8 Wednesday news bites (July 27)

Good morning and welcome to your daily dose of news you can use. Some sad news for art fans, with Margaret Olley’s passing but first up we head to the US, where talk of economic doom and gloom is making everyone nervous.

1. US debt ceiling $14.3 trillion and climbing?

President Barack Obama has addressed the nation warning that America’s debt crisis could soon lead to more job losses and serious economic damage if a deal isn’t reached by congress members before August 2. The Democrats and the Republicans are in a stalemate about how to handle the debt ceiling (the amount of money the government can legally borrow, which is set by the congress). The debt ceiling already stands at $14.3 trillion dollars and if a decision isn’t made in five days, the US won’t have money to pay its existing bills and will default on its existing loans.

2. A dog tests positive to the Hendra virus

It is the first time a species other than a flying fox, horse or human has tested positive to the virus. It is believed the dog caught the virus from an infected horse at the Mt Alford property in Queensland. The pet kelpie will have to be put down under the national policy to euthanise animals infected with the Hendra virus.

3. Melbourne man found with bomb making materials

Phillip John Marsh of Castlemaine, has been caught buying explosive substances on eBay by Australian Federal Police. The 35-year-old man was arrested last night, but alleges he is not a terrorist and was using the equipment to make fireworks. His arsenal included black powder, potassium nitrate, sulphur, a relay time cord, an automatic electrical trigger, anti-personnel mines, potassium chlorite and magnesium powder.

4. NBN Hacker had control over the network for six weeks.

Police have arrested a 25-year-old man in the NSW town of Cowra in Australia’s first solo hacking case. The man who used the online moniker “Evil” has been charged with 49 counts of unauthorised access to restricted data and one count of unauthorised modification of data to Platform Networks, one of the service providers for the NBN trials.

5. Cheaper milk costs us more

Research reveals supermarket giants, Coles and Woolworths, increased prices across a range of grocery items like mince, bread, tea and cream at the time of their cut-price milk campaigns. The study conducted by Morgan Stanley Research looked at online prices within the Sydney 2000 postcode.

6. Australian artist, Margaret Olley dies

One of Australia’s most treasured artists was found dead yesterday in her beloved Paddington home in Sydney. The 88-year-old was working on pieces for her solo show due to open in September. The cause of her death is still unknown.

7. Fergie blames herself for Beatrice’s hat disaster, hires stylist

Well someone had to own up. Three months after Princess Beatrice wore an octopus/pretzel shaped hat to the Royal Wedding, Sarah ‘Fergie’ Feguson told Hello! Magazine she felt partly responsible for the fashion faux pas. The former Royal stated she wasn’t around enough to help her daughter shop for the big event and paid for a stylist in the weeks after the wedding to help her recover from the fashion disaster.

8. Indian boy born with 34 fingers and toes, breaks world record

Akshat Saxena is the new world record holder for the most fingers and toes, he was born with 14 fingers and 20 toes resulting from a genetic disorder known as polydactyly. The now one-year-old from northern India has had the additional fingers and toes surgically removed.