1. Ian Thorpe
It seems all of Australia is behind Ian Thorpe as he is admitted to hospital for depression.
With reports late yesterday that he was found disoriented in the early hours of Monday morning in a Sydney street his father has given an emotional statement saying “He is battling with his health issues at the moment and he is having a tough time,” Ken Thorpe said.
“But hopefully in six months’ time he will be out the other side.”
His manager, James Erskine has told the ABC that Thorpe had taken painkillers for a shoulder operation he had last week and also had antidepressants in his system.
“He became disorientated and he tried to get into what he thought was a friend’s car, but it wasn’t his friend’s car at all,” Mr Erskine said.
“There was no alcohol involved, he hadn’t been drinking or anything like that,” Mr Erskine said.
News Limited report that a woman living in the home sat with Thorpe until an ambulance arrived.
Other residents have said they have CCTV footage of the incident but will not release it to the media out of resect for the former Olympian.
If you or anyone you know needs help contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or BeyondBlue on 1300 22 46 36.
2. Schapelle Corby
Schapelle Corby could be freed within days with reports that a parole hearing took place last Thursday.
An Indonesian Department of Corrections spokesman confirmed the meeting was held. For more on this read this post here “Schapelle Corby parole”
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman
The NYPD have launched an intensive citywide search to identify the drug dealer who sold heroin to Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who died on Sunday morning.
FOX411 in the US have reported that police are trying to track down CCTV footage from an ATM where he was seen withdrawing large amounts of cash at 8pm on Saturday night. Police are also reported to be looking into whether Hoffman had injected a lethal batch of heroin behind hundreds of recent deaths across the US.
4. South Australian man dead in Bali
A South Australian man has died after being found unconscious in a Bali restaurant.
Rohan Max Fitzgerald, who suffered from a heart condition, was found in a restaurant toilet at about 3 pm on Sunday.
Hotel staff immediately took him to BIMC hospital, where a doctor tried for 30 minutes to save him.
5. $1 million reward to information on Bung
A $1 million reward and the chance of immunity from prosecution that leads to a conviction over the disappearance of schoolgirl Siriyakorn “Bung” Siriboon will be announced by homicide squad detectives in Victoria today.
The Age have reported that Detectives believe a member of the public may hold a vital piece of information that could close the case.
Dressed in her blue and white school uniform 13-year old Bung left her home on Elsie Street, Boronia, about 8.30am on June 2, 2011. The last confirmed sighting of her was moments later when a neighbour saw her walking towards Albert Avenue
6. Footy star receives good behaviour bond
Rugby League star Blake Ferguson who indecently assaulting a woman in a bar last year has been given a good behaviour bond.
Ferguson avoided jail when he was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond for indecent assault after touching a 24-year-old woman on the vagina at a bar in Cronulla on June 16, 2013.
7. Cast away
A Mexican man who says he survived more than a year adrift in the Pacific drinking turtle blood and catching fish with his bare hands has been transported to the Marshall Islands capital Majuro for treatment.
He washed shore last week after apparently setting sail from Mexico in late 2012.
8. Mason’s Law
Two grandparents, Sue and John Sandeman are fighting for laws surrounding mandatory reporting of child abuse to be changed in QLD after their 16-month old grandson, Mason died from horrific injuries at the hands of his step father.
The toddler, at the time of his death had a 17 centimetre skull fracture, a ruptured bowel and his tiny body was covered in more than 50 bruises.
Late last year his mother’s ex-partner was found guilty of his murder and sentenced to life in prison.
During the trial, the Sandemans discovered that staff at Mason’s day care centre had taken photos of some injuries a week before his death. But they weren’t passed on to the authorities.
In QLD childcare workers don’t have to report suspected cases of child abuse. (The same is true for Victoria and Western Australia).
The Sandemans are now calling on the QLD Government to introduce mandatory reporting.
9. Cancer deaths
Cancer has surpassed heart disease as the biggest killer in Australia, according to a new report from the World Health Organisation.
The WHO’s World Cancer Report found 8.2 million people died from cancer globally in 2012, including 40,000 Australians.
10. Calls for Facebook to ban drinking craze
Facebook has rejected calls by Irish authorities to ban pages and videos linked to the neknomination drinking craze, after two deaths in Ireland.
Irish Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has demanded Facebook act as a raft of interest groups including health chiefs and psychiatrists called for the phenomenon to be stopped.
11. Viral infections in pregnancy linked to asthma
US research has found an association between viral infections suffered by pregnant mothers and childhood asthma risk.
The more colds and other infections a woman had, the more likely she was to give birth to a baby that developed asthma.
The findings are published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
12. Four-year old Syrian jihadist
Disturbing footage has been released of a four-year old boy in Syria firing rounds from an AK-47 as jihadists exhort him on with cries of “Alahu Akhbar.”
The boy’s father stands proudly behind him as he is knocked back by the gun’s recoil. FoxNews reports that the boy arrived in Syria with his father from either Uzbekistan or Albania, along with the thousands of foreign fighters who are now answering the call for Holy War in the key Middle East nation.
13. Noelene and Yvana Bischoff suspected to have died from food poisoning.
Noelene, 54 and Yvana, 14, died after eating fish at a restaurant in Bali at the beginning January. After being examined by pathologists, no foul play is suspected.
Noelene’s brother, Malcolm, has said: “At this stage they think the cause of death is the fish … a bacteria called scombroid poisoning, which is a very unusual type of fish poisoning. It’s not very well known.”
He continued, “They can’t believe that this could happen. They’re sort of saying it’s just one-in-millions of chances that [this] could all come together for that to happen with two people at the same time.”
In brief:
An armed student yesterday took 20 teenagers hostage in a Moscow school and killed a policeman and a teacher before being detained amid security jitters ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
44 children and teenagers were charged with child pornography offences last year in SA and police say the vast majority are related to the “sexting” of images on phones and other digital devices.
What news are you talking about today?
Top Comments
Masons law- terrible tragedy- but surely his mother saw the bruises. Why put all the responsibility onto the early educators, they would be feeling devastated right now!
So why did the daycare centre take photos…so they could look back on how foolish they were for not reporting the abuse? I have a lot of admiration for daycare workers and the role they play in children's lives but I don't have anything nice to say about the group that didn't report it (but took photos)…is there more to the story?