1. Bring Back our Girls
Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai is in Nigeria and has met with the parents of some of the 219 girls still held by Islamic extremists.
The teenager met with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan overnight and urged him to meet with the families of the kidnapped girls.
Meanwhile, a video has emerged of the Boko Haram kidnappers mocking the #BringBackourGirls campaign.
In the footage, obtained by AFP, Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau taunts campaigners saying the girls would not be freed until the government released the “army” of Boko Haram fighters held in Nigerian jails.
The kidnappers released the chilling video to mark the girls’ third month in captivity.
2. Baden-Clay trial
The jury in the trial of Gerard Baden-Clay will once again resume deliberations this morning after seeking further clarification from the judge yesterday.
The jury – consisting of seven men and five women — asked the judge to repeat his advice on the use of circumstantial evidence to arrive at a verdict.
The judge then re-read his summation relating to circumstantial evidence, The Brisbane Times reports.
Brisbane former real estate agent Baden-Clay is accused of murdering his wife Allison. He has pleaded not guilty.
3. Historic Church of England vote
The Church of England has voted in favour to allow women to take up senior roles in the UK — allowing women to become bishops for first time in its history.
Members of the church’s governing body voted in favour of the change by the required two-thirds majority.
The move comes more than 20 years after women were first allowed to become priests.
4. Carbon tax legislation
Carbon tax appeal legislation goes to the Senate today after it was passed through the House of Representatives last night.
The vote in the House of Representatives – which passed the carbon tax repeal bills for the third time – came after a deal between Clive Palmer and the government on the shape of amendments to guarantee the full savings of cutting the tax were passed on to consumers.
Mr Palmer has now guaranteed his support in the Senate, The ABC reports.
“True to our promise to the Australian people at the last election, Palmer United senators will vote in the Senate to abolish the carbon tax,” Clive Palmer said.
5. Record gay marriage support
A poll out today reveals that 72 per cent of Australians want same-sex marriage legalised, while 77 per cent think Coalition MPs should be granted a conscience vote, Fairfax Media reports.
The survey was conducted by the Liberal party pollsters Crosby Textor, and shows that support has risen from 65 per cent in a Nielsen poll last August.
“It’s time for politicians to act,” Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome told Fairfax Media.
6. Costa Concordia refloated
The shipwrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia has been successfully refloated off the island of Giglio, Italy.
The hulk will now be towed away for scrap.
Sky News reports the operation proceeded without a hitch, but that it will take up to 5 days to complete the salvage.
The cruise liner, which is both longer and wider than the Titanic, crashed into rocks off the island of Giglio on January 13, 2012, forcing many of its 4,229 passengers and crew to jump into the sea.
Thirty-two people are thought to have drowned in the tragic incident.
The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning the vessel before all passengers had evacuated.
7. “Dead” toddler wakes up
A dead toddler who caused an Internet sensation by ‘waking up’ at her own funeral has sadly died again. The three-year oldwoke up in her coffin at her funeral in the Philippines after suffering a fever.
The footage of the little girl ‘rising from the dead’ went viral.
The Mirror now reports that the toddler has in fact died again.
8. Oscar Pistorius bizarre tweets
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has broken his Twitter silence by posting a series of religious and philosophical posts.
It is the first time the so-called “Blade Runner” has sent a tweet since the first anniversary of Reeva Steenkamp’s death on February 14.
The four posts come just days after the defence rested in the case against Pistorius.
For more read this post here.
9. Australians gored at Pamplona
Two Australians and a Spaniard have been gored by a fighting bull at the running of the bulls at Spain’s San Fermin festival yesterday.
A government official told media that a 26-year-old Australian, identified only by the initials JG, was gored in the chest, abdomen and left thigh — and a 24-year-old Australian with the initials JM was gored in the right thigh.
The morning runs are the highlight of the nine-day street-partying festival, at which hundreds of people test their speed and bravery by racing the bulls along an 850-metre course from a holding pen to the city’s bullring.
10. Rupert Murdoch: Maldives might disappear
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch has given an interview on SkyNews that reflected his sceptical position on climate change.
In the interview, he said if temperatures do rise by 3ºC this century, “at the very most one of those (degrees) would be man-made.”
He added that Australia should focus on becoming “the low-cost energy country in the world” and that “we shouldn’t be building windmills and all that rubbish”.
Mr Murdoch’s comments may offend the residents of the Maldives though, with his remarks that world should resign itself to losing low-lying islands as sea levels rise and instead focus on adapting to climate change.
“If the sea level rises six inches, that’s a big deal in the world, the Maldives might disappear or something, but OK, we can’t mitigate that, we can’t stop it, we have to stop building vast houses on seashores,” he said.
11. Toddler formulas a waste of money
Consumer group Choice has told parents that expensive toddler formulas and junior milks are unnecessary.
The formulas – marketed to children over the age of one cost $16 to $22 a tin. The consumer group warns that they are discouraging the healthy eating of solid foods.
There is no such thing as ‘immunocare’,” says GP Dr James Best told Choice “It simply doesn’t exist.” Best says he sees many anxious parents who buy toddler and junior milks when they would be better off concentrating on helping their little ones develop better eating habits.
“These products claim to fill the gaps in your child’s diet, but the gaps simply don’t exist if they’re eating well.”
For more on this story, see this post here.
12. Will this be the world’s first exclusive dog park?
A local council in Adelaide is considering creating a world-first ‘dog park’, intended exclusively for small dogs.
The Advertiser reports that Marion Council is considering a park just for tiny pooches to protect them from dog attacks from larger breeds.
Cr Jason Veliskousaid the idea was prompted by a series of attacks on small dogs at Somerton Park and Aldinga Beach this month, the newspaper reports.
13. Dad makes daughter princess
A father in the US has claimed one of the last few unclaimed pieces of land in the world – in order to make his daughter a princess.
Jeremiah Heaton promised his seven-year-old daughter Emily that she would one day be royalty.
So in June, the father-of-three planted a flag designed by his children on the desert region of Bir Tawil, sandwiched between Sudan and Egypt. Princess Emily’s kingdom covers about 800 square miles of desert that has never been claimed by Sudan or Egypt.
The Heaton children have also decided to name it the Kingdom of North Sudan – their next step is to get their ownership recognized by Sudan, Egypt and other African nations.
14. Two dead in Perth tornado
Two 25-year-old men died when a tornado hit suburbs in Perth yesterday, The Guardian reports.
Housemates Conor Murphy and Kyle Scolari both had pre-existing conditions that required medical assistance and relied on electronic medical equipment, according to reports.
The pair’s home is thought to have a back-up generator that failed during the tornado, Yahoo News reports.
Western Australia Police said the men were found dead about 7.30am yesterday, with the ABC reporting the men had died in their sleep.
The Weather Bureau estimated wind gusts of up to 120km/h lashed Perth’s southern suburbs during the tornado, Yahoo News reports.
Police said they would investigate the men’s deaths and prepare a report for the coroner.
15. Adelaide lines up for Krispy Kremes
Krispy Kreme has opened in Adelaide this morning — and excited South Australians have been lining up for two days ahead of the opening.
Adelaide Now reports that the Adelaide manufacturing hub will create 5000 doughnuts every hour.
The popular doughnut chain operates in 20 countries and already has stores located in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
16. Indian woman develops rape-repeller bra
A young Indian woman has developed a rape-repellent bra that shocks and burns attackers.
Manisha Mohan, a 22-year-old engineering student, developed the garment — Society Harnessing Equipment, or SHE for short — with several peers, Vocativ reports.
The bra, which recently won an award in New Delhi, reportedly contains a pressure sensor connected to an electric circuit that generates a shock of 3,800 kilovolts.
“It won’t be enough to immobilize the assailant or potential rapist… but that gives enough time for back up,” Mohan says.
The shock is severe enough to stun an attacker and severely burn his hand, Vocativ reports.
India tightened its anti-rape laws last year after massive nation-wide and international protests over the crime, which records show is committed every 22 minutes across the country of 1.2 billion people, Al Jazeera reports. Nevertheless, reports of crimes against women in India increased by 26 percent last year compared with the previous one, according to Vocativ.
17. Black Saturday victims win historic settlement
Survivors of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires will receive nearly $500 million in a historic settlement.
The plaintiffs will receive about $494.7 million — subject to the Supreme Court’s approval — to compensate them for the devastating effects of the Kilmore East-Kinglake fire, News.com.au reports.
The figure is the largest class action settlement in Australian history.
An estimated 10,000 plaintiffs sought compensation in the lawsuit over the fire — which killed 119 people and destroyed 1200 homes, The Age reports.
SP AusNet said the settlement was reached without admission of liability.
18. Body of second snowboarder found
The body of the second snowboarder who disappeared at Mount Bogong in Victoria has been found, the ABC reports.
Martin Buckland, 33, had been snowboarding with his friend Daniel Kerr, 32.
Kerry’s body was located at Mount Bogong under snow yesterday morning, Yahoo News reports.
Inspector Dave Ryan from Victoria Police said it appeared the men were caught in an avalanche.
“I’ve spoken with both families and it’s a really, really tragic time for them,” Inspector Ryan said.
“They understand the situation we’re faced with. Essentially we are looking to try and recover the second body.”
What news are you talking about today?
Top Comments
You've posted an item about Clive Palmer - without mentioning that he has been bullying the Clerk of the Senate while she was just carrying out her job impartially.
12 made my laugh. A lot of little dogs have 'little dog syndrome' and i find my bigger dogs are constantly being charged at -aggressively, by these little dogs; my dogs react accordingly and give them a scare, and then the little dog owners run over and scoop up their little dogs recoiling in horror at my 'vicious' dogs. Its a shame people think big dogs are aggressive when soooooo often its the little mutts acting aggressively and inciting a particular response.
Absolutely. My medium sized dog developed and absolute hatred for small white dogs after being repeatedly attacked by them. And as a child my Dad's family had a seriously vicious miniature dachshund. A dog's size doesn't indicate temperament.
Often the little dogs will get spooked and intimidated by the size of the big dogs and their instinct reaction is to attack before they get attacked. My dog is small with the most gentle nature and is fine with small/medium dogs and cats, but he is petrified of big dogs and will become protective and defensive when theres a big dog around. Segregating them protects them all - little dogs won't get attacked by big dogs and big dogs wont get put down for killing small dogs.
oh yes dont get me wrong, i love dogs full stop, i was just ranting about the little dogs that full on charge at mine & the owners look at me horrified. it pisses me off. i have a pitbull and staffy so theyre not even big really -medium sized :)