New Zealanders are known for their adventurous spirit but Sarah above right and Joanne Ingham teenaged twins from

New Zealanders are known for their adventurous spirit but Sarah (above, right) and Joanne Ingham, teenaged twins from the Land of the Long White Cloud, have boosted their country's reputation with a fantastic journey. The 18-year-old twins stowed away on a Malaysian container ship three months ago. They and a 27-year-old crewman, Ja'afar Bin Mohamed Zan, apparently jumped overboard on 20 April when the ship passed through Princess Charlotte Bay, off Australia's Queensland coast. An extensive search across inhospitable outback failed to find them and it was thought that if the drop from the ship had not killed them, the 20-nautical-mile swim through shark- and crocodile-infested waters probably had.However, against all the odds, they were found on Tuesday by Aborigines, who fed them and brought them to the town of Coen on the Cape York peninsula and alerted police.They had lived for 19 days off shellfish.Barry John Port, one of the few remaining Aboriginal trackers with the police service, said: "I think it is amazing that they survived. They were downhearted, tired and had sore feet and they were starving".A Cairns Police Inspector, Ian Swan, said: "They've been examined and they're in quite good health."The three were expected to face quick deportation, having cost the community thousands of dollars in search costs during their adventure Matthew Brace. Anne Keep, a 41-year-old grandmother who acted as a surrogate mother for a childless couple, surprised them by giving birth to triplets, it emerged last night.

Mrs Keep, a pub cook from Redditch in Worcestershire, gave birth to the children in March after meeting the adoptive parents - Anthony and Julie Cohn - through an agency for childless parents. Two eggs, fertilised by Mr Cohn, were taken from his wife, who was born without a womb, and implanted in Mrs Keep. The surrogate mother produced male twins from one egg and another brother from the second. The babies were born prematurely, weighing just 3lbs each but are expected to leave hospital in the next few days.It was reported that Mrs Keep had refused payment for her role in the birth. She claimed she would do the same thing again."I wanted Anthony and Julie to feel the same overwhelming pride I did when I held my own first son 23 years ago," she was reported as saying."The happiness on their faces when they saw the babies for the first time made all the trauma worthwhile."Matthew Brace.

A permanent decline in worldwide oil production is virtually certain to start within 20 years as the fossil fuel begins to run out, a geologist warns in the leading science journal Nature Today. Between 1985 and 1995, oil consumption rose by 16 per cent, with nearly of all this due to an increase in production by members of Opec, the Middle East dominated oil countries cartel. But, says Craig Bond Hatfield of the University of Toledo, Ohio, geological data indicates that within the next 10 years the oil production of non-Opec countries like Britain will start a permanent decline. If current consumption rates continue, then, given known reserves and estimated reserves, the oil would last until 2057 Nicholas Schoon.

Powerful drug combinations currently being used to treat people with HIV could eliminate the virus altogether within two or three years, opening up the prospect of a cure for the disease, United States scientists report today. Researchers from Rockefeller University, New York, led by David Ho, followed the progress of eight patients over eight weeks, and found the concentration of virus in the blood fell 99 per cent in the first two weeks. This was followed by a slower phase over the next 40 days during which the viral load continued to fall. Writing in the science journal Nature, the researchers forecast that the virus could be eliminated after 2.3 to 3.1 years, although in practice treatment might have to continue for longer. However, the claim was dismissed by Professor Robin Weiss, a virologist at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, who said: "I think it is dangerous to talk about eradication of HIV ... we don't know of any retrovirus in any animal that has been eradicated once it has taken hold ... I think this will give a lot of false hope." Jeremy Laurance.