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Wednesday's news in under 2 minutes.

 

 

By MAMAMIA NEWS

1. A US body builder has received criticism after she shared photos of herself weightlifting at eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Thirty-five-year-old Lea-Ann Ellison, who is pregnant with her third child, uploaded the photos to a Facebook page for CrossFit workouts with the caption “I have been CrossFitting for 2 ½ years and strongly believe that pregnancy is not an illness, but a time to relish your body’s capabilities to kick ass.”

The image has prompted huge online backlash, with many people fearing for the unborn baby’s safety.

2. Last night Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese appeared at the University of Technology Sydney, for the first Labor leadership debate before a national televised audience. The debate is a result of reforms made by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which require that all regular party members would have a vote in the leadership ballot. Previously, only ALP parliamentary caucus members chose the party leader.

3. Meanwhile, Bill Shorten has denied allegations that he was “dismissive, elitist and rude” during a taxi ride to the debate. The man who was driving Mr Shorten, told a Sydney radio station that Mr Shorten was arranging a planted question during his ride. “He got straight on the phone to someone and said ‘Hey big boy, ask me this – Albo will be fine with it … ask us the type of Prime Minister we would like to be remembered as,” the taxi driver told Steve Price on 2GB.

4. The Daily Mail has reported that a four-year-old boy trapped inside the Kenyan shopping mall during terror attacks, confronted one of the gunmen. Elliot Prior allegedly told one of the gunmen that he was a “very bad man” as he stood with his six-year-old sister and mother who had been shot in the leg. The gunman reportedly replied, “‘Please forgive me, we are not monsters,” and handed the boy a Mars bar.

Overnight, the Kenyan government announced that the conflict between Kenyan authorities and the terrorists was now over.

5. An internal report has revealed that the army did not provide adequate protection for three soldiers who were murdered in Afghanistan last year.

Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, 40, Sapper James Martin, 21, and Private Robert Poate, 23, were playing poker when they were attacked by a Taliban insider.

The report suggests the soldiers weren’t put in a position to defend themselves – despite higher authorities knowing of the risk of insider attacks.

6. Yesterday Pakistan was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake at 4.29pm local time. The US Geological Survey says that the quake struck  at a depth of 23 kilometres, in the Baluchistan province.

7. The new education minister has announced that the Abbott Government is planning to make sweeping changes to Australia’s Higher Education System. Christopher Pyne said the government would get rid of compulsory student union fees and would reintroduce caps on the number of university places to ensure quality.

8. The four men who have been sentenced to death in India for the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Dehli are challenging their verdicts at a High Court. Judge Pratibha Rani said of the case: “We have to deal with this as expeditiously as possible because the sword of death is hanging over them.”  In India all death penalty verdicts must be confirmed by a High Court, and it is likely to take weeks for the court to review the evidence.

9. The ‘State of Origin streaker’ – Wati Holmwood – is again in the news after he was arrested for breaching bail. Holmwood was supposed to appeal his three-month jail term for streaking in July this Tuesday, but reportedly breached his bail in the meantime. The court was not told how bail had been breached.

10. The first woman to become the United States Secretary of State – Madeleine Albright – has joined Twitter, and gained over 20,000 followers with just two tweets. Her first tweet might have something to do with it:

Albright became the United States’ first female Secretary of State in 1997. She was elected to the position in a 99-0 vote.

Have you seen anything in the news you want to talk about?