Friday's news in under 5 minutes

BREAKING NEWS: An Italian court has reinstated the guilty verdicts against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

American Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Sollecito – who had pleaded not guilty – now face a 28.6-year sentence.

The latest verdict overturns the pair’s successful 2011 appeal, which freed them after four years in jail.

Ms Kercher was stabbed to death in the flat she shared in Perugia with Knox.

1. Baby killed by blinds

A sixteen-month old girl has been killed by choking on a blind cord.

News Limited report that the cries of her mother could be heard from the street when she found her baby choking on the blind cord after it got caught in a hook on the wall.

The family – from Hornsby in Sydney have four children.

She was found lying in her cot and rushed to hospital by Careflight helicopter in a critical condition but later died.

2. Ian Thorpe in rehab

In what has been labeled “the saddest and most heartbreaking story in Australian sport.” Ian Thorpe has been admitted to a Sydney hospital to fight his decade-long battle with depression and alcohol abuse.

Family members have revealed Thorpe was injured in a fall earlier this week before they sought medical help, and he was admitted to hospital on Wednesday night.

In his autobiography published last year, Thorpe revealed how he often turned to alcohol as a release.

“I used alcohol as a means to rid my head of terrible thoughts, as a way of managing my moods,” he wrote.

If you or anyone you know needs help please phone Lifeline 24/7 on 13 11 14

3. Outrage over paedophile’s rape sentence

There has been outrage over a paedophile’s sentence for the rape of a three-year-old girl in the ACT. Shane Williams, 40, a paedophile with a 20-year history of crimes against children, was sentenced on Wednesday to 7½ years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 4½ years.

For more on this and to support a mother’s group calling for tougher sentencing for child sex offences read this post here “Sex offender laws must be changed”

4. Asylum seekers may be deported for ‘irritating people’

A draft document, obtained by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre which threatens to deport asylum seekers if they ‘irritate people’ has put the Prime Minister’s asylum seeker polices back in the spotlight.

It states that asylum seekers may be banned from ‘irritating people’, ‘disturbing people’, ‘damaging property, spitting or swearing in public’ and ‘other actions that other people might find offensive’.

‘Spreading rumours’ at work or ‘excluding someone from a group or place on purpose’ would also be banned according to the document.

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said punishment for code of behaviour infringements could vary.

Kon Karapanagiotidis, a spokesman for organisation told News Limited ‘No other industrialised nation criminalises everyday behaviour. The idea that spitting in public or getting a parking fine is enough to get you sent to an off shore detention centre is extraordinary. It is an abuse of power and creates a climate of terror for asylum seekers.’

4. No boats in January

The Abbott Government have declared their asylum seeker policy a success after the first January free of unauthorised boat arrivals in six years and the first full calendar month without an unauthorised boat arrival since February 2009.

Meanwhile Immigration Minister Scott Morrison will appear at a Labor/Greens-dominated Senate inquiry in Canberra today to defend the government’s Operation Sovereign Borders policy.

5. ABC razor gang

The Coalition has established a razor gang to examine waste and inefficiency at the ABC and SBS, warning that the public broadcasters must deliver “maximum bang for the taxpayers’ buck”.

6. Sydney school scandal

The SMH report that a teacher has resigned from one of Sydney’s leading Catholic boys schools, St Aloysius College, after an internal investigation revealed she had been having “inappropriate relationships” with a number of boys in year 12 last year.

It is understood the drama and English teacher, who was in her late 20s, had sex with at least two boys at the school.

The boys were over the age of 16 but, because of the student-teacher relationship, the alleged contact contravened the rules of the school and child protection legislation.

7. Cyclone Dylan

Cyclone Dylan is crossing the QLD coast between Townsville and the Whitsundays this morning packing 150km/h winds and heavy rain.

The cyclone has now been upgraded to a category two. Boats have been ripped from moorings and washing up on beaches as north Queensland battens down for the season’s first cyclone.

8. Nut allergies overcome

Scientists claim to have discovered a breakthrough treatment for nut allergies.

The project resulted in a majority of youngsters allergic to peanuts being able to eat them without showing ill effects.

Researchers at the Cambridge research facility gave 99 children aged between seven and 16 a sample of peanut protein in powder form. They increased the dosage over six months until the youngsters were able to eat a whole nut without any adverse reactions.

Study leader Dr Andrew Clark said: “This treatment allowed children with all severities of peanut allergy to eat large quantities of peanuts, well above the levels found in contaminated snacks and meals – freeing them and their parents from the fear of a potentially life threatening allergic reaction.

The results have been published in The Lancet.

9. Café tells customer to get f*cked

A Sydney café has told a pregnant customer to “get f*cked” after she made a complaint on their Facebook page.

The customer ordered a takeaway decaffeinated coffee – costing $4.40 – she then sat at an outside table at Zellini’s Cafe at Randwick to drink it. She was asked to move on because takeaway coffees were cheaper than having a $5.30 sit down coffee.

She posted a complaint on their Facebook page but the response she got shocked her.

“”Most cafe’s have this policy. Your takeaway is cheaper because it is just that – takeaway. Pity you are pregnant because I would tell you to get f .cked but you already have been.”

The Café now claim their Facebook page was hacked.

10. Cystic fibrosis lawsuit

In Brisbane a lawsuit is underway from a couple that had a son with cystic fibrosis, despite having genetic tests to reduce that risk.

The couple have filed a $1.8 million lawsuit against two doctors and a Brisbane fertility practice.

The Courier Mail report that the male had cystic fibrosis and he and his partner wanted to avoid giving birth to a child with the same condition, after undergoing in-vitro fertilisation,

They say in their Supreme Court claim that after they were both genetically tested they were not told their risk of having a child with cystic fibrosis was one in 400.

11. Changing UK school hours

In the UK a controversial new plan might be see schools opened up to 6pm daily and for 45 weeks a year. The plan has been proposed by David Cameron’s former Number Ten policy chief. It would see two weeks holidays over summer, Easter and Christmas and aims to slash childcare costs for parents and boost education standards.

12. Jonny “finds Mike”

A man who launched an international search to find the Good Samaritan who stopped him from jumping off a bridge has had success – being reunited with the man who saved his life.

Jonny Benjamin was perched on Waterloo Bridge in January 2008 when Good Samaritan Neil Laybourn approached him and calmly talked him down.

At the time Jonny’s Good Samaritan walked away and he never had the chance to thank him. Mamamia previously wrote about the worldwide search for Jonny’s saviour.

He started searching for the man he called “Mike” several weeks ago – and after seeing the tweets Neil Laybourne came forward.

The search saw #findmike trending on Twitter in Australia, Canada and South Africa.

In Brief:

Rumours the Big Day Out is coming to an end after financial troubles.

 What news are you talking about this morning?