opinion

Cheat sheet: Friday's news in 60 seconds.

Your speedy update on all the day’s stories, Friday, July 4 2014

1. Man who left toddler in the back of car sexted other women while his son died.

Justin Ross Harris – the man charged with intentionally murdering his 22-month-old son Cooper, when he claimed that he accidentally left him in the  backseat of the car on a hot day – had two life insurance policies on his son.

News.com.au has reported that Cobb County Police Detective Phil Stoddard told the court that the life insurance policies on Cooper were worth $US2,000 and $US25,000. The detective also said that Justin has searched for the term “how to survive prison” on the internet before Cooper died.

On the day Cooper died, it was also discovered that Harris had been sexting six other women, including a 17-year-old girl.

Justin has been charged with murder and child cruelty, and may also be charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and misdemeanour illegal contact with a minor.

2. It is the year of Elsa.

According to BabyCentre, it is the year of the name Elsa. All thanks to the popular Disney movie Frozen. Elsa has appeared in the top 100 most popular baby names in 2014 (currently at #88 in the UK) for the first time in decades.

NameTrends.net says that last year Elsa was number 528th in the US.

So if you are thinking of naming your newborn Elsa for originality, think again.

3. Parents unite for #NoBubsBehindBars.

Yesterday, four asylum seekers were transferred from Adelaide to Christmas Island – among them an Australian-born baby. In Australia, pregnant mothers claiming asylum are permitted onshore (mainland Australia) to deliver their baby. Once the child is deemed as old enough to travel (around 8 weeks) they are sent back to Christmas Island and face the first years of their life behind detention centre bars.

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As a result, Australian parents are joining forces posting photos of their children to the Facebook page 

So far the Facebook page has 1,628 likes. CLICK THROUGH to see the images (more news below the gallery):

4. Israel gets ready for a military attack.

News.com.au reports that in the aftermath of the 3 teenagers kidnapped and killed in the West Bank, Israel has armed its border with Gaza.

Last month, 3 Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank causing outrage in Israel. Nobody has claimed responsibility. This was followed by a suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in the religious city Jerusalem. 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khder’s body was “burnt beyond recognition” according to his family’s lawyer. Israel have confirmed they are investigating his death.

As tension raise, 232 Palestinians were injured in clashes in east Jerusalem, according to the Red Crescent. And on Thursday, Israeli warplanes targeted the Gaza Strip while militants fired 19 rockets.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner  told the media, “We have moved forces in order to serve defence activities and forward preparation, but we have no interest in escalation.”

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Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has called Aby Khder’s murder as “descpicable” and asked both sides “not to take the law into their own hands”. Outgoing Israel President, Shimon Peres, asked for calm and restraint on both sides.

5. Home-made baby formula is dangerous for babies.

A growing number of women concerned about mass-produced baby formula are making their own home-madeversion from raw-milk and adding vitamins and minerals from natural sources.

But a warning has been issued that home-made formula is dangerous. The concern is the raw-milk being used. Raw-milk is not pasteurised (meaning bacteria normally killed during the pasteurisation process remains in the milk). Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, one of the lead authors a article published in the American Academy of Pediatrics said, “Contamination during milking or storage or milking from cows that may be diseased, exposes the consumer to severe and life-threatening illnesses such as miscarriage and still births in pregnant women, meningitis and blood infections in both young infants and pregnant women.”

6. The little boy who can dance better to Lady Gaga than Lady Gaga.

A video of a little boy dancing to Lady Gaga at a Talent Competition has gone viral. The boy pulls some killer moves to Lady Gaga’s hit Bad Romance. 

While this video has gone viral, we can’t help but notice that the boy’s schoolmates don’t seem to be that supportive of his dance moves. We don’t think Gaga would be very happy about that. 

http://youtu.be/eBYSkGrEdcA