Melbourne, Jan 19 : Almost 48 per cent of Aussies use their cellphones while on the toilet, according to a new survey.

The survey commissioned by Microsoft across Australia, China, India, Japan and Taiwan also revealed that 30 per cent of people use their mobiles to flirt with someone other than their spouse or partner.

One in two Aussies admitted on using the mobile phone while on the toilet, compared to 66 per cent of Chinese people.

Melbourne, Jan 19 : Terrified of gang violence in schools, many kids in the UK are wearing stab-proof vests to protect themselves, according to a new report.

According to the Independent, teachers at one school where pupils are said to be "seriously involved in gangs" were "aware of young people wearing bullet-proof/stab-proof vests in school".

It is believed that many students as young as 16 are involved in gangs and the number has significantly doubled in the past five years.

Sydney - Some applications posted on an Australian government website advertising a high-paying job looking after a tropical island on the Great Barrier Reef were fakes, red-faced officials admitted Monday.

A 60-second video applications for the position of Hamilton Island caretaker was of a young woman having a tattoo etched in her arm declaring her love for the Great Barrier Reef.

The woman was an advertising agency employee and the supposed tattoo was only a transfer. Media outlets around the world reported the bogus application as genuine.

Melbourne, January 19 : Despite being outlawed in Australia, electronic cigarettes that use nicotine-flavoured vapour are still being sold on the website eBay for hundreds of dollars.

E-cigarettes were demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, and they have been a major attraction for smokers ever since.

With the aid of battery-generated heat, these cigarettes create a flavoured vapour, which is puffed by the user in the same fashion as real smoke.

The devices, commonly from Chinese manufacturers, even have tips that glow when the user inhales, simulating the ember of a real cigarette.

Bangkok - A Bangkok court on Monday sentenced an Australian author to three years in jail for allegedly insulting the Thai monarchy in his novel Verisimilitude published in 2005, court sources said.

The Bangkok Criminal Court found Harry Nicolaides, 41, guilty of lese majeste for a passage in his novel that allegedly criticized the son of Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand's much-revered king for the past 62 years.

Hobart (Tasmania, Australia), Jan 19 : Cricket captains of Australia and South Africa -- Ricky Ponting and Johan Botha -- are reportedly still uncertain about how best to apply the new powerplay rule when batting in one-day matches.

According to a report in The Age, while both admit to being confused about the rule, they know that whoever acquires a better understanding and application of it, could win the five-match series.