7 Wednesday news bites (August 3)

Morning teamsters!

Homeowners will breathe a sigh of relief as rates hold steady for the time being. In other news, it’s the middle of the week! They pass by faster every cycle it seems. Here’s the rest of what’s making news this morning, from the weird to the wonderful:

1. Supermodel Linda Evangelista demands $46,000 per month in child support

She said her billionaire former husband, Francois-Henri Pinault who is CEO of the mega luxury parent company of Gucci and Yves St Laurent, had yet to pay a cent for their four-year-old son. The Family Court Judge in Manhattan said it may well be the most expensive claim in the court’s history. The $11 billion man Francois-Henri does, however, have another child with actress Salma Hayek upon whom he spends at least $50,000 a month on one property held in the child’s name. So, should child support be a sliding scale based on relative wealth? Or is nigh-on $50k a bit rich?

2. Mother says beauty pageant is rigged because her daughter couldn’t possibly have had the best personality.

Yup, she surely did. Leonie Myles brought her daughter Tahnee to the pageant to compete but said the judging was obviously all over the shop because her daughter was autistic and didn’t have a good personality, despite winning the best personality prize. The Universal Royalty Pageant held in Melbourne, the first of its kind in Australia, had been heavily criticised for making children focus too much on their physical attributes.

3. Norway terror survivor pens letter to terrorist who killed his friends.

Ivar Benjamin Oesteboe survived the shooting rampage on the island of Utoya, but 69 others (mostly teenagers) were shot and died. But instead of becoming consumed with anger, the 16-year-old wrote a letter to the terrorist. “We are not responding to evil with evil as you wanted. We are fighting evil with good. And we are winning. Maybe you think you’ve won. Maybe you think you’ve destroyed the Labour Party and people around the world who stand for a multicultural society by killing my friends and fellow party members. Know that you failed.” He also wrote: “You describe yourself as a hero, as a knight. You are no hero. But one thing is certain, you have created heroes. On Utoya on that warm July day, you created some of the greatest heroes the world has seen, you united the people of the world.”

4. ABC to cut 100 staff from arts programming

Staff from programs such as The New Inventors (which has wound up), The Collectors and Art Nation will lose their jobs as the ABC embarks on budget ‘trimming’. A union called it an act of cultural vandalism and staff were said to be devastated. The ABC is funded by the Federal Government.

5. Study of 4000+ women finds one quarter have been sexually assaulted

The University of New South Wales study, which was looking at the link between sexual assault and consequent mental illness in women, found 27 per cent had been sexually assaulted, almost one in 10 had been raped and the same number (eight per cent) had been beaten in a relationship. The median age the women were when they experienced all of this? 13.

6. American mother sentenced for spraying breast milk at cops.

Robinette was sentenced to two years on probation after police officers were called to a domestic dispute at her home. As police approached, she slipped a breast from her bra and sprayed the officers with breast milk. She plead guilty to assault and obstruction of official business.

7. Congresswoman who survived assassination attempt cheered as she returns to work.

Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by a would-be assassin as she conducted a community forum on a street corner in January. Against all better medical advice, she survived. Her recovery has been remarkable and, in a little over 6 months she returned to Congress this week to vote to get the bill to raise the United States’ debt ceiling. This video is divine: