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Thursday's news in just two minutes.

The children protesting abortion in Tasmania.

 

 

1. Children under the age of 10 have been protesting against proposed changes to Tasmania’s abortion laws which would see women able to have terminations up to 24 weeks into their pregnancy. The children – some in school uniform – were protesting outside Tasmania’s Parliament. The principal of their school told the ABC: “This is part of life. We teach kids for life… We’re very careful with how we deal with it, but we do feel that we wish to be heard on this issue and we feel that children have a right and wish to be heard on this issue too.”

2. A former North Korean spy who spoke to the ABC’s 7:30 last night says North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is young and inexperienced. Speaking from a non-disclosed location in South Korea, Kim Hyun-hee said: “He’s struggling to gain complete control over the military and to win their loyalty. That’s why he’s doing so many visits to military bases, to firm up support.”

3. The New South Wales Government has removed Darlinghurst rainbow crossing that was installed during this years Maris Gras festival. The rainbow crossing has become a tourist attraction since it was painted in February – and many people say the colourful strip had made the crossing safer. Many community members wanted to keep the rainbow sections of the road, but the NSW Roads Minister said the council did not have an agreement to leave it in place.

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4. There have been calls for Essendon coach James Hird to quit after allegations surfaced that he injected banned substances in 2012. In an exclusive Fairfax report today, former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank said he injected Hird with the blacklisted-drug hexarelin. Hexarelin increases human growth hormone. Hird told the media: “At present, I can’t (comment) because of the AFL/ASADA investigation, and once my part of that’s finished I will respond to these very upsetting claims.” The Essendon Football Club is currently under investigation by the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency for players’ alleged use of banned substances.

Alex and Bridget Jones

5. The two teenage siblings who died during a freak wall collapse in Melbourne last month will be laid to rest today. Nineteen-year-old Alex Jones and eighteen-year-old Bridget Jones died when a brick wall on Melbourne’s Swanston Street fell on the street they were walking along. Two thousand people are expected to attend the funeral.

6. Thirteen people were shot dead yesterday during a mass shooting in Serbia. The gunman, 60-year-old Ljubisa Bogdanovic, reportedly went on a rampage in the village of Velika Ivanca, killing his son and his mother. He shot himself in the head and is in a “critical” condition in hospital. It’s been described as the worst crime in the history of Serbia.

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