news

Saturday's news in 2 minutes

The Coalition are once again ahead on two-party preferred.

 

 

 

 

 

1. The latest Fairfax poll shows the Coalition in the lead with 52% to Labor’s 48% on a two party preferred basis. According to the poll, Mr Abbott has won voters over in terms of ‘trustworthiness’, leading Prime Minister Rudd by 7 points, a major turnaround from last month, when Rudd led Abbott by 5 points.

2. One Nation will not allow Stephanie Banister to contest the seat of Rankin, after a disastrous interview on Seven News. According to reports, One Nation party leader, Pauline Hanson, said that Banister, who referred to Islam as a country and was unaware that the NDIS was yet to be implemented, was “not ready.”

3. Police have foiled a potential terror attack on Sydney’s CBD. The plan was discovered after police found two bombs, larger than those used in the Boston Bombings, hidden in a duffel bag under a house on the state’s South Coast.

4. A bill to force Muslim women to remove the burqa when asked to prove their identity to police has been introduced in the West Australian Parliament. The move to pass the bill follows NSW legislation from 2011, which requires that people remove any form of head covering when asked to identify themselves to police.

5. US President Barack Obama has announced transparency reforms to National Security Agency’s widespread surveillance programs. The announcement comes in the wake of public pressure to increase transparency in the NSA’s operation, after exiled whistleblower, Edward Snowden, revealed details of internet and phone monitoring by the intelligence organisation.

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6. An American man who killed his wife and then posted the pictures on his Facebook account has been charged with first-degree murder. 31-year-old Derek Medina shot his wife before posting an image of her body captioned with: “RIP.” Facebook have since deleted the account.

7. A father and son have been found in the Vietnamese jungle after fleeing their village during the Vietnam War over 40 years ago. The father had taken his, then infant, son into the jungle after their house was destroyed by a bomb. The men were reportedly discovered when villagers found their treehouse, 40km away from civilisation.

8. A group of burglars who stole computers from the office of a charity organisation have had a change of heart. When the burglars became aware that the Californian office was actually the headquarters of a charity that helps victims of sexual violence, they returned the computers with a note saying: “We had no idea what we were taking. Here’s your stuff back. We hope that you can continue to make a difference.”