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“He gave his life to protect his siblings”: Tragic end for third child in shed fire

<p>In a heart-wrenching turn of events, the devastating shed fire that took place in Geelong, Victoria, on the weekend has claimed the life of a brave young hero.</p> <p>Isaac, the four-year-old boy who had been fighting for his life after the fire that tragically claimed the lives of two of his siblings, Ashlynn, aged 18 months, and Saige, just three years old, has succumbed to his injuries. The incident took place on a quiet Sunday morning in Corio, leaving the local community in shock and mourning.</p> <p>The children had been inside a shed on their family's property when the fire erupted, turning a normal day into an unimaginable nightmare. Despite the heroic efforts of Isaac, who valiantly shielded his younger siblings from the flames, the consequences were too grave for him to overcome. The fire rapidly consumed the shed, taking the lives of Ashlynn and Saige before they could be rescued.</p> <p>Isaac's father, Kane McGregor, described the extent of his son's injuries, with third-degree burns covering a staggering 82 percent of his young body. As if this wasn't enough, Isaac began showing signs of kidney and liver failure, all stemming from his courageous act to protect his siblings during the harrowing incident.</p> <p>“[Jasmine, their mother] said once she finally got the couch moved and grabbed Mavis first, Isaac had the other two huddled under him so they didn’t burn,” McGregor said. “What four-year-old huddles over their two little siblings? I couldn’t be any prouder of him.”</p> <p>Tragically, despite the valiant efforts of medical professionals, young Isaac couldn't overcome the devastating injuries he sustained.</p> <p>The loss of this young hero has left a deep void in the hearts of those who followed his courageous story. A <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-Issac-saige-and-ashlynn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe page</a>, originally organised to raise funds for the children's medical expenses and support, posted an update following Isaac's death. It read, "Issac sadly grew his wings and reunited with his baby brother and sister. He will always be remembered as the heroic young boy who gave his life trying to protect his siblings."</p> <p>Mavis, Isaac's six-year-old sister, was the sole survivor among the siblings, though she, too, suffered severe injuries, with third-degree burns covering 30 percent of her body. She is currently in critical condition and is set to undergo surgery to address her injuries. Despite the physical and emotional trauma that Mavis has endured, there is hope that she will recover and heal in due course.</p> <p>The circumstances surrounding the fire remain unclear, and an investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the tragedy. A couch inside the shed, initially used as a dog bed, became the source of the fire that swiftly engulfed the structure. The local authorities are diligently preparing a report for the Coroner to gain a deeper understanding of the events leading up to this devastating incident.</p> <p><em>Image: GoFundMe</em></p>

Caring

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Former Neighbours star admits to assault

<p>Former <em>Neighbours</em> star Scott McGregor will have to write a formal apology letter to a female patron at an iconic Melbourne pub after admitting to assault. </p> <p>The 42-year-old actor returned before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, supported by his wife and father-in-law. </p> <p>McGregor was initially charged with intentional sexual touching without consent in November last year, after an incident at the iconic St Kilda beachside pub “The Espy”. </p> <p>However, the charge was formally withdrawn after the prosecution accepted it was a “non-sexual episode”, and substituted it with a common law assault charge, which McGregor accepted. </p> <p>Although details of the incident were not aired in court, Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said there was no “sexual element” in the incident. </p> <p>“The summary I have taken account of is one momentary very slight touch – that’s all,” he said.</p> <p>“Its an appropriate matter for diversion, no doubt about that.”</p> <p>The Magistrate placed McGregor on diversion, where no criminal conviction is recorded if he complies with a number of conditions as part of the diversion plan/</p> <p>The prosecution, defence and the complainant all accepted this as a "favourable" and appropriate course of action. </p> <p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Diversion means that he did not plead guilty and was not formally found guilty, but he will have to write a letter of gratitude to the police informant, an apology letter to the woman and donate $300 to his charity of choice. </span></p> <p>If he complies with these conditions by December, his charges will be formally struck out. </p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Legal

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Ewan McGregor’s secret baby introduced

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ewan McGregor and his girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Winstead have welcomed their first son together into the world.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The couple kept their pregnancy secret until McGregor’s eldest daughter Clara, 25, confirmed the birth on Sunday, May 27.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clara shared two adorable photos of herself cradling the newborn along with a congratulatory post to her father, 50, and Mary, 36.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Welcome to the world little brother,” she wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Congratulations to my Dad &amp; Mary - this is the greatest gift”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQo3DK8rY0A/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQo3DK8rY0A/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Clara McGregor (@claramcgregor)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ewan and Mary Elizabeth have been together since they met on the set of </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fargo</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in 2017.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The actor met his ex-wife Eve Mavrakis, who is a production designer, in a similar scenario, while they were both working on the British TV crime series </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kavanagh QC</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Their 22-year-long marriage ended in 2017, though their divorce was only finalised last year.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ewan shares daughters Clara, Esther, 19, Jamyan, 20, and Anouk, 10, with his ex-wife.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the second time McGregor has surprised fans with baby news, having revealed in 2011 that he adopted a girl.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier this month, Clara made headlines after attending a red carpet event with cuts on her face from an earlier dog attack.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 25-year-old was in the hospital just 30 minutes before the premiere of the film <em>The Birthday Cake</em>, which she co-produced and also stars her father.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQERwjKlTe8/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQERwjKlTe8/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Clara McGregor (@claramcgregor)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Taking to social media, she explained what happened: “When a dog bite lands you in the ER 30 minutes before the red carpet.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Along with the caption, she shared photos from the event.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Clara McGregor / Instragram</span></em></p>

Family & Pets

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Teen’s touching random act of kindness for blind and deaf man during flight

<p>A teenage girl’s random act of kindness has gone viral after she helped a blind and deaf man communicate on a flight.</p> <p>Last week, Clara Daly and her mum boarded an Alaska Airlines flight after their original flight from Boston was cancelled.</p> <p>Clara’s mum, Jane, explained that the pair rushed frantically to board the flight and just made it in time. </p> <p>Shortly after take-off, a flight attendant made an announcement to the passengers, asking if anyone knew sign language.</p> <p>"Clara has been studying American Sign Language so she rang the flight attendant button," Jane wrote on Facebook.</p> <p>"They explained that the passenger was not only deaf, but also blind. The only way you can communicate with him was by signing into his hand."</p> <p>"They thought that he might need something and they weren't sure how to communicate," Clara told <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/06/22/calabasas-teen-blind-deaf-man-flight/" target="_blank"><em>CBS Los Angeles</em></a></span></strong>.</p> <p>Clara walked over to the man, whose name she later learnt was Timothy, and signed into the palm of his hand to see if she could help him.</p> <p>"Several times he requested her assistance throughout the flight," the proud mum explained.</p> <p>The Californian teen helped him ask for water and how much time was left for the flight.</p> <p>Clara was happy to get up and help whenever he needed to say something and then, "toward the end of the flight, he asked for her again, and this time he just wanted to talk.</p> <p>She spent the remainder of the flight until landing with him," Jane wrote.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjane.daly.501%2Fposts%2F10156396022402726&amp;width=500" width="500" height="764" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe></p> <p>"He didn't need anything. He was just like lonely and wanted to talk," Clara told<em> CBS Los Angeles. </em></p> <p>Clara was overjoyed that she was able to communicate with Timothy but her only concern was that she would spell something wrong when signing into his hand, as she is dyslexic.</p> <p>Since Clara is dyslexic, she started learning sign language about a year ago because she wanted to know a way to communicate without having to read or write.</p> <p>Her parents, Jane and Bill, expressed how proud they were of their daughter, and her mum shared the story after the airline emailed the photos the flight attendants took of Clara and the man.</p> <p>Jane and Clara’s original flight was direct to Los Angeles but the new flight they were put on had a layover in Portland. Timothy was flying to Portland and if it weren’t for the flight change, they would’ve never met him.</p> <p>"She'll probably kill me for posting this, but - Proud of my girl," the happy mum wrote about her daughter.</p> <p>After her story went viral, Clara said her random act of kindness was “what anyone would have done”. </p>

International Travel

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Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor share Moulin Rouge secrets

<p>It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 16 years since beloved musical film <em>Moulin Rouge</em> first hit the big screen. Now, for the first time since 2001, its stars, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, have reunited to share all the behind-the-scenes secrets of the film.</p> <p>According to the on-screen couple, rehearsals for the film started six months before shooting began – but some of their hard work was all in vain. “I remember being in a dance studio with you and having to do all those different dances – salsa, tango [...] and we didn’t end up doing any of them [in the film],” Kidman <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk6ey5yBZ_g" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">reminisced</span></strong></a> to McGregor.</p> <p>“And then the singing! I just remember you having this exquisite voice and me thinking, ‘I am never going to be able to hit these notes’. I was like, ‘Come on, practice, Nicole,’ and you’d come in and you were SO much better than me.”</p> <p>In between shooting (over 1999 and 2000), the co-stars revealed they spent much of their time at the Sydney home of director Baz Luhrmann and wife Catherine Martin. “We’d have great parties! Remember those Friday nights?” Kidman asked, to which McGregor cheekily replied, “Not all of them. Don’t remember all of them.”</p> <p>It also seems that the two became acquainted with the Green Fairy in preparation for the film, set in ultra-Bohemian, 1900s Paris. “We had some pretty wild nights,” Kidman recalled. “I remember Absinthe being passed out at one point, and me going ‘Is this safe?’ I was so naïve. Then going, ‘I suppose it is!’ Dancing on the tables.”</p> <p>See the full actor-on-actor interview below and tell us in the comments, were you a fan of <em>Moulin Rouge</em>?</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kk6ey5yBZ_g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>

Movies

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