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Clarke keeps his sweetest catch well under wraps
MOST people assumed that when Michael Clarke daringly closed Australia's first innings of the recent Barbados Test 43 runs behind the West Indies, he had used up his quota of stunning declarations.
That was before the Australian cricket captain released a statement yesterday and then seconds later went on Twitter to declare he had married his partner, Kyly Boldy, in a private ceremony on Tuesday at the Wolgan Valley Resort, 150km west of Sydney.
``We are extremely happy,'' Clarke said in his press statement. ``Our day couldn't have been more perfect.''
Then came the follow-up on the twittersphere: ``Happiest guy in the world. Married @KylyBoldy yesterday in front of our gorgeous families. Couldn't be happier!'' Clarke posted.
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Julia Telegraphs her answers to the voters
IT seems, in cyberspace, they can hear you scream.
At least that's the case if you're an under-fire Prime Minister, as Julia Gillard discovered yesterday when she debuted as a live blogger on thetelegraph.com.au.
Readers grilled Ms Gillard with tough questions on everything from the carbon tax to her comments about the north shore.
The Prime Minister spent an hour in The Daily Telegraph newsroom connecting with voters with questions touching on issues that have seen the government sink in opinion polls.
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Coalition to axe breaks for battlers
JOE Hockey has declared he will not detail the Coalition's savings measures until closer to the election but made it clear they will include reversing the government's $8 billion in tax cuts for low and middle-income earners.
The Coalition Treasury spokesman said the opposition's promised personal income tax cuts would be based on the current income tax scales, not those that will apply from July 1, which include compensation for the carbon tax.
``We're getting rid of the carbon tax and if you don't have a carbon tax, you don't need to have compensation,'' he said.
Wayne Swan commented that Mr Hockey was ``ripping up this major reform'', and increasing personal income tax for everyone earning less than $80,000, highlighting the challenge facing the Coalition in packaging its savings measures.
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BHP backtracks on plan to spend $80bn on projects
THE chairman of the world's largest miner, BHP Billiton's Jac Nasser, has warned of increasing global volatility and uncertainty while ditching plans to invest $80 billion on growth projects over the next five years.
As global sharemarkets reeled yesterday, Mr Nasser said the world had fundamentally changed since the global financial crisis, adding that the 2008 event was not a short-term glitch but a ``structural shift''.
``Rather than the world settling down, we will face increasing volatility and uncertainty,'' he told an Australian Institute of Company Directors lunch in Sydney.
``It really is going to feel as if the ground is shifting under our feet.
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They make fabulous guard crocs but feeding time can be frenzied
CRIKEY! They're not everyone's idea of a perfect pet but this trio are sure to be snapped up.
Their names indicate their narky nature and each one goes to its new home with a free box of sticking plasters.
Saltwater crocodiles Crikey, Jugular and Triple 0 are priced to size.
Little Crikey, at just 85cm, is $850 while Jugular, at 1.6m, is $1400.
Owner Tracey Sandstrom said there were pros and cons to crocs as pets.
``They make great guard dogs and you are unlikely to ever be burgled again, but they tend to make a meal of any other animals they have to share the backyard with,'' she said.
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Lew's dogs don't need prodding
WHO let the dogs out?
The Beatson & Beatson memorial trans-Tasman sheep dog trial is on at Cobram Showgrounds this weekend.
The trial uses a mixture of Australian and New Zealand rules. In the Australian rules section, the handler must walk in straight lines and cannot help the dog, whereas in the NZ rules section, the worker can stop, move around and help.
Lew Nobel has five dogs competing, including his border collie Kay.
He said his dogs were sought after, but that some people didn't know how to train them.
``I have people who want to buy my dogs who are too aggressive with them,'' Mr Nobel said.
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Sydney fans and mums wig out for Minaj
IF Barbie came to life in 2012, American hip pop superstar Nicki Minaj would have us believe she is the post-millennial avatar of the little girls' best friend.
She has the cartoon sassiness of Betty Boop, the not-to-subtle sexuality of Jessica Rabbit and the colourful eye candy of a Smurfette.
Only problem is, the mothers in the audience at Minaj's opening Australian concert at the Hordern Pavilion last night spent the entire show internalising an age old dilemma.
As their teen and tween daughters pumped their arms in the air, preened in their Barbz outfits and mouthed along to a string of expletives, mums may have arrived at the realisation that rap, and its effect on pop music, remains the same as it was 25 years ago
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Songbird knocked off perch
FEEL-GOOD hit show The Voice has hit a sour note, with contestant Carmen Smith asked to leave the show after breaching the ``spirit'' of the rules by singing on Guy Sebastian's latest single.
The Daily Telegraph revealed on Monday that Smith was the female vocalist on Gold and now appears extensively in the video.
Nine confirmed Smith agreed to leave before her shot at the finals because of her ``unfair advantage'' over contestants.
``This was not a decision we . . . took lightly. Our priority . . . is all the artists are on a level playing field,'' Channel 9 director of development Adrian Swift said.
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A shining example for his people
LEWIS Jetta once looked up to St Kilda great Nicky Winmar as the torchbearer for indigenous players.
Now the Swans speedster wants the next generation of indigenous players to see him in the same light.
In 1993, Winmar raised his St Kilda jumper and pointed to the colour of his skin following racist taunts from Collingwood fans.
``I was young when it happened but I heard about it,'' said Jetta, who is related to Winmar.
``I'm proud of what he did and he showed those fans what they did was wrong.''
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Daughter attacks 'sick' Korp opera
THE devastated daughter of Joe Korp has labelled an opera about her late father and murdered stepmother as ``sick'' and ``disgusting''. Mia Korp said she was not consulted about the show, which had its premiere in Melbourne last night, and accused the producers of trying to make a quick buck from her family's misfortunes.
``This is just disgusting and I just want my dad to be left alone,'' she said.
``It is just sick and pathetic. What are they going to gain from it? We have lives, too, and we keep suffering with things like this and it's not fair - we should be able to move on and my dad should be able to rest in peace.''
Melbourne mother Maria Korp was strangled and put in the boot of a car that was dumped at the Botanic Gardens in 2005.
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Fashion Week
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