FT273

A 50-year-old man was killed on 3 December while cutting down a large foxtail palm tree in his garden at Knuckey Lagoon near Darwin in Australia. The tree came crashing down, striking him in the face. Another freak accident killed a 45-year-old man from Ludmilla, Northern Territory, on 17 December 2006. He had been cutting down 8m (26ft) Carp­entaria palms in his yard when a branch fell on overhead power lines. He was apparently electrocuted when he touched the power line while trying to remove the branch. ntnews.com, 8 Dec 2010.

A five-year study has blamed an innocuous-looking mushroom known as Little White for many mysterious deaths in south-western China.