Ivanka cuts interview short

Ivanka Trump cut short an interview with Cosmopolitan after she was asked about some of Donald Trump’s previous remarks.

She later criticised the interviewer for having “a lot of negativity” in her questions.

The interviewer said: “In 2004, Donald Trump said that pregnancy is an inconvenient thing for a business. It’s surprising to see this policy from him today. Can you talk a little about those comments, and perhaps what has changed?”

Trump responded: “So I think that you have a lot of negativity in these questions.

“So I don’t know how useful it is to spend too much time with you on this, if you’re going to make a comment like that.”

She cut the interview off shortly after that, then tweeted the following:

Read the full story here.

The cost of childbirth in Australia

Australia is one of the most expensive countries in the world when it comes to women giving birth, a major new study shows.

A survey of 14 developed countries shows that Australia ranks behind the United States as the most expensive place to have a baby.

The cost of a caesarean section is estimated at $US10,500 ($A14,086) in Australia, only $US5,000 ($A6,708) cheaper than in the US, figures compiled by The Lancet show.

A vaginal birth in Australia costs $US6,775 ($A9,089), while in the US it is $US10,232 ($A13,726).

Most women in high income countries deliver their babies in hospital, regardless of whether they have low or high-risk pregnancies, the report said.

But it noted that while hospitals were well set up to cater for high-risk women, they weren’t always optimal for low-risk mums-to-be who were subjected to more interventions, such as caesarean sections and inductions of labour, than was necessary for most.

Australia was also found to have the second-highest rate of women over 35 giving birth — 23 per cent compared to nearly 35 per cent in Spain. Those older Australian mums accounted for 40 per cent of the total maternal deaths across the country.

Beautiful young pregnant woman smilingSource:ThinkStock

Did Donald Trump Jr just drop a Holocaust reference?

During an interview with Philadelphia-based conservative talk radio host Chris Stigall, Donald Trump’s son commented that the media allowed the Democratic candidate to “slide” on every “lie”.

“The media has been her number one surrogate in this. Without the media, this wouldn’t even be a contest. But the media has built her up. They’ve let her slide on every indiscrepancy, on every lie, on every DNC game trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the thing,” the 38-year-old said.

“I mean, if Republicans were doing that, they’d be warming up the gas chamber right now. It’s a very different system — there’s nothing fair about it,” Trump’s eldest child added.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, the Trump campaign denied that Trump Jr. was referring to the Holocaust, saying he was actually talking about the “gas chamber” used in “capital punishment”.

— Charlotte Willis

Read the full story here.

Donald Trump, Jr., son of Donald Trump, has been accused of dropping a Holocaust reference into an interview.Source:AFP

North Korea ‘ready for another attack on US’

North Korea’s Foreign Minister says the country is ready to launch another attack against the “provocations” of the United States, whose bombers this week flew over South Korea in a show of solidarity with its ally after Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test.

North Korea set off its most powerful nuclear blast to date this month, saying it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile and ratcheting up a threat that its rivals and the United Nations have been powerless to contain.

Two US B-1 bombers flew over South Korea on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from the North.

“The people of Korea are ready to stage another attack against the provocations of the United States,” said Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho during a speech on Thursday at a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement countries in Venezuela.

— Reuters

NY cop attacked with meat cleaver

A man armed with a meat cleaver has reportedly attacked a police officer in New York.

The attacker was then shot by officers, hitting him multiple times, reported the New York Post.

It’s believed an off-duty detective got into an altercation with the attacker before he was struck by cleaver. A second officer was injured when a bullet grazed his back when police began shooting at the attacker.

The incident happened near Penn Station about 5pm local time.

The officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital, but the extent of their injuries wasn’t immediately known. The attacker is in critical condition.

A man with a meat cleaver attacked a NYPD officer.Source:Supplied

Woman kills herself over online abuse

A woman has taken her own life after she received a backlash of online abuse over a sex video that was shared widely without her consent.

Last year, Tiziana Cantone, 31, from Naples, Italy, sent a video to her ex-boyfriend of her performing oral sex on another man.

The video soon found its way to various social media websites before the girl’s face became a popular meme in Italy.

Tiziana Cantone took her own life over the incident.Source:Instagram

Two Italian soccer players, Antonio Floro Flores and Paolo Cannavaro, publicised it even more after they got in on the meme.

Cantone fast became a cultural phenomenon, with gossip sites following her and men attempting to track her down.

She made several desperate attempts to see the video removed from the internet entirely, but while Facebook blocked content in relation to the case, new versions of the video would re-emerge.

Cantone made several desperate attempts to see the video removed from the internet entirely.Source:Instagram

According to local media reports, Cantone was in the process of legally changing her name when she was found dead.

Teresa Petrosino, a friend, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that Ms Cantone was “destroyed” by the abuse.

“She had spoken of her desire to leave everything behind, and to close with the past,” she said.

“I wonder how anyone can be so fierce, how to rage against a girl who has not done anything wrong.

“I think that they should be ashamed of all those who have filled the web of insults and meanwhile secretly watched the images.”

Italian politician Donata Lenzi, head of the Democratic Party (PD) group in the Social Affairs Commission, has proposed legislation punishing cyberbullying and the distribution of revenge porn.

Footage of Tiziana Cantone performing a sex act on a man was uploaded to the Internet in Spring last year.Source:Instagram

iPhone 7 officially on sale

Aaaaaaand the doors into Apple’s Sydney store just opened.

But many diehard Aussie Apple fans, who began waiting in line nearly 48 hours before it was due to hit the stores, will be left disappointed.

Late yesterday, Apple announced there would be no iPhone 7 Plus or jet black iPhone 7 units available in stores for walk-in customers because they were already sold out.

Read the full story here.

Diehard Apple fans will be disappointed by this.Source:Getty Images

Japan to increase activities in South China Sea

Japan will increase engagement in the South China Sea through training cruises with the U.S. Navy and multilateral exercises with regional navies, the nation’s defense minister said Thursday.

Newly appointed minister Tomomi Inada said Japan will also help build the capacity of coastal nations.

Japan, a close U.S. ally, is not among the countries claiming territory in the disputed South China Sea but shares U.S. concern about China’s assertive behavior there.

Japan has a separate territorial dispute with China over unoccupied islands they both claim farther north in the East China Sea.

Inada said China has escalated its incursions by its vessels into Japan’s territorial waters around the islands.

However, Inada said she is open to constructive dialogue with China and will expedite negotiations on preventing collisions between their forces at sea and in the air.

— AP

Japan will increase engagement in the South China Sea through training cruises with the U.S. Navy.Source:AFP

Dastyari breaks his silence

Embattled Labor senator Sam Dastyari has broken his silence on why he asked a Chinese businessman to pay a bill when he exceeded his parliamentary entitlement for travel.

Senator Dastyari told Fairfax it was an old habit from his days with the NSW Labor party in which if you overspent on a campaign you raised that money from donors and declared it.

The Labor senator resigned from the opposition frontbench over the saga amid accusations he’d been compromised, as reports emerged he had taken a pro-China stance on the South China Sea dispute, at odds with his party’s position on the matter.

Labor senator Sam Dastyari has broken his silence.Source:AAP

Pyne defends super backflip

Christopher Pyne has defended the government’s backflip on superannuation after it kowtowed to angry backbench MPs

The planned $500,000 lifetime non-concessional cap on fund balances, backdated to 2007, was yesterday dumped by Treasurer Scott Morrison.

“Consultation is strength,” the cabinet minister told the Nine Network, adding that it was a win because it’s now a better policy than four months ago.

The cap has been replaced by a new measure limiting non-concessional contributions to $100,000 a year until their superannuation reaches a limit of $1.6 million.

Wait for iPhone 7 nearly over

Die-hard Apple fans will finally get their hands on the new iPhone 7 on Friday morning.

People have been camping outside the Apple Store in George Street in Sydney since Wednesday morning with tents pitched and chairs bordering the store.

The store’s doors are due to open at 8am.

Apple has been trying to keep the crowds happy by charging mobile phones and providing 24-hour free wi-fi.

On that note, I’m just going to leave this Jimmy Kimmel iPhone prank here.

Hillary Clinton addresses health scare

Hillary Clinton is answering questions from reporters after a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.

This marks her return to the campaign trail after she was diagnosed with pneumonia.

“I have to say, from my perspective, I thought I was going to be fine,” she said. “I thought there wasn’t really any reason to make a big fuss about it. I should have taken time off earlier. I didn’t. Now I have and I’m back on the campaign trail.”

She said most of the staff knew and information was provided to a number of people.

“This was an ailment that many people just power through, and that’s what I thought I would do as well.

“I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to quit campaigning. I certainly didn’t want to miss the 9/11 memorial... I consider it a sacred moment.”

‘Heroin grandma’ gets six months in jail

The grandmother photographed passed out on heroin in a car with her four-year-old grandson has been sentenced to 180 days in jail.

Rhonda Pasek, 50, appeared at East Liverpool Municipal Court in Ohio yesterday, where she pleaded no contest to child endangering, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and a seat belt violation.

East Liverpool Police Department said it shared the infamous photo to illustrate the scourge of “the poison known as heroin.”

Rhonda Pasek (right) with her lawyer at East Liverpool Municipal Court.Source:Supplied

Richie becomes Australia’s most hated man on TV

All love has been lost between Australia and Richie Strahan after he dumped fan favourite Nikki Gogan and chose single mum Alex Nation in the shocking finale of The Bachelor.

With that move, all affection Australia had for the strawberry blonde boy from WA evaporated.

Read James Weir’s recap here.

Richie is officially Australia’s most hated man on television.Source:Channel 10