That's not a croc, Australia ... THIS is a croc

In a file picture taken on September 4, 2011 villagers look at the 6.17m saltwater crocodile caught in the town of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur province on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

• Crocodile nicknamed "Lolong" measured 6.17 metres
• Weighs more than a tonne; It was captured last November
• Guinness World Records says it's the largest in captivity

GUINNESS World Records has declared that a huge crocodile blamed for deadly attacks in the southern Philippines is the largest in captivity in the world.

The giant reptile has brought pride, fear, tourism revenues and attention to the previously little-known town where it was captured last year.

Guinness spokeswoman Anne-Lise Rouse says the saltwater crocodile nicknamed "Lolong" measured 6.17 metres and weighed more than a tonne. It was captured last November in Bunawan town in Agusan del Sur province,

Bunawan Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde told The Associated Press today that he was notified by Guinness of the giant reptile's new distinction last month.

The news sparked celebrations in his town of 37,000 people and concerns that more giant crocodiles might be lurking nearby.

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Fortescue chief keeps iron grip

Fortescue Metals group chief executive Nev Power has said the rapid urbanisation of China would continue. Picture: Nirme Marie Source: Herald Sun

FORTESCUE Metals Group chief executive Nev Power says there is no looming oversupply of iron ore and the price of Australia's single largest export item will not drop below $US110 ($A105).

Speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia in China yesterday, Mr Power said the rapid urbanisation of China would continue.

Predictions of steep falls in the price of iron ore were based on faulty analysis and an extremely bearish position on the health of the world's second largest economy, Mr Power said.

He said iron ore's natural price equilibrium was between $US110 and $US130 it would remain there "for quite some time".

Some mining analysts have predicted the price of iron ore will decline sharply from its current level of about $US136 per tonne to as low as $US60 per tonne.

Last week investment bank Morgan Stanley said global iron ore production would overtake supply for the first time in at least a decade from 2014 onwards as iron ore players including Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Billiton rolled out new mine expansions.

"I just don't see this wall of supply that is being talked about coming into the market," Mr Power said.

"Supply comes on at a much more moderate pace than what has been predicted."

He said many iron ore projects that have been announced had not secured funding yet and would go ahead only if the iron ore price remained where it is.

He also said any fall in the price would see smaller producers in China and East Africa significantly cut back on production, which recent reports on the global iron ore supply and demand position had failed to take into account.

"There is a self-regulation here," he said.

Mr Power said the Pilbara was perfectly positioned to supply iron ore to growing markets in China, India and East Africa.

But he warned against Australia thinking China could not source iron ore from elsewhere.

"There is no shortage of raw materials around the world ... particularly iron ore," he said.

"The key is getting it out of the ground efficiently, productively, competitively and reliably and getting it into these markets."

The Boao Forum of international political and business leaders, ends tomorrow.

john.dagge@news.com.au

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Hitler's mad plan for death star

The Life magazine article from 1945 detailing the German 'sun gun'. Source: Supplied

• Huge mirror in space would concentrate sun's rays
• Nazis wanted to use it as a weapon
• Also had plans for space station

IT sounds like something only a Bond villain would propose, but the Nazis planned a mile-wide "space gun" powered by the sun.

The giant mirror could be used to focus the sun on a target - like the magnifying glasses used by children to create fire.

A long-forgotten article from Life magazine in 1945 revealed how "US Army technical experts came up with the astonishing fact that German scientists had seriously planned to build a “sun gun".

The giant orbital mirror would "focus the sun’s rays to a scorching point on the Earth’s surface". The German army, readers were told, "hoped to use such a mirror to burn an enemy city or to boil part of an ocean".

The idea came to renowned rocket scientist Hermann Oberth in 1923.

The Life magazine article from 1945 detailing the German 'sun gun'.

With an estimated cost of three million marks and taking 15 years to construct, the original purpose of the space mirror was to provide the people of Earth with sunshine on demand, anywhere on the globe. But Oberth later described it as the "ultimate weapon".

"My space mirror" he wrote, "is like the hand mirrors that schoolboys use to flash circles of sunlight on the ceiling of their classroom. A sudden beam flashed on the teacher’s face may bring unpleasant reactions."

In 1945, when the victorious Allies began sifting through captured war plans, it emerged that the Nazis had updated Oberth’s proposals and begun looking into the possibility of the Third Reich building a mirror weapon in orbit 22,236 miles above the Earth.

Details of the sun gun emerged again after they were discussed by US military experts and appeared on internet forums.

TRAILER: An army of Nazis from the dark side of the moon launch an all out attack on planet Earth in Iron Sky.

Life magazine believed it would be put into orbit in pre-assembled sections. It would also contain a manned space station, with 10m holes in which supply rockets could dock, hydroponic gardens to provide oxygen and solar-powered generators for electric power.

Once in orbit, the "master rocket" for the project would unreel six cables. Spinning the rocket on its axis would extend the cables radially, allowing construction to begin.

The Germans are not the only nation to look into harnessing the power of the sun. In 1999, the Russians unveiled a plan to use a mirror to reflect sunlight to Earth during winter.

And in the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun, Christopher Lee's villain, Scaramanga, unveils a powerful solar-powered laser gun which can destroy almost anything.
 

By 1945, German scientists were working on ever-more destructive weapons to help Hitler try to win the war. Image digitally enhanced.

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Residents return to burnt homes

The US is in the grip of weather-related disasters from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast.

Homes are destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in the Mountain Shadows area of Colorado Springs in the US. Source: AP

UPDATE: PEOPLE who fled the most destructive fire in Colorado's history have visited the most devastated neighbourhood, and many found their homes among the nearly 350 burned to the ground.

Two bodies were found in the ruins lifting the death toll to 17.

Residents marvelled at the random path of disaster.

Nothing remained of CJ Moore's home but the concrete, but the letters in her mailbox were unscathed.

''It's just unreal. Unreal,'' she said.

''Good Lord! I've never seen anything like this. And thank God there was nobody there.''

Nearby cars were burned to nothing but charred metal, but three neighbours' homes were untouched.

Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home which was burnt to the ground in the High Park Fire, June 30, 2012 in Bellvue, Colorado west of Fort Collins. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK Source: AFP

Melted bowling balls were scattered in Moore's front yard.

About 7000 people will be allowed to return to their homes for good on Sunday night local time.

That would leave about 3000 still evacuated, down from more than 30,000 at the peak of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

The fire was 45 per cent contained late on Sunday night local time after a long week of shifting winds that frustrated firefighters.

It was one of many burning across the West, including eight in Utah and a fast-growing blaze in Montana that forced residents in several small communities to leave.

Authorities at the Colorado Springs fire said they are confident they have stopped flames from spreading.

A destroyed home is viewed in a neighborhood affected by the Waldo Canyon fire on June 30, 2012 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP Source: AFP

''We're cautiously optimistic,'' incident commander Rich Harvey said on Sunday.

''We still remain focused on things that could go wrong.''

The two victims' names haven't been released.

Police Chief Pete Carey said on Saturday an estimated 10 people who had been unaccounted for had been located.

Investigators were still trying to determine the cause of the fire that broke out on June 23, and which so far has cost $US8.8 million ($A8.61 million) to battle.

Dangerous conditions had kept them from beginning their inquiry.

Meanwhile, more than three million people in the eastern US are facing a second day of 40 degree temperatures without electricity after storms ripped through the region.

A burned truck is viewed in a neighborhood affected by the Waldo Canyon fire on June 30, 2012 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP Source: AFP

It could be several days before all power outages in Washington, DC, and elsewhere are restored, officials say and the National Weather Service says more thunderstorms are possible.

"Unlike a polite hurricane that gives you three days of warning, this storm gave us all the impact of a hurricane without any of the warning of a hurricane," Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley said.

Mobile phone and internet service remain affected, petrol stations were shut down and residents have been urged to conserve water. Some major online services also saw delays and disruptions.

In Colorado, firefighters have contained about 45 per cent of the Waldo Canyon fire outside Colorado Springs, according to the Denver Post.

Temperatures shot back above 37C in many areas, prompting the US National Weather Service to warn of the prospect of severe thunderstorms including large hail and damaging winds.

"Cities from St. Louis, Missouri to Washington DC are forecast to approach or break daily record high temperatures for yet another day and there may be more all-time records broken," added AccuWeather, a private weather service.

A crew clears a fallen tree felled by strong winds from a row of homes in Washington, DC after power cuts caused by a record breaking heatwave in the eastern USA. Pictures: AFP Source: AFP

Pepco, the utility that serves Washington and some of its suburbs, said it may be a full week before service is restored to all its customers by teams of linesmen that included reinforcements from as far as Oklahoma and Florida.

"The devastation is extensive and while we expect to have the vast majority of customers restored by the end of day Friday, restoration for some customers may extend into the weekend," Pepco regional president Thomas Graham said.

Local authorities in Washington put out a hyperthermia alert, saying the heat index - which is the thermometer reading adjusted to take humidity into account - in the afternoon was 101 degrees fahrenheit (38C).

"Cooling centers" remained opened in many urban areas as refuges for those - notably the elderly - unable to cope without air conditioning, and at least one major supermarket chain gave away free ice to all comers.

The District of Columbia's emergency management agency suggested going to a movie or a museum in order to beat the heat. "Bottom line is, stay (as) hydrated and cool as possible," it said on its Twitter feed.

Some 3.7 million homes lost power in Friday's storms and four states - Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio - declared states of emergency.

"The power is slowly coming back on line," West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomlin told CNN on Sunday, adding however that "we still have over half a million people without power."

Destroyed homes sit beside homeS left untouched by fire in a neighborhood affected by the Waldo Canyon fire on June 30, 2012 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP Source: AFP

"We just once again ask people to be patient," he said. "It's going to take a few days."

In Baltimore, Maryland, the local Baltimore Gas and Electric utility said it had deployed 1,000 trucks to restore power to 306,000 customers in and around the major port city.

Storm debris was gone from major highways in the region, but downed branches and trees still littered secondary routes.

Responsible for the extreme early-summer weather has been a high pressure area parked over the southeastern United States - the same slow-moving weather system blamed for a fatal wildfire in Colorado earlier in the week.

Firefighters supported by water bombers managed over the weekend to contain much of the Waldo Canyon inferno that killed three people, destroyed nearly 350 residences and left many hundreds homeless.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, speaking Sunday on CNN, said it felt as if the worst was over. "But we also know that Mother Nature will be fickle out here," he added. "We're keeping ourselves very alert."

President Barack Obama visited Colorado on Friday to see the devastation first-hand and to praise "the courage and determination and professionalism" of those fighting the flames.

- with AP

Smoke billows at sunrise from part of the Waldo Canyon fire on June 30, 2012 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP Source: AFP

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NATO personnel gunned down

A MAN in an Afghan police uniform has gunned down three NATO personnel in the war-torn country's troubled south, the latest so-called "green on blue" attack.

The deaths take the toll this year in "green-on-blue" killings -- in which Afghan forces turn their weapons against their Western allies -- to at least 26, in a total of 18 such incidents.

In keeping with its usual policy, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) gave few details of Sunday's incident and did not reveal the nationality of the victims.

"An individual wearing an Afghan National Civil Order Police uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing three service members," ISAF said in a statement.

An ISAF spokesman said the gunman was wounded and detained after the attack, which happened around 5pm (2230 AEST), and is now under investigation. The incident is not thought to have happened on an ISAF base, the spokesman said.

The spokesman added that ISAF was still investigating whether the attacker was a police officer or not.

The Afghan Civil Order Police was set up in 2006 as an elite riot control force.

The attack comes nearly two weeks after three men in Afghan police uniforms killed a soldier with the US-led force, also in the south.

An increasing number of Afghan troops have turned their weapons against NATO soldiers who are helping Kabul fight a decade-long insurgency by hardline Taliban Islamists.

Some of the assaults are claimed by the Taliban, who say they have infiltrated the ranks of Afghan security forces, but many are attributed to cultural differences and antagonism between the allied forces.

ISAF has taken several security measures in response to the shootings, including assigning "guardian angels" -- soldiers who watch over their comrades as they sleep.

NATO has around 130,000 soldiers fighting alongside some 350,000 Afghan security personnel against the Taliban-led insurgency, but they are due to pull out of the country in 2014.

The Western coalition is to hand over security to local forces by mid-2013 and will play a support role up to the final withdrawal by the end of the following year.

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Murder charges over Pt Hedland shooting

Police are investigating the death of a 43-year-old Port Hedland woman. Source: PerthNow

A MAN has been charged with murder after the death of a 43-year-old woman in Port Hedland last night.

Police were called to a disturbance in Bayman Street at about 6.30pm where it will be alleged they found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound.

The woman was taken to Hedland Health Campus by ambulance, however she was later pronounced dead.

Late today, South Hedland Detectives charged a 62-year-old man with murder.

The man is expected to appear in a local Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Major Crime Squad detectives arrived in South Hedland today to assist with the investigation.

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Rio summit issues environment, poverty blueprint

THE biggest UN summit on sustainable development in a decade has approved a strategy to haul more than a billion people out of poverty and cure the sickness of the biosphere.

But critics branded the plan a cruel failure, saying it had been gutted of ambition by national interests.

The gathering of 191 UN members crowned a 10-day forum marking 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit, where leaders vowed the world would live within its environmental means.

In a sprawling 53-page statement, the three-day summit voiced dismay at entrenched poverty and mounting ecological stress.

"We... renew our commitment to sustainable development, and to ensure the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations," it said.

Entitled "The Future We Want," the statement highlighted the many perils facing a planet whose human population is set to surge from seven billion today to 9.5 billion by 2050.

The long list includes climate change, desertification, fisheries depletion, pollution and deforestation, and the danger that thousands of species will go the way of the dodo.

"Sustainable Development Goals" will replace the UN's Millennium Development Goals from 2015, although defining the aim will be left for future talks - a process likely to be long and fiercely fought.

The strategy also promotes the green economy, a concept that breaks new ground in official UN terminology but is viewed suspiciously by many developing economies.

The statement also reflected the worries of advanced economies battling a deep financial crisis.

Despite the demands of developing nations for $30 billion in help, the text stipulated no funding figures to achieve sustainability goals.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the outcome "provides a firm foundation for social, economic, environmental well-being."

"It will guide us, all of us, towards a sustainable path. It is now our responsibility to build on it."

President Dilma Rousseff told a press conference that Brazil, the host country, had secured the compromise after months of haggling.

"The consensus is a point of departure, not arrival," she cautioned.

"With this document, nations move forward. We cannot allow anyone to remain behind. The next conference will have to be a leap forward."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the document "marks a real advance for sustainable development. We know this is one of the most pressing matters of our time."

But others said a historic opportunity had been thrown away.

"The two defining challenges we face today are eradicating global poverty and managing the risks of climate change," said British economist Lord Nicholas Stern, author of a landmark study into the costs of global warming.

"But the conference has failed to acknowledge the compelling evidence about the scale and urgency of action required."

A registry that was opened during the conference showed that nearly 700 commitments, mobilizing $513 billion, had been made for sustainable development by governments and businesses, the UN said on Friday.

It gave no details about whether the funding was new or the criteria for determining whether the projects were sustainable.

In the green movement, many activists branded Rio+20 a disappointment to rank alongside the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, a near-fiasco.

"The only people dancing in Rio tonight will be those who continue to benefit from a broken economic model that puts profit ahead of people and planet," said Asad Rehman of Friends of the Earth.

"Rio+20 has been a failure of epic proportions," said Greenpeace's executive director, Kumi Naidoo.

"We must now work together to form a movement to tackle the equity, ecology and economic crises being forced on our children. The only outcome of this summit is justifiable anger, an anger that we must turn into action."

Ban had named the Conference on Sustainable Development as the cornerstone of his plan for fairer, cleaner growth, the "No. 1 priority" of his tenure.

But talk of a summit that would draw as many 130 heads of state or government to give a push to his goals was way off the mark.

In the end, less than half of the UN's roll call of countries sent their leader, with the remainder represented by deputies, ministers or simply chief negotiators.

Absentees included US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

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