Monday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Tinder balcony case

The legal team for Gable Tostee – the man charged with the murder of New Zealand tourist Warriena Tagpuno Wright, who fell from a 14th storey balcony at Surfers Paradise on August 8 — are preparing his bail application.

The Courier Mail reports that police are examining a historical case from 1986 where a woman fell to her death after arguing with her partner in their apartment. The man was found guilty of his partner’s murder.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Mail reports police will allege Ms Wright was trying to escape when she fell to her death.

Audio recordings of her last moments allegedly reveal that her last words were: “no, no, no… I just want to go home.”

Those recordings were extracted by police technical experts from mobile phones found in a car, according to The Sunday Mail.

Tostee is expected to apply for bail at his next hearing on October 10.

2. Speculation over Robin Williams’ death

Actor Rob Schneider, a longtime friend of Robin Williams’, has said he is convinced medication for Parkinson’s disease caused the actor’s suicide.

Rob Schneider tweeted: “‘Now that we can talk about it #Robin Williams was on a drug treating the symptoms of Parkinson’s. One of the side effects is suicide.”

3. Sydney café owner refuses to hire barista due to his skin colour

A Sydney café owner has refused to hire a man because he reportedly didn’t want a ‘black’ man making coffee in his café.

The job seeker informed patrons of the café who then walked out in solidarity with the man.

The Daily Mail reports that Nilson Dos Santos, an Australian citizen, was told by the owner of the Forbes and Burton café in Sydney’s Darlinghurst that he ‘only wanted locals’ to work there.

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Dos Santos said:

“When I came to the café for the interview today, he looked at me and looked surprised. He didn’t like what he saw. ‘We sat down and he said, “but you’re black?” ‘I said “yes” and he told me, “but my customers are white. I don’t think they’d like to have their coffee made by black people. That’s not part of the coffee culture. You’re African”.

‘I said to him, “I’m sorry”. But he said I was not able to do the job because I am black.

Customers walked out from the café in disgust when informed what had taken place and have flooded the cafe’s Facebook page with anger.

4. Second mother charged after sending pics to dance teacher

A second mother has been convicted over allowing Sydney dance teacher Grant Davies to allegedly groom her young daughter.

Fairfax Media reports a woman from West Australia was given an eight-month suspended sentence in a Perth court this year after online conversations were handed to police between Davies, the mother and the girl.

The court heard Davies was “grooming the underage Perth girl with the obvious acquiescence of the child’s mother’’.

Her conviction comes to light as a Sydney mother faces sentencing next month for sending lewd images of her two daughters to Davies.

5. Ferry sinks off Indonesia

15 people, including 10 tourists from Europe and New Zealand, are missing after a ferry travelling from Lombok to Komodo Island in Indonesia sank yesterday.

It is unclear whether any Australians were on board.

6. Ebola clinic attacked in Liberia

Armed men have attacked a quarantine centre in Liberia — reportedly claiming that Ebola does not exist and forcing 20 patients infected with the virus to flee.

Some reports suggest 17 Ebola-infected patients escaped during the attack, while 10 more were taken away by their families.

The BBC reports that bloodstained bedding and mattresses were taken from the centre during the looting.

A senior police officer told the BBC: “This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life. ”

The Ebola outbreak has already killed 1,145 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria in five months, Al Jazeera reports.

7. Amish girls abducted were sexually abused

Two young Amish girls in the US were abducted and sexually abused, a New York prosecutor claims.

The two sisters, aged 7 and 12, were sexually abused after their abduction from a roadside farm stand in northern New York.

Stephen Howells Jr and Nicole Vaisey were arrested after the girls were set free. They turned up at the door of a house near to where they were taken.

The Huffington Post reports Howells had allegedly abused Vaisey as well and treated her submissively. “She appears to have been the slave and he was the master,” her lawyer said.

The suspects are being held without bail.

8. Acid attack victim’s baby news

A TV presenter who was raped, beaten and then attacked with acid six years ago has written of how having a baby has turned her life around.

For more on this story, see this post.

9. NAPLAN writing test “too hard”

Fairfax Media reports that the NAPLAN writing test was the most difficult yet — and that many students found it so hard they did not even attempt to answer the question.

For the first time, schools were not told whether students would get a narrative or persuasive piece.

The question asked for students to choose a rule or law and write about how it could be improved.

ACARA chief executive Robert Randall told Fairfax Media the question might have been confusing for some primary school students.

“The decline may be partly because the writing task didn’t engage some students. It might also be because, for the first time, schools were not told in advance the style of writing that would be tested – persuasive or narrative – requiring students to be prepared to answer one or the other,” he said.

10. Vets assist in stamping out domestic violence.

With one in three women above the age of 15 experiencing some form of domestic violence in their lifetime, a new front to fight the scourge is being examined.

A study will look at the role vets may play in detecting domestic violence. Vet Lydia Tong, from the University of Sydney will examine the link between pets being harmed by their owners and domestic violence.

Dr Tong told The Sydney Morning Herald that domestic abusers often also mistreated pets.

”So vets are often the first to see evidence of abuse in a family, when they treat injured pets,” she said.

People who contact domestic violence help lines will be asked whether their abuser also harms family pets as a part of her study – and offered the services of speaking with a vet about their situation.

 11. Graphic obesity ads to target Victorians

A graphic obesity advertisement will be launched today aimed at shocking Victorians into thinking about obesity.

The LiveLighter public education campaign “takes people inside their own bodies, showing the toxic build-up of visceral fat, which can dramatically increase the risk of developing serious health conditions,” according to the Cancer Council Victoria.

12. The unusual baby names on the rise

Pregnant and looking for a baby name? Well, look no further than The Game of Thrones.

If a trend from the UK is to repeat here in Australia, the names Bran, Sandor and Khaleesi are just some of the GOT-inspired baby names you will be hearing soon.

Figures released today by the UK’s Office for National Statistics and reported by The Guardian showed that 187 baby girls were named Arya last year, while there were 50 Khaleesis.

The top name for girls was Amelia. For boys there were seven boys called Bran, and three Sandors.

For boys there were 11 Gregors, six Tyrions, four Brandans, three Sandors and 11 Theons.

Oliver was the top boy’s name.

13. Why women have affairs

A study has shown that women who have affairs only do so to spice up their sex lives – and that they do not have any desire to leave their husbands or feel unloved.

The Daily Mail reports that the lead author of the study Eric Anderson, of the University of Winchester, said: “Being happy in marriage is far different than being happy in bed.”

“The most surprising finding is that none of the 100 women were looking to leave their husbands,” he said.

“Instead, they were adamant that they were not looking for a new husband. Many even stated their overt love for their husbands, painting them in a positive light.”

14. Friend of “Ice Bucket Challenge”dies

A friend of the man who inspired the social media “Ice Bucket Challenge” campaign has died.

Massachusetts man Corey Griffin, 27, had just raised  $100,000 for to raise money for the incurable neurodegenerative Lou Gehrig’s disease in honor of his friend, former Boston College athlete Pete Frates, who had struggled with the disease and inspired the viral Ice Bucket Challenge phenomenon.

Griffin died in a diving accident on Saturday, Nantucket police said in a statement.

Griffin’s family and friends said he had beenin Nantucket to continue his fundraising efforts for the incurable neurodegenerative disease, the Boston Globe reports.

15. Coward punch laws

Victoria is set to introduce tougher laws to combat ‘coward punches’, following the success of such laws in NSW.

Premier Denis Napthine and Attorney-General Robert Clark on Sunday announced the introduction of the legislation to Parliament.

The new laws will see those found guilty of punching someone in the head without warning guilty of manslaughter when the punch results in death. Those guilty found would be liable to a 10-year statutory minimum non-parole period, The Age reports.

The state’s laws will be Australia’s toughest laws on coward punch killings.

The changes follow the deaths of a number of Victorians, including the 2007 death of 22-year-old Shannon McCormack.

16. Teenager’s tragic balcony fall

A teenage boy has died while celebrating his mother’s 40th birthday on NSW’s central coast.

Jarrod Samson-Hills, 19, suffered severe head injuries when he fell from a sixth-floor balcony at the Crowne Plaza hotel on Saturday, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. He was rushed to Gosford Hospital and later died at Royal North Shore Hospital.

Investigations continue into whether the circumstances surrounding the former Blaxland High School student’s fall involved alcohol or misadventure. The Australian reports that police are investigating whether he may have died after trying to jump into the hotel pool.

His friends have left heartfelt messages on a skateboard dedicated to him.

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