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. Body discovered in bushland believed to be 59-year old Penny Bailey.

A body found in bushland in Melbourne is believed to be that of missing mother Penny Bailey.

Last night police said the body, while not formally identified was thought to be the missing woman.

Her son, 34-year old Stephen Bailey was arrested yesterday over her disappearance.

Mrs Bailey was last seen at the Mont Albert home she shares with her son on Sunday, at about 9pm.

Stephen Bailey was arrested overnight on Wednesday on a main street in Flemington wearing only underpants.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

2. The Nauruan government backtracks on its commitment to process 600 refugee claims “within the next week.”

They have now claimed that only 400 will be completed by Sunday but others may not be concluded for weeks.

The ABC spoke to Deputy director of Nauru’s Department of Justice and Border Control, Shyla Vohra who said the processing timeline does not apply to people outside Nauru or their families.

“There are some people who are overseas for medical transfers,” Ms Vohra said.

“We’re also not going to be handing down the determinations for family members for anyone who is overseas for a medical transfer, so that we can do family determinations together.”

“There are going to be some cases that can’t be finalised quickly for whatever reason, or [where people] need to be re-interviewed, or where we consider we need further information or further research to be done.

“The remaining cases where we need to do further research and re-interviews we’re hoping to get done in the next few weeks; it depends on the complexity of the case really.”

3. School prayer groups “start extremism” says government adviser.

A member of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority advisory group has demanded a ban on prayer groups in government schools.

Dr Byrne, a Southern Cross University sociologist specialising in religion says “Prayer groups have no place in government schools.”

“Primarily it’s been evangelical Christians who have been allowed in but they’ve opened the door for other faith-based groups to do the same and potentially radicalise youth into violent extremism.’’ She told The Australian.

According to the report twenty Australians linked to Islamic State terrorism attended government schools only four attended Islamic colleges and one went to a private school.

NSW opposition education spokeswoman Linda Burney said yesterday there was “almost nothing in place’’ to monitor prayer groups in schools.

4. Teen still in custody after terror raids.

An 18-year old man remains in custody after the counter-terrorism raids in Sydney, which were allegedly linked to 15-year-old Parramatta shooter Farhad Jabar.

The man is the only one of four arrested still being held.

This morning the Grand Mufti of Australia and other leaders from the muslim community are due to address the media speak about the killing of NSW police accountant Curtis Cheng and the raids.

5. Former Premier’s daughter, Harriet Wran to stand trial for murder.

Harriet Wran, the daughter of former NSW premier Neville Wran will be tried for murder in the Supreme Court after she chose to go straight to trial, rather than have a preliminary hearing of the allegations against her.

The 27-year old will face the Supreme Court on November 6, charged with murdering Daniel John McNulty at a housing block in Redfern.

Her co-accused Lloyd Edward Haines, 29, and Michael Lee, 35, were also committed to stand trial on the same date.

6.  Spencer Stone, French train attack hero stabbed in US

Police said Stone was stabbed four times in the chest in Sacramento, California, at 12.45am on Thursday.

He was said to be in a stable condition.

Stone was attacked after a fight near some popular downtown bars and police are looking for one suspect in relation to the stabbing, according to local reports.

The Air Force Times said he received “multiple stab wounds to the torso” and initially police did not think he would survive and began treating the incident as a homicide investigation.

25-year old Stone was one of the men who tackled Moroccan national Ayooub El-Khazaani after he opened fire with an AK-47 on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris in August.

Stone tackled Khazaani, along with two other American men, and put him in a chokehold which led to the terror suspect passing out.

He was widely praised around the world for his heroic actions.

7. Parents who lost baby after child abuse accusations are cleared of abuse charges three years later.

The British couple, Karrissa Cox and Richard Carter were charged with child abuse after they took their baby to hospital with the blood in his mouth. Hospital staff noticed bruising and marks on the child’s body, and X-rays were carried out which a radiologist said showed healing fractures on the baby’s limbs.

Their baby was sent to foster care, then adopted out.

During their three year fight the couple always maintained their innocence.

Yesterday the Guildford Crown Court in the UK heard that it has now been proven the alleged injuries were in fact signs of a vitamin D deficiency and infantile rickets and they were cleared of the charges after it was found to be non-accidental harm.

The couple now face a battle to win back custody of their child but legal experts believe it is extremely unlikely the pair would be successful.

Mrs Cox told the BBC “They have not treated us very well at all. They do not acknowledge you.

“They just do not care. We were guilty until proven innocent.”

Their lawyer, Michael Turner, said: “There are many parents who are suffering exactly what these parents have suffered and the problem is that British doctors are far too quick to call abuse without investigating the other causes.

“It is particularly scandalous in this case.”

“Their life sentence is that they are likely never to see their baby again.”

8. Homosexuality may be triggered by “environmental factors during childhood.”

A controversial study has suggested that environmental changes could trigger homosexuality.

The study on identical male twins by the University of California is being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Baltimore.

The study found it was possible to tell whether a man was gay or straight by monitoring tiny changes in how his DNA functions after birth – a field known as epigenetics.

The Telegraph reports that only 20 percent of identical twins are both gay.

Researchers say that epigenetic changes are triggered by environmental factors such as chemical exposure, childhood abuse, diet, exercise and stress.

The scientists say that they can predict with 70 per cent accuracy whether a man is gay or straight simply by looking at those parts of the genome.

“To our knowledge, this is the first example of a predictive model for sexual orientation based on molecular markers,” said author Dr Tuck Ngun.

“Sexual attraction is such a fundamental part of life, but it’s not something we know a lot about at the genetic and molecular level.

“I hope that this research helps us understand ourselves better and why we are the way we are.”

The study is said to be controversial as because it suggests that some men are not born gay, but are turned homosexual by their surroundings.

9. Facebook testing emoticons called “reactions.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the social media giant is testing emoticons in its like button.

Called “Reactions” the six emoji that express a range of emotions – love, laughter, happiness, shock, sadness and anger.

In a Facebook post he wrote:

“For many years though, people have asked us to add a “dislike” button. Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy. These are important moments where you need the power to share more than ever, and a Like might not be the best way to express yourself.”

“Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humor and sadness. It’s not a dislike button, but it does give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy — in addition to delight and warmth. You’ll be able to express these reactions by long pressing or hovering over the Like button”

The company is testing the reactions in Spain and Ireland.

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au
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