1. Fourth child diagnosed with meningococcal virus in Brisbane.
The fourth child to be diagnosed with the potentially deadly meningococcal virus in Brisbane this week is in a stable condition at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.
The young boy was admitted to Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital on New Year’s Eve feeling ill, Nine News reports.
His diagnoses comes after three children of another family were diagnosed this week in Brisbane – believed to be two siblings and a cousin.
The general public is not at increased risk of the disease as it is generally only spread after close, prolonged contact, according to Queensland Health.
“You need to be in close contact to be at increased risk of meningococcal disease and that does not include being in the same sort of general area as a case,” physician Dr Megan Young told reporters yesterday.
All four children remain in hospital as doctors trying to determine the exact strain of meningococcal.
2. Woman launches into racist rant after a shopper pushed in front of her at Coles.
A woman’s racist rant at a Coles supermarket has been caught on film, with the shopper heard shouting “Go back to your own country”.
Footage posted on social media shows the woman racially abusing someone after another shopper apparently pushed in front of her at a supermarket in Melton, west of Melbourne.
“Go back to your own country you piece of f**ing s**t,” she can be heard shouting.
The footage also shows the woman yelling “this is f***ing outrageous” and calling someone a “rude piece of ‘f***ing s***”.
“Who do you think you are?,” she also asks.
The woman, who has a child with her, appears to threaten to throw a tin of Milo at the other customer.
The witness who filmed the incident on their phone said they felt sorry for the child.
“The people she was yelling at were taken aback and barely said anything while she was going on her rant.”
“I just felt really sorry for her kid who was very embarrassed.”
The woman was ejected from the store, but police were not called, the Daily Mail reports.
3. Attacker stabbed 11 children at Chinese school.
Five children were seriously injured when an attacker entered a school and stabbed 11 students in southern China.
The suspect “sneaked into” their school by climbing over a wall and stabbed 11 children, a statement from the Pingxiang city government’s information office said.
The victims were rushed to hospital, five with serious injuries, however, none was life-threatening, News.com.au reports.
Police have detained the 41-year-old suspect, according to the city government’s statement.
4. New York train derailment injures more than 100 people.
More than 100 people were injured when a commuter train derailed at a station in Brooklyn, setting off a panic during the morning rush.
The Long Island Rail Road train crashed around 8:30 am local time at Atlantic Terminal in the the New York suburb, Nine News Reports.
The impact bent the train’s doors and smashed windows.
Some passengers had to be carried out on stretchers, however, no injuries were life-threatening, the New York Fire Department confirmed.
The train reportedly entered the station at an unusually high speed and authorities are investigating what caused the incident.
5. Man critical after falling down rockface near Sydney Harbour Bridge.
A man has suspected head and internal injuries after falling down a cliff near Sydney Harbour Bridge early Thursday morning.
Emergency services were called to a reserve on Olympic Drive at Kirribilli about 1.30am after reports a man had fallen between a rock face and a walking track, NSW Police said.
The 34-year-old was pulled to safety and rushed to the Royal North Shore Hospital with suspected head and internal injuries where he remains in a serious condition.
6. Record amount of cocaine coming into Australia.
Police have seized more than 600kg of cocaine at Australian borders in six months, almost double the amount detected in the previous year.
In the six months to December, police seized more than 600kg at the country’s borders and identified a further 632kg which was destined for here, News.com.au reports.
This is a huge jump in kilograms seized compared to the 2014-2015 financial year, when authorities detected 368.9kg of cocaine importations.
That amount was a 50 per cent increase on the previous year’s total of 245.6kg, showing an alarming rise in the amount of cocaine being attempted to be imported into Australia in recent years.
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