By MAMAMIA NEWS
1. A US body builder has received criticism after she shared photos of herself weightlifting at eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Thirty-five-year-old Lea-Ann Ellison, who is pregnant with her third child, uploaded the photos to a Facebook page for CrossFit workouts with the caption “I have been CrossFitting for 2 ½ years and strongly believe that pregnancy is not an illness, but a time to relish your body’s capabilities to kick ass.”
The image has prompted huge online backlash, with many people fearing for the unborn baby’s safety.
2. Last night Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese appeared at the University of Technology Sydney, for the first Labor leadership debate before a national televised audience. The debate is a result of reforms made by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which require that all regular party members would have a vote in the leadership ballot. Previously, only ALP parliamentary caucus members chose the party leader.
3. Meanwhile, Bill Shorten has denied allegations that he was “dismissive, elitist and rude” during a taxi ride to the debate. The man who was driving Mr Shorten, told a Sydney radio station that Mr Shorten was arranging a planted question during his ride. “He got straight on the phone to someone and said ‘Hey big boy, ask me this – Albo will be fine with it … ask us the type of Prime Minister we would like to be remembered as,” the taxi driver told Steve Price on 2GB.
4. The Daily Mail has reported that a four-year-old boy trapped inside the Kenyan shopping mall during terror attacks, confronted one of the gunmen. Elliot Prior allegedly told one of the gunmen that he was a “very bad man” as he stood with his six-year-old sister and mother who had been shot in the leg. The gunman reportedly replied, “‘Please forgive me, we are not monsters,” and handed the boy a Mars bar.
Overnight, the Kenyan government announced that the conflict between Kenyan authorities and the terrorists was now over.
…5. An internal report has revealed that the army did not provide adequate protection for three soldiers who were murdered in Afghanistan last year.
Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, 40, Sapper James Martin, 21, and Private Robert Poate, 23, were playing poker when they were attacked by a Taliban insider.
The report suggests the soldiers weren’t put in a position to defend themselves – despite higher authorities knowing of the risk of insider attacks.
6. Yesterday Pakistan was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake at 4.29pm local time. The US Geological Survey says that the quake struck at a depth of 23 kilometres, in the Baluchistan province.
7. The new education minister has announced that the Abbott Government is planning to make sweeping changes to Australia’s Higher Education System. Christopher Pyne said the government would get rid of compulsory student union fees and would reintroduce caps on the number of university places to ensure quality.
8. The four men who have been sentenced to death in India for the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Dehli are challenging their verdicts at a High Court. Judge Pratibha Rani said of the case: “We have to deal with this as expeditiously as possible because the sword of death is hanging over them.” In India all death penalty verdicts must be confirmed by a High Court, and it is likely to take weeks for the court to review the evidence.
9. The ‘State of Origin streaker’ – Wati Holmwood – is again in the news after he was arrested for breaching bail. Holmwood was supposed to appeal his three-month jail term for streaking in July this Tuesday, but reportedly breached his bail in the meantime. The court was not told how bail had been breached.
10. The first woman to become the United States Secretary of State – Madeleine Albright – has joined Twitter, and gained over 20,000 followers with just two tweets. Her first tweet might have something to do with it:
First of 3 female SecState’s – last to join Twitter. Better late than never! pic.twitter.com/gDQZUvebnR
— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) September 23, 2013
Albright became the United States’ first female Secretary of State in 1997. She was elected to the position in a 99-0 vote.
Have you seen anything in the news you want to talk about?
Top Comments
I haven't loved all the coalition's reforms so far but these reforms to higher education are spot on. Four years of university and I never once used any facility provided by a student union. Even though I represented the university at netball on several occasions. We had to pay for court hire, uniforms, the works. Which I absolutely didn't mind. But to add insult to injury, paying $300 a couple of times a year, (18 years ago), was a pretty hefty price to pay for a student. I remember being infuriated by the number of hours I would need to work to pay for union fees I would never use. I don't understand why its compulsory to join a union - seems kind of anti democratic to me. If people want to use them they can join and pay the fee and use the services. It should not be compulsory.
As for caps on uni placements I think this is also a great idea. It is pretty tough to be qualified in something then face an uphill battle because of an oversupply of qualified labour in the workforce. It just doesn't make sense. It would be nice if they also eventually overhauled the system so the ATAR marks are not the only criteria for getting into a course though.
What I find repulsive about student unions is the spending of students money on political campaigns. It wouldn't bother me if they were equal about it, but every time it happened it was in favour of the ALP.
I was at university when HECS was introduced by the Labor Government. Of all the issues that could adversely affect the finances of students, it was HECS, yet they actually campaigned in support of HECS.
At least I was given the option of being a conscientious objector and could donate the money to a charity. There was no way I'd want my fees be funnelled to a political party.
It's the same with trade unions, because of their affiliation with the ALP members are forced to support the ALP. I got in all sorts of strife once for objecting to that.
That's exactly why I think its undemocratic. It's also not transparent where the money actually goes to.
I'm interested, what don't you like about HECS?
It's a no-interest loan to allow you to go to uni without paying the fees up front. My family had no money and without HECS I wouldn't have been able to go to uni at all. As it is, I got to go to uni for no upfront costs, and they garnish my wages a little each month - i don't even notice the repayments. Best of all, the amount owing only increases by CPI each year! What's not to like?
I've got nothing against HECS, it was introduced the year I started university (1989) by the Hawke government. My beef was that the student unions at the time, complained bitterly when the opposition suggested a scheme for students to pay for university, yet when the ALP introduced it by pinching a coalition policy, the student unions were remarkably silent. God forbid they criticize the ALP!
This morning on the Today Show Karl Stefanovic was belted in the side of the head by Deborah Knight. They had obviously set this up and Karl swung his arm very slowly at Deborah. Deborah responded by giving Karl a good wack on the side of the head, with a cupped hand over the ear. The cupped hand over the ear makes the blow much worse, and in the old days coppers would do it to young men to get them to pull their heads in a bit.
But these days it's unacceptable. My question is, why has Deborah Knight not been suspended or sacked immediately when if a guy hit a woman, even by accident, he would have been out the door?
Are you serious? You just said that (a) they had set it up and (b) he swung at her too. So...should they both be fired, for a planned gag?
It deeply bothers and offends me when people (almost always men) try to call sexism in reverse in cases where it doesn't exist. It waters down and confuses what sexism/inequality really means, and trivialises the damage caused by sexism and inequality.
If Deborah Knight is arrested for beating her partner, I will be up in arms with you. But a mutual, staged, harmless tussle should not equated with real gendered violence - especially when intimate partner violence is the leading cause of death and disability in women between the ages of 14 - 44 in Australia. It is a real, terrible issue, for millions of Australian women (and statistically, fewer men). Please don't make a mockery of it by comparing this kind of situation.
maybe you need to watch a clip of what happened. Karl's arm was barely moving when Deborah cracked him on the side of the head. If it was meant to show what to do when being attacked there was no need for Deborah to hit him that hard and fast. you can tell by Karl's face that he wasn't expecting to be hit like that.
If the roles were reversed and Karl wacked Deborah in the same fashion the outrage would be overwhelming.
there's plenty of sexism against men but whenever someone tries to point it out you get comments like yours that try to diminish what happened. Harry was quite right to raise the issue.
Did you see it Alice? Karl was moving slowly, and even said it was slow motion, yet Deborah took a pretty good swing at him.
I suggest you have a look at it. It will be all over you tube by now.
I'm not making a mockery of anything, you are. It was set up, but Deborah went way too far.
Go watch it, and tell me if it would be ok if the genders were reversed. That's always the test that matters.
I did watch it and I am not convinced that it really did hurt as much as Carl made out, I think Carl was only playing. If she did hit him hard I'm sure it was unintended.