BREAKING NEWS:
It’s been reported that up to 40 people have been injured after the roof of the Apollo Theatre in London collapsed. The accident happened during a performance of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time at around 8:15pm on Thursday.
We’ll keep you updated as more details come to light.
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Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge will visit Australia in April next year. The official Royal statement says it is anticipated that Prince George will accompany his parents on the tour. It will be the Royal Baby’s first overseas trip.
It will also be the first time that Kate Middleton has been to either Australia or New Zealand.
1. Adoption to be made easier
Tony Abbott has pledged to deliver “reform on overseas adoption” within 12 months, making it “much much easier” for Australian couples to adopt children from overseas, saying tens of thousands of babies could be brought to Australia from orphanages.
The Prime Minister invited Hugh Jackman and his wife, the adoption advocate Deborra-Lee Furness, to Kirribilli House to make the announcement
He has ordered the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to establish an interdepartmental committee on overseas adoption.
2. British jury finds soldier’s killers guilty
British soldier Lee Rigby’s killers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale have been found guilty. Adebolajo tried to behead Lee Rigby with a meat cleaver in front of horrified passers-by.
The pair had argued they attacked the 25-year-old soldier to avenge the deaths of Muslims at the hands of British troops.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain was united in condemnation of the killing, which state prosecutors described as “one of the most savage offences ever prosecuted by our counter-terrorism lawyers”.
3. Kangaroo attack
A teenager has been attacked by a group of Kangaroos in the NSW Hunter Valley. 13-year-old Jade Barrett was set upon while jogging by three eastern grey kangaroos. They knocked her to the ground, clawed at her, punched her in the stomach and chased her down a path.
The local council have said they will erect signs to warn of the dangers of the kangaroos.
4. Manus Island pornographic video
A PNG politician has claimed that asylum seekers on Manus Island have starred in a “truly sickening” XXX-rated pornographic video with young local women on the island. On his Facebook page Manus MP Ronny Knight slammed the centre as “out of control” while detailing how he had seen the mobile phone-captured video.
5. Virgin births
One in every 200 young American women says she became pregnant while still a virgin.
The results of a long-term study of reproductive health, published in the British Medical Journal, have revealed that 1% of US women claim to have given birth without ever having had sexual intercourse.
What? How? Why? For
6. Pope supports breastfeeding in public
The Pope has given his blessing to breastfeeding. Telling a Vatican website that he encouraged a young mother to breastfeed her baby. He said:
“There was a young mother behind one of the barriers with a baby that was just a few month s old. The child was crying its eyes out as I came past. The mother was caressing it. I said to her: madam, I think the child’s hungry. “Yes, it’s probably time…” she replied. “Please give it something to eat!” I said. She was shy and didn’t want to breastfeed in public, while the Pope was passing. I wish to say the same to humanity: give people something to eat!”
7. Melbourne Committal hearing
A Melbourne committal hearing has heard that a 21 year old Dutch tourist was allegedly held hostage and repeatedly raped and tortured by a couple over a six-week period in a Melbourne hotel. She told medical staff she was abused with a meat tenderiser, cable and sex toys, a court has heard.
The committal hearing of her alleged captors, former couple Alfio Anthony Granata, 46, and Jennifer Peaston, 32 is expected to end tomorrow.
8. Sky-diving death
An American man has died while skydiving in Australia on a vacation his wife won on the Ellen Degeneres show. On Saturday, US marine Brandon McGraw, 33, and his wife Cherilyn visited Euroa Skydive about 100km north of Melbourne. Brandon elected to dive solo, his parachute crashed into the ground and he died at the scene.
In January, Cherilyn McGraw won the chance to travel to Australia while attending a taping of the Ellen Degeneres show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLnudQgic0A
9. Right to have a baby awarded by court
A woman who wants to use her dead husband’s sperm to start the family they dreamt of has won the right to do so in a landmark South Australian court decision.
The case is believed to be the first of its kind in SA, and sets a precedent that matches reproductive rights in SA with those in NSW.
10. Kmart applauded
Kmart Australia has become the first Australian retailer to disclose the addresses and locations of supplier factories in the developing world it sources goods from.
The addresses of Kmart suppliers in Bangladesh will be posted online, with supplier locations in India and China to be progressively disclosed in 2014.
11. Secret Santa
A woman in the US has expressed her shock after her Secret Santa turned out to be Bill Gates.
The woman had put her name down for Redditts Secret Santa – her list included the usual kind of items, makeup, nail polish and an ipad.
When she got the card and present it was a stuffed cow, a ‘donation’, a card signed from a nice chap named Bill and a photo of the nice chap holding a certificate with the ‘donation’ to the charity Heifer international.
It was only when she looked at the photo that she realized the ‘Bill’ was actually ‘Bill Gates.’
In Brief:
The heatwave continues right across the Eastern states – with Adelaide hitting 43 degrees yesterday. NSW is set to bake today.
A female submariner is under investigation after an alleged indecent assault on another female crew member while on shore leave in Darwin.
Julie Bishop is under fire for praising conditions for asylum seekers held on Nauru after it was claimed she visited only staff housing, not the detainees’ tent accommodation.
What news are you talking about today?
Top Comments
It's reported in The Age today that Tony Abbott said at the press conference on adoption changes that "to be born in Australia is to win the lottery of life. We would like to see more people winning the lottery of life by becoming Australians".
If that is what he would truly like to see, perhaps he could help more refugees win the lottery of life.
It seems like such a strange thing for him to say, I'm not sure if he has a speech writer who is really just taking the piss ...
I agree with him (for the first and last time!!!) that to be born in Australia is to win the lottery of life. But why not share that with people fleeing for their lives?? What greater gift could we possibly give? There by the grace of god go us.
Probably far easier to raise people here, less issues with integration. Aren't there already a lot of children waiting to be adopted in Australia?
So today I was reading my local newspaper on line and came across this interesting piece on Tony Abbotts new adoption setup, he is such a fraud;
http://www.bordermail.com.a...