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Coming up over the next fifteen minutes.

• The last gasp for votes continues ahead of Saturday’s election
• A Catholic brother charged with sexual assault
• Obama wins support from congress for Syrian Intervention
• And Jaeger O’Meara wins the AFLs Rising Star Award

Good afternoon, I’m CHARLIE BARHAM. Welcome to SYN News at 4. To politics first, and Hitler, social media watchdogs and Tony Abbott’s daughters have all featured on the campaign trail today, in last-ditch efforts ahead of Saturday’s election. EDDIE WILLIAMS has all the details.“Independent South Australian Senator, NICK XENOPHON, has called for the next federal government to appoint a social media watchdog, as part of a crackdown on internet trolls.SENATOR XENOPHON appears likely to fight it out with the Greens’ SARAH HANSON-YOUNG for the sixth and final Senate spot in South Australia.The Greens have had some good news today, with a Galaxy poll showing that MP ADAM BANDT is leading Labor’s CATH BOWTELL in the seat of Melbourne.Meanwhile, Katter’s Australian Party leader, BOB KATTER, reckons the Coalition has been reading Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. He says that the Coalition’s attempt to tell voters that a vote for Katter will be a vote for Labor, is a bit like Hitler’s quote: ‘You can tell a lie long enough and consistently enough and constantly enough, people will believe that it’s true, even though it’s a lie’.Opposition Leader TONY ABBOTT seems to have scared off voters in the Big Brother House, giving a rather unusual reason why they should vote for him.“If you wanna know who to vote for, I’m the guy with the not bad-looking daughters.”Prime Minister KEVIN RUDD has been visiting marginal seats in Melbourne, before heading to Adelaide. He’s warning voters that the Coalition’s cuts could send Australia into recession.The Prime Minister will be in Canberra tomorrow, where he’ll address the National Press Club.EDDIE WILLIAMS, SYN News.”And good news on the economics front: Australia’s economic growth has accelerated slightly over the last 3 months.Australian bureau of statistic figures today show the nation’s Gross domestic product grew by 0.6% in the June quarter, and an annual growth rate of 2.4%. Although still below the average annual growth of 3.25% a year, the rise in recent figures defy forecasts by economists.Former Geelong VFL player and South Barwon coach Casey Tutungi has spoken publicly for the first time since being diagnosed a quadriplegic, following a sickening on-field collision back in June.The 28-year-old said he was overwhelmed by all the support he has been receiving from football communities and charity events around the country.The inspirational Tutungi also vowed he would not rest in his battle to regain control over his body, already he has gained some movement in his right arm. He has endeavours to head to America to undergo intense therapy and rehabilitation early next year. A 73-year-old Catholic brother has faced court charged with 14 counts of sexual assault, relating to incidents which occurred 40 years ago.The American man is alleged to have committed the offences at a number of schools in Melbourne in the 1970s and 80s.He was arrested at Melbourne Airport this morning, and has been granted bail.New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that Melbourne is the fastest-growing city in Australia.Our population increased by more than 400,000 from June 2007 to June 2012, with the biggest growth occurring in South Morang, Point Cook and Tarneit. There are reports of a robbery at the ANZ Bank in North Melbourne this afternoon.Police have confirmed the incident at 2:30. Currently, there is a huge police presence near the Errol Street bank, and a man is still on the run.Police say he was wearing a multi-coloured hat and flamboyant cream trousers.BARACK OBAMA has flown to Europe ahead of the G20 Summit in Russia, after his bid for US intervention in Syria won support from key Republicans in Congress. Again, here’s EDDIE WILLIAMS“Republican Speaker JOHN BOEHNER has made it very clear that he supports American intervention in Syria.“The use of these weapons has to be responded to, and only the United States has the ability and the capacity to stop Assad.”MR BOEHNER’S support is expected to sway many other Republicans when they vote on the matter in Congress next week.Calls for US military action have grown since an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government on August 21.PRESIDENT OBAMA says any American action will be “limited.”“It does not involve boots on the ground. This is not Iraq and this is not Afghanistan. This is a limited, proportional step that will send a clear message – not only to the Assad regime, but also to other countries that may be interested in testing some of these international norms – that there are consequences.”The situation in Syria looks set to dominate Australia’s one-month presidency of the UN Security Council, which begins today.Australia’s Ambassador to the UN, GARY QUINLAN, has been involved in talks with the nine other non-permanent members of the Security Council, as they try to resolve the Syrian crisis.EDDIE WILLIAMS, SYN News.”There are reports that ARIEL CASTRO, the man jailed for holding 3 women captive in Ohio for decades, has been found dead at a state prison.Corrections officials say that he was found hanging in his cell on Tuesday night, and was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.CASTRO had been sentenced to life in prison plus a 1000 years for committing 937 counts, which included rape and kidnapping.And a reminder that anyone with personal problems can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or visit beyondblue.org.au. Briefly, newly published documents have revealed that the UK accidentally shot and killed 3 whales during the Falklands (fork) War, after mistaking them for enemy submarines.A Madison Avenue executive is suing her boss for $6 million, because he claimed she looked like Britain’s Got Talent singer, Susan Boyle.The perfume ad director, Laura Ziv, accuses her boss of relentlessly harassing her about her looks and weight and that he was especially cruel in his comment that she was a Susan Boyle look-alike.The abuse was so severe, Ziv claims that she suffered a brain haemorrhage from the stress.The six million dollar lawsuit was filed yesterdayMiley Cyrus has spoken out about her controversial VMA performance, stating that she and Robin Thicke made history at the awards.Cyrus copped global criticism for her performance – which included a lot of tongue action, exposed skin and weird teddy bears.Yet Cyrus does not understand the negativity surrounding her performance, claiming that people are “over thinking” it and that she doesn’t get what all the fuss is about.And Australia’s top minds are getting ready for science’s night of nights: the Eureka Awards.The nominees include scientists who have discovered:-  how bats can help treat deadly diseases, – invented a bionic eye, –  and revealed the mysteries of locust swarming.The winners will be announced at the Sydney Opera House tonight.And now here’s Alex Darling with sport.ALEX: Thanks CHARLIEGold Coast’s Jaeger O’Meara has been named the AFL’s Rising star for 2013.O’Meara blitzed the 21 other impressive youngsters at the awards, polling 44 including of a possible 45 votes ahead of Port Adelaide’s Oliver Wines on 26 and Adelaide’s brad Crouch and Sydney’s Tom Mitchell tied on 11.The 19 year old West Australian and no 1 pick in the 2011 Mini draft was hot favorite to win the award since the middle of the year, having had the most disposals, tackles, contested possessions and clearances. The award was a fitting end to O’Meara’s outstanding debut season, in which he played all 22 games, kicked 16 goals and averaged 21.6 disposals, and was predicted to be the best midfielder in the competition in a few years by Essendon great Tim Watson.In the A-league, Harry Kewell was named the captain of Melbourne Heart for next season by Heart Coach John Aloisi today.The 35 year old and former Liverpool striker said he’d call upon the experience he’d gleaned from other on-field leaders such as Steven Gerrard and Lucas Neill in captaining the heart, as he looks to reinvigorate his career in the A-league a year after an underwhelming comeback with the Melbourne victory last year.Coach Aloisi, who played with Kewell in the socceroos groundbreaking World Cup campaign in 2006, said Kewell had impressed him in leading by example since arriving for pre-season in July.Kewell will begin his captaining duties next month, when Heart play Crosstown rivals Melbourne victory in the first game of the 2013-14 A-league season.At the US Open, Lleyton Hewitt’s inspiring streak of wins had come to an end, the 32 year old losing a thrilling four hour match to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the fourth round.Hewitt, who won the tournament 12 years ago, led by two sets to one and was up 4-2 in the fourth set, before the 21st seeded Russian took out the next 4 games to force the match to a decider. Hewitt then failed to serve out the match 5-3 in the fifth and Youzhny won the match with another streak of 4 consecutive games, denying a disappointed Hewitt a return to the quarter finals after years of injuries and poor form.Roger Federer was also knocked out in the fourth round, the 5 time champion upset by Spain’s Tommy Robredo in straight sets. It’s the first time the 17-time grand slam champion has failed to make the quarter finals of any slam since 2002.And finally in racing news, Australian Formula 1 legend Alan Jones has urged Daniel Riccardo to strive for world championship with Red Bull before its too late.Riccardo was announced as Mark Webber’s successor in the Red Bull team yesterday, and today Jones said the 24 year old from Perth should aim to take full advantage of Red Bull’s dominance.While Jones admitted to foxsports it might take a year for Riccardo to fit into his role as number 2 driver behind 3 time world champion Sebastian Vettel, he hoped Riccardo would utilize the red Bull team to go “from strength to strength”.And CHARLIE, thats sport.CHARLIE: Thanks ALEX.To the WeatherCurrently it’s TWENTY THREE degrees in the city, with cloud increasing later tonight. We’re headed for an overnight low of FOURTEEN, before a mild Thursday, with scattered showers throughout the day and a top of TWENTY ONE degrees. For those on public transport this afternoon, there are outbound delays of up to ten minutes on the Hurstbridge Line.Recapping our top stories this afternoon:

• ABS figures show Australia’s economy is growing as Rudd warns of a recession under Abbott government
• Footballer Casey Tutungi speaks out for the first time since being diagnosed a quadriplegic
• An American kidnapper found dead in his prison cell
• And Harry Kewell made captain of Melbourne Heart for next season

That’s all for our bulletin this afternoon. But when we’re off air, you can keep up with the news by following us on twitter at News SYN.Panorama’s coming up at 4.30 and we’ll be back with an update at 5pm.