We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.
1. Sex allegations against Prince Andrew thrown out.
A US District Judge has ruled that an allegation a teenager was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew be removed from the court record.
The BBC reports that the Duke of York had been named in court papers in Florida by Virginia Roberts who alleged US financier Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with the duke three times.
Judge Kenneth Marra said the “lurid” claims were “unnecessary” to decide the civil case.
In the past Buckingham Palace has “emphatically” denied the allegations.
Virginia Roberts alleged that Epstein had forced her to have sex with powerful men including the duke when she was 17.
2. Luke Shambrook spends his first night safe and well.
11-year old Luke Shambrook has spent his first night after his rescue in the Children’s hospital as he is assessed for hypothermia.
Yesterday the young boy with autism was found after being lost for four days in rugged terrain.
Luke wandered away from his family’s campsite on Friday.
Just before midday yesterday he was spotted by the police air wing walking on a ridge 3km southwest from where he vanished.
Luke’s uncle, Peter Roberts, made a statement on behalf of the family “We’re very happy obviously that Luke was found alive and well, even after such a long time.
“We’ve been just so overwhelmed by the response and we’re very thankful that we live in a society that puts a lot of effort into finding children who go missing.”
Victoria Police Acting Commander Rick Nugent said it was a miracle.
To see the moment 11-year old Luke was found by his rescuers read this post here.
To read about the men and women who rescued him read this post here.
3. PM to announce taskforce to tackle ice use in Australia.
The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is set to announce today a taskforce headed up by Former Victoria Police commissioner Ken Lay to “examine all existing efforts to address ice and identify ways to take a systematic, comprehensive and coordinated approach to education, health and law enforcement” said a statement by the PM.
The new “National Ice Taskforce” and will work closely with the Prime Minister, federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan and Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash to bring state and territory authorities together.
reports that Australia has amongst the highest ice usage in the world. According to a Crime Commission report released in March 1.3 million Australians have tried methamphetamine in its crystalline or powdered forms.
4. Immigration Department aware of sexual abuse allegations against children for 17 months but failed to act, say former Nauru workers.
By ABC
Former psychiatrists and social workers employed on Nauru are demanding a Royal Commission into sexual abuse at the Australian-funded detention centre, accusing the Government of putting asylum seeker children at risk.
The former Nauru workers have signed an open letter to the public, which says the Immigration Department was aware of abuse allegations for 17 months and did not respond adequately.
One of the signatories, Viktoria Vibhakar, a former child protection worker with the charity Save The Children, has broken her silence in an exclusive interview with Lateline.
Ms Vibhakar pointed to some of the worst examples from Nauru to highlight the need for a Royal Commission:
- A girl under the age of 11 who said she was sexually assaulted, and later self-harmed.
- A boy about seven years old who was found naked in the middle of the night outside a tent.
- A girl about five years old who exhibited sexualised behaviour, including asking adults to insert items into her anus.
- Ms Vibhakar did not specify the children’s exact ages to help protect their identities.
The signatories say the Federal Government was aware of abuse allegations as early as November 2013.
“What the public needs to know is that the Government has been aware for 17 months that children have been sexually assaulted on Nauru,” Ms Vibhakar told Lateline.
If you need help please call Bravehearts on 1800 272 831.
A version of this story was originally published on ABC.
5. NSW stabbing victim investigation shifts focus.
The fatal stabbing of a man on the NSW Central Coast on Sunday night may be linked to an earlier incident with a woman, police have said.
28-year-old Greg Gibbins was attacked outside a pizza shop in Toukley after attending a music festival. Police initially said it was an unprovoked attack.
News Limited report that they are now looking at whether an earlier incident, where Gibbins came to the aid of a woman who as being harassed, may be a motive for the attack.
Detectives arrested Bradley James Brooks, 20, over the murder.
He appeared in Wyong Local Court yesterday and was remanded in custody until next month.
6. Federal Government to release its blueprint for Australia’s energy future.
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane will release an energy white paper today which will focus on improving market competition and energy productivity to reduce consumer costs.
The paper, foreshadowed in September outlined a plan for future investment in Australia’s energy sector – and flagged changes to electricity tariffs which would allow consumers to avoid using power at peak times.
7. Rand Paul running for US President.
In the US a second Republican has announced he will run for US President in 2016.
On his web site Paul formally announced his run, writing “I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government.”
He is the second major Republican contender to announce a run after senator Ted Cruz of Texas jumped into the race last month.
8. Mother evicted from Easter egg hunt after taking too many chocolates.
A mother has been evicted from a charity Easter egg hunt after taking too many chocolates.
The event, Melbourne’s Greatest Ever Easter Egg Hunt, was run by Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation at Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday. It was to raise money for organ and tissue donation.
Event organiser Allan Turner told The Daily Mail that gluttonous parents were a problem at the event. He said they took in extra bags and even prams to fill up with Easter eggs.
He said the woman who had brought her children to the event started filling up a shopping bag, participants are meant to just use the buckets provided.
A 13-year old volunteer was abused by the woman.
“[The woman] was saying “I’ve not done it”… [but] she had definitely filled up a number of bags to the hilt, more than people paying $5 a bucket,” Mr Turner said.
“She got irate and started carrying on and started having a go at my young volunteer who was only 13 years old.
“She was using the f-word, saying “You can’t stop from f***ing doing this and f*** off””
9. Senator reacts to allegations he called Julia Gillard a “mangy dog.”
Crossbench senator David Leyonhjelm is under fire for comments he is reported to have made in 2011 where he referred to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard as a “mangy dog.”
Latika Bourke writes for Fairfax Media that Senator Leyonhjelm posted the comments before his election to Parliament, on the blog site Catallaxy Files.
He is also the author of comments making light of breast cancer.
The comments about the former PM were in regards to an article about the carbon tax.
Written by DavidLeyonhjelm he wrote: “Every dog has its day, including mangy dogs like Gillard. History won’t remember her for the carbon tax but for leading Labor to the biggest defeat ever.”
Fairfax Media asked the Senator whether he made the comments. His reply was that ” it was “absolute crap” to expect politicians not to say things an ordinary voter wouldn’t say.
“I don’t remember [writing] it but I don’t give a f— if I did,” he said.
“Get real, Australians are rude about their elected politicians,” he said.
“Calling Gillard a mangy dog is mild and absolutely nothing compared to what others have said about her and what people say about Tony Abbott,” Senator Leyonhjelm said.
“I mean the Abbott-hating industry is massive, so its total hypocrisy to say that something I said four years ago shouldn’t have been said because I’m now a senator.”
10. One hundred year old man murders his wife with an axe.
A tragic murder in the US where a man murdered his wife with an axe, then turned and killed himself.
The Record reports that the man, from North Jersey was 100-years old. His wife was 88-years old.
Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli tweeted that there was a “history of domestic issues” between Michael Juskin and his 88-year-old wife, Rosalia.
A member of Mr Juskin’s family told The Record he suffered from dementia.
“Sometimes he was lucid and sometimes he wasn’t.
Juskin is one of the oldest people to ever commit a homicide.
If you need help or you just want to talk please phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.
For Domestic Violence help 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
11. Online breast milk sales actually cows milk.
Breast milk sales in the US are a booming business, but a new study has shown that women may not be getting what they think they are.
Ohio’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital studied more than 100 samples and found that 10 percent of breast milk sold online is mixed with cow’s milk.
Even more distressing was the finding in a previous study that found 20 percent of the milk samples were positive for cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which can cause serious illness in sick or premature babies.
Last year there were about 55,000 postings to the top four sites that broker milk sales and donations in the US.
12. Jeremy Clarkson no charges to be laid.
Jeremy Clarkson will face no further police action over his attack on a Top Gear producer at a hotel.
Police in the UK have said that the presenter, who was suspended by the BBC on March 10 before it announced his contract would not be renewed, has co-operated with inquiries and that they will not be pursuing the matter any further.
13. Free whooping cough vaccinations offered to pregnant women in ACT.
By ABC
Pregnant women in Canberra are being offered a free whooping cough vaccination to help stamp out the potentially deadly respiratory illness.
However a shortage of vaccination supplies has delayed the start of the program until the end of the month.
The ACT Government agreed to fund a free antenatal pertussis vaccination for women in the final three months of their pregnancy.
“This is a very practical step that we can take to protect women and their unborn children and pass the immunisation through to their children,” ACT Health Minister Simon Corbell said.
“Currently children can not be fully immunised against whooping cough under the age of six months.
“There’s limited protection for newborns and so vaccinating mothers in their third trimester will help provide protection to those infants.”
The repetitive coughing caused by whooping cough can be deadly, especially for tiny babies.
A version of this story was originally published on ABC.
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Top Comments
Why don't we hear outrage in the media when sexual allegations are proven wrong. A false allegation damages the victim enormously, and there have been a lot recently.