Wednesday's news in under 5 minutes.

UPDATE: Possible debris from MH370 found washed up on WA coast

Authorities are investigating whether debris that washed up on a beach in southwest Western Australia could be from ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. According the to The West Australian, the debris was found on a beach at Augusta and handed in to Busselton police station. It will be passed on to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) tonight after police officers sent AMSA photographs of the debris earlier today.

1. Teenager’s Facebook plea for help

A teenager from the south of Sydney, suspected to be the victim of a hit-and-run, sent a chilling Facebook message moments before she was found unconscious in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Her message asked for help, as she was concerned about a man who had offered her a lift.

April-Lee Gillen remains in intensive care with head injuries in Wollongong.

For more, read this post here. “She sent a Facebook plea for help moments before she was found unconscious on the side of the road.”

2. Fathers kill to punish mothers

A domestic violence counsellor has told The Age that children are often killed by vengeful fathers to punish mothers.

Domestic Violence Resource Centre senior researcher Deborah Kirkwood told The Age that fathers who killed their children ”feel entitled to take their lives because they’re his possessions. It’s about making the mother suffer.”

According to figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology, there were 22 cases of fathers killing their own children nationwide between 2008 and 2010.

Meanwhile, a candle lit vigil was held overnight in Melbourne in honour of Fiona Warzywoda, mother-of-four, who was allegedly stabbed to death by her abusive de facto husband Craig McDermott at a Sunshine shopping strip last Wednesday, just hours after taking out a family violence order.

Ms Warzywoda’s step-mother, Simone Warzywoda, has pleaded for change, saying the justice system failed their family.

3. Royal Tour

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have spent the night in the Northern Territory after visiting Uluru.

Today they will travel to Adelaide where they will visit the suburb of Elizabeth, named after the Queen.

4. Kevin Rudd claims he offered Gillard a leadership deal

In a book to be released next week titled, Rudd, Gillard and Beyond, the former PM Kevin Rudd claims that he offered to step aside for Julia Gillard in 2010 if the government was facing election defeat but that she reneged on the deal just minutes after it was made.

The book by Troy Bramston, says that the offer of leadership made in front of John Faulkner came after a long conversation about Ms. Gillard’s concerns that the direction the Government was going in was wrong.

The Australian reports that 10 minutes after she agreed to the deal she came back to Mr. Rudd and said she had decided to challenge him.

5. Asylum seeker policy criticised by UN

Representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees have criticised the Abbott Government’s boat tow-back policy, whilst calling on Australia to process asylum seekers who reach Australian waters instead of returning them to Indonesia.

Fairfax Media reports that UNHCR regional coordinator James Lynch said, “If someone arrived in Australian waters, we’d expect as a requirement of the refugee convention that they be allowed to disembark and have access to asylum procedures. We’d expect Australia to honour their obligations.”

6. Police officer accused of raping child

There is criticism today of the way the case against a police officer charged with aggravated sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10 years and assault occasioning actual harm has been handled.

The officer was issued a future court attendance notice with strict conditions, including an apprehended violence order protecting his alleged victim, instead of being arrested.

The Daily Telegraph reports that he will appear in court on June 18.

7. Federal Government military spend

The Federal Government will announce today that it will buy another 58 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at a cost of more than $12 billion.

8. QLD police hunt for killer

The QLD Police have questioned and released a key suspect in the murder of 26-year-old Jo La Spina after she was apparently strangled to death in the bathroom of an apartment near Mission Beach on Saturday.

The tourism worker was found dead by her flatmates.

9. Avalon Airport advertising slogan

Avalon Airport has axed an advertising campaign that was using domestic disputes as intended humour in its tagline.

The slogan “Fly domestic without having one” was launched last month – encouraging people to use Avalon rather than Tullamarine Airport.

But critics have pointed out in light of recent domestic violence tragedies that the tagline was tasteless.

The airport has stopped the campaign and apologised.

10. Ten-year-old boy allegedly rapes friend after viewing internet porn

A 10-year-old schoolboy has allegedly raped a classmate in the toilets at their UK school after he saw internet pornography and wanted to act out what he had seen.

In the opening day of the court case, the defendant, now 12, pleaded not guilty to raping the then 10-year-old boy.

11. Screen-time warning for parents

A study has shown that it is not just kids who are overdoing the screen time but that parents are missing out on vital interactions with their children because they are spending too much time on their smartphones.

The study cited the examples of mothers who watch YouTube on their phones whilst pushing their child’s pram thus missing out on important face time with their child.

Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair has said that the emotional consequences for our children can be deep and lasting. The study said that many children were noted to act out more when the parents were on their phones in front of them.

What news are you talking about today?