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Tuesday's news in less than two minutes.

 

 

 

By MAMAMIA NEWS

1. A body has been found in the Blue Mountains; police believe it is that of Sydney man Gary Tweddle, who went missing from the area on the 15th July after a work conference.

Tweddle vanished from his resort around midnight without his jacket or glasses, and called his colleagues to tell them that he was lost and that he was heading towards a light.

His disappearance sparked the biggest search ever conducted in the Blue Mountains area, with more than 1000 volunteers looking for him. An ambulance rescue helicopter reported seeing a body in bushland near a rock climb. Police are launching a retrieval operation this morning, as the area is inaccessible by foot.

2. In a huge development for fertility treatment, an infertile woman in Australia is pregnant after an ovarian tissue transplant. A team of doctors from Melbourne IVF and The Royal Melbourne Hospital transplanted the woman’s frozen ovarian tissue into her abdomen so that she could grow egg follicles and produce two healthy eggs; she is now almost 26 weeks pregnant with twins. Previously, ovarian cancer had rendered her infertile.

3. Tony Abbott has asked voters to trust him on policy costings. Speaking to Leigh Sales on the 7:30 Report last night, he denied that his lack of budget detail makes him untrustworthy. “If we consider this question of costings, I think people have had three years to look at me, they’ve had plenty of time to look at Mr Rudd, and I’m very happy to submit myself to the judgment of the people on the question of trust,” Abbott said. “I’m proud that no opposition in our history has been as responsible and as scrupulous in its costings as we have been.”

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4. Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has said that military strikes from the West would start a “regional war” in the Middle East, igniting a political “powder keg”. When speaking to French newspaper Le Figaro he said, “The Middle East is a powder keg, and the fuse is getting shorter … We cannot only talk about a Syrian response, but what could happen after the first strike.” Assad continued, “Nobody knows what will happen. Everyone will lose control of the situation once the powder keg explodes. Chaos and extremism will spread. There is a risk of regional war.”

Labor candidate Fiona McNamara.

5. Despite expressing outrage over Tony Abbott’s “sex appeal” comments, Kevin Rudd has been caught giving fashion advice to a female Labor candidate.

In a Four Corners episode that will screen this evening, Rudd is shown saying that would never tell anyone in his camp how to dress, or how to style their hair. But in an earlier interview with Brisbane Labor candidate Fiona McNamara, McNamara says that Kevin Rudd has given her advice on how to wear her hair.

Ms McNamara has since downplayed the Prime Minister’s comments, saying, “There is a bit of a problem sometimes with women’s hair in their face. That’s all.” She continued, “It was the nicest way he did it.”

5. Australian research has revealed that a poor diet during pregnancy can lead to an increased risk of mental health problems in children. Additionally, unhealthy early childhood diets link to increased symptoms of anxiety and depression among toddlers. The data comes from information out of the Mother and Child Cohort study in Norway, which looked at 23,000 mothers and their children.

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6. Victoria police are investigating claims that a dwarf entertainer was set on fire by a St Kilda Football Club player at a ‘Mad Monday’ event, a celebration at the end of the AFL season. Entertainer Blake Johnston was hired to perform in Melbourne yesterday, and claims to have been set alight by one of the players with a cigarette lighter.

7. An Indonesian official,  Director of General Crime, Brigadier General Herry Pristono, says that people smuggling activities are down by 30 per cent, but that it is too early to know if this is because of the Government’s new policies, or whether the effect will be permanent. Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke has said that the PNG arrangement is working, citing the fact that 4236 asylum seekers arrived by boat in July, and only 1585 in August.

8. Consumer watchdog Choice has opened an investigation into five frozen yoghurt chains, criticising their “outlandish” claims about health. Fro-yo chain Yogurberry has said its products can “aid weight loss and significantly lower the risk of coronary heart disease”. the NSW Food Authority is now investigating, as frozen yoghurts tend to contain significantly more sugar and less calcium than regular yoghurt.