news

Saturday's top news stories in 2 minutes.

One of the speakers at last night’s protest.

1. Hundreds of protestors took to Sydney’s Oxford Street last night to rally against claims of police brutality during last Saturday’s Mardi Gras. The protest was planned after a video depicting the arrest of teenager Jamie Jackson on the night went viral earlier this week.

2. The Cronulla Sharks football team board stood down coach Shane Flanagan and sacked four staffers last night, following an independent review and an investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. Flanagan was shocked to learn he would be stood down pending a secondary review that could also lead to the sacking of other club board members.

Conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI’s successor will begin on Tuesday

3. Details have emerged of the standoff between police and a gunman in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall yesterday. The man, a 34-year-old father of three, paced back and forth with his gun held to his neck, reportedly screaming for his children and yelling at police to shoot him. Officers eventually fired non-lethal bean bag rounds, wounding the man in the shoulder and leg. He was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

4. The conclave to elect the next Pope has been set for Tuesday afternoon, following a series of closed-door meetings at the Vatican this week. Cardinals will enter the closed meeting after a special Mass on Tuesday morning and will not leave the conclave until they have selected Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.

5. Sixty diners at the world’s top ranked restaurant contracted food poisoning over a 5-day period in February. Health officials reported that diners at Copenhagen’s Noma restaurant fell ill, with a sick kitchen employee suspected to be the source. Noma, which topped Restaurant Magazine’s  50 Best Restaurants list for the past three years, has apologised.

ADVERTISEMENT
Oscar Pistorius with Reeva Steenkamp

6. South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is appealing against the conditions of his bail. Pistorius, who is accused of the 14 February murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will ask a court for permission to return to his home, and to lift a ban on foreign travel and conditions relating to mandatory drug and alcohol tests.

7. Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and former spokesman has appeared at a pre-trial hearing in New York, pleading not guilty to three allegations of plotting to kill Americans during and after the September 11 terrorist attacks. If he is found guilty, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

8. A woman in Zimbabwe was killed by a pride of lions during a sexual encounter with a fisherman in the town of Kariba on Wednesday. The man escaped and sought help from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management, who discovered remains of another Kariba resident killed by the lions the night before. Rangers have since caught and put down three of the lions. Adding insult to the woman’s death, news website Hypervocal reported on the story with the headline: “Worst Threesome Ever: Woman Mauled to Death by Lion During Sex.”