Monday'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. Police investigate whether teenage boy was set alight in Halloween prank.

Police in QLD are investigating whether a 14-year old boy who was doused with fuel and set on fire was the victim of a Halloween prank.

The 14-year-old boy, from the Sunshine Coast, ran screaming to his siblings on Saturday night after he was set alight at a nearby park around 6.45pm.

Police confirmed they were investigating whether the incident was a deliberate act to harm the boy.

The boy’s older brother told The Courier Mail “He had burns to around 40 per cent of his body.’’

“It’s really bad. He was just down the end of the street when he got jumped. “Three people grabbed him and poured something on him and he was on fire.

Next thing you know, he just ran here and we put him out with a hose. The boy is in a stable condition in the intensive care unit of Lady Cilento Hospital. Police are appealing for anyone who has any information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

2. ISIS claims responsibility for downing of Russian passenger jet.

Jihadists allied to Islamic State in Sinai have claimed responsibility for bringing down flight KGL9268, the Russian passenger jet that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 people on board on Saturday.

Egyptian authorities say the plane was carrying 217 adults, 17 children and seven crew when it took off from the holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, less than half an hour later it vanished from radar screens while flying at an altitude of 31,000ft over the mountainous area of Arish and went into a “rapid descent”.

Victor Sorochenko, the head of Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee, said it was too early to conclude what caused the crash on Saturday.

Yesterday a group claiming to be IS posted on social media that they brought down the plane in revenge for Russian air strikes against the group in Syria. But Russian and Egyptian authorities are downplaying the claims.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said experts had confirmed that a plane could not be downed at 9,450m (31,000ft), the altitude the Airbus 321 was flying at, by weapons the militants are known to possess.

The Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi also urged caution saying the investigation into the cause was a “complicated matter” that could take months reports the BBC.

Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said no evidence had been seen that indicated the plane was targeted, and IS has not produced pictures or video footage to substantiate its claim.

Egypt’s civil aviation minister Hossam Kamal said there had been no sign of any problems on board the flight.

3. Childcare package could cause administrative nightmare.

A study by childcare provider Goodstart has found that over the last year, almost half of parents polled would have moved at least once between the three new “activity test” levels proposed by the Coalition. 24 per cent would have changed levels at least three times.

The Age reports that there are fears the Government’s new childcare package could place parents and childcare groups under an increased level of administrative stress.

Under the new activity tests, parents will need to work or study between eight and 16 hours a fortnight to be eligible for up to 36 hours of subsided childcare. They will need to work between 17 and 48 hours to be eligible for 72 hours of subsidies and more than 49 hours to be eligible for up to 100 hours. The tests come in from July 2017.

Advocacy group The Parenthood said the new activity test requirements would be a “disaster” for families who would need to constantly try and contact Centrelink with questions or to update their details.

4. Melbourne Cup to have special tribute to Bart Cummings.

Tomorrow’s Melbourne Cup will be the first without champion trainer Bart Cummings, who died aged 87 this year.

As a tribute to the legendary trainer Race three will be named in his honour, the J.B Cummings AM Tribute Plate, and before the cup, Anthony and Bart’s grandson, James, will be driven along the straight in a 1938 Bentley holding the first Melbourne Cup he won in 1965 with Light Fingers, and this year’s trophy.

There will be 14 horses lining up for the race tomorrow with 11 of these international runners, Japanese stayer Fame Game is the favourite.

5. Doctors rorting the Medicare Benefits Schedule ordered to repay $4 million in 12 months.

The Federal Government’s independent Professional Services Review (PSR) Agency’s 2014-15 annual report, which will be released today has found that investigations into health practitioners rorting the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rose by 40 per cent in the last financial year, and of the matters referred for investigation, 70 per cent resulted in further action being taken.

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley told the ABC the PSR report highlighted reasons why such rorting was occurring and that it was sometimes through inaction. “We need clear, strong rules around the use of individual Medicare items to make sure they’re clinically relevant, they reflect contemporary practice and they’re not of course misused for financial gain — small though that misuse is,” Ms Ley said.

“The instances of non-compliance are very small. “However, for patients who are not getting the benefit of the treatment they’re supposed to, the outcome for them is poor, and for the taxpayers footing the bill, the outcome is unacceptable.”

6. Reports finds a generation of children will grow up without a backyard.

A report by the Australian Population Research Institute has found that backyards will soon be unattainable for the majority of children born in Sydney and Melbourne and that by 2020 Sydney will need an extra 309,000 homes by 2022 and Melbourne will need an extra 355,000.

The report found that the majority of freestanding homes will be occupied by Australians aged 50 and older and most will stay theatre until the age of 75. “Few of these older households show much interest in downsizing or any need to do so because of ill health, care needs or partner death,” it says.

The report, to be released on Monday, says the number of freestanding houses occupied by older Australians will increase by 65,000 in Sydney and 76,900 in Melbourne as more Australians age writes Fairfax Media. “I am certainly not saying older Australians should move,” Dr Birrell told Fairfax Media.

“Their house serves all sorts of important functions: providing for grandkids, gardening, becoming as a locus for friends. But what I think doesn’t matter. The fact is that unless there is a cultural revolution we will see no net movement out of detached houses until the age of 75, and even then it will only be slight. They are not making way for younger people.”

“In Sydney it’s got to the stage where around 30 per cent of young women with children live in flats and apartments,” Dr Birrell said. “In Melbourne it’s still half that, and in the rest of Australia it’s half again.”

7. Kate Winslet: Parents ‘losing control’ of children to social media.

Kate Winslet has said that parents are “losing control” of their children to social media.

The mother of three has strict rules on social media in her home and prefers her children to play more traditional games, such as I-Spy or Monopoly. Winslet told The Sunday Times she fears social media could damage someone’s self-esteem and could lead to eating disorders.

“It has a huge impact on young women’s self-esteem, because all they ever do is design themselves for people to like them. And what comes along with that? Eating disorders. And that makes my blood boil. And is the reason we don’t have any social media in our house.”

She said that devices such as mobiles and iPads were a “huge interruption” to families. Winslet, aged 40 has three children Mia, 15, Joe, 11 and 23-month-old Bear.

8. Girls, can’t have it all warns top headmistress.

A top headmistress of a British girls school has claimed that young girls need to choose between a career and a family in early life an that they can’t have it all – and she says that teachers should prepare them instead of misleading them with the “lie” that they can have both.

Vivienne Durha, on the cusp of her retirement said girls need to be prepared for the real world and teachers should not tell them there is no “glass ceiling”. I’m sorry, I’m not a feminist. I believe there is a glass ceiling – if we tell them there isn’t one, we are telling them a lie,” she said in an interview with Absolutely Education magazine.

“Women still have to plan for a biological fact – ie motherhood.” She told The Telegraph

“Some of them will and juggle and combine everything and that will be the future for lots of women. I certainly want women to have that choice.” However, she said society needed to be less judgmental on women who went down “the road less taken”. “We live in a very judgmental age, the sooner we stop being quite so judgmental, the better,” she said. “There are different demands and people have different capacities and you need to make the decisions that are right for your family.”

Mrs Durham said there could be benefits in pursuing a career at the expense of having children. “If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in a job that you love, it could be very emotionally fulfilling,” she said. “I am not saying it is as emotionally fulfilling as having children but [that love for a career] sometimes that means that the decision ends up being right.”

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