"A senior teacher at an exclusive $15,000-a-year Sydney school has resigned after students viewed naked pictures of him on a gay dating website… [There] was an explicit personal profile for the teacher, in which he advertised himself as a "40-year-old cuddly bear who is looking for (a) fuck buddy/friend for fun." [The Australian]

"The Tribunal hearing a case against the Australian Red Cross gay blood ban has been told today that if the current bar on gay blood donation is lifted, a single HIV-positive blood donation from a gay man will slip through clinical screening in Tasmania once every 197 years. If only gay men who have safe sex are allowed to donate, as sought by the man who initiated the current gay blood ban challenge, Michael Cain, that figure decreases to once every 5769 years." [UK Gay News]

The mother of a gay man missing since last October accuses the Australian government of covering up her Vienna-based son's disappearance: "[Kathy Gilleran] as reached out to media outlets and PFLAG to tell of meeting "constant stonewalling, rudeness and even outright lies." [POQ]

"The number of same-sex couples registering their partnership under new [Australian Capital Territory] laws has exceeded expectations, the territory government says. In the three months since the laws began, there have been 23 registrations and two commitment ceremonies, ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell said. That number had 'exceeded all expectations'." [The Age]

An Australian teenager has pleaded not guilty to murdering an autistic man at a known gay cruising spot. The boy, who was sixteen at the time, claims that he gave the man, 35, a beer, and then the man gave him a "bear hug" and tried to sexually assault him, at which point the teen stabbed him twice. [The Australian]

An Australian court found 49-year old Michael John Neal guilty on 15 counts of intentionally spreading HIV at sex parties. Neal reportedly told one of his partners that he "gets off" on infecting others. He'll be sentenced next month. [Herald Sun]

Australian customs officials confiscated about 150 bottles of illegal steroids disguised as "gay lube oil." Customs spokesman Richard Janeczko said "These goods are found mainly coming through the mail, express mail, some of them have come in through passengers, others have come in through people carrying them in. So what we've found is that this is a concentrated effort to try to beat Customs control by disguising these goods." [ABC AU]

"[An Australian] man who flew into a violent rage and stabbed his homosexual lover seven times has been jailed for at least a year. Jamie Christopher Kelly stabbed his lover seven times in the back and chest and almost severed his left thumb in a what Supreme Court Justice John Sulan described as a "frenzied attack.'" Janet Leigh sums up our reaction. [Adelaide Now]

An Australian city council gave the green light to a gay retirement community in Ballan, an hour outside Melbourne. The entire project will cost about £12.7, which is about $ 24.5 million. [Telegraph]

Pope Benedict XVI told reporters that he will work for "healing and reconciliation with the victims" of sexual abuse during his trip to Australia this week. While many victims appreciate his conciliatory remarks, they're still clamoring for more. Said one activist, "He made some general remarks about regret to reporters and that's not good enough. We want action, not words." The Pope previously addressed the abuse during his trip to the States, but stopped short of an official apology. [POQ]