Wednesday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Melbourne Cup deaths

The deaths of two horses have marred yesterday’s Melbourne Cup after Japanese horse Admire Rakti died on its way back to the stalls after the race and Araldo was euthanized after injuring himself.

Mike Moroney’s stable who train Araldo have called for stricter crowd controls following the death of the horse.

Moroney’s racing manager, Anthony Feroce told News Limited that the horse was spooked after someone waved a large flag at him after the race.

He lashed out and shattered his off-side pastern bone in his hind leg when he became stuck in a section of fence of the rose garden.

Feroce said people should not be able to wave flags around.

“As someone said to me, it’s not like the car racing,” he said.

“These are animals and they spook.

For more on the tragic deaths of these horses read this opinion post here.

 2. Rape victim fights for compensation

A young woman who was gang raped six years ago has bravely spoken of her ordeal and told of how a change to legislation has meant her victim’s compensation has been slashed.

The woman, now aged 26, is calling for the NSW Government to pay her and other victims of crime what she says they are entitled to.

For more read this post here.

 3. Virgin Australia place forced to turn back to due smell

A Virgin Australia plane travelling from LA to Sydney has been forced to turn back after an unbearable stench leaked from the bathroom.

“We could see it [human waste] go through the aisles, like it was very obvious,” Julia Malley told New Zealand radio.

Virgin has denied there was leakage from the toilets onboard.

“The onboard toilets operate on a completely separate drainage system,” the airline told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“As the issue was with the aircraft sink, and not the toilets, there was no incident of leaked human waste.”

Passengers were forced to wear masks for three hours to deal with the stench.

“In accordance with standard operating procedures, the captain made the decision to return to port as a precautionary measure after two of the sinks on board were leaking,” the airline said in a statement.

 3. CCTV shows woman being abducted

Police in Philadelphia in the US have released dramatic footage of a young woman being abducted.

Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, 22, was walking down a darkened road when she was approached by the suspect.

CCTV footage shows the man arriving at the scene in his car before he gets out and walks towards his victim.
The pair can be seen struggling before the man drags the woman back towards his car.

Her father has made a plea to the abductor reports CBS.

“Just let my daughter go. Whatever it takes, I don’t care. Just let her go,” father Carl Freeland said.

 4. Pistorius appeal

South African prosecutors have appealed the culpable homicide verdict and five-year jail term handed down to Paralympian Oscar Pistorius.

The date for the appeal application has not been set.

5. Gough Whitlam memorial

A memorial service for former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam is underway at the Sydney Town Hall with tens of thousands of dignitaries gathering to farewell the 98-year-old.

Former Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Bob Hawke, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott are among those in attendance at the memorial.

900 members of the public have been allocated seats inside the hall and video screens have been put up in Sydney Square to cater for mourners outside as well as one in Freedom Plaza, Cabramatta, and another in Federation Square, Melbourne.

 6. Australia to assist Ebola efforts

Finally Australia is taking part in worldwide efforts to combat the Ebola virus with Fairfax Media reporting that the government is set to announce it will assist several hundred Australian expert volunteers in travelling to Sierra Leone to manage a British field hospital.

An announcement is expected today.

 7. Abbott Government to examine parental competence.

Social Services Minster Kevin Andrews is leading a charge to help his department develop a framework to “embed” early intervention and prevention into social services’ policies and programs.

Fairfax Media reports that the key initiatives are to make sure Australians can transition through life and to boost parental competence.

He will argue in a speech that people need to be “relationship-ready”, “child-ready”, “school-ready”, “life-ready”, “work-ready” and “ageing-ready”.

The Family and Relationship Services Australia national conference will hear that more needs to be done to boost workplace participation as children in jobless families have poorer learning and health outcomes.

7. US Midterm Elections

The polls have opened in America’s midterm elections, which will determine who gets to control the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.

The Republicans, who already control the House of Representatives, need to gain just six seats to take the Senate.

Meanwhile the Democrats are battling to stay ahead as President Barack Obama’s approval ratings fall to the lowest they have been since he was elected.

8. Breaking Bad blamed for rise in meth use

A British academic has blamed the hit TV show Breaking Bad for the rise in crystal meth usage.

Professor Ellis Cashmore from Staffordshire University has told The Telegraph that having the central plot of a TV show revolving around the crystal meth would “instantly boost its appeal.”

“Although the show does not go out to glamorise the drug, its very inclusion promotes interest in that substance.

“One of the central protagonists, Jessie, played by Aaron Paul, is portrayed as a drug addict and he is now a Hollywood A-Lister. He is a bit of a sex symbol.

“The fact this character who we grow to love is taking crystal meth instantly makes people curious.

“The fact millions of people have watched the show and been entertained by it almost instantly glamorises its subject matter, whether deliberate or not.”

9. Hit-and-run suspect charged

A man will appear in court today after being charged over the hit-and-run death of a nine-year-old boy in the Northern Territory.

Jack Sultan-Page was riding his bike on Saturday afternoon when he was struck by the vehicle.

He died in hospital not long afterwards.

Police have charged a 21-year-old man with five offences after an off duty policeman spotted a car matching the description of his.

Mathew Alexander’s charges include hit-and-run, possession of cannabis and methamphetamine, and administering a dangerous drug.

The father of Jack told Nine News that they would never forgive the driver.

“Worst thing about is the bloke left him for bloody dead on the f—ing ground.”

 10. Mother charged after throwing six-year-old son over bridge

A mother in the US has been charged with aggravated murder after she reported throwing her six-year-old son off a bridge in Oregon.

24-year-old Jillian McCabe told police that she heard voices in her head telling her to throw the boy off the bridge, reports WhoTV.

Jillian McCabe was a blogger who wrote of the struggles with bringing up her son who had autism.

McCabe recently pleaded for money on a crowd funding site to help her take care of her autistic son, London, and her husband, Matt, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and gone from being “the sole breadwinner and provider to not” in two weeks’ time.

“I love my husband and he has taken care of myself and my son for years and years and now it’s time for me to take the helm,” she wrote

 11. Favourite movie lines

A survey has shown the most loved lines from movies and coming in at number one is Buzz Lightyear’s famous catchphrase, ‘To infinity…and beyond!”

The Radio Times vote in the UK controversially placed “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off’ from 1969’s The Italian Job in second place.

Third went to “Say hello to my little friend” from 1983’s Scarface.

The forth spot was “He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy” from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian.

And the fifth and sixth favourite quotes from movies “You’re going to need a bigger boat” from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and Gone with the Wind’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”