Man in Vic court over ‘terror tinnie’ plot
A terror suspect accused of trying to sail from Australia to Papua New Guinea so he could fight alongside Islamic State is expected to appear in a Melbourne court today.
Islamic preacher Robert “Musa” Cerantonio (SARE-AN-TONIO) is one of six men arrested near Cairns in May and charged over the alleged plot to join the terrorist group’s growing faction in the southern Philippines.
Cerantonio is due to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today, charged with making preparations for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities.
Mistakes happen: Labor defends Dastyari
Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh has defended his embattled colleague Sam Dastyari, (DASS-TEE-ARE-EE) insisting he should keep his job on the front bench.
Dr Leigh has told ABC Radio there wouldn’t be many people left in politics if there was a one-strike-and-you’re-out rule.
He’s insisting Senator Dastyari should be given another chance despite allowing a Chinese donor to pay his personal debt.
Academics want ok for e-cigarettes
Researchers say it’s discriminatory and unethical to allow the sale of nicotine in tobacco while banning a much lower-risk alternative in e-cigarettes.
The medicines regulator has been asked to exempt nicotine from the Schedule 7 dangerous poisons list, at concentrations of 3.6 per cent or less, to try and reduce the harm caused by tobacco.
Forty academics are arguing e-cigarettes will save lives, allowing smokers to access the nicotine they’re addicted to without the tobacco smoke that causes most of the health problems.
Ross River Virus cure on the horizon
Successful non-clinical animal trials have helped Australian scientists come up with a life-changing therapy for sufferers of Ross River Virus.
The trials conducted by researchers at Griffith University have found the a sodium based drug targets the joints by preventing cartilage breakdown, and therefore preventing a lot of the pain and fatigue associated with the virus.
The short-term treatment available at the moment has significant side effects, and it’s hoped PPS will be available for patients in two years time.
Australia to clock up 25 years of growth
Experts predict Australia will have maintained a solid pace of annual economic growth above three per cent over the 2015/16 financial year, in 25 years of uninterrupted expansion.
However, economists also expect today’s national accounts will show growth slowed to around 0.5 per cent in the June quarter, down from 1.1 per cent in the previous three months.
The Reserve Bank kept the cash rate at a record low 1.5 per cent at yesterday’s monthly board meeting after lowering the rate last month, and rates are expected to stay lower for longer.
Tiger obsession lives on in Tasmania
There hasn’t been a confirmed sighting of the Tasmanian tiger for 80 years, but an obsessive hunt continues by some who believe the extinct Thylacine (THIGH-LA-SEEN) still roams.
Today marks the eight-decade anniversary of the death in Hobart of the last captive tiger, but the legend of the dog-like carnivorous marsupial lives on.
Biologist and wildlife expert Nick Mooney says he’s heard from numerous people over the years who insist they’ve spotted a specimen of the striped tiger, including a supposed sighting in the Adelaide Hills.
