Eco-activists blamed for fires that destroyed three environmentally friendly millionaires-row homes and damaged two others may have used only simple materials to exploit a legal loophole and avoid a huge jail sentence, it was claimed today.

EVERYTHING including the kitchen sink was stripped from a rental home in Tacoma, Washington after an Internet classified ad invited people to take whatever they wanted for free.

CHILDREN nationwide are being given a unique opportunity to prove they are a “glass act”.

A MAN accused of going on a shooting spree at a crowded shopping mall in the United States sent a text message to his ex-girlfriend minutes before the rampage saying he was about to show the world his anger, the woman said.

A gunman opened fire inside a busy shopping mall, wounding at least six people, one critically, and taking three others hostage in a music store before he surrendered to a police commando team.

Legendary heavy rocker Ozzy Osbourne will retire from his annual Ozzfest extravaganza after struggling with recurrent throat problems during this summer's tour.

WITH oil prices pushing new record highs, Wall Street analysts say the market may need to see an easing of that pressure for stocks to rise this week.

AN IRISH waste management company yesterday announced plans to establish Europe’s first asbestos recycling plant of its kind.

A long-lost briefcase full of notes and lyrics that were intended for the 1981 U2 album October has been returned, 23 years after it was stolen at a US concert.

The US Army has dropped all charges against a Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents at the naval base detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where suspected terrorists are held.

A National Guardsman is facing charges of attempting to give information to the al-Qaida network.

Lee Boyd Malvo was legally insane during last year’s sniper spree because of intense indoctrination by sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad, a defence psychiatrist testified at Malvo’s trial in Chesapeake, Virginia.

THE ex-wife of Washington sniper John Muhammad has said she called police to report a car similar to the one used in the killing spree near her home — supporting a defence argument that she was the ultimate target.

The ex-wife of Washington sniper John Muhammad has said she called police to report a car similar to the one used in the killing spree near her home - supporting a defence argument that she was the ultimate target.

In a chilling audio tape played for the jury, a soft-spoken Lee Malvo told police he pulled the trigger in all of the sniper attacks that terrified the Washington area.

A MAIL distribution centre was evacuated in Tacoma, Washington, and four workers hospitalised, after powder found on a sorting table tested positive for biotoxins, officials said yesterday.

More than 30,000 Nike basketball shoes – enough to kit out every high school team in Alaska – are drifting through the Pacific Ocean towards the state after spilling from a container ship off Northern California.

Two men have been charged in the rash of recent sniper shootings in the US as authorities on the West Coast said they were also suspects in the killing of a woman last winter and a shooting at a synagogue.

The two men arrested in connection with the Washington shootings were tracked down from a clue in one of the sniper's phone calls, according to reports.