Melbourne, December 8 : A judge has ruled against an appeal made by a man charged with showing porn based on children from the animated series ‘The Simpsons’, saying that cartoon characters are also people.

Alan John McEwan had been convicted in February for child pornography possession as he used his computer to access the explicit content involving children.

Melbourne, Dec 8 : Amanda Beard has defended fellow Olympian Michael Phelps’ romance with Las Vegas cocktail waitress Caroline Pal, insisting that he deserves to ‘have fun’.

The 14-time gold medalist Phelps has been flooded with some lousy press lately for becoming not only a fixture in Las Vegas, but also for dating the Sin City’s cocktail waitress, reports Thehollywoodgossip. com.

Beard has admitted that it''s ‘definitely weird’ to see Phelps becoming a celebrity tabloid star, but she thinks he should be cut some slack.

"A swimmer''s life is extremely boring," the Daily Telegraph quoted Beard, as telling E! Online at the opening of the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Melbourne, Dec. 7 : South African pacer Dale Steyn, who will arrive in Australia today for a Test and one-day series, has that he is very keen to bury the demons of his last trip Down Under.

The centre piece of the Proteas attack, Steyn has repeatedly said that he has not forgotten the humiliation of being ripped apart by Australian and Sri Lankan batsmen in two one day internationals in 2005-06.

Steyn conceded 90 runs from eight overs during his frightful initiation to international cricket as a 22-year-old.

Now ranked the No. 1 quick in world cricket, he is seeking redemption and plans to get it by exposing the Australians to the fastest bowling spells of his career.

Melbourne, Dec 6: The Aussie Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, which is the Federal Government''s human rights arm, is looking into getting a new official status called “intersex” legalised.

The new status would be equally recognized legally with the male and female gender, and it would enable people to change their gender on passports and driving licences even if they do not undergo surgery.

Melbourne, Dec. 6: The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association says the terror attacks in Mumbai have turned India into a “risky” place and it is planning to hold a security summit to discuss the “volatile situation” there.

“It’s a whole new world of risk in India now, that rather than having these random bombings of random places, they are targeting western (interests),” the Dawn quoted FICA CEO Tim May, as saying.

Melbourne, Dec. 6 : Believe it or not, Australia’s cricketers get paid 672 dollars for every single that they score, or every wicket that they snare.

Which suggests that their demand for a review of pay and conditions virtually borders on the ridiculous.

Even if they just turn up for a game, they earn up to 14,000 dollars, reports news. com. au.