" A boy places a baseball at the feet of a statue of former New York Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra outside of the Yogi Berra Museum on Wednesday in New Jersey. Photo: IC
US President Barack Obama led the tributes to baseball legend Yogi Berra on Wednesday after the New York Yankees icon beloved as much for his unique turn of phrase as his on-field exploits died at the age of 90.


Obama hailed Berra - whose -famous utterances included the inspirational never-say-die idiom www.nikeshox-espana.es , ""It ain't over 'til it's over"" - as an ""American original.""


""He epitomized what it meant to be a sportsman and a citizen, with a big heart, competitive spirit, and a selfless desire to open baseball to everyone, no matter their background,"" Obama said of Berra, who died late Tuesday of natural causes.


New York authorities ordered all flags across the city to be flown at half-staff in honor of the revered catcher.


Berra, a 15-time All Star and record 10-time World Series champion, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972. The Yankees have retired his No.8 jersey.


""We are deeply saddened by the loss of a Yankees legend and American hero, Yogi Berra,"" the Yankees posted on Twitter, changing their avatar to Berra's No.8.


""We have lost an icon.""


Team members wore number eight on their jersey sleeves at Wednesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada.


The baseball great was equally well-known for humorous quips and malapropisms such as ""It's deja vu all over again.""


Other ""Yogi-isms"" included such one-liners as ""Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded,"" and ""When you come to a fork in the road, take it.""


""I choose to believe that his last words were a doozy,"" tweeted Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy.


Berra was a link to Major League Baseball's glory days and a star for its most legendary team, playing from 1946 until a brief return with the New York Mets in 1965.


He managed the Yankees to the 1964 World Series and the Mets to the 1973 World Series.


""While we mourn the loss of our -father, grandfather and great-grandfather, we know he is at peace with mom,"" a statement from Berra's family said.

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WELLINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Police investigating a threat to poison New Zealand infant formula said on Wednesday that they were testing cans of product that had reportedly been tampered with.


Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Burgess said in a statement that police had received a number of calls from members of the public concerned with possible infant formula product tampering, such as possible pinpricks in packaging lids.


"In response to these calls a number of tins of product have been collected and secured by police," said Burgess.


"Tins of formula are being forensically tested where appropriate," he said. "At this stage there is no information from these incidents which suggests the public is at risk."


The statement gave no other details about who reported the possible tampering and where the reports were made.


Police said last week that letters sent to the Federated Farmers industry group and the Fonterra dairy cooperative in November last year were accompanied by small packages of milk powder that subsequently tested positive for the presence of a concentrated form of the pesticide 1080.


The letters threatened to contaminate infant and other formula with 1080 unless New Zealand stopped using 1080 for pest control by the end of March 2015.


The 1080 threat is the third food safety or contamination alert involving New Zealand's dairy industry in as many years.


At the beginning of 2013, residues of pasture treatment chemical DCD was found in some Fonterra milk products, and in August that year came the false botulism alarm and the global recall of whey protein concentrate.


Sodium monofluoroacetate, known as 1080, is a poison used to protect New Zealand's native flora and fauna against introduced pests such as possums and ferrets.


Its use has been controversial over the years with opponents saying it poisons non-target animals and contaminates the environment.


SYDNEY, March 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. entertainment company Netflix has set a new benchmark in Australia bypassing traditional advertising and marketing to utilize a campaign with 100 percent digital marketing.


This represents a first for an international company entering the Australian market, and the company, which sells streaming movies and television series, said it is trialing this approach, which does not involve print, television, radio or outdoor media, for other markets.


Subscription video on demand (SVOD) is a new concept in Australia, however, it is fully understood among tech-savvy users.


Netflix's digital messaging campaign is connectin