench coat he said was worn by Albert Speer, a Nazi government minister who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the Nazi regime.

Selling Nazi memorabilia is prohibited in many European countries that saw the horrors of World War II.

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Pet parrot helps Indian cops crack murder

A PET parrot has helped police nab its owner's killer in the northern Indian city of Agra.

Police were struggling to solve the murder mystery until a key clue was provided by the dead woman's pet parrot, Hercule, The Times of India reported on Thursday.

Neelam Sharma, 45, was found murdered in her home on February 20. Her husband Vijay, editor of a Hindi daily, noticed the parrot screeching every time his nephew Ashutosh visited their house after the murder.

"During discussions too, whenever Ashutosh's name was mentioned the parrot would start screeching. This raised my suspicion and I informed police," Sharma told the newspaper.

Agra police official Shalabh Mathur told the Times that Ashutosh confessed to the crime on interrogation.

He said he had entered the house with an accomplice to steal cash and valuables.

But afraid that his aunt might recognise him, he stabbed her and a pet dog when it started barking.

The Times of India report said the bird, a namesake of Hercule Poirot, the detective in Agatha Christie's novels, had lived up to its name.

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900 turtles found dead on Indian coast

MORE than 900 sea turtles have been found dead along the coast in southern India, conservationists say, blaming illegal fishing near their sanctuaries.

Supraja Dharini of the Tree Foundation, a marine conservation group, said trawlers fishing illegally along the coast of Andhra Pradesh state were not taking measures to stop turtles from getting entangled in the nets.

She said more than 800 dead Olive Ridley turtles were washed ashore on Saturday, and 100 more were found on Sunday.

"Such a huge loss of the species in one night is more than three times the total number recorded in the past six years in the region," she said, adding: "To say it is a tragedy would be a gross understatement."

Dharini said more than 45 trawlers were fishing about four kilometres from the shore days before the turtle deaths, whereas fishing regulations make it mandatory for trawlers to operate at least eight kilometres from the shore.

Olive Ridleys are one of the five species of sea turtle found in Indian waters.

The turtles are classified as "vulnerable," by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and nest on Indian shores between January and April.

The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that there are 800,000 female Olive Ridleys worldwide.

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Costa Concordia captain returns to ship

THE former captain of a luxury cruise liner that capsized off an Italian island has gone back aboard for the first time since the 2012 shipwreck that killed 32 people.

Francesco Schettino, who is on trial accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship, was allowed to board the Costa Concordia Thursday to help court-appointed experts inspect generators.

Schettino donned a life vest before taking a boat to the wreck, which was set upright in a complex engineering feat last year. Schettino, the sole defendant, claims that faulty generators and a poorly trained crew contributed to tragedy. The inspection was requested by defense and lawyers for consumer groups, which contend that Costa Crociere Spa, the cruise company, shares some blame.

Prosecutors contend Schettino deserves all the blame.

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