6 Tuesday news bites (August 30)

Today’s news bites are brought to you by Rick.

1. Owners of dogs that maul could face 20 year’s jail

A tough new law in Victoria would put owners of vicious dogs on par with culpable drivers in road accidents in any death or injury they cause. The new law is expected to pass today and would include jail time of up 20 year’s and a ‘dob in a dangerous dog’ hotline. The law was proposed after the mauling death of a four-year-old girl earlier this month. The prospect of national laws is yet to be raised. Do you think this is the right way to go about it?

2. Gaddafi family photo album: oddly normal

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the world’s longest serving and worst dictators kept a family photo album that was … normal. It’s been uncovered in the chaos that has swept through Libya’s capital Tripoli. The Colonel himself is still on the run (reportedly in Algeria), after being ousted by pro-democracy rebels. It doesn’t look like he’ll return to collect these family snaps. Check out at the gallery below.

3. Let the market handle itself: Abbott

In his most significant economic speech of the year, Opposition leader Tony Abbott said a Government led by him would wind back ‘militant unionism’ and liberate individuals and groups from ‘second-guessing’ bureaucrats. He told the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) that the best way of ensuring wealth was to free the market from Government intervention.

4. Close the gender pay gap, strengthen the economy

Prue Gilbert from the Women in Leadership Council says closing the gender pay gap between men and women would serve as a big boost for the economy, not to mention stamp out inequality in the workplace. She said companies and organisations that wanted to be more efficient needed to realise that men and women had different ‘career cycles’ but that this was not necessarily a bad thing. Figures released on Saturday by the chief economist at Goldman Sachs, Tim Toohey, found gross domestic product would be increased by 13 per cent, or $180 billion, if the gender gap were closed.

5. Naomi Campbell: Bondage woman

Controversial supermodel Naomi Campbell has posed for magazine V Spain gagged and bound, causing a bit of a stir among readers. Judge for yourself.

6. Drunk man arrested in pub … holding two guinea pigs in a milk carton

Only in Queensland some might say. Police were called to a pub in Hervey Bay to arrest an unruly and drunk man who had shown up causing a scene, holding his two pet guinea pigs in a 600ml Breaka milk carton. Okaaaaaaay. The police officer involved in the initial arrest drove the man home and gave him a box to put the animals in before returning the next day to check on them. Now that’s commitment.

And speaking of alcohol, the trailer for the Hunter S Thompson based flick Rum Diaries is out, check it: