News in 5: Father-of-five killed on Boxing Day; Meghan's royal Christmas; Vitamin D study.

1. In the early hours of Boxing Day, a father-of-five was killed after confronting a neighbour.

Victorian man Nick Bruton was a father-of-five, whose youngest child was just 10 months old. But early Boxing Day morning - just hours after spending Christmas with his family - the 39-year-old was murdered at a neighbour's home near Swan Hill.

Steven Mark Dunn, 49, has since been charged with his murder.

According to The Herald Sun, police are investigating reports that Steven Dunn became enraged when Nick came to his home to confront him after hearing a resident had been trying to lure local children into a car.

The father-of-five was rushed to hospital early on Tuesday morning with serious wounds, but was unable to be saved.

Family and friends have paid tribute to the 39-year-old online, with his daughter Kiara sharing how much she was already missing her dad.

"It's been a rough day without you dad, I miss you a lot and I'm trying to stay strong for the rest of the family," she wrote on Facebook.

"Thank you for everything you taught me though out our time together... tonight I was out late and I waited and waited for your name to pop up on my screen telling me to come home but it never did.

"I love you a lot dad miss you so much."

Nick's sister-in-law said those closest to him were taking solace that he spent his final day surrounded by those who loved the most.

"Nick spent his last day with his beautiful wife, their 5 children, family and dearest friends," Aleisha Jane Littler wrote.

"Many hugs, laughter and 'I love you' were shared."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Nick's wife, Tash, and the five children.

During a court appearance on Wednesday, it was revealed Steven Dunn was refusing to eat and requested he be seen by a psychiatric nurse. He was also on a number of medications and recovering from injuries in a recent motorbike accident.

He was remanded in custody until his next appearance in Mildura Magistrates Court on May 1.

2. Meghan Markle had a "fantastic" Christmas with the royal family. Obviously.

Prince Harry has said his fiancee Meghan Markle had a "fantastic" time with the Queen and his family over Christmas.

Harry was quizzed about his festive break with Meghan during his guest editorship of BBC Radio 4's flagship current affairs program.

Asked about how she coped meeting the "in-laws" the prince replied: "It was fantastic, she really enjoyed it."

"The family loved having her there," he said.

Markle and her fiancé joined the Queen at Sandringham on Christmas Day and the couple were photographed walking with other royal family members to church.

The prince interviewed former US president Barack Obama for the BBC and in the discussion the statesman warns that the irresponsible use of social media is distorting the public's understanding of complex issues and leading to the spread of misinformation.

Read more about Meghan's first royal Christmas.

3. Sydney grandma on trial for drugs escapes Malaysian death sentence after online romance scam.

A Sydney grandmother has avoided a mandatory death sentence after being found not guilty of smuggling crystal methamphetamine into Malaysia, but prosecutors plan to appeal the ruling.

The not guilty verdict in the trial of Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto was handed down on Wednesday in Malaysia's High Court by Judge Dato Ghazali, AAP reports.

The mother-of-four claimed she was the victim of a set-up after she was found with 1.1 kilograms of methamphetamine in her bag after arriving in Kuala Lumpur on a flight from China.

But late on Wednesday the prosecution decided to lodge an appeal against the not guilty verdict, despite earlier reports they had agreed to Exposto's immediate deportation.

The judge on Wednesday found that an online boyfriend had scammed Exposto.

Her lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said the judge was convinced of her innocence after hearing his client did not try to bypass searches at the airport.

"The judge described her as naive, not merely innocent but naive," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Exposto's lawyers have previously said she fell victim to an internet romance scam and she believed she was in Shanghai to lodge documents for her online boyfriend's retirement from service in the US army.

She claimed she was handed a black backpack at the last minute and thought there were only clothes inside.

Customs officials found stitching at the back of the backpack and when they opened the stitching, the drug packages were found inside, the Shah Alam High Court was told last year.

But it was Exposto's willingness to go through the customs checkpoints, Abdullah said on Wednesday, that convinced the judge she was unaware she was carrying drugs.

"It was almost as though she asked for trouble as a trafficker," he said, noting she was not required to go through the checkpoints.

"But because she was not a trafficker - she was an innocent carrier tricked into carrying a bag - she did all these innocent things."

The judge referred Exposto to the immigration department for deportation to Australia but she could remain in custody for months as she awaits the appeal against the not guilty verdict.

4. Think you need more time in the sun to soak up more Vitamin D? Think again.

If you believe you need long periods in the sun to get your daily dose of vitamin D, think again.

Experts say getting sufficient vitamin D for good health isn't an issue for most Aussies during summer and sun protection should be the priority, AAP reports.

Craig Sinclair at Cancer Council Australia says it only takes minutes of exposure to the sun on most days of the week to achieve adequate levels of vitamin D.

"That could literally be the minutes it takes for you to walk to the front door to the letterbox or to go grab something for lunch at midday," said Mr Sinclair.

This is because at this time of year the UV is very intense, he says.

"There is very little disagreement in terms of what our public health advice is; and essentially that is if you are going to be spending time outdoors at this time of year when UV levels are what they are you should be making sure your sun protected," said Mr Sinclair.

There have been multiple research studies linking vitamin D to numerous health benefits, including for multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

A recent Australian study linked vitamin D to improved brain power in middle-age women.

The observational study, published in the journal Maturitas, investigated the association between midlife vitamin D and cognition in Australian women over a 10 year period. It used data involving 252 participants aged 55-67 from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project.

It found that sufficient midlife vitamin D levels (more than 25 nanomoles per litre) were associated with improved aspects of executive function in ageing. Executive function includes things like attention, cognitive inhibition and working memory.

Given the modern lifestyles often involving long hours indoors at desks or watching TV, Dr Goodwill says it's important people get enough vitamin D.

5. The Melbourne Stars have ended their WBBL losing streak with a victory of the Perth Scorchers.

Melbourne Stars have ended their winless start to the WBBL season with an impressive 12-run victory over the Perth Scorchers at the WACA, AAP reports.

Another fast-scoring half century from Elyse Villani seemed to have the Scorchers on track to reprise their nine-wicket against the same opponents 24 hours earlier.

However, some fine late-innings bowling from the Stars restricted the home side to 4-137, in response to the Stars' challenging tally of 6-149.

Opener Villani followed up her 84 on Tuesday with a boundary-laden knock of 72 from 44 balls to put her side in sight of victory.

So quick was Villani's scoring that fellow opener Nicole Bolton and No.3 Natalie Sciver contributed just nine runs each by the time the team's second wicket fell with the score on 98.

But Villani's dismissal saw the wheels fall off the Scorchers, who required 36 from the final four overs.

Earlier, the Stars posted a strong total in spite of a top-score of just 25 from Georgia Elwiss, as four batters passed 20.

Despite the defeat the Scorchers (three wins and two losses) will have the opportunity to move equal with the ladder-leading Sydney Sixers on Saturday in a glamour-match-up at Lilac Hill.

6. The weight a pregnant woman gains at the very start of her pregnancy has the greatest impact on her baby, study says.

How much weight a woman gains during the first half of pregnancy has been found to play a bigger role in determining her baby's weight than the kilos she puts on closer to the birth.

While some previous studies have shown that general weight gain by mums-to-be during pregnancy affects a baby's weight at birth, a new study by Canadian researchers suggests that the increases during the first 18 weeks are key, AAP reports.

They found that for each kilo a woman gains during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, a baby's birth weight increases by an average of 13.6 grams.

Weight gained between 14 and 18 weeks has an even bigger impact, with babies' birth weights increasing by 26.1 grams for every kilo gained by the mother-to-be.

However, weight gained by the mother during the second half of pregnancy doesn't have the same impact on a baby's birth weight, the researchers from Canada's Mount Sinai Hospital found.

The researchers based their findings on a study of weight gained by 1164 pregnant women in China between 2009 and 2015.

The latest findings follow a study by Australian researchers published in June found that three quarters of women either gain too much or too little weight during pregnancy.

Pregnant woman who don't put on enough weight are considered by medical experts to be at risk of delivering smaller babies and going into labour early.

Those who gain too much weight are also considered more likely to have bigger babies and need a caesarean.