1. “There was no warning.” A father-of-two has died unexpectedly after suffering a brain aneurysm.
January 12 was supposed to be just a normal day for Sunshine Coast family Jaye Goss, his wife Katrina McRae-Goss and their two young children, Flynn, 3, and Lachy, 17 months.
Jaye, 36, had woken up at 5am and hopped into the shower before heading to work.
According to the Sunshine Coast Daily, not long afterwards, Katrina heard a loud thud from the bathroom. When she went to check on her husband, she found him slumped in the shower, not breathing.
For 22 agonising minutes, Katrina performed CPR on her husband until paramedics arrived. He was rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital before being airlifted to Brisbane.
It was there that Katrina learned the devastating news that her "fit and healthy" husband of four years had suffered a sudden brain aneurysm that had left him completely unresponsive.
A friend of the couple, Michael Cornish, told the Sunshine Coast Daily the sudden loss of her husband and father of her two children had left Katrina "devastated".
"She just wants him back," he said.
"He was a young, fit and healthy man, he didn't have health issues. There was no warning - one day he was fine and the next he wasn't."
But Katrina, and Jaye's other family and friends, have taken some comfort in the fact that his organs have so far been used to save the lives of four adults - two men and two women - who are now expected to live long, healthy lives thanks to the 36-year-old's gift.
Michael has since set up a GoFundMe campaign - which has raised $4,700 of its $15,000 goal - to help Katrina cope with the costs of raising two young children on her own.
"The funds will go towards alleviating the financial stress and allow a young family the time they need to grieve," the page reads.
"Anything you can do to help would be of great appreciation."
2. A man has been charged over an alleged blackmail attempt on Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan.
A 33-year-old man has been charged after allegedly attempting to carry out a blackmail attempt on Australian Idol and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here winner Casey Donovan.
According to A Current Affair, the man was arrested yesterday after sending the 29-year-old singer a "threatening text message".
It's understood the man was a friend of the singer, who filed a report with police before his arrest. He was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Blacktown Court on February 7.
It’s not the first time the singer has been targeted by one of her friends: in 2015, she revealed she was 'catfished' and tricked into having a sexual relationship with a woman.
Casey believed she was engaged to a man named Campbell, who came into her life after calling her out of the blue, alleging a mutual friend had passed on her number.
But when Casey went to meet her new love, she instead found a woman, who insisted she was a friend of Campbell's. During a phone call at a later date, 'Campbell' instructed Casey to have sex with the woman.
"I wasn't attracted to women and felt completely used afterwards, but I figured it was worth it to impress my online boyfriend," she wrote in an article for Take 5 magazine.
She later learned that the woman had been scamming her for years, and that her online fiancé had never existed.
3. New data suggests Aussies are smoking and drinking less than ever before.
Beers and backyard cricket may be synonymous with Australia Day, but it seems some party traditions are less popular than thought.
AAP reports alcohol consumption has been decreasing nationwide during the five years to 2016 according to the most recent data by Australia Bureau of Statistics, with Aussies only knocking back an average 9.7 litres of alcohol in 2016.
And when Aussies do drink, they're less likely to be cracking open a cold beer than in years gone by. In 1995-96 beer represented 54 per cent of all alcohol consumed, but this figure fell to 40 per cent in 2015-16.
It also appears decades of public health campaigns against smoking are making an impact, with fewer people sneaking off behind the shed for a drag.
In 2014-15, 14.5 per cent of adults were daily smokers compared to 23.8 per cent in 1995.
If the cricket bat comes out on Australia Day, expect a few wides and missed shots - only 1.2 per cent play outdoor cricket more than once a month.
And taking a look at what might be on the barbeque on Friday, it seems chicken is the meat of choice.
The popular poultry option is most commonly consumed by Aussie meat eaters, with beef coming in second.
4. No surprises here: Donald Trump has the lowest one-year approval ratings of any US president.
Donald Trump is wrapping up a year in office with the lowest average approval rating of any elected United States president in his first term.
That's according to polling by Gallup, which shows that Trump has averaged just a 39 per cent approval rating since his inauguration.
The previous low was held by Bill Clinton, whose first-year average stood 10 points higher than Trump's, at 49 per cent.
One relative bright spot for Trump is his handling of the US economy, though even there his ratings are not as high as might be expected given relatively strong figures.
Americans usually give their new presidents the benefit of the doubt, but Trump's "honeymoon period," to the extent he had one, saw his approval rating only as high as 45 per cent.
Since then, he has spent more time under 40 per cent than any other first-year president.
Presidents have recovered from periods of low popularity before. For example, Clinton's rating fell to just 37 per cent in June 1993 and he went on to win re-election.
5. Scientists have invented something nobody asked for: a banana with an edible peel.
The way we eat and enjoy bananas could be set to change forever after a Japanese farming company developed a variety of the fruit with an edible peel, despite the fact precisely no one has ever asked for it.
According to New York Daily News, the Mongee - Japanese slang for 'incredible' - banana is a super sugary variety that is priced at nearly AU$7.50, and has been developed as a result of the frigid growing environment in Western Japan.
The food scientists at D&T Farms use a method called 'Freeze Thaw Awakening'. Banana trees grow in temperatures of -60 degrees celsius, before they are thawed and then replanted. The technique means that the bananas grow rapidly and develop a lettuce-like skin.
For the time being, the bananas - which were first produced in November 2017 - are only grown and sold in Japan, so, thankfully, us Aussies can all enjoy our bananas peel-free for the time being.
The banana, of course, is not the first fruit scientists have decided to alter for no apparent reason: in December it was reported that UK retail giant Marks and Spencer would be selling a pit-free avocado.
The so-called "cocktail avocado" is smaller than other varieties available (due in large part to its lack of seed) and like the Mongee banana, also has an edible skin.
6. Hundreds of cockatoos have been found dead in a Victorian town and no one has any idea why.
More than 100 Sulphur-crested cockatoos have been found dead in Victoria's northeast, sparking an investigation, AAP reports.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning says the birds' bodies were collected by wildlife officers near the Tatong township, close to Benalla, on Thursday.
A number of the birds - from a protected species - will be tested in hopes of determining their cause of death.
The department has also appealed for public information and warned Tatong residents they may come across even more dead birds over the Australia Day long weekend.
"It's highly likely that the number of birds impacted by this incident will increase over the coming days," the department's Greg Chant said.
Anyone found to have hunted, taken or destroyed protected wildlife can face "significant penalties", including jail time, he added.
"Illegally destroying protected native wildlife is a serious environmental crime."
7. Good news for your return to work after the long weekend: Sydney's 24-hour train strike has been cancelled.
Despite a planned 24-hour Sydney train strike being put on ice by the industrial umpire, commuters are being warned to expect delays through the Australia Day long weekend.
The Fair Work Commission on Thursday ordered rail workers to suspend for six weeks their planned 24-hour strike on Monday and an indefinite ban on overtime work, AAP reports.
The FWC decision came too late to prevent overcrowding on limited services on Thursday morning, with commuters packed into trains, and some describing being squeezed in "like sardines".
Services were cut from 2900 to 1600 on Thursday due to the overtime ban.
Despite the postponement of industrial action, transport NSW have warned commuters to expect delays throughout the weekend.
"Be prepared for ongoing disruption as the train network returns back to normal operations over coming days," Transport NSW said in a statement.
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