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Fears of surrogacy ban as WA couple rejects baby with Down syndrome

Surrogacy Australia says it is shocked and outraged that an Australian couple abandoned a baby in Thailand with his surrogate mother after he was found to have Down syndrome and a life-threatening heart condition.
Impoverished mother Pattaramon Chanbua has told the ABC she gave birth to twins after agreeing to be a surrogate with a promised payment of about $16,000.
The Western Australian couple rejected six-month-old Gammy and only took his healthy sister home with them, and Ms Chanbua says she cannot afford Gammy's medical treatment.
Surrogacy Australia hopes the case will be a step toward better regulation, but is worried about a knee-jerk reaction which would lead to an outright ban.

Thai mum asks: 'Why does he have to be abandoned?'

Gaza ceasefire crumbles
A fragile ceasefire in Gaza collapses shortly after it begins with claims an Israeli soldier has been captured.
Tamils sent to Nauru
A lawyer for 157 asylum seekers sent from WA to Nauru overnight accuses the Government of "trafficking".
14 killed near MH17 crash site
Investigators recover the remains of more MH17 victims as deadly fighting rages near the crash site in Ukraine.
Pearson lashes 'negative' coach
Gold medal winner Sally Pearson says Australia's suspended coach was "negative to everyone" on the team.
'We tortured some folks'
Barack Obama admits US officials tortured terrorism suspects after 9/11, ahead of a report on CIA abuses.
'Like Tinder for bandicoots'
A Victorian zoo tests an unusual breeding program that lets the marsupials sniff out a perfect match.
Victoria to buy world's 'most effective' speed cameras
Jail sentence cut for addict who aided partner's suicide
Ancestral remains of Aboriginal girl returned to Tasmania
Ebola-hit African states seal off outbreak epicentre
Graffiti artist Banksy's spy mural defaced

Commonwealth Games 2014

Pearson scathing
Sally Pearson says head coach Eric Hollingsworth was 'negative to every single person' in Australia's Glasgow team.
Gold for Sally
Sally Pearson defied the controversy of Eric Hollingsworth's outburst to win gold in the women's 100m hurdles in Glasgow. (audio)
Gold on debut
Australian teen Eleanor Patterson crowned her major championships debut with Glasgow gold in the women's high jump.

Nigeria's Amalaha stripped of weightlifting gold
Nigeria teenager Chika Amalaha has been stripped of her Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold after failing a doping test.

Glasgow 2014 Medal Tally

	G	S	B	T
England	48	49	43	140
Australia	40	40	44	124
Canada	30	14	31	75
Scotland	17	14	18	49
India	13	23	15	51
New Zealand	13	11	15	39
South Africa	12	10	16	38
Kenya	5	6	3	14
Nigeria	8	6	12	26
Jamaica	7	4	7	18

Updated 2 Aug 2014, 12:00 +10:00

Business

ASX follows US falls
The share market ends the week with a sharp fall, as investors react to significant losses around the world.
Argentina debt default
Ratings agency S&P declares that Argentina has now defaulted for the second time in 13 years.
Housing boom rolls on
Australia's home price boom shows little sign of slowing, with Sydney and Melbourne again driving price gains.
Woodside's Shell buyback fails
Woodside Petroleum's plan to buy back shares from energy giant Royal Dutch Shell fails to get investor approval.
Manufacturing returns to growth
Australia's manufacturing sector has edged back into expansion for the first time in nine months.

Analysis & Opinion from The Drum

Why the silence?
What stops persecution of Christians filtering through to the "Christian" West, asks Natasha Moore.
One size doesn't fit all
Most unemployed people don't need long-term solutions, just a short-term safety net, writes Simon Cowan.
Other priorities
Australia's UN diplomatic coup may have made the MH17 mission that much harder, writes Jim Middleton.
Beyond hope and health
Two weeks after my visit to Christmas Island I'm haunted by what detainees told me, writes Elizabeth Elliott.
Keep the debate open
WikiLeaks and the courts: we need an open debate around our state institutions, writes Carla Silbert.
No free rides
Why should massive mining groups get cheap fuel while everyone else suffers, asks Christine Milne.
Pick peace, not a side
Australia must be a voice of reason in the Gaza conflict, not a cheerleader for one side, writes Tim Mayfield.
Defender against pirates
Turnbull is taking on pirates, but typhoons and sandbars are everywhere, writes Annabel Crabb.

World

Asia Pacific

Couple deserts Thai mother
An Australian couple abandons the surrogate mother of a baby with Down syndrome, sparking fears of a surrogacy ban.
Tamils sent to Nauru
A lawyer for 157 asylum seekers sent from WA to Nauru overnight accuses the Government of "trafficking".
Haiyan relocation plan
The Philippines says it will spend nearly $4b to rehouse thousands displaced by Typhoon Haiyan last year.
Food bowl futures
The Government supports a push to market Australian agricultural produce to China under a single brand.
Rise in PNG sorcery violence
Young men in PNG are using sorcery-related violence to gain status and power, says expert.

Sport

Hollingsworth was 'negative to everyone': Pearson
Sally Pearson says head coach Eric Hollingsworth was 'negative to every single person' in Australia's Glasgow team.
Patterson wins high jump gold on debut
Australian teen Eleanor Patterson crowned her major championships debut with Glasgow gold in the women's high jump.

Scorching throw
Dani Samuels enjoyed two scorching throws to comfortably take out the women's discus gold medal in Glasgow.
Sizzling round
Sergio Garcia birdied the final seven holes to match the course record and storm to a three-stroke lead after the second round of the WGC event in Ohio.
Manly wins again
Manly has racked up its 14th win of the season with a 16-4 victory over Brisbane at Brookvale Oval.
Painful loss
The Waratahs will be looking to erase the pain of past losses in the Super Rugby grand final against the Crusaders.

TV & Video

Video

Covered in snow
Snow is falling in parts of Victoria that rarely see snow, as a cold snap grips part of the state.
Video

Aboriginal take on history
Artist Michael Cook has transposed Aboriginal faces onto portraits of Australia's prime ministers.
Video

Government targets pirates
Internet service providers could be asked to disconnect people who persistently illegally download media.

Video

Alcohol-related deaths on the increase
A major report on alcohol use has found fifteen Australians die every day as a result of alcohol consumption, a 62 per cent increase since 2003.
Video

Detention of children 'child abuse': Churches
A report by nine major Christian Churches has labelled the detention of unaccompanied children in processing camps and centres as state sponsored child abuse.

Health

Medicating children
New research suggests a dramatic rise in the prescription of antidepressants and antipsychotic medications to children in Australia over recent years.
A bloody mystery
Despite a century of study into blood types, scientists still don't know what purpose they serve.
Understanding fever
Fever is usually a sign that your body is fighting an infection, but there can be other causes.

Is paracetamol an effective painkiller?

ABC Fact Check

Promise Tracker
ABC Fact Check's Promise Tracker reveals how many major Coalition promises are delivered and broken.
Asylum seeker backlog
Track the Coalition's promise to clear the backlog of 30,0000 asylum seekers waiting to be processed.
Inland rail freight line
Keep track of the Coalition's promise to spend $300 million on a Melbourne to Brisbane inland rail freight line.
Your say: Abbott's performance
What you think the Promise Tracker says about the Abbott Government's performance.

Rural

Green Army launched
Five training organisations will roll out the Coalition's Green Army program across Australia.
Senate fenthion report
A Senate committee wants to speed up the implementation of a national fruit fly strategy. (photos)
GM case appeal
There's still uncertainty around what grounds organic farmer Steve Marsh is appealing the court decision about GM crops.

Olive plantation recovers from Grampians fire

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