Japanese PM Shinzo Abe on track to become longest serving
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on track to become the country's longest serving PM after a landslide leadership contest victory.
Abe won 553 votes out of a total 807, and it's predicted his six-year reign will be unchallenged until November 2019, where he will overtake early 1900s Prime Minister Taro Katsura as the longest serving.
Familiar to Australian politics today, the average lifespan of a Japanese Prime Minister in the aftermath of World War II was just two years.
Con Artist on Bail Steals Student's Money
A notorious con artist is continuing to scam foreign students in Australia despite being out on bail for 22 counts of fraud and misleading conduct.
Korean-born businessman Eddie Kang has been offering students 457 visas that he never issues and refuses to refund the students’ money.
Students paid Mr Kang’s company tens of thousands of dollars to secure visas and jobs.
TechGiants to hand over encrypted information to Security Agencies
Tech Giants will soon be required to hand over encrypted information to security agencies under draft laws introduced to federal parliament this week.
Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton says encrypted information was relevant to 90 per cent of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation cases.
This would include apps such as WhatsApp where messages can only be seen by the sender and receiver.
$680 million dollars cash splash for QLD private schools
Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace is demanding an equal funding boost to state schools after the Morrison Government announced a $680 million dollars cash splash for private Catholic schools.
The latest announcement makes a total $4.6 billion national funding deal for the education sector, however, the money will only be spent on Catholic schools, and independent schools.
Mr Morrison says the fund will target rural and regional schools affected by drought, however details of how the fund will work are yet to be revealed.
Lady Cilento's Children's Hospital Name Change
It has been confirmed this morning that Lady Cilento's Children's Hospital will be renamed at an expected cost of half a million dollars to the taxpayer.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles proposed the name change after it was revealed a significant number of people wrongly believed Lady Cilento's to be a private hospital rather than a public one.
After gathering the support of 900 hospital staff, as well as the Board and it's fundraising arm, the hospital will be renamed ‘Queensland Children's Hospital’.
The Aints: The Church Of Simultaneous Existence
- By definition, there are a lot of new releases reviewed around here - so many that it can be hard for one to really stand out from the crowd. But this next release is one that I reckon is something so special that in decades to come it may well be recognised as an iconic Australian album. It is both brand-spanking new, and also four decades old. A new musical combination with a familiar voice reviving, refreshing and revealing a sound whose power has managed to be maintained, literally, across centuries.
Villagers: The Art Of Pretending To Swim
- The Art of Pretending to Swim is the fourth album by revered Irish band Villagers. For all intents and purposes, the solo project of Conor O’Brien, Villagers have carved out a name on the basis of his exemplary songwriting and lyrical acumen. Endowed with an obvious knack for the craft, O’Brien’s almost quaint approach is obfuscated by the complexity of the production. This is the case more than ever on The Art of Pretending to Swim, which is far and away the most experimental album in Villagers’ burgeoning catalogue.
US Doctor Alleged to Have Drugged and Raped Victims
A Californian doctor and alleged female accomplice have been charged with drugging and raping two victims, though authorities say there could be dozens more.
Surgeon Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend were arrested earlier this month after images on his phone showed him drugging and sexually assaulting a number of women.
Officials believe the victims trusted the perpetrators and went along with their schemes due to his standing as a doctor, and his history as a contestant on a reality dating show.
British Military Officers Acquitted
Two British military officers have been acquitted over the deaths of three army reservists, including an Australian army soldier.
Two reservists died of heatstroke during a training exercise, and a third died in hospital weeks later of multiple organ failure after gruelling training tasks on the Brecon Beacons mountain range.
The men were carrying 25kg packs up the mountain range on one of the hottest days of the year.
Fake Banking Apps Scam
Over a thousand Commonwealth and ANZ bank customers have been caught up in a fake banking app scam, after downloading malicious apps masquerading as real banking services.
The fake apps went undetected for weeks, phishing credit card and bank information, as well as other personal details from unaware customers.
Whilst Google cannot confirm the number of people who have handed over personal information to these apps before they were removed from the app stores, the number is suspected to be in the thousands.