1. Kate Beckinsale the latest to accuse Harvey Weinstein: “I was 17”.
The now-44-year-old actress said Weinstein asked her a few years later if he had “tried anything” in that first meeting. “I realised he couldn’t remember if he had assaulted me or not.”
It didn’t end there.
“I said no to him professionally many times over the years,” her statement continues. “Some of which ended up with him screaming at me, calling me a c*nt, and making threats. Some of which made him laughingly tell people ‘oh, Kate lives to say no to me’.”
The Total Recall actress said saying ‘no’ to Weinstein “undoubtedly harmed” her career. She added her denial was never something she felt supported in “by anyone other than my family”, implying Weinstein’s alleged actions were widely known in Hollywood.
2. How a mother and young son survived 10 days lost in NSW bush.
A mother and her young son are recovering in hospital after spending 10 days lost in rugged bushland in the NSW Hunter Valley.
Delirious, dehydrated and with their badly scratched legs bound up in reeds, Michelle Pittman, 40, and her son Dylan, nine, went missing while bushwalking in the Mount Royal National Park north of Singleton, AAP reports.
Family members shared missing posters on social media but a search of the national park was only launched after Ms Pittman’s black four-wheel drive was discovered four days ago.
Emergency services tracked their movements through the national park with fresh footprints and grass tied around trees indicating the pair was still alive.
They reportedly used leaves to collect water and removed ticks and leeches from each other.
But after days without adequate food and water the mother and son had become delirious and reportedly removed their shoes. They’d wrapped reeds around their feet.
The mother and son found their way back to a roadway just after 1pm on Thursday where they were picked up by passing police.
They were taken to Singleton Hospital for treatment.
3. Free tests to check for breast cancer gene under new Medicare benefits.
Women with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer will soon be able to undergo free genetic tests to see if they are at risk of developing the potentially deadly diseases.
The tests to see if patients have inherited genetic mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancers will be listed on the Medicare Benefits Schedule from November 1, AAP reports.
The tests also will provide women and their families an estimate of their relative risk of developing a new primary cancer during their lifetime.
Up until now, patients have had to pay between $600 and $2000 to be tested by a private specialist. Others have had to wait for up to a year to receive a free check at a public hospital.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Australian women, with an estimated 17,586 new cases expected to be diagnosed this year alone. An estimated 3000 men and women are expected to die from the disease in 2017.
4. Family-of-five kidnapped by Afgan militants in 2012, finally rescued.
A kidnapped US-Canadian couple and their three children born in captivity have been freed in Pakistan, nearly five years after the couple was abducted in neighbouring Afghanistan.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, which the US has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight, AAP reports.
Coleman was pregnant at the time she was kidnapped and a video released by the Taliban in December showed two sons born while she and her husband were hostages.
Thursday's statements from Islamabad and Washington were the first mention of a third child.
"Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey,"Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.
5. Luxury brand Gucci bans fur from future collections.
Italian designer Gucci will stop using fur from next year, joining a growing number of fashion houses looking at alternatives after coming under pressure from animal rights activists and changing consumer tastes.
Gucci, part of Paris-based luxury group Kering, has paraded models down the catwalk in luxurious fur coats in the past and creative director Alessandro Michele brought in loafers and sling-backs lined with kangaroo-fur two years ago.
But the brand said it would now join an alliance of fur-free companies, adding it would sell off remaining accessories and clothing made with animal fur in a charity auction, AAP reports.
Gucci has sold some of its mink fur coats for over $US40,000 ($A51,000).
Animal rights campaigners said they hoped the move by the Italian fashion house could have a knock-on effect, although it is far from the first label to stop using fur.
"Gucci's decision will radically change the future of fashion," Simone Pavesi, manager of animal-free fashion at Italian campaign group LAV.
"As fashion becomes more and more ethical, supply chains that revolve around animals will be a thing of the past."
6. The number of sexual assaults reported in Queensland is increasing.
The number of Queenslanders reporting sexual assaults has increased for a fifth consecutive year, new data has revealed.
The state's Domestic and Family Violence Minister Shannon Fentiman has told parliament the rate of reported sexual assault had increased by 24 per cent since 2011, according to recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
Figures show 4349 cases were reported to Queensland's authorities in 2016, compared to 4199 in the previous year, AAP reports.
Women or girls accounted for four out of five victims, or 3570 people, and more than half were aged between 10 and 19, while victims aged up to 14 made up 55 per cent of male victims.
A majority of the assaults took place at residential locations, and in more than two-thirds of cases the offender was known to the victim.
National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.