1. Husband of Sherri Pappini gives first on air interview with chilling new details on her kidnapping.
The husband of Sherri Papini, the California jogger who dumped on the side of a road allegedly by two female captors in California, has given his first on air interview where he recounted chilling details about his wife’s suspected kidnapping.
Keith Papini told ABC News about the moment she was reportedly thrust from a moving vehicle on Thanksgiving, the day she was discovered.
“She was bound, she had a chain around her waist, that is correct, she had a bag over her head, that is correct,” he said.
“Her left hand was in the vehicle chained to something, she was chained anytime she was in a vehicle. They opened the door, she doesn’t know because she had a bag over her head, they cut something to free her restraint that was holding her into the vehicle and then, kind of, pushed her out of the vehicle.”
Sheri was reported missing after failing to return from a run on November 2 bound on the side of a rural road in the middle of the night.
Keith Papini said that when they freed her the alleged captors, thought to be two Latino women, stopped the vehicle and opened the door. “They cut something” that freed her restrain pushed her out onto the road and drove away.
“She screamed so much, she’s coughing up blood from the screaming trying to get somebody to stop,” he added. “And again just another sign of how my wife is, she’s so wonderful. She’s saying, ‘Well maybe people aren’t stopping because I have a chain that looks like I broke out of prison’ so she tried to tuck in her chain under her clothes.”
It’s unclear what happened to the so-called “super mom” during her absence but speculation has been rife and her husband revealed she was “covered in multicoloured bruises, severe burns, red rashes and chain markings.”
She’d also dropped to below 40kg, had a broken nose and “her signature long blond hair had been chopped off”.
2. Sara Connor says she did not kill Bali policeman.
The Byron Bay mother of two accused of murdering a Bali policeman has said she did not kill Wayan Sudarsa and only left the scene because she was scared.
Ms Connor and her boyfriend, British DJ David Taylor, are accused of murdering Sudarsa on the beach in Kuta.
Police say Ms Connor helped at the scene and then covered up the crime by cutting up the policeman’s belongings and burning bloodstained clothes.
“I was there to separate them and I got attacked. I got scared and left them there,” Ms Connor said yesterday.
She told media outside her trial that her two young sons need her.
“I would love to go back to my kids and to Australia. I miss them. I’ve never been so far away from them. It’s very tough.
“They’re surrounded by all our family and friends. They’re looked after. I’m sure they need their mother.”
3. Backpacker tax passes Senate.
After much negotiation the government and the Greens have secured a 15 per cent tax rate for backpackers.
The Income Tax Rates Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Reform) Bill 2016 passed the Senate 43 votes to 19 last night.
The last-minute deal will allow backpackers to keep 65 per cent of their superannuation at a cost of $55 million and includes a $100 million boost to Landcare projects.
The Greens said it was a victory for farmers.
“We’ve ensured that backpackers will continue to come to this country and provide the really important workforce that this country needs,” leader Richard Di Natale said.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said, even though the Greens deal coupled with the backdown from 19 per cent would cost the budget a total of $275 million, it was better than the alternative.
“Well, today it’s 70 per cent of something rather than 100 per cent of nothing.”
4. Muslim woman told in court: Remove veil or don’t take stand.
A judge has told a woman suing police over a terrorism raid on her house to remove her veil if she wants to give evidence because she would not remove her veil.
According to News Limited, NSW District Court judge Audrey Balla would not let Moutia Elzahed take the stand unless she took off her veil. But Ms Elzahed, who is one of two wives of Islamic extremist Hamdi Alqudsi, refused, saying it was against her religion to show her face to any man who was not a relative.
Ms Elzahed, who also refused to stand for the judge when he entered court, is suing the commonwealth and NSW for assault in relation to a counter-terrorism raid on her home in September 2014.
Her lawyer, Clive Evatt, said she could not reveal her face to any man but when Judge Balla gave Ms Elzahed a choice; she could have the court closed while she gave evidence or she could give evidence via video link. She declined both options due to the fact male lawyers on both sides would still be in court and would see her face.
Outside court she told media it was unfair that she could not give evidence.
5. Teenager found out his girlfriend was having sex with her teacher when he found Snapchat sexting on her phone.
The teacher who is to face a disciplinary hearing of evidence in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal was giving the girl after school tutoring.
The man told QCAT the relationship began while the girl was in year 12 last year. He said the girl told him she was exchanging messages with a teacher who had tutored her.
Queensland College of Teachers suspended the teacher.
The Courier Mail reports the girl has denied the sexual relationship in a statement to QCAT, but her now ex-boyfriend took screenshots of the Facebook messenger conversations in which she allegedly admitted the relationship.
6. French tourist stabbed to death as wife watched.
A man has been arrested over the murder of a French tourist in the Northern Territory outback.
Police say the man was killed in Aileron, about 135km north of Alice Springs, at 5.30pm on Wednesday.
"It is believed that two French tourists, a husband and wife, were at a rest stop 30km south of the Aileron Roadhouse on the Stuart Highway when they were approached by an unknown man," Detective Superintendent Travis Wurst told Fairfax Media.
"The man has allegedly then stabbed the male tourist to the neck, in an unprovoked attack. The male passed away at the scene."
The attacker then allegedly escaped in a car but was soon stopped by police.
The Victorian man was taken into police custody.
7. Your chocolate is about to get less sugar – with the same taste.
Chocolate great Nestlé has said it has found a way to produce the same chocolate with less sugar.
The researchers have found a way to structure sugar differently — using only natural ingredients so that the tongue perceives an almost identical sweetness to before.
Nestlé chief technology officer Stefan Catsicas told Yahoo it was “truly groundbreaking” research and had the potential to reduce total sugar in chocolate products by up to 40 per cent.
“Our scientists have discovered a completely new way to use a traditional, natural ingredient,” he said.
Nestlé will begin to use the faster-dissolving sugar across a range of its confectionery products from 2018 onwards.
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Top Comments
Its not 'an affair' if it is a criminal act. The teacher is in a possition of power so, if sex occured, she cant consent to the act. If she was in a position to consent then it wouldn't be criminal-come on mamammia, lets stop normalising victim blaiming and rape culture
4. Idiot.