Tuesday'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. Bangkok bomb blast targets tourists.

A bomb blast in Bangkok has killed at least 18 people and injured 117 more.

The blast was at a tourist site, near a shrine at a major Bangkok intersection. It was caused by a bomb believed to have been planted on a motorcyle.

The attack – feared to be terrorism related took place at around 7pm local time near the Erawan Shrine, next to a five-star hotel in the centre of the Thai capital’s Chidlom district.

Many of the injured were tourists from China and Taiwan.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told Reuters “The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourist district.”

Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes with his wife was near the scene according to Fairfax Media. The couple were dining with friends and only changed route at the last minute – which would have otherwise taken them through the bombing site.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Jimmy Barne’s wife Jane tweeted:

DFAT have established a hotline for relatives who have concerns for friends and family in Bangkok: 1300 555 135

2. Oscar Pistorius to be released this Friday.

Oscar Pistorius – the South African athlete who shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is set to be released this week after serving 10 months of a five-year sentence.

The 29-year old who will walk from the South African prison on Friday will be on “mansion arrest” when he leaves – being mainly confided to the walls of his uncle’s luxury home – but allowed to leave for some volunteer work.

Reuters reports that his ‘freedom’ may be short-lived though with an appeal against his sentence starting in November. If convicted of murder, Pistorius will be given a custodial sentence of at least 15 years.

3. Boyfriend charged with murder of Morgan Freeman’s Granddaughter E’Dena Hines.

The partner of E’Dena Hines, Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter,  has been charged with her brutal murder.

E’Dena Hines, 33, was found fatally stabbed early on Sunday in a street near her apartment in New York.

She had suffered multiple stab wounds to the torso and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Her 30-year old boyfriend, Lamar Davenport was taken into custody and transferred to a hospital for mental evaluation, police said.

Davenport had been seen by witnesses attacking Hines, yelling “Get out, devils. I cast you out, devils,” according to The New York Post.

He was charged early on Monday with second-degree murder, police said.

4. Couple found naked Irishman in bed with them.

Katie from Maroubra told The Daily Telegraph it was at 2am on Monday hen she woke to find the naked man.

“That’s kind of the scary part, how long he might have [been] looking at us thinking it’s a good idea to get into bed with these guys.”

“Chris is on one side, I’m in the middle and then our stranger on the end right in with us,” she said.

“So just the sense of someone next to me who shouldn’t be there … It was terrifying.”

Her partner, Chris confronted the man who picked up his clothes and went to leave the house before he was arrested by police.

He then began convulsing, which led police to call an ambulance for what they termed the “drug-affected” interloper.

The man is undergoing medical checks at Prince of Wales Hospital and will then be interviewed by police over aggravated break and enter charges.

5. Toddler dies in horrific road accident.

A two-year-old girl has died and her 11-month old baby brother has been critically injured when a car driven by their mother crashed off the New England Highway in NSW.

The mother remains in hospital in a stable condition following the crash near Willow Tree.

A motorist who saw the wreckage stopped and tried to help the family finding a two-year-old girl in the vehicle, and her 11-month-old brother with critical head injuries.

Police, paramedics and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter were called to the scene, and the critically injured baby was flown to John Hunter Hospital.

6. Judge jails university student for rape to show that women will get “full protection of the law” regardless of intoxication.

Warning: This item contains details of rape and may be distressing for some readers.

A judge in Adelaide has jailed a 21-year old university student for a year over the digital rape of a woman reports The Australian. 

The rapist, Scott Braeden Belcher pleaded guilty to rape, though initially he denied the charge in court.

In sentencing on Monday, District Court Judge Steven Millsteed said the victim was “heavily affected” by alcohol after drinking with friends.

Belcher, who was an acquaintance offered to take her home.

He digitally raped her three times as she slept

“The crime you committed was very serious,” Judge Millsteed said.

“You took advantage of a grossly intoxicated young woman.”

“Rape is an odious offence and the courts must do what they can to protect young women by the imposition of sentences that would deter such reprehensible behaviours,” he said

“Women, intoxicated or otherwise, are subject to full protection from the law.”

For help 24/7 call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). 

7. Airport confiscated ‘fart gun’.

A three-year old boy has had his Minions ‘fart blaster’ confiscated at an airport after it was deemed a security risk.

The Telegraph reports that 3-year old Leo Fitzpatrick was travelling to his home in the UK from Dublin when his Despicable Me toy showed up on the X-ray machine.

His mum was asked to empty his bag and security officials saw the contraband toy.

He was told that he was not allowed to take it on the flight as it was not allowed under rules governing replica weapons.

Mum, Daire said the security officer told her “’I’m so sorry it’s got a trigger, it doesn’t even look like a toy gun, but because it has a trigger mechanism it is in writing that I have to take it’.”

“”It doesn’t in any way resemble a weapon. I understand strict airport regulations, but can common sense or compassion not be employed? It was laughable.”

8. Mothers believe that their daughters more than their sons will get a university degree.

A report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies has shown that mothers believe their daughters have a greater chance of getting a university degree than their sons.

Seventy per cent of mums believed their daughters would obtain a higher education degree, while only 56 per cent of mums expect the same of their sons.

Mums believe that sons are better suited to vocational education training than their daughters.

The report also found that mums born overseas are more likely to expect their kids would to go to university (82 per cent), compared with mums born in Australia and New Zealand (59 per cent).

Fairfax Media, who have written about the report, say that mothers from families in which at least one parent held a tertiary degree were found to expect their child would also pursue a degree. The report also found that the type of school a child attends was also found play a role, with more mums of private school kids expecting their kids would get a university degree (80 per cent) than Catholic schools (68 per cent) and public school parents (56 per cent).

9. Study finds large families are the happiest.

A study has found that families with four or more children enjoy the greatest life satisfaction closely followed by families with same-sex parents.

The ABC reports that the study, by Perth’s Edith Cowan University asked parents from different family types about resilience, social support and self-esteem.

Lead researcher Dr Bronwyn Harman said “Parents accept that there is chaos in their lives but it does not negate the happiness they get from their families,”

“With large families, we think they have social support within the family,”

She said that with larger families, children are never bored, have someone to play with and get given a higher level of independence from earlier on.

She found that children from same-sex parents had the second-highest life-satisfaction scores and explained that in some cases the effort it took for LGBTQ identifying parents to have children, using IVF, surrogacy or adoption, could explain their high life-satisfaction rating.

“These children are not accidents — the parents have to go to a lot of trouble and expense and forethought — so the child is very much desired,” Dr Harman said.

“They see the child as an absolute blessing and something they may not have considered as being possible for them.”

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