Week's most clicked
THE stranger than fiction tales of an 11-year-old bride giving birth and a Jaws-style horror encounter captivated online readers this week.
In Cairns, an upcoming shark thriller film set on the Great Barrier Reef had tourism operators fearing a potential negative impact on visitor numbers.
Readers from across Australia were drawn to have their say on the issue, making it the week's most-clicked story at cairns.com.au.
The Reef, due out next year, features a great white shark and is based on a true story of four friends whose yacht capsizes.
And nationally, the story of an 11-year-old girl who became a mother after going into labour during her wedding to her teenage boyfriend was the most clicked at news.com.au.
Cairns top 5
1. Tourism operators are bracing for the release of a film that depicts the Great Barrier Reef as a hunting ground for man-eating great white sharks. Read more.
2. Overpasses and interchanges will replace traffic lights and end gridlock along Cairns' southern entrance under new plans for the Bruce Highway. Read more.
3. A crocodile show presenter from Cairns is tipped to become the next Steve Irwin. Read more.
4. Shocking, the horse owned by former Cairns tiler Laurence Eales, wins the Melbourne Cup. Read more.
5. A 21-year-old woman who has had seven pregnancies since she was 15, claims her tubes were tied without her consent. Read more.
National top 5
1. An 11-year-old girl becomes a mother after going into labour during her wedding to her teenage boyfriend. Read more.
2. An outspoken Kiwi politician proposes a new solution to the country's child abuse problem - pay the "appalling underclass" not to breed. Read more.
3. Baby Z, a baby given no chance of survival has amazed doctors after being saved with one of the biggest long shots in medical history. Read more.
4. Australian Idol contestant Toby Moulton quits the show to get back to his real passion - the classroom. Read more.
5. A woman is allegedly raped by a "cave man", a homeless man who lives in a cave under a cliff, at Bondi Beach. Read more.
Read more top national stories.
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Cartoonist Harry Bruce looks back on the week that was.
New Jetstar flights between Cairns and Osaka
THE re-introduction of Jetstar's four weekly direct services to Osaka in Japan and a doubling of flights to Melbourne from April 1 next year are the first significant announcements today by the airline as the result of a new agreement with Cairns Airport.
Kate earns National Pride Medal
INSPIRING young leader and cancer survivor Kate Smith could hardly believe she won a national Pride of Australia medal last night.
Escapee back in custody
BREAKING NEWS: Police have found a man who escaped from police custody at Ravenshoe on Sunday night.
Woman watched boyfriend bash, strip tourist
THE girlfriend of a man accused of raping and attempting to rape two foreign tourists at a Cairns caravan park says she watched him bash and strip one of them then chase after her.
