An eight-year-old girl is feared dead in the Northern Territory, in northern Australia after being attacked by a saltwater crocodile. Saltwater crocodiles are the world's largest reptiles, and can be aggressive and dangerous. Police said the aboriginal girl was fishing with her parents when she was snatched from a remote riverbank of the Blyth River,…

Going on a cruise around Africa? Maybe just check you are not going too close to Somalia. The Somali coast is considered to be the world's most dangerous waters. The International Maritime Bureau has recorded 41 attacks since mid-March last year. Luxury cruise liners and ships carrying food aid are among those targeted off Somalia…

Virgin Galactic has announced that it has signed up more than 150 prospective space tourists, including Dallas star Victoria Principal and Alien actress Sigourney Weaver who have already signed up plus William Shatner who is said to be keen. Five minutes of weightlessness will set you back £114,000.

Burma's military rulers have extended the detention under house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Ms Suu Kyi has spent 10 of the last 16 years under house arrest. Despite appeals from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Ms Suu Kyi is to remain in detention. Burmese officials would not say how long her…

If you've been to Tanzania or Kenya, the chances are you might have drunk or at least seen two famous beer brands that sell millions: Serengeti and Kilimanjaro. Serengeti is synonymous with conservation and like Kilimanjaro, is an internationally recognisable symbol. A dispute is brewing (sorry!) iver companies that use these faouns names but do…

Globally, more than 130 people have died of bird flu since late 2003. Most of the deaths have been in East Asia, but the virus has also spread to Europe, Africa and South and Central Asia. Indonesia has recorded its 42nd human bird flu death, bringing the country level with Vietnam as the worst affected…

A New York doctor suspected of blowing up his own $6.4m Upper East Side house to prevent his ex-wife benefiting from its sale after their divorce has died from his injuries. If that wasn't tragic enough, neighbours are now suing the doctor's estate for damages they say were caused to their property by the explosion.

The government of the United States is reported to have spent $4bn fighting Colombia's cocaine trade since 2000. It has been doing this by spraying fields of coca with chemicals, destroying the crop. The US government justifies this by saying it is helping to stabilise Colombia, where a civil war, funded by cocaine profits, has…

Spotted by Mac: Here is a web site www.economist.com/cities to get travel information, local time, weather, insider tips, useful words & phrases, currency conversion etc etc about such world cities as Dubai, Johannesburg, Berlin, Tokyo, Mumbai, London, McCool Junction, Nebraska etc. Useful resource to plan trips.

A Japanese man last week recovered about $42,000 in cash that his wife had mistakenly thrown out with the rubbish/trash. He had been hiding the money in a trash container, explaining that he routinely hid cash in various places so it would not be stolen by robbers, the Associated Press reported. But his wife was…