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Sunday's news in under 5 minutes.

 

Indonesia: the number 1 destination for Australian child sex offenders

Number 1 destination for Australian paedophiles revealed.

Indonesia has now become the most popular destination for Australian child sex tourists. A new report accessed by The Sydney Morning Herald shows that 25 Australian paedophiles per month travel to Indonesia for sex tourism, exploiting children in the region for their own desires. This figure is just under 20 per cent of all sex offenders on Australia’s state-based register.

The growth of the internet has also seen an increase in pay-per-view paedophillia, as paedeophiles transfer money to “friends” in Indonesia who set them up with children performing lewd sex acts in front of a webcam.

The Australian Federal Police regional commander Chris Sheehan has now issued a stern warning to paedophiles: “reconsider travelling to Indonesia, the Philippines and other parts of South East Asia, because you increasingly face the likelihood that you’ll be investigated and then prosecuted.”

One in seven Australians living in poverty says national report.

Poverty is increasing in Australia with one in seven Australians living below the poverty line according to Poverty in Australia, a new report from the Australian Council of Social Services.

The report, released today, also indicates that the number of children living in poverty has increased since 2010 with figures showing that one in six Australian children are living below the poverty line.

In Melbourne 13.7 per cent of residents were in poverty compared to 15 per cent in Sydney, 13.9 per cent in Brisbane, 13.8 per cent in Hobart, 12.4 per cent in Perth and 11.5 per cent in Adelaide.

ACOSS chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, told The Age, “these findings paint a disturbing picture that we as a community need to confront… It will take leadership from our elected representatives and governments who must ensure that addressing poverty is central to public policy making.”

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A 21-year-old victim of a coward’s punch is in an induced coma.

A 21-year-old man has been attacked in Campbell Parade near Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

The man was standing on a footpath and suddenly punched to the back of his head before his attacker ran away, police say. He is currently being treated in St Vincent’s Hospital and remains in an induced coma and critical condition.

The alleged attacker is described as 183 cm tall, with a solid build and wearing a denim jacket.

11-year-old boy about to start his Year 12 Exams.

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Jonah Soewanditor, from the Scots College in NSW, is about to start his HSC examinations, despite being just 11 years old.

Soewanditor should technically be in Grade 6, but was identified as so exceptionally gifted he was accelerated through multiple grades. His teachers are already in discussions with universities to see which would accommodate Jonah despite his young age.

This year he will sit 2 unit maths and chemistry, before finishing his remaining HSC subjects- four unit maths, chemistry, physics, and English- next year.

Jonah told The Age: “I like science because you are at the frontier of new discoveries. I would like to find cures for major illnesses, especially cancer, because it is one of the most insidious diseases.”

A 59-year-old woman who spent the last 17 year in jail has now been found innocent.

Susan Marie Mellen, 59, was accused of partaking in a scheme to assault a homeless man 17 years ago. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Now, a Superior Court Judge has overruled her sentence saying the witness at the trial was a known “habitual liar” and that Mellen’s attorney “failed to properly represent her”.

Despite spending the last 17 years in jail Mellen is not bitter towards the justice system.

“No, no, I always forgave my enemies. Even your haters, you have to forgive them and sometimes you have to thank them because they bring you closer to God.”

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The court room, filled with Mellen’s family and friends, burst into applause following the Judge’s announcement. Outside court Mellen was reunited with her three children, and able to hold her grandson for the first time. Read more on this story here.

Taliban threatens Nobel laureate Malala.

A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban has taken to Twitter to threaten 17 year old education activist, Malala Yousafzai just hours after she was jointly-awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan tweeted: “Characters like Malala should know that we are not deterred by propaganda of [non-believers]. We have prepared sharp and shiny knives for the enemy of Islam”.

Malala, who had been encouraging Pakistani girls to attend school, survived a gunshot wound to the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 when she was 15. More on the story here.

Kurtley Beale to face disciplinary hearing over offensive texts about female official.

Kurtley Beale has been stood down from the Australian Wallabies rugby union team pending a Code of Conduct hearing over allegations that he circulated offensive text messages about team business manager Di Patston. He had also allegedly engaged in a mid-air confrontation with Ms Patston during the Wallabies flight to from South Africa to South America.

The Daily Telegraph has revealed the contents of the text messages, which included images and a degrading sexual slur against Ms Patston. The text was sent to other players and inadvertently to Ms Patston herself.

Ms Patston had been on indefinite sick leave since the mid-air confrontation and the Australian Rugby union has confirmed that she has now resigned due to stress over the incidents.

 

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