Monday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Australia’s involvement in Iraq

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, confirmed yesterday that Australia will deliver infantry weapons and ammunition to aid in the fight against the Islamic State militants (IS) in Iraq.

The involvement of Australian arms and munitions was requested by Washington.

According to Fairfax Media, the Prime Minister refused to rule out the possibility of Australia taking part in air strikes.

“I don’t say no request might be forthcoming,” he said.

Fairfax Media reports that if RAAF planes do take part in air strikes, a number of Australian Special Forces troops could be stationed in the country to carry out search-and-rescue missions if any Australian plane is shot down.

According to The Daily Telegraph, an elite SAS team is already on the ground in Bagdad, having arrived over 2 months ago.

The Prime Minister has ruled out a request by the Greens to suspend parliament to debate Australia’s intervention in Iraq.

2. Parents of five-year -pld Ashya face Spanish Judge

The parents of a dying five-year-old boy — who took their son  from a UK hospital to Spain and had reportedly hoped to travel to the Czech Republic for specialised medical treatment — are due to face a Spanish Judge today after they were arrested on the weekend.

The boy’s extended family has critisised the police search saying that Ashya’s family would never harm him.

For more, read this post.

3. Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers remains on life support in a New York hospital after she went into cardiac arrest during a routine operation last week.

Reports suggest her family will make a decision on whether to switch off her life support over the next few days.

Show business colleagues from around the world have tweeted their love and support to the 81-year-old.

Lena Dunham tweeted: “We can’t lose Joan. All love and healing wishes to Her Majesty Joan Rivers – being ripped a new one by you is an honor to be treasured.”

4. King’s school sex allegations

An elite Sydney boys’ school is the focus of a police investigation after claims of unwanted sexual contact between students.

The allegations have been made by students against other students at The Kings School Parramatta after videos of boys “turkey slapping” were uploaded to social media.

News Limited reports the acts escalated into unwanted sexual contact.

It is understood that the child police squad is investigating.

5. Baby does ‘ice bucket challenge’

Police are investigating a grandfather who allegedly made his 10-month-old granddaughter take part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The baby’s father Claude Dalcour, from Houston, saw his daughter forced to take part in the challenge on Facebook.

Mr Dalcour, who is in the process of divorcing the mother of the baby Aria, said seeing his daughter subjected to this nearly brought him to tears.

He told Fox 26 News: “I was shocked, appalled.”

“It’s abuse because my daughter is an infant. She doesn’t know what’s going on.”

6. Cigarette prices to increase today

The price of cigarettes will go up today between $1.12 and $2.81 due to the tobacco excise rise of 12.5% put in place by the Rudd government.

The Australian reports that a person who smokes 25 cigarettes a day will now pay $81 tax a week on their habit.

7. Domestic violence campaign

The Daily Telegraph reports that a national domestic violence campaign — with names behind it such as former governor-general Quentin Bryce, Rosie Batty and Natasha Stott Despoja — will be launched on Friday with a similar structure to Beyond Blue.

8. Mother jailed after locking 4-year-old daughter in bedroom for 3 hours

A mother has been jailed after locking her 4-year-old daughter in a bedroom for three hours so she could go shopping.

The girl, from North Cumbria in the UK, was heard by neighbours calling out: “I want to come out” and “I’m hungry – I need a drink”.

The Mirror reports that a potty in the bedroom left for her use was nearly full.

Police rescued her by prising open a window.

The mother has been jailed for 150 days.

9. Sweden’s feminist party poised to make history

Sweden’s feminist party may become the first political party to get into parliament with a primary goal of abolishing sexism.

Feminist Initiative wants a new definition of gross domestic product (GDP) that includes the unpaid work women do at home.

It is calling for higher taxes to bridge the pay gap for women, a six-hour workday and an even split on parental leave.

Polls show the party may reach the 4% threshold needed to get into parliament on the September 14 election according to Bloomberg.

10. Lucky find

A woman in the US has been reunited with her lost engagement ring via Facebook.

After losing her 1.3-carat engagement ring worth US$13,600 along with her diamond-encrusted wedding band, she joked on Facebook that “some broke metal-detector dude” might find them and pocket them.

But to her astonishment, a retired firefighter found the rings — and posted his lucky find to Facebook.

The post was shared many hundreds of times before she was tagged in it.

“It’s so encouraging knowing there’s good people out there in the world,” Erin Carrozzo said.

“Someone could have easily done the wrong thing,” she told The New York Post. 

11. Prince Harry’s birthday present

Prince Harry is turning 30 in September — with a birthday present of $18 million (£10m)  headed his way from his mother’s inheritance.

The Sunday Times reports that he is already paid a salary from the army of £40,000 a year and has access to the £2m left to him by his great grandmother Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

12. Great news for wine drinkers

It turns out that having a glass of wine with dinner will help you live longer.

Rejoice!

But there’s a catch: you have to exercise as well.

A study by presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Barcelona shows “some synergy” between the alcohol in wine and the benefits from regular exercise, which together seemed to strengthen the heart.

The Telegraph reports that benefits were from both white and red wines.
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