news

News in 5: Bride dies on honeymoon; New vaccine in schools; Rapper Nelly arrested.

1. 24-year-old Sydney nurse dies on honeymoon in Fiji.

Kelly Clarke and her husband Chase. Image via Facebook.

Two newlyweds enjoying the heat and the relaxation and the title of "Mr & Mrs" were on their honeymoon in Fiji when 24-year-old Kelly Clarke started complaining of stomach pains on Wednesday.

Two days later and the Sydney nurse was dead - a death her husband Chase describes as a "horrible situation" which should not have happened.

"She told me she was going to die," Chase told Seven News on Sunday, AAP reports. "I told her I loved her."

Kelly was initially thought to have typhoid, however her family has since revealed she died of severe bilateral pneumonia.

"This horrible situation shouldn't have happened," Chase said.

Kelly Clarke and her husband Chase. Image via Facebook.

Now, Kelly's body is being returned to Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to her family.

Tributes are flowing on social media for the young woman. "We are so shocked," brother Murray Shaw wrote, explaining Kelly had gone into cardiac arrest five times within an hour, ABC reports.

"You beautiful girl and amazing sister, you will be deeply missed."

A GoFundMe page has been launched to support the family. Click here to donate.

2. New vaccine to eradicate cervical cancer to be given in Australian schools.

ADVERTISEMENT

An updated vaccine that will protect recipients against almost all cervical cancers will be given free to Australian students.

The Federal Government has approved Gardasil 9 to be given to 12- and 13-year-olds from 2018, AAP reports.

The improved vaccine will protect recipients against nine strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), instead of the current four, and prevents 90 per cent of the virus strains that contribute to cervical cancer.

The vaccine also provides protection against anal, vulvar and throat cancers cause by HPV, as well as genital warts.

"There's a real prospect that over time, the viruses that cause the cancer will disappear from the community and the cancer will go, too," vaccine co-creator Professor Ian Frazer told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"By giving the vaccine that we now have, it will be possible to protect against almost all cervical cancers."

ADVERTISEMENT

3. US rapper Nelly speaks out after arrest over rape allegations.

US rapper Nelly says he is innocent after he was arrested over allegations he raped a woman on his tour bus hours after a concert.

"I am completely innocent," the rapper wrote to Twitter on Saturday. "I am confident that once the facts are looked at, it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation."

"I will pursue every legal option to address this defaming claim."

The rapper was taken into custody on a second degree rape charge in the early hours of Saturday by police in Auburn, in the northwestern state of Washington in the US.

ADVERTISEMENT

The woman had called 911 to report Nelly had raped her on the bus, which was parked in a Walmart carpark.

He was later released from custody and police said they are continuing to investigate.

4. Note found in Las Vegas shooter's room enhanced the gunman's aim.

Investigators believe a note found in the Las Vegas shooter's hotel room contained a series of numbers that helped him calculate more precise shots.

ADVERTISEMENT

A law enforcement official said on Saturday that the numbers found in a note on the nightstand included the distance between the high-rise hotel room that Stephen Paddock was using as a perch and the concert the victims were attending.

Investigators are still trying to determine why Paddock committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

He killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others last Sunday before taking his own life.

You can read more about the tragedy here.

5. You need to be aware of these new guidelines for spotting atypical melanomas.

ADVERTISEMENT

Not all melanomas have the typical features and there are other suspicious characteristics that need greater attention, Australian experts say.

Any elevated, firm and growing (EFG) spots or lesions should be suspected of melanoma, recommend experts from the Victoria Melanoma Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Melanoma Institute Australia and the University of Sydney.

Looking for these features would improve early detection and ultimately save more lives, they write in a paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, AAP reports.

Atypical melanomas may lack the more classical ABCD indicators - asymmetry, border irregularity, colour variation, and diameter greater than 6mm.

The authors advise any lesion that continues to grow or change in shape, size, colour or elevation over a period of more than one month should have a biopsy taken or referred for expert opinion.

"Suspicious raised lesions should be excised, as opposed to monitored," the report reads.

Cancer Council CEO Professor Sanchia Aranda says it's important the three additional indicators - EFG - become known to the wider public, not just doctors.

6. Gay marriage lobby declares its resilience.

ADVERTISEMENT

Same-sex marriage advocates have declared they are as "tough as nails" and will get through Australia's divisive national debate and postal survey together.

Supporters gathered in Sydney's Taylor's Square, off Oxford Street, on Sunday for a colourful street party featuring Love is in the Air singer John Paul Young.

Equality campaign organiser Alex Greenwich encouraged the crowd to keep the focus positive despite a group of seven same-sex marriage opponents who staged a counter-rally.

"We're going to ignore them because our campaign is all about uniting people around Australia's values of fairness and equality," he said.

The group of seven, which included activist Kat A Klayton, who was tied to Sydney's controversial "Vote No" skywriting, left part-way through the performances.