1. A four-year-old girl on the Sunshine Coast has died after swallowing a small, button-shaped lithium battery – which are common in toys and remote controls. The girl was taken to Noosa Hospital on Sunday morning, and flown to the Royal Brisbane Hospital that afternoon in a critical condition.
A representative for Kidsafe Queensland, Susan Teerds, told the ABC: “When a child swallows a battery it often gets caught in the oesophagus, around the voice box. Once it’s been lodged, within an hour, it will start to burn a hole.”
2. A Dutch journalist working in Egypt has reportedly been raped during protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The woman was reportedly attacked by as many as five men and was taken to hospital with severe injuries. On Sunday hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets of Egypt, to demand that Egypt’s president Mohamed Morsi leave public office. News Ltd reports that Australian tour companies are diverting tourists away from areas experiencing political unrest.
3. Three sexual assault lawsuits against the Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash have been dropped because the plaintiffs made their claims too late. In his ruling, The judge John G. Koeltl reportedly said: “The dates on which the plaintiffs connected their psychological injuries to their victimizations are irrelevant to the dates on which their claims accrued.” But the plantiffs argue that their case should be considered from the time they realised they were harmed as children.
4. Australia has sworn in its first ever Muslim member of the executive. Ed Husic took his oath on the Qu’ran yesterday when he was named parliament secretary to the Prime Minister and for broadband and communications.
5. A wildfire raging near a town in central Arizona has killed nineteen American firefighters. The US Wildland Fire Aviation released a statement on Facebook which read, “It has been confirmed that 19 Wildland Firefighters have lost their lives on the Yarnell Hill fire Arizona. … I ask for prayers for the families and friends of these brave men and women.”.
6. Just a month after Coles was criticised for claiming its bread was ‘fresh’ and baked on the day of sale, the supermarket giant has been fined $61,200 for selling fruit that was advertised as being grown in Australia – despite being imported.
7. Online book retailer The Book Depository has released its survey results announcing the ‘top 10 heroes and villains of all time’. Despite the final Harry Potter book being published in 2007, the most popular hero was still the orphaned wizard – with the most evil wizard named as Lord Voldemort. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series was voted as the second most popular hero.
8. US President Barack Obama has called both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from Air force One during his recent visit to Africa. A statement from the White House said Mr Obama congratulated Mr Rudd on his return to office and thanked Julia Gillard “for her warm friendship and close partnership in deepening cooperation between the United States and Australia”.
Top Comments
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Just recently I watched an episode of "Monsters Inside Me", where a child swallowed a button battery from a fallen remote control.
Unlike most Monsters Inside Me episodes, there was no happy conclusion. The girl was still in hospital a year later ..... The family probably in millions of $ of American healthcare debt....
There was an ominous warning at the end, saying we'll be seeing more button battery injuries and deaths, as manufacturers switch to those batteries.