Wednesday's news in under 2 minutes

1. NSW braces for loss of home and loss of lives today. It’s D-Day for firefighters with conditions predicted to be as bad as they could possibly get. Today is forecast to be hotter, drier and windier than previously thought. The largest ever assembled contingent of firefighters are battling an active 1500-kilometre fire edge in the Blue Mountains where three major fires, one at Bilpin now linked to the second at Mount Victoria and a third at Springwood, burn out of control.

All schools, preschools and daycare centres in the Blue Mountains will be closed today.

Nine schools will be closed in the Hawkesbury and a further nine schools will be closed in the Southern Highlands.

For latest conditions in the NSW bushfires check the RFS website.

To find out how you can help the NSW bushfire victims check this out.

2. There is an international appeal to find out the identity of the young girl dubbed “Maria”. New details have emerged about her case with the gypsy couple, Hristos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou charged with child abduction. Neighbours yesterday suggested the pair could have purchased the child for as little as $1400.

They insist they did not abduct her, and have appealed unsuccessfully to be released on bail so they can trace a Bulgarian woman they say abandoned her as a baby.

Overnight in Ireland a second blonde haired blue-eyed gypsy girl has been taken from her Roma “parents”.

Meanwhile heartbreaking tales are emerging with parents of missing children holding out hope that the little girl may be theirs. One such case is that of Lisa Irwin’s who disappeared in Kansas City in the US in October 2011. She was just 11 months old. Her parents have contacted the Greek authorities hoping that Maria could be her.

3. The two cadets involved in the Defence Force Skype scandal will be sentenced today in the ACT supreme court.  Daniel McDonald and Dylan Deblaquiere were found guilty of using a carriage service in an offensive manner over the 2011 incident. McDonald was also found guilty in August of committing an act of indecency by filming himself having sex with a fellow military cadet and broadcasting it on Skype to another Australian Defence Force Academy cadet’s room where five men were watching.

UPDATE: The two men have been handed 12-month good behaviour bonds. McDonald was reportedly given two 12-month good behaviour bonds and Deblaquiere was given one 12-month good behaviour bond.

4. A wedding boom is expected in the ACT in December after the ACT Legislative Assembly approved historic marriage equality laws. ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell says it will come into effect soon – and he’s hopeful it will survive any High Court challenge. “The earliest we would anticipate ceremonies would be some point in the first couple of weeks of December, but that will depend on the exact date that notification on the register takes place.”

5. The Federal Government is preparing to sell its first major asset health insurer Medibank Private expected to be up for grabs before Christmas. The government is appointing advisers to prepare it for a trade sale or public listing. The Abbott Government is hunting for deep cuts to public spending by launching an audit commission with unfettered scope to identify billions of dollars in budget savings.

Medibank Private is expected to reap up to $4 billion dollars.

6. Controversy in the UK after reports that the chairman of Southern Cross media, owners of Sydney radio station 2Day FM, tried to play down the controversy over the Royal DJ prank that resulted in the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha. The British media are up in arms abut Max Moore Wilton’s dismissal of the prank saying, ‘These incidents were unfortunate, no doubt about that, but in the immortal words of someone whose identity I cannot recall, shit happens.‘

7. Is this racist? Australian fashion retailer Best & Less has had to apologize after its latest catalogue was attacked for being racist. The cover of the retailer’s catalogue has a dark-skinned woman eating a watermelon. Unhappy customers took to the retailers Facebook site slamming the likeness to racial iconography used in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries

Best & Less have said that they were unaware of the American stereotype when they designed the cover, which was meant to “celebrate summer,” using a diverse range of models to reflect its broad customer base.

And another retailer under fire with TARGET forced to remove a racy billboard after the company received an official complaint.

It was removed less than a week after being put up on Broadway in Sydney. The ad featured a woman in a bra, knickers and suspenders wearing a black mask over her eyes was titled ‘Fifty Shades of Grey Lingerie’ It is rumoured that the complaint was made by an unknown Christian group

8. There is a new craze sweeping social media where women are putting their breasts on the line – literally!  ‘Mamming’ is raising awareness for breast cancer with its founder hoping to inspire women to get a mammogram. Right around the world women are posting videos and pics of their boobs rested on various objects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbP4h8Jud4A

9. Apple have just launched their new iPad Air , which will be 25% thinner at only 7.5mm thick, and weighs just 1.0 pound. Over 170 million iPads have been sold worldwide since its launch.

10. And, well we had to put this one in because well, it’s an alligator at a supermarket! An alligator has made a surprise appearance at a Walmart supermarket in Florida, wandering near its front doors. The 1.8-metre reptile stopped at the entrance of the store causing the automatic doors to open and close until employees locked them. Nobody was injured and the alligator wandered off toward nearby woods

IN BRIEF:

A Victorian has won $20 million in Tattslotto

Two of the women held captive for a decade by Ariel Castro are writing a book.

Data released today shows that more than half a million Australian households now have a female as the major wage earner – 140,000 more households than a decade ago.

A German state has banned Facebook between students and teachers. Prince George will be baptised tomorrow in the UK.

What news has got you talking today?