1. At least 20 asylum seekers have drowned en route to Australia after their boat sank. The group were off the southern coast of Java when the incident occurred. According to Indonesian officials, the boat was carrying asylum seekers from Iraq and Lebanon. It is believed that the majority of the dead were under 15 years of age.
2. Supermarket giant, Coles, has pulled a line of its nappies off the shelves after a mother’s Facebook post claiming that the nappies were a choking hazard went viral. 20-year-old Alexandra Maycock found her ten-month-old daughter choking on material that had frayed off a Coles Dry Fit nappy. Coles have stated that no other lines of nappies are affected.
3. Russia and the US have agreed to a draft solution to the turmoil in Syria, drafted by the UN Security Council. The resolution will require Syria to give up all of their chemical weapons, but does not state that this will be achieved through military action against the Assad regime.
4. Stories continue to emerge from the terrorist attack on Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. There are reports that British man, Mitul Shah, offered himself as a hostage in the place of a group of children, giving the children an opportunity to escape before he was gunned down. The media are also reporting the story of Abdul Haji, a Somali Muslim who helped an American mother and her three young children to safety by firing at the terrorists with a hand gun.
5. Al-Qaeda have joined Twitter. The terrorist organisation were reportedly inspired by the Twitter account of al-Shabab, the organisation responsible for last week’s attacks in Kenya.
6. The remains of a convicted animal abuser have led authorities to believe that she was devoured by her own dogs. Neighbours alerted the authorities after 67-year-old Patricia Ritz hadn’t been seen in over a week. Ritz had animal abuse convictions dating back to 1987. At one stage, she has 184 dogs on her property, although it is believed that she only owned 40-50 at the time of her death.
7. Prince George will be christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury next month. The christening, set to take place on October 23rd, will be held at St James’ Palace. Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Justin Welby, has said that it will be a “great honour and privilege” to christen the child, whose grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of the Church of England.