Friday'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. 22 childcare facilities had been fined in the past 10 years leaving children unsupervised in WA alone.

As the man accused of raping two children he allegedly lured from a North Perth child care centre is identified after a suppression order on his name being published was lifted, it has been revealed that 22 childcare facilities had been fined in the past 10 years leaving children unsupervised in WA alone.

Vincenzo Mule, 52 has appeared in court after allegedly luring a four-year-old girl and five-year-old boy away from a vacation care program in North Perth on April 19 and sexually assaulting them before dumping them in Hyde Park.

They were found alone about an hour later by a member of the public.

Police say staff at the care centre had not even realised they were missing.

WA Today reports that 22 childcare facilities had been fined in the past 10 years to December 2015 for leaving children unsupervised, with at least eight of the incidents involved children wandering away from centres and three involved children being lost or left behind at public excursions.

Mule was remanded in custody and is yet to enter a plea for his charges which include three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 13 years of age and two counts of deprivation of liberty.

2. High Court could restore Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder conviction.

The High Court has taken steps where by it could restore Gerard Baden-Clay’s murder conviction after a decision to grant prosecutors rare special leave to appeal yesterday.

Last year Baden-Clay’s murder conviction of his wife Alison was downgraded to manslaughter after the Queensland Court of Appeal set aside the murder finding saying the Crown had failed to prove Baden-Clay intended to kill his wife.

Baden-Clay’s legal team had argued there was sufficient evidence to prove that he had killed her, but insufficient evidence to prove he had done so intentionally.

The Queensland’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appealed to widespread public condemnation after his conviction was downgraded.

Yesterday the High Court granted special leave for the full bench to hear the appeal at a hearing expected to be held in front of five judges in three months.

 3. First debate of the election tonight.

The first debate of the long election campaign will take place tonight with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to hold a first face-to-face debate in the western Sydney electorate of Macquarie.

The event has been organised by Sky News and will be broadcast live on Sky – with the leaders taking questions from audience members.

4. NSW Council amalgamations go ahead.

In NSW one-third of the state’s councils have been put in administration for 16 months.

Yesterday the Premier Mike Baird announced the most “comprehensive local government reform” in 100 years with 19 new councils to be formed across Sydney and NSW.

And the government has said it would potentially merge another nine after legal action is finalized.

Mayors and councillors at 42 councils were sacked with no notice and replaced with administrators until delayed elections in September 2017.

“There’s a group of councils that seem to be determined to hang on to head office costs, hang on to more councils, rather than say to their community… I think you would want more childcare, you want more community transport, you want better sporting facilities” Mr Baird said.

“I strongly believe the people have us here to make decisions. Now we think this is in the long-term interests of every rate-payer in this state.”

5. PM confronted by single mum on education.

“I don’t care what you do to me, but give the kids a chance, give them a fighting chance.”

It was the moment the Prime Minister was confronted by an angry single mother worried about her children’s future.

Single mum Melinda, confronted Mr Turnbull yesterday in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin demanding to know how the prime minister expected her to pay for her children’s schooling without the schoolkids bonus.

“The cost of school is going up and up and up and yet we’re not getting any more money and now you’re going to take the family tax benefits away. It’s not just single mums you’re hurting,” she said.

“I’m ruining his chances to become something, to contribute to society, because he’s just going to get a bad job,” she told Mr Turnbull.

They are going to be great,” he said.

“I can feel what’s in your heart.

“Melinda, it’s tough bringing up kids, and particularly as a single mum. I can understand. I was just one kid, I didn’t have a sister and a brother. Most of my childhood my dad was a single dad. I know how tough [it is] you’ve got to be a mum and a dad to your boys.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Mr Turnbull offered to get in touch directly with Melinda but giving an interview to the media she walked away.

6. Two men killed by Melbourne train.

Two men are dead after being hit by a train in Melbourne.

The men are believed to have been on the tracks at Altona Meadows when they were struck by a city-bound passenger train at 11.45pm last night.

Police at the scene said the train driver tried to stop when he saw the men.

7. Family of Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf claim he isn’t dead but has been imprisoned by Islamic State.

The family of Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf have claimed he is not in fact dead but has been imprisoned by Islamic State

According to The Australian, Sharrouf’s mother-in-law, Karen Nettleton, told Australian counter-terrorism authorities last month after she returned from a trip to Turkey.

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis told The Australian that the government was aware of the claim.

“Whatever the position, the Sharrouf case is the clearest possible example of the perils that people expose themselves to when they foolishly travel to the Middle East to fight with terrorists,” Senator Brandis said.

8. Six-year-old Queensland boy taken to psychologist for violent episodes found to be gifted and admitted to Mensa.

Springfield News reports that Louie Adams of Brentwood Forest scored results on the 99.7th percentile in mathematics and on the 99th percentile in reading.

Mum, Nicole Adams had him under the care of a psychologist, a psychiatrist, an occupational therapist, and two paediatricians to help deal with his “violent episodes”.

“Everyone gave us conflicting diagnoses, ranging from anxiety to sensory processing disorder to high-functioning autism,” she said.

“Although his prep teacher acknowledged that he was very advanced, he wasn’t challenged in the classroom at all”.

Louie taught himself to read before he had started prep school.

“Louie is especially interested in languages” his mum said “and has spent the last school holidays teaching himself the Chinese numbers up to the hundreds for fun,” she said.

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