Bomb hoax focus turns overseas, just like Qantas

Another week, another extraordinary turn in the case of the collar-bomb extortion attempt on Mosman school student Madeleine Pulver.

Suddenly, the focus switched from Clifton Gardens, via Kincumber, where the alleged extortionist checked his email, to Kentucky, where Sydney police are seeking the extradition of Scots College old boy Paul Peters.

Up, up ? and away to Asia? Qantas promoted a new competitive ''spirit'', announced more redundancies, revealed plans to expand in Asia and promised to still call Australia home.

Its chief executive, Alan Joyce, accused unions, pledged to fight the job losses, of ''trashing'' the Qantas brand. Elsewhere, French actor Gerard Depardieu was escorted from an Air France flight after urinating in an aisle. Westpac withdrew financial support for a 42-room megaplex brothel on Parramatta Road. Orica came under fire after waiting to warn residents of a leakage of hexavalent chromium from its Kooragang Island plant.

As pollies argued over sending asylum seekers to Malaysia, Nauru or Papua New Guinea, and polls showed voters want arrivals processed in Australia, it was revealed 1500 detainees were hospitalised in the first six months of 2011.

Once again, the nation was shocked by footage showing foreign mistreatment of our other live exports. This time it was sheep in Turkey.

Blame it on banana prices, but a ''shopping basket'' survey found Sydney is the seventh most expensive place to live in the world. Its university was placed 96th in the world, and fourth best in Oz, after Melbourne, ANU and Queensland.

Photogenic former premier Kristina Keneally was pictured with Rabbitohs' footballers after joining the board of Souths Cares and preparing a ''Music and Me'' concert. Her successor, Barry O'Farrell, was near invisible, suggesting it might be time for a makeover. Extensions? Mullet? Buzz-cut?

The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, started firing Scud missiles, in what observers saw as a ''last stand'' in Tripoli. The British leader David Cameron unveiled a sweeping review of government policy to mend ''Broken Britain''.

A letter from a former royal reporter on the defunct News of the World raised fresh concerns over how much Rupert Murdoch and son James knew of hacking by their newspapers.

New Zealand was hit by unseasonable snow storms and a ''No sex please we're Kiwis!'' ad campaign, backed by rugby officials, asking fans to abstain during the World Cup to support the team.

Mark Fowler, a 35-year-old Sydney Muay Thai champion, collapsed and later died after a bout in a ''Taipan Unleashed'' event in Liverpool. Cedarberg, a Melbourne Cup contender, died after trackwork.

It was a big week for revisionist research. Choice warned there could be more calories in breakfast muesli than in one of Macca's Double Quarter Pounders.

California scientists calculated the moon is ''only'' 4.6 billion years old, two billion less than previously thought. A new book shot holes in one of America's most cherished stories, the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.

Myth and movie celebrate a gallant, protracted last stand. Author Phillip Tucker claims Davy Crockett and his mates were cut down as they tried to escape from the besieged garrison after a surprise pre-dawn attack.