News: Meet the new Carrie Bradshaw

This is the new Carrie Bradshaw

But she’s not replacing Sarah Jessica-Parker, just playing a younger version for the Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries. AnnaSophia Robb, best known for feature film roles, is a catch for the network, film types say. She was in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake and starred in Soul Surfer and Bridge to Terabithia. She’s also playing Wendy in an upcoming remake of Peter Pan. Robb joins Stefania Owen (Running Wilde) who will play Bradshaw’s 14-year-old sister Dorrit in the show, which is set during Bradshaw’s high school years in the 1980s navigating the turmoil of love and life in a small high school. It’s based on the novel by Candace Bushnell of the same name.

Allan Border medal winners, best dressed

Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke has won his third Allan Border Medal, the nation’s top award in the sport. That places him second overall behind the captain he replaced, Ricky Ponting, who won the medal four times. Clarke also won the test player of the year on a countback and Shane Watson won the award for best one day and Twenty20 player. And while the awards were the reason for the evening, much of the colour came as the players arrived with their wives and partners. Of course, we’re happy to share them with you.

Channel Nine cameraman rescues missing boy

A young boy who has autism went missing in Melbourne on Sunday night, around 7pm, and hadn’t been seen since. That is until Channel Nine cameraman Glenn Edwards spotted little Ryan Pham clinging to reeds in the middle of Melbourne’s fast-flowing Kororoite Creek. News.com.au reported: “I’m just so amazed we found him,” Mr Edwards said. “Literally [colleague] Rob just yelled out, there he is, and you could see him holding, struggling.” While Mr Edwards swam to the rescue, a colleague called 000. The boy was reunited with his relieved family. His mother later embraced Glenn Edwards and a family friend said there were no words to describe how grateful they were Ryan was found in time.

Wealthy people are less ethical. Discuss.

A seven-part study in the United States has found that people of a higher socio-economic status are more willing to break the rules in favour of their own self-interest. Psychologists at the University of California Berkeley and the University of Toronto took note of people’s behaviour in a number of experiments. In one, they watched a four-way traffic intersection and noted how many times the road rules were broken by a BMW or Mercedes driver (for example) compared to somebody in, say, a Toyota Camry. Those in the nicer cars were more likely to cut off pedestrians in the street than drivers of the other cars. In another test using a game of dice, given the opportunity to win a $50 prize, people who self-reported high socio-economic status were more likely to lie and say that they had rolled higher numbers than they actually had.

The Australian reported:

In other studies, people with higher status were less likely to tell the truth in a hypothetical job negotiation in which they were the employer trying to hire someone for a job they knew was soon to be eliminated.

And when given a jar of lollies that they were told was for children in a nearby lab – though they could take some if they wanted – the richest people took more than anyone else.

Even Mr Piff, who has studied the impact of wealth on people’s morality and charitable giving in the past – finding that rich people tend to give less to charity than poor people – was surprised to see them taking sweets from kids.

“I was astonished,” Mr Piff said. “On average, people in the upper rank condition took two times as much, so it was a pretty sizeable effect.”

The major Oscar winners, highlights

Meryl Streep won her third Oscar for her amazing turn as the master conservative politician Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady while Frenchman Jean Dujardin won his first for his leading role in silent film The Artist, which also picked up Best Picture. The top director gong also went to an Artist alumnus, Michel Hazanavicius. Woody Allen picked up the award for Best Original Screenplay with A Midnight in Paris. The best supporting actor and actress nods went to Christopher Plummer for his role in Beginners and Octavia Spencer for The Help. Plummer is the oldest ever to win best support actor, and two years younger than the Oscars itself. Best original song went to ‘Am I a man or a Muppet’ from The Muppets [remember when Rick met Kermit and Miss Piggy?]

But if what you’re really after is the largest collection of awards seasons photos, we have you covered right here.

Call for inquest into asylum seeker death in detention

A 44-year-old Iranian asylum seeker held in detention for 18 months died of an apparent heart attack yesterday. He had fled the Iranian regime after being jailed himself, his brother executed. But the man drafted to advise the Australian Government on how to prevent suicides in detention, the chairman of Suicide Prevention Australia Dr Michael Dudley, said it was the detention that killed the man as the link between anxiety and heart disease was well known and he had written a psychiatric assessment of the man before. ”He clearly had symptoms of panic, palpitations, sweating, neck and chest pain, and was unable to sleep because of his worries,” Dr Dudley said. ”Every night he had nightmares of what would happen to his family. He had flashbacks to events in Iran, triggered by events at Villawood including federal police and riot squad raids on rooms. ”His vulnerability was really compounded by his detention and the strong possibility of being deported to his death … and the suicide of other detainees at Villawood.” Mohammad Sadeghphour, a member of Australian Supporters of Democracy in Iran, said: ”The Iranian regime didn’t kill him, but unfortunately our government did.” An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the department expressed its sympathy to the man’s family and would co-operate with any investigation.

– Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside wrote on Mamamia about the myth we constructed surrounding asylum seekers.

Little Britain star quits Twitter after heartless attack over dead ex

Comedian Matt Lucas, one of the stars of Little Britain, said he has to leave Twitter because of abuse he copped from a British teenager who taunted him over the death of his former partner who hanged himself in 2009. Lucas initially replied by telling the teenager “shame on you”, before tweeting: “I’m not joking. I think you should delete that tweet. It really upset me.” Lucas’ 500,000+ followers turned on the teenager, saying he was sick, before eventually drawing an apology: “I never actually sent this to you. I only put it up as a joke for my friends to see. Sorry Matt.” The ugly side of social media, have you seen it?