Wednesday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Children may be buried at site of Ballarat orphanage.

Warning: this item contains references to sexual abuse.

Police are scouring the site of an old Victorian orphanage after claims children are buried there.

The former Ballarat orphanage closed in 1968.

The Age reports that the orphanage was home for more than 4000 children during its tenure. More than 25 children aged between two and 15 are said to have died from abuse or neglect at the orphanage. There are claims the children’s remain may be buried at the site.

Horrific tales of abuse during the orphanage’s operation included allegations that Catholic nuns “procured children” for paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale.

Care Leavers Australia Network vice-president Frank Golding who was at the orphanage for 11 years told The Age.

“Children did go away from the orphanage suddenly. They would disappear without saying goodbye,” he said

If you wish to speak to someone regarding abuse contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831.

2. Gang rapist Bilal Skaf hospitalised.

Gang rapist Bilal Skaf has been bashed by three inmates at Goulburn jail.

News Limited reports that prison authorities have called in detectives to investigate the bashing.

“About 2pm on 10 April a 33-year-old inmate was allegedly assaulted in a yard at Goulburn Correctional Centre,” said a Corrective Services spokesman said.

“As a result the inmate sustained minor head injuries. He was escorted to hospital for treatment and returned the same day.”

“Three inmates have been segregated while the investigation continues.”

33-year old Skaf is serving a 55-year sentence for being leading a gang of rapists preyed on women in Sydney in 2000. He has a maximum of 28 years to serve after several successful appeals.

 3. Defence Minister unable to name leader of Islamic State.

The Defence Minister, Kevin Andrews, has appeared on ABC’s 7.30 program and refused to/was unable to name the leader of Islamic State.

Leigh Sales repeatedly asked the Minister to name the Islamic State group’s head but he avoided the question saying there was a “cadre” of leaders of the Islamic State.

He then said he was “not going to go into operational matters” as there was “fluidity between groups” and “not just one person involved”.

This is despite worldwide acknowledgment that the leader of the terror group is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

 4. Son of businessman Mark Bouris arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.

Dane Bouris, the son of Apprentice Star Mark Bouris has appeared in court charged with the alleged assault of his model girlfriend.

Bouris was arrested at his Watsons Bay home on the weekend for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, Alexandra Dankwa.

In court yesterday he pleaded not guilty.

5. One year since 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Nigeria.

The world has marked one year since Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria with events around the world.

The girls were kidnapped from their school in Chibo with millions around the world calling for their return.  At the time #BringBackOurGirls made a huge mark on social media.

For more read this post here.

Amnesty International have released a report on the eve of the first anniversary of the kidnapping of the girls showing at least 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014 and many have been forced into sexual slavery and trained to fight.

In the report Amnesty International released disturbing new images showing the scale of devastation wreaked by Boko Haram.

The before and after images of the town of Bama show that at least 5,900 structures, approximately 70 percent of the town, were either damaged or destroyed, including the hospital, by retreating Boko Haram fighters as the Nigerian military regained control of the town in March 2015.

Witnesses told Amnesty International Bama’s streets were littered with bodies,  One woman said: “When the military got close to the barracks [in Bama] and almost took over, they [the military] later withdrew. Then the insurgents started killing people and burning houses.”

 6. Eight-year old boy stabbed with syringe.

An eight-year old boy and his family have an anxious wait after he was stabbed with a syringe in a Melbourne park on Monday.

Channel 7 reports that the boy was stabbed in the stomach three times while he was playing in a Fitzroy park with friends.

The boy’s mother was watching a group of children when she asked them to move aside for an elderly man.

She said the man stabbed the boy with a syringe before leaving the park, which he picked up off the ground.

A 74-year-man of no fixed address faced court yesterday and is expected back in court today.

“I’m very, very concerned for my son,” the victim’s mother told Channel 7.

“For his emotional state, for his safety and his health because we don’t know the results of the tests yet.

“It may have repercussions for the rest of his life. He was just very unlucky.”

 7. Mental health report delays increase pressure on Federal Government; support groups call for review’s immediate release.

By Stephanie Smail

Pressure is building on the Federal Government to release a long-awaited review of Australia’s mental health services.

The National Mental Health Commission report was delivered in November last year but has not been publicly released.

The ABC obtained key parts of the report, which said the current system was poorly planned and a “massive drain on people’s wellbeing”.

Opposition mental health spokeswoman Senator Jan McLucas has argued the delay is unacceptable.

The lengthy delay in the release of the report has led to some organisations losing staff.

“This report has been leaked, and I think leaked out of frustration, so that this conversation that we need to have as a nation can be had,” she said.

“I call on the Government to release the report in full and to conduct a formal consultation process with the community to improve people’s understanding of the current situation but also to find these solutions.”

Suicide Prevention Australia chief Sue Murray also called for the report’s immediate release.

“There has been constant calls from the sector to see the recommendations in the report,” she said.

“Primarily so we are able to work with government to deliver more effective programs and services for those who are vulnerable in our community to either mental health issues or, in our own case, suicide or suicidal behaviours.”

Ms Murray argued the delay in releasing the review had real impacts on the mental health sector.

“The lengthy delay in the release of the report has led to some organisations losing staff,” she said.

“What that means is the services that those organisations are able to provide are diminished.”

Sane Australia chief Jack Heath urged the Federal Government to release the commission’s full assessment to help improve services for those in need.

“People in the mental health sector have seen lots of reports – we know the system is broken,” he said.

“The time is now for action and it needs political leadership at a national and state level.

“This is the one area we should all be able to get around the table and agree on a path forward.”

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley was not available for an interview.

She previously stated the Government was finalising its response and the full report would be released soon.

She previously said the Government was committed to working with mental health experts and other levels of government over the next 12 months to deliver better outcomes for the sector and Australians in the long-term.

A version of this story was originally published on ABC.

8. Hillary Clinton kicks off her bid for the White House with a minivan called Scooby.

Hillary Clinton has made a 1,000 mile road-trip to kick off her Presidential bid in a mini van called “Scooby Doo.”

Her trip has been so low key she even made an appearance in a fast food restaurant in Ohio, ordering a chicken burrito bowl without anyone noticing her.

“The thing is, she has these dark sunglasses on,” the manager, Charles Wright told The NY Times. “She just was another lady.”

Meanwhile the potential future President of the United States has received the backing of another former leader who tweeted her support.

9. Toddlers drown in canal after mother let go of pram.

A tragic set of circumstances in the US where a mother has let go of her pram for just a moment to swat away a bee only for it to roll away down an embankment with her two twin toddlers strapped inside.

The 18-month-old brothers Eli and Silas fell into a canal. Their mother, Alexis Keslar from Arizona desperately tried to save them but the boys were swept away by a powerful current.

Officials lowed the water level in the canal, but an hour later their bodies were found.

10. Mother who squirted breast milk at police freed on bail.

A WA woman who assaulted a police officer by squirting breast milk at her has appeared in court charged with assaulting a police officer.

Erica Stefanie Leeder, 26, faced Perth Magistrates Court yesterday.

She was ordered to see mental health specialists and will reappear in court in May.

 11. Percy Sledge has died at the age of 73.

His agent Steve Green said that Sledge had been battling liver cancer for more than a year.

He died at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

12. Rita Wilson battling breast cancer.

The 58-year old actress has told People Magazine that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and has undergone a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

For more read this post here. 

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