news

Friday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. G20 in Brisbane

The G20 hits Brisbane.

 

 

 

As the leaders arrive in force for tomorrow’s G20 Leaders Summit, Brisbane is now a “declared” zone with 13 Brisbane and Gold Coast luxury hotels, the summit venue, the South Bank convention centre, all “red” or “restricted” zones.

The top of the agenda is economic growth. The Australian reports that in the wake of the new climate change agreement with China and the US some G20 members are expected to use the deal to force changes in this weekend’s communiqué to put a greater emphasis on climate change.

In other developments:

  • The Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives today in Brisbane.
  • The Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud the second in line to the Saudi throne arrived last night. The Saudi delegation is staying at Sanctuary Cove’s InterContinental Resort on the Gold Coast.
  • International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, have already landed in Brisbane.
  • British Prime Minister David Cameron will address a joint sitting of federal parliament in Canberra today.
  • Australia has sent two Anzac Class frigates and a surveillance plane to monitor the Russian warships which are headed towards Brisbane in international waters.

 2. Please remove this roundabout the President is coming to town

‘The Beast’

The Secret Service has made a request to the Queensland authorities to bulldoze a roundabout on route to the University of Queensland which the secret service feared would slow down the Presidential Cadillac known as ‘The Beast.’

Another request was also made by the Saudi Arabian delegation for a motorcade made up of dozens of official cars to convey its VIPs from Brisbane International Airport to the Gold Coast where they are residing in five star hotels.

Both requests were rejected reports News Limited.

The roundabout remains standing and the motorcades are being restricted to 10 cars per delegation.

3. Vivienne Westwood slammed for comments on the poor

Vivienne Westwood

Fashion Designer Vivienne Westwood has been criticised for comments she made saying that the poor should just eat less if they can not afford organic food.

The millionaire designer made the comments on British radio as she delivered a petition to  British parliament protesting about genetically modified food.

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The radio interviewer suggested, “not everybody can afford to eat organic food”, Dame Vivienne replied: “Eat less!”

When she was then told that many people are visiting food banks because they don’t have enough to put on their tables, so “to eat less isn’t an option”, Dame Vivienne said

“They don’t have any choice – this is the point, isn’t it,” she said.

“You’ve got all these processed foods, which is the main reason people are getting fat. They’re not actually good for you – they don’t give you strength, they give you weight.

She has since attempted to clarify her comments saying “I’m deeply upset if anyone would think I don’t care about starving people or don’t understand the terrible situation some people are in, quite the opposite, I have spent years campaigning for social and human rights issues,” she said.

4. Australian fighters join IS fight

Australian Federal Police’s counter terrorism chief has told a Parliamentary committee that a group of radicalised Australians have slipped the net and gone to fight with Islamic State reports The Herald Sun.

5. Father serenades premmie baby

A video of a father serenading his baby born at 24 weeks has gone viral. The baby’s mother died in childbirth.

His father changed his nappy and held him, he kissed him and bathed him, dressed him in an outfit chosen by his wife and he sang to him.

The baby died shortly after.

For more read this post here.

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6. Comet landing goes wrong

An image sent by the probe. (Photo: ESA; Photo: ESA/Cluster; Image: ESA/NASA - SOHO/LASCO)
An image sent by the probe. (Photo: ESA; Photo: ESA/Cluster; Image: ESA/NASA – SOHO/LASCO)

The Philae space probe has ended up against the side of a large cliff, something that may hinder its operations as it will not get the required amount of sunlight to power the probe.

Scientists believe that the lander is resting on its side possibly with one leg extended out into open space.

The lander was released by its Rosetta mother ship on Wednesday morning and touched down at a perfect spot on the comet’s surface.

But the anchoring harpoons failed to fire so the probe bounced back off into space and did not come down again until two hours later landing in the wrong spot reports the European Space Agency.

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7. Drug addict baby killer jailed

Trigger warning: This update includes some details about child abuse which may be distressing for some readers. 

A heroin addict who killed his partner’s 12-month-old son has been jailed for 25 years in Victoria.

Paul Ta Vuong, 31, beat the baby to death while he was caring for him while the baby’s mother left to buy drugs from her local dealer.

The Crown said in court that Ta Vuong deliberately killed baby Silas because he was angry at having to wait too long for Kate Leithhead to return with the heroin and at the time he believed she was having sex with the dealer.

Fairfax Media report that in sentencing Ta Vuong the judge said he had deliberately caused at least one severe impact to Silas’ head, which had resulted in “his skull breaking into a number of pieces”.

“In addition there was terrible bruising to Silas’ torso, a lacerated liver and injuries to his ribs.

“I find that you not only caused injuries to Silas’ head, but that you delivered blows and/or jabs to his body. The deliberate infliction of injuries of this kind is difficult to comprehend.”

8. Hunt for Tiger on loose near Disneyland

The tiger near Paris.

A Tiger (not a Tigger) is on the loose in Paris near Disneyland.

The town of Montevrain sent a news alert on its Facebook page saying the young tiger has been spotted in the woods behind some tennis courts and a soccer field.

The field is about 9 kilometers from Disneyland Paris.

Police are using a helicopter to help search for the animal, and a wolf-catcher was drafted in to aid in the search.

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9. Fatter women’s embryos less healthy

Researchers from Hull York Medical School have found that women who are overweight when they conceive are more likely to have unhealthy embryos with less chance of survival and health problems that carry on later into life.

The research also found that eggs from women who are overweight were significantly smaller than eggs from women of a healthy weight.

These eggs were less likely to called ‘blastocyst’ time of the cycle at around five days after fertilisation- a crucial development point.

The study’s author Dr Roger Sturmey said that “These changes may reduce the chances of conception for overweight women, and may even have long-term health implications for the children of overweight and obese women.”

10. Lily Allen morning after pill pic

LIly Allen as a joke for a friend.

Lily Allen is in trouble from pro-lifers after posting an Instagram pic in which she was surrounded by condoms, contraceptives and pregnancy tests. The image is reported to have been a joke intended for her friend Benjamin Garrett.

The caption was Birthday gifts from @lilyallen who had to pretend she’d had unprotected sex to get me a morning after pill’.

The Daily Mail reports that the image was quickly condemned by parents and pro life groups who said it was irresponsible and ‘dangerous’.

Anne Scanlan, of charity Life, which opposes abortion, told The Daily Mail “If someone like Lily Allen is putting this sort of information out there, she makes it seem like it’s a simple thing to do and that there’s no problem with it, but no one should be taking the morning after pill without answering questions about their medical background.”

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11. Bullies steal 10-year old boy’s emergency diabetes medicine.

A 10-year old boy has had type 1 diabetes emergency medication stolen from his bag at school by bullies.

The children then handed the tablets out to others in the playground.

The medication is necessary to save Benjamin Tomkin’s life if his blood sugar goes dangerously low.

His mother told News Limited it could have cost Benjamin his life.

“You think, do they not realise how important this hypo treatment is?” Benjamin’s mother Philippa Tomkins asks.

She is now calling for a better understanding of diabetes in schools. She says there is more focus and understanding about anaphylaxis than there is about Type 1 diabetes.

 12. Why cats will never be as good as dogs.

Dogs rule cats drool.. Science says so.

A study has shown that cats will never be as good as dogs (as interpreted by a dog person) because they are simply not as domesticated as dogs.

A study by the Washington University School of Medicine has found that cats only stick around because they like getting rewards.

Wes Warren, an associate professor of genetics at The Genome Institute at Washington University, said “Cats, unlike dogs, are really only semi-domesticated. They only recently split off from wild cats, and some even still breed with their wild relatives.

He told The Independent that he was “surprised” to find any DNA evidence of cats’ domestication at all.

So it’s official. Dogs rule cats…