Sydney - Shards of metal from an exploding oxygen tank shot through the fuselage of a Qantas jumbo jet and even pushed the handle of an emergency door into the opening position, news reports said Wednesday.

An exploding oxygen tank is the prime suspect in a Qantas flight Friday from Hong Kong having to make an emergency landing at Manila.

The mid-air explosion tore a hole in the plane's fuselage and prompted the pilot to make a rapid descent from 29,000 feet to
10,000 feet in about four minutes.

"It's an incredibly rare event for the oxygen tank to explode, and for it to hit the door handle and rotate it open is just eye- watering," a source told The Australian newspaper.

Melbourne, July 29 : Lawyers representing the three Islamic militants who are on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings, have argued that they could suffer unnecessary pain if they do not die immediately when the lethal punishment is carried out.

The plea came ahead of a Constitutional Court challenge that is to be taken up next week.

Melbourne, July 29 : Australia’s security intelligence agency repeatedly told the Howard Government when it was in power last year that former terror suspect Mohamed Haneef posed no security threat.

According to news. com. au, in an unclassified submission to the inquiry into last year''s bungled investigation of the Gold Coast-based doctor, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director-General Paul O''Sullivan has revealed his organisation never believed Dr Haneef was a threat.

Dr Haneef was arrested in Brisbane and detained for 12 days without charge last year over suspected links to botched terror attacks in Britain.

Melbourne, July 29 : Most people like to remember every little detail about the day they got married, Andy and Ania Somora however, would rather forget theirs altogether what with spending their wedding night in jail after being tasered by the police.

The couple’s big day started out just fine in Lakeside, Michigan, US.

Midway through the reception at the Burnison Art Gallery, however, venue owner Judi Burnison called in the cops to tackle unruly guests, who had broken glasses and spilt drinks.

After arriving at the venue, Jeff Enders, police officer-in-charge, told the assembled guests to evacuate the premises – an announcement that didn’t go down well with many guests.

Sydney - US-based coffee chain Starbucks is to close 61 Australian outlets by the weekend, resulting in the loss of 685 jobs, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.

Canberra, July 29 : The Australian government today overhauled its immigration policy, putting an end to what it referred to as the “dehumanising” practice of indefinite mandatory detention.

Australia’s Immigration Minister, Senator Christopher Evans, described the move as a new era in Australian immigration law in a speech in Canberra this morning.

The Senator told an audience at the Australian National University that the Rudd Government would "fundamentally overturn" the previous government''s immigration policy, and implement a risk-based policy of detention.