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Rugby player who swallowed garden slug as dare has died, 8 years after health nightmare began

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Sam Ballard never did anything wrong, if you ask family and friends.

The teenager from Sydney's upper north shore was having a laugh and some red wine with mates in the backyard, "trying to act like grown ups".

It was 2010 and it was a night that would change his life, and the lives of everybody around him, forever.

A slug crawled across the concrete patio and, teens being teens, a dare emerged for Sam to eat it.

One of his best friends, Jimmy Galvin, later described the moment.

"We were sitting over here having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown up and a slug came crawling across here," he said.

"The conversation came up, you know. 'Should I eat it?' And off Sam went. Bang. That's how it happened."

He didn't become sick immediately, but complained of serious pain in his legs in the days after.

He was worried it might've been a symptom of eating the slug, but his mother told him not to worry: "No-one gets sick from that," she said.

Sam was worried he might have developed Multiple sclerosis, like his father, but that was ruled out.

Doctors later determined Sam was infected with rat lungworm.

The worm that infected Sam is usually found in rodents, but snails and slugs can also become infected when they eat rat feces.

Sam contracted eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis, which many people recover from. Sam didn't.

He fell into a coma for 420 days and when he woke had an acquired brain injury.

Last week, eight years after he fell ill, Sam died. "The Sunday Project's" Lisa Wilkinson broke the news during a somber but brief segment.

"We have some sad news for you now. Earlier this year we brought you the story of Sam Ballard who, on a dare from his mates, ate a slug. He contracted rat lung disease with devastating effects," Wilkinson said.

"His friends have stuck by him ever since. On Friday, Sam passed away, surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates.

"His last words to his mum: 'I love you'."

Katie Ballard, Sam's mother, described how hard life had been for Sam. He couldn't eat for himself and needed help going to the bathroom.

While he was initially unable to move his limbs, the former Barker College student worked hard to regain some movement.

Katie had said "he understands" everything, and his mates know that was true.

Galvin said he apologized to Sam for not stopping him that night in 2010. When he did, the former rugby standout "just started bawling his eyes out".
Click for more from news.com.au

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Rugby player who swallowed garden slug as dare has died, 8 years after health nightmare began

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Sam Ballard, who ate a slug on a dare while with friends, has died eight years later.

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San Francisco 49ers corner back Richard Sherman said Thursday that the new NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks are allowing average ones to produce what were previously Hall of Fame numbers.

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Ben Margot/Associated Press
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said Thursday that the new NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks are allowing average ones to produce what were previously Hall of Fame numbers.

Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com provided comments from the outspoken Niners defender, who argued the early-season offensive outburst around the NFL in 2018 is "what the league wanted."
"You can't touch him. You can't tackle him. You can't hit him high, can't hit him low. You can't knock him down to the ground hard ... all that. You can't hit a receiver too high, you can't hit him low, you can't push him. You can barely press him. It's making it really difficult on teams to combat it because every rule in the book is designed to make sure you don't get them stopped."
Albert Breer of The MMQB highlighted the numerous passing records broken through the first four weeks of the regular season, including cumulative yards (32,315), touchdowns (228) and completion percentage (65.4). Overall points (3,030) is also at an all-time high for this point in the campaign.

Before the season, the NFL operations department announced one of the areas for focus for 2018 was the protection of quarterbacks. More specifically, plays where "the defender used all or part of his body weight to land on the quarterback immediately after the ball was thrown," creating a risk for injury.

"The Officiating Department will emphasize that the defender is responsible for avoiding landing on the quarterback when taking him to the ground," the release noted.

Enforcement of the rule has led to several controversial roughing-the-passer calls during the season's first month.

"Unfortunately this league is going in a direction I think a lot of people don't like," Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews told reporters after getting called for a penalty against the Washington Redskins in Week 3. "I think they're getting soft."

Sherman, who added the league is "trying to make it impossible for guys to play defense," mockingly said they might as well just use flag football rules on quarterbacks, per Wagoner.

"Even if a guy gets to the quarterback, if it's third down, it's going to be an automatic first down because more than likely they're going to call roughing the passer even if it's a clean hit, a legal hit," Sherman said. "They're going to find a way to extend the drive even if a defense is effective."

The 49ers have struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks under the current guidelines, ranking 22nd in passing yards allowed per game through four weeks.

They'll try to get back on track Sunday when they take on the struggling Arizona Cardinals, who are 0-4 and 31st in passing yards.

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Richard Sherman: New NFL Rules Are Allowing Average QBs to Put Up HOF Numbers

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Ben Margot/Associated Press San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said Thursday that the new NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks are allowing average ones to produce what were previously Hall of Fame numbers. Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com provided comments from the outspoken Niners defender, who argued the early-season offensive outburst around the NFL in 2018 is "what the league wanted."

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protesters throw kegger outside mcconnell's house - cnnpolitics

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Protesters throw kegger outside McConnell's house

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Protesters gathered outside the home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and staged a "confirmation kegger," in the final hours before the Senate prepares for a confirmation vote for Brett Kavanaugh's embattled nomination to the Supreme Court.

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Washington (CNN Business)The last time the American job market was this strong, astronauts were still going to the moon.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest level since December 1969.

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unemployment rate falls to 49-year low - cnn

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The unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest level since December 1969.

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New NFL rules are helping average quarterbacks put of hall of fame numbers

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Ben Margot/Associated Press
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said Thursday that the new NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks are allowing average ones to produce what were previously Hall of Fame numbers.

Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com provided comments from the outspoken Niners defender, who argued the early-season offensive outburst around the NFL in 2018 is "what the league wanted."
"You can't touch him. You can't tackle him. You can't hit him high, can't hit him low. You can't knock him down to the ground hard ... all that. You can't hit a receiver too high, you can't hit him low, you can't push him. You can barely press him. It's making it really difficult on teams to combat it because every rule in the book is designed to make sure you don't get them stopped."
Albert Breer of The MMQB highlighted the numerous passing records broken through the first four weeks of the regular season, including cumulative yards (32,315), touchdowns (228) and completion percentage (65.4). Overall points (3,030) is also at an all-time high for this point in the campaign.

Before the season, the NFL operations department announced one of the areas for focus for 2018 was the protection of quarterbacks. More specifically, plays where "the defender used all or part of his body weight to land on the quarterback immediately after the ball was thrown," creating a risk for injury.

"The Officiating Department will emphasize that the defender is responsible for avoiding landing on the quarterback when taking him to the ground," the release noted.

Enforcement of the rule has led to several controversial roughing-the-passer calls during the season's first month.

"Unfortunately this league is going in a direction I think a lot of people don't like," Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews told reporters after getting called for a penalty against the Washington Redskins in Week 3. "I think they're getting soft."

Sherman, who added the league is "trying to make it impossible for guys to play defense," mockingly said they might as well just use flag football rules on quarterbacks, per Wagoner.

"Even if a guy gets to the quarterback, if it's third down, it's going to be an automatic first down because more than likely they're going to call roughing the passer even if it's a clean hit, a legal hit," Sherman said. "They're going to find a way to extend the drive even if a defense is effective."

The 49ers have struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks under the current guidelines, ranking 22nd in passing yards allowed per game through four weeks.

They'll try to get back on track Sunday when they take on the struggling Arizona Cardinals, who are 0-4 and 31st in passing yards.

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Richard Sherman: New NFL Rules Are Allowing Average QBs to Put Up HOF Numbers

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Ben Margot/Associated Press San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said Thursday that the new NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks are allowing average ones to produce what were previously Hall of Fame numbers. Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com provided comments from the outspoken Niners defender, who argued the early-season offensive outburst around the NFL in 2018 is "what the league wanted."

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Trump likely to win whether or not Kavanaugh is confirmed

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Kavanaugh advances. Senate votes 51-49 to move Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination to a vote that is expected Saturday

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Honey bees may derive health benefits from the certain parts of mushrooms, giving them a chance to combat viruses that have contributed to the destruction of their populations, according to a new study.

Parasitic mites, viruses, pollution, habitat loss and pesticides and herbicides are all considered factors that contribute to declining bee populations across the globe.

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Honey bees may derive health benefits from the certain parts of mushrooms, giving them a chance to combat viruses that have contributed to the destruction of their populations, according to a new study.

Parasitic mites, viruses, pollution, habitat loss and pesticides and herbicides are all considered factors that contribute to declining bee populations across the globe.

More specifically, they contribute to a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, where the majority of worker bees suddenly leave the hive and disappear, often leaving behind the queen, food and a few nurse bees to care for the immature bees and the queen.

While scientists are working to find ways to save bees from colony collapse disorder, a group of scientists recently spent four years focusing on how the mass of tubular filaments of certain fungi, known as mycelium, could help bees battle viral disease.

"Bees have been observed foraging on mushroom mycelium, suggesting that they may be deriving medicinal or nutritional value from fungi," read the study, published in Nature Scientific Reports.

The study suggests that bees with Lake Sinai virus and deformed wing virus could benefit from extracts of polypore mushroom mycelium, which were shown to reduce viral counts within the bees.

STOCK/Getty Images

"This is a natural product and [it's showing] tremendous results in reducing the viruses of bees," Paul Stamets, lead author of the study, told ABC News. He called them "the first antivirals to reduce viruses in bees."

Stamets, the founder of Fungi Perfecti, a family-owned business working to promote the cultivation of high-quality gourmet and immune-supporting mushrooms, worked with researchers from Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the study.

Both Lake Sinai virus and deformed wing virus - which appear even more with the presence of the Varroa destructor mite - suppress bees' immune systems, weaken their ability to pollinate, and cut their flying time by almost half, according to a statement released with the study.

What's more, "these viruses remain on flowers visited by infected bees and later reinfect wild bees," the statement read.

The study was years in the making, according to the statement. Stamets was originally invited to submit his mushroom extract samples to the Project BioShield program, a Department of Defense initiative meant to find compounds that could potentially help in the aftermath of 9/11, when there were heightened concerns of a biological attack.

STOCK/Getty Images

Several of Stamets' extracts were found to be "extraordinarily active," the statement said, and after approaching researchers at Washington State University, they found together that the extracts could nearly double the lifespan of caged bees while also reducing their viral count.

Stamets emphasized that the environment is the first line of defense against colony collapse, and that protecting the forest and fungi is essential for the bees to survive and be healthy.

He added, "Mycodiversity, the biodiversity of fungi, I think, is critical for biosecurity of our food web and for helping ecosystems to be healthy."

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Save the bees: Mushroom extracts may help fight viruses that are killing populations

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Honey bees may derive health benefits from the certain parts of mushrooms, giving them a chance to combat viruses that have contributed to the destruction of their populations, according to a new study. Parasitic mites, viruses, pollution, habitat loss and pesticides and herbicides are all considered factors that contribute to declining bee populations across the globe.

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Jalen Ramsey says that it isn't a WR CB matchup, it is a CB vs Return Specialist.

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Sunday's matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs has some additional flavor to an already fascinating game.

In one corner, fans are in store to watch one of the league's top offenses led by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while in the other corner sits the Jaguars, owners of the NFL's top ranked defense.

A spicy sidebar battle, however has been brewing in recent days between two of the NFL's top young stars.

Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill told reporters Wednesday that he looks forward to the challenge of facing Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey, whom Hill respectfully called the "top dog" at the cornerback position in the league.

"He's a great player," Hill said. "Obviously, he thinks high of himself. He's all right, I guess. I can't wait to line up against him. I hope he presses me."

Hill had his say, but Thursday provided Ramsey an opportunity to send his own heat-seeking missile downrange.

"I just wished he would have picked a side," Ramsey said. "Either I'm just all right or I'm the top dog -- pick a side. If I'm the top dog, but I'm just all right, that means he doesn't think any corner in the league is good and that's not true."

Ramsey went on to say he also looks forward to seeing how the Jaguars' defense matches up against the Chiefs' offense, but it came with a couple of catches.

"I don't like how whoever has made it a matchup of me against Tyreek," Ramsey said. "He's good for what he does for their team."

The second catch? Well, Ramsey certainly didn't mince words and emphasized the difference between earning NFL honors at a natural position as opposed to a specialty.

"[Hill] made All-Pro as a return specialist -- let's get that right -- as a return specialist his rookie year," Ramsey said. "He went to two Pro Bowls as a return specialist, return specialist. In two years, I made All-Pro in my position as a corner. I went to the Pro Bowl as a corner, so it's not a wide receiver versus corner matchup. So, we can get that out of the way off the bat."

Whether Ramsey locks up exclusively on the explosive Hill, who has been clocked at sub-4.3 in the 40-yard dash, in defensive coverage throughout the game remains to be seen.

The Chiefs have other receiving weapons outside of Hill for the Jaguars to worry about in the form of wide receivers Sammy Watkins and Chris Conley, and tight end Travis Kelce.

Nevertheless, the exchange through the media between Ramsey and Hill virtually ensures Sunday's game at Arrowhead Stadium will be must-watch TV in the event of a showdown on the field, where actions and production will speak louder than words.

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Ramsey on Tyreek Hill: It's not WR vs. CB matchup

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Sunday's matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs has some additional flavor to an already fascinating game. In one corner, fans are in store to watch one of the league's top offenses led by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while in the other corner sits the Jaguars, owners of the NFL's top ranked defense.

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Until this month, it had been years since anybody claimed to have seen the legendary Ogopogo — Canada’s version of the Loch Ness monster.

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Until this month, it had been years since anybody claimed to have seen the legendary Ogopogo - Canada's version of the Loch Ness monster.

In the past three weeks however, there have been three sightings of the giant serpent-like animal said to dwell in the enormous and deep Lake Okanagan in British Columbia.

On Sept. 12, David Halbauer, his brother Keith and their families were enjoying a picnic at one of Lake Okanagan's many beaches when they saw something that left them awestruck.

"When you're sitting by the beach on a sunny day, you don't expect to see a dinosaur come out of the water," David Halbauer told Global News.

"I saw this black form come out of the water - cylindrical - and then roll."

The brothers likened the animal to a "giant snake" moving across the water and said it was about 15 meters (49 feet) long.

Since that encounter, there have been two more sightings of Ogopogo, generating plenty of excitement among locals and tourists alike.

Indian legend describes a monster that would rise from the depths when storms battered the lake, but the first documented sighting of Ogopogo was in 1972.

Multiple witness accounts describe a creature with a long undulating body, several humps and a head resembling a horse.

Bill Steciuk, who lives in the nearby city of Kelowna and runs a website dedicated to the legend of Ogopogo, said he'd been left stunned by the cluster of sightings.

"There haven't been a lot of Ogopogo sightings lately, which is the problem," he said. "Then all of a sudden you have three in three weeks - totally amazing."

Mr. Steniuk's obsession with Ogopogo began in 1978, when he came to a screeching halt while driving over the Lake Okanagan floating bridge after catching a glimpse of something in the waves.

"There's three humps in the water and a head moving towards Kelowna," Mr. Steciuk said. "Before that, I was not a believer."

The experience prompted Mr. Steniuk to dedicate his life to hunting for Ogopogo and he has organized numerous expeditions on the lake over the years, finding nothing.

His luck changed in 2015 when he spotted a large snakelike head popping out of the water about 150 meters (490 feet) from shore. He quickly grabbed his camera and captured an image of an odd, round object breaking through the lake's glassy surface. He is convinced it is a photo of Ogopogo.

Mr. Steciuk believes the lake may be home to dozens of the elusive serpents.

"The theory is, that eons ago, this lake was open to the ocean," he said.
LAKE MONSTERS AROUND THE WORLD "Mirreeulla" Hawkesbury River Monster (NSW, Australia)
The Dharruk people told European settlers of enormous water serpents known as Mirreeulla inhabiting the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney. The creatures had long necks, large bodies and tails and were depicted in cave art. There have been hundreds of reported sightings in the past 140 years.

Champ (Lake Champlain, New York)
Memphre (Lake Memphremagog, Canada)
The first anyone heard of Champ was in 1873, when a railroad crew fled in panic after reportedly witnessing a serpent emerge from Lake Champlain. There have been more than 300 subsequent sightings.

The legend of the Memphre serpent has been around since the 19th century when Native Americans warned white settlers against swimming in the lake. There are now about eight sightings a year.

Tianchi Monster (Jilin, China)

Rumors of the Lake Tianchi monster have been around for more than a century.
Nahuelito (Patagonia, Argentina)
In July 2002, about 200 people claimed to have seen it while sightseeing in the Chennai mountains and, despite scientific skepticism, enthusiasts have started a society dedicated to tracing the creature.
Loch Ness monster (Scotland)
Nahuelito is a lake monster reported to live in Nahuel Huapi Lake at the foot of the Patagonian mountains. Some say she is the result of nuclear experiments, others believe she may be one of the last members of an ancient dinosaur species such as a plesiosaur.
This story originally appeared in news.com.au.
Stories of Nessie date back hundreds of years but the first modern sighting of the monster was in April 1933 when a couple staying at the lakeside Drumnadrochit Hotel reported a whale-sized creature rolling about on the surface of Loch Ness. The creature is now arguably the world's most famous lake monster.

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Canada's Loch Ness Monster, the legendary Ogopogo lake monster, caught on video

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Until this month, it had been years since anybody claimed to have seen the legendary Ogopogo - Canada's version of the Loch Ness monster. In the past three weeks however, there have been three sightings of the giant serpent-like animal said to dwell in the enormous and deep Lake Okanagan in British Columbia.

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The North Carolina Bible college graduate who said he had taken too much cold medicine the night his wife was fatally stabbed pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday.

Matthew Phelps, 29, an aspiring preacher, called 911 on Sept. 1, 2017, and told authorities he believed he may have killed his wife, Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, 29. She was found with 123 stab and cut wounds on her body. The couple had been married for less than a year.

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Mattress Firm files for bankruptcy and will close about 700 stores. they have struggled with over expansion and there are too many stores close to each other.

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Conor McGregor calls opponent’s manager ‘f---ing snitch, terrorist rat’

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UFC star Conor McGregor took his trash talk to a new level Thursday, delivering a shocking rant in which he called opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager a "f---ing snitch, terrorist rat" and invoked the 9/11 terror attacks.

McGregor, 30, issued the profanity-laden broadside during a final prefight news conference with Nurmagomedov ahead of the highly anticipated fight Saturday night. The Irish citizen, who's known for his smack talk, decided to hit his opponent's manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
McGregor added about the charge: "I can go into heavy detail and I will."
CONOR MCGREGOR FACES LAWSUIT FROM FELLOW UFC FIGHTER OVER BUS ATTACK, REPORT SAYS
"He was pulled off of a flight going from Cairo, Egypt to New York City on Sept. 11, 2001," he said. "He was caught with five passports in his possession. He turned informant and turned on the people that he was working with. I don't even know how that man is in this f---ing country.

McGregor continued: "I'm sure everyone here, the Irish people, are facing all this immigration stuff on the way over, my own people are facing it, my family, getting stopped at the airport. And then you've got this man with such a crazy background, Ali Abdelaziz, and he's rocking around free, it begs belief to be honest."

McGregor has targeted Abdelaziz before, most recently in September, The Washington Post reported.

"You terrorist snitch," McGregor yelled at Abdelaziz last month. "I know a lot about you as well, you mad rat."
CONOR MCGREGOR TO RETURN TO THE UFC IN OCTOBER, DANA WHITE SAYS
McGregor may have been referring to reports that the Egyptian manager worked as a counterterrorism informant. Abdelaziz is mentioned in the 2013 book "Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD's Secret Spying Unit and bin Laden's Final Plot Against America."

The book's authors, Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, claimed the New York Police Department recruited Abdelaziz "to work as a mole within a Virginia-based arm of a group called Muslims of America." The FBI suspected Abdelaziz was a double agent and the government tried to deport him, according to the book.

When ESPN asked Abdelaziz Thursday if he was offended McGregor called him a terrorist last month, he said he wasn't bothered.

"I don't care, he can call me anything - I don't give a f---," Abdelaziz said. "It doesn't offend me one f---ing bit, because at the end of the day, he's not fighting me, he's fighting Khabib."

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Conor McGregor calls opponent's manager 'f---ing snitch, terrorist rat'

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UFC star Conor McGregor took his trash talk to a new level Thursday, delivering a shocking rant in which he called opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager a "f---ing snitch, terrorist rat" and invoked the 9/11 terror attacks. McGregor, 30, issued the profanity-laden broadside during a final prefight news conference with Nurmagomedov ahead of the highly anticipated fight Saturday night.

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North Carolina 'cold medicine killer' pleads guilty in wife's murder.  The North Carolina Bible college graduate who said he had taken too much cold medicine the night his wife was fatally stabbed pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday.  Matthew Phelps, 29, an aspiring preacher, called 911 on Sept. 1, 2017, and told authorities he believed he may have killed his wife, Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, 29. She was found with 123 stab and cut wounds on her body. The couple had been married for less than a year.

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The North Carolina Bible college graduate who said he had taken too much cold medicine the night his wife was fatally stabbed pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday.

Matthew Phelps, 29, an aspiring preacher, called 911 on Sept. 1, 2017, and told authorities he believed he may have killed his wife, Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, 29. She was found with 123 stab and cut wounds on her body. The couple had been married for less than a year.
MAN WHO BLAMED COLD MEDS AFTER WIFE BRUTALLY KILLED WAS 'AMERICAN PSYCHO' FAN, INVESTIGATORS SAY
"I think I killed my...there's blood all over me...and there's a bloody knife on the bed. I think I did it," Phelps said in the phone call, adding he had taken too much Coricidin Cough and Cold.

On Friday, a blood test showed cough medicine in Phelps' body but "not a toxic amount that would cause dizziness or hallucinations," prosecutors argued, according to The News & Observer. Prosecutors also said Friday that Phelps was violent toward his first wife and allegedly dragged her by the hair through a hallway. The two divorced following the alleged incident.

Phelps began his relationship with his future wife, who he knew from middle school, when he contacted her through Instagram. Friends of Phelps told detectives the couple often argued and were experiencing financial trouble, court documents stated. Search warrants also showed Phelps was obsessed with the main character of the movie "American Psycho."
ASPIRING PASTOR STABS WIFE 123 TIMES, SAYS COUGH SYRUP MADE HIM DO IT, POLICE SAY
"It was learned that Matthew Phelps was obsessed with the movie 'American Psycho' and this Instagram account shows numerous photographs of scenes from the movie and Phelps dressed as the main character," a detective wrote in documents filed with the Wake County Magistrate's Office. "The movie is about a serial killer, and Phelps expressed interest to a friend regarding what it would be like to kill someone."

Phelps will serve life in prison without the possibility for parole as part of the plea.

"He's pleading to spend life in prison to avoid the possibility of death," Phelps' attorney, Elliot Abrams, told The News & Observer.
Fox News' Nicole Darrah contributed to this report.

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North Carolina 'cold medicine killer' pleads guilty in wife's murder

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The North Carolina Bible college graduate who said he had taken too much cold medicine the night his wife was fatally stabbed pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday. Matthew Phelps, 29, an aspiring preacher, called 911 on Sept. 1, 2017, and told authorities he believed he may have killed his wife, Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, 29.

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A study that examines the education and health of a country's citizens has ranked the United States 27th in the world.

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Chiefs’ high-powered offense may not face bigger test this season than Jags’ defense

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Get the latest Kansas City Chiefs news, photos, rankings, lists and more on Bleacher Report

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A British man has died after being bitten by a sea snake on a fishing trawler in Australia

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The 23-year-old man was bitten while working on a fishing trawler, police say.

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In Tennessee a bee whisperer removed an estimate of 35,000 bees from a brick wall. The homeowner is allergic to bees so he immediately called hired a local pest control company.

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On September 12th, David Haulbauler and his brother Keith were enjoying at day at Ogopogo lake in Canada when they spotted something that terrified them. Known as the "Ogopogo Lake Monster" likened to the Loch Ness Monster was described as as a large 49 foot snake.

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Canada's legendary Ogopogo lake monster caught on video

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The Canadian version of the Loch Ness monster, the Ogopogo lake monster, has been captured on video. There have been three major sightings of the monster in the past month.

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A British man is dead after a venomous sea snake bit him during a fishing expedition off the northern Australian coast, in what may be the first such recorded death in the region, officials said Friday.

The 23-year-old man, who has not been identified, was bitten by the creature Thursday as he was pulling in a fishing net in a remote part of the Northern Territory, police said.

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A British man is dead after a venomous sea snake bit him during a fishing expedition off the northern Australian coast, in what may be the first such recorded death in the region, officials said Friday.

The 23-year-old man, who has not been identified, was bitten by the creature Thursday as he was pulling in a fishing net in a remote part of the Northern Territory, police said.

Sea snakes are highly venomous but not usually aggressive, so they rarely bite humans. This may be the first recorded death from a sea snake in Australia, the BBC reported.
BRITISH MAN TRAPPED IN SHED AS 'SLAVE' FOR 40 YEARS, OFFICIALS SAY
A rescue helicopter with a medical team was sent from Darwin, a city 435 miles away from the man's location, CareFlight spokesman David Wheeldon said. The crew didn't make it in time to save the man, however.

Emergency responders didn't have many options to help a person who was in such a remote location, St. John Ambulance spokesman Craig Garraway said.

Garraway said the man likely died within two hours of being bitten. He was declared dead after his boat reached the coastal town of Borroloola, police said.

Australia's Foreign Office said it was supporting the man's family and it informed the British High Commission, Sky News reported.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY DANCES ON STAGE TO ABBA AT CONSERVATIVE CONFERENCE
Professor Bryan Fry, who works at the University of Queensland, called the incident "tragically unlucky" and said sea snakes are "very gentle animals."

"By and large, they are very gentle animals, and people do go scuba diving with them all the time," Fry told the BBC. "But in a fishing trawler situation, where they've been potentially dragged through the water in a net, they will come up injured and perhaps looking to lash out."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Extremely venomous sea snake kills man in Australia

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A British man is dead after a venomous sea snake bit him during a fishing expedition off the northern Australian coast, in what may be the first such recorded death in the region, officials said Friday.

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To reduce the number of immigrants crossing the U.S. border, the Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to pay Mexico $20 million to deport migrants from that country and prevent them from reaching the U.S. After the plan had been halted by top Democrats in Congress and so far dismissed by the Mexican government.

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The Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to pay Mexico $20 million to deport migrants from that country and prevent them from reaching the U.S. - even after the plan had been halted by top Democrats in Congress and so far dismissed by the Mexican government.

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The plan is just the latest by the administration to reduce the number of immigrants crossing the U.S. southern border, including its "zero tolerance" policy where anyone entering illegally would be prosecuted - leading to the infamous separations of children from their parents.

But it's the push-through - despite the informal "hold" that Democrats put on the transfer - that has outraged Capitol Hill, which has oversight of the State Department and the executive branch's funds. Congress was notified late Monday night that over the weekend, the administration had transferred the funds.

"You have decided to act contrary to years of practice and precedent, and in a manner that threatens to upend long-standing norms of comity between the Department of State and its oversight committees in Congress," Democrat Sens. Bob Menendez and Patrick Leahy wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week. Menendez is the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Leahy is the top Demicrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images, FILE

Thousands of Central Americans travel through Mexico to reach the U.S. and either cross the border illegally or apply for asylum from the violence of their home countries. In the first seven months of 2018 alone, 57,000 Central Americans were deported from Mexico, according to the Associated Press. During the same time period, over 300,000 people were stopped or apprehended at the U.S. border.

To prevent the U.S. from having to do those deportations, the Trump administration has been trying to stop migrants from ever reaching the U.S. borders.

To that end, the State Department notified Congress in late August that it were planning to transfer the funds to the Department of Homeland Security. Several top Democrats objected to the plan, saying deportations were not what Congress intended the funds to be spent on - and put a hold on the plan.

"I want answers about why the State Department thinks it can ignore Congress and dump more cash into deportation efforts. Until then, I'll do whatever I can to stop this," Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the New York Times last month.

Mexico's Interior and Foreign Ministries also pushed back, saying in September that they had "not accepted in a verbal or written way this proposal."

They added that they will work with the U.S. on migration "to promote an orderly, legal, secure migration with full respect for human rights and the legal international framework."

But to many critics, that is not reflected in the Trump administration's immigration policies, from its restrictions on who can apply for asylum in the U.S. to its expansion of who will be targeted for deportation or detention at the border.

John Moore/Getty Images, FILE

Despite Congress and Mexico's objections, the administration moved forward with its plans over the weekend by transferring the $20 million in funds to DHS, notifying Congress on Monday of the decision.

"They blew up decades of comity between the executive and legislative branches," a Democratic Senate aide said to ABC News.

Still, a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, "We will not move forward with implementation until we reach agreement with the incoming Mexican administration."

It's the outgoing administration of Mexico's current president Enrique Peña Nieto that has rejected the idea. His successor, the populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will be sworn in on Dec. 1 after winning the presidential election in July.

But AMLO, as López Obrador is often known, is much more liberal, and although he and President Trump have so far expressed warm ties, sources say he is very unlikely to accept the proposal and may have been behind Peña Nieto's initial rejection last month.

It's unclear whether there are current consultations to change AMLO's mind or find a way forward.

The Mexican embassy in Washington said it had no comment. The State Department did not respond to requests for comment, including whether Pompeo and the current Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray discussed the plan in a call Thursday.

On Wednesday, Trump and AMLO spoke by phone, with Trump saying in a tweet afterwards, "We will work well together!" Next week, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Central American countries will meet in Washington to discuss development in Central America, and AMLO's team will join the Mexican delegation.

Christian Palma/AP, FILE

The proposal says the U.S. could help deport up to 17,000 migrants back to their country of origin, according to a State Department notice sent to Congress and obtained by ABC News.

It says that Mexico will handle "interdiction, detention, appropriate asylum adjudication processing in accordance with Mexican and international law, determination of removal in accordance with Mexican law, and travel document procurement." But the U.S. would use this $20 million fund to pay for commercial or charter flights or ground transportation to remove migrants.

The funds that were transferred were previously unallocated, according to the department spokesperson, so they could be used for "emerging policy priorities, which include strengthening efforts to address immigration issues throughout the Western Hemisphere."

But that transfer has now sparked criticism in Congress, with several top Democrats complaining that they were not consulted on the move even after raising their objections and placing that hold.

In their letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Menendez and Leahy said they were "troubled by the late submission of, and lack of clarify and specificity in, the congressional notification."

They also called the proposal "unprecedented," "strategically ill-advised," "a short-sighted approach," and possibly in violation of international law - as it blocks asylum seekers from reaching the country they deem safe.

After his public objections last month, Engel said he was "outraged that the Trump administration is disregarding Congress and plowing ahead with its senseless plan to fund deportations from Mexico."

The State Department spokesperson declined to respond.

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US moves ahead with plan to give Mexico $20M that it doesn't want to deport migrants

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The Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to pay Mexico $20 million to deport migrants from that country and prevent them from reaching the U.S. - even after the plan had been halted by top Democrats in Congress and so far dismissed by the Mexican government.

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New US nuclear bombs and futuristic stealth aircraft to provide mind-boggling military might It is not every day that a new nuclear bomb design is announced.

This week, the National Nuclear Security Administration said it had completed its final review of a powerful weapon based on the B61s and outlined the next steps to revamp several types of nukes. The United States military will soon be able to slip undetected through enemy surveillance in stealth bombers and fighter jets to launch a devastating strike anywhere on the planet if need be.