1. A bride in China has left her own wedding to report on an earthquake that hit the Sichuan province over the weekend. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit moments before Chen Ying was about to walk down the aisle so she picked up a microphone and begun interviewing witnesses. Some reports have suggested Chen Ying did make it to her wedding eventually – but then picked up the microphone and started working again when it was all over.
2. France has become the 14th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. The parliament voted 331 to 225 in favour of the bill. The country also legalised same-sex adoption.
3. New South Wales has become the first state to sign on for the government’s proposed Gonski reforms. Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the state’s involvement as “an historic announcement not only for NSW education but Australian education,”. Other states says they will not sign up until they know more details of the proposed $14.5 billion overhaul of school funding.
4. Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has reportedly admitted to the attacks and to killing a 26-year-old police officer. It’s been reported that Tsarnaev told police his brother was the mastermind behind the explosions that claimed the lived of three people and injured hundreds more. Tsarnaev said the pair were not involved with any greater terrorist organisations.
4. Meanwhile, the mother of the two suspects has denied her sons’ involvement in the attacks. “I know that my kids had nothing to do with this,” Zubeidat Tsarnaev told the media. “It’s just somebody did this, somebody set this up, not my kids… Whoever is dead over there it’s not my son.”
5. The AP Twitter account was hacked this week. The hackers sent a tweet which read: “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” But an AP spokesperson quickly responded saying the report was “bogus”.
6. A NSW inquiry has recommended restrictions to the partial defence of provocation. The inquiry into the defence came after Sydney man Chamanjot Singh successfully argued that his wife ‘provoked’ him into killing her when she admitted to being in love with someone else. The inquiry recommended keeping the defence for instances when actions are “grossly provocative” – such as ongoing domestic violence – and not as a response to infidelity.
