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. Woman sexually assaulted after offender broke into her bedroom.

A Gold Coast woman has been sexually assaulted by an offender who allegedly broke into her apartment.

The woman in her 30s was sleeping alone in her Ashmore unit when the intruder broke in through a bedroom window about 12.30am on Sunday morning.

The man assaulted the woman before fleeing the residential unit complex on foot.

Detectives and officers from the Dog Squad spent yesterday hunting the predator who was believed to have escaped over fences from the property.

Police described the attack as “protracted and horrendous.”

“The female has been subjected to quite a protracted and horrendous sexual assault,” Senior Sergeant Craig McGrath said

“A subsequent search has been undertaken involving the dog squad and police units. But at this stage the identity of the offender and the ­location of the offender is ­unknown.”

The suspect is described as 175cm tall, with a slim build, unshaven and with an olive complexion.

Anyone with information about the woman’s attack should phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

2. Polls show PM suffering after GST rumours and Ministerial unrest.

The latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll has shown the Coalition’s share of the vote is now below that achieved by Tony Abbott at the 2013 election.

Mr Turnbull’s personal support remains high with voters preferring the PM to Bill Shorten by more than two to one at 64, but it is down 5 percentage points to 19.

The Coalition’s overall vote has dropped 4 percentage points since the last poll, while Labor’s primary and two-party support has increased by 3 and 4 percentage points respectively.

The Coalition’s first preference support sits at 44 per cent down 4 points since November.

3. AFP asked to investigate former Minister Stuart Robert’s China trip.

The Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has requested the Australian Federal Police launch an investigation into whether former minister Stuart Robert intended to benefit from the China trip that led to his resignation.

Mr Robert announced he would step down from the frontbench on Friday, after an internal investigation revealed he had shares in a trust linked to mining company Nimrod Resources, whose chairman Paul Marks is a generous Liberal donor.

In a letter to AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin, Mr Dreyfus said the “publicly reported facts” about Mr Robert’s trip showed his conduct “may also have involved serious criminality”.

“It is clear that Mr Robert sought to benefit Mr Marks, a significant Liberal donor, but the revelation that Mr Robert himself stood to gain financially through his shareholdings in a company related to Nimrod is even more serious,” Mr Dreyfus wrote.

Mr Dreyfus cited section 142.2 of the criminal code, which deals with the “abuse of public office”.

4. Call to ban all plastic cups for kids.

A prominent scientist has called for parents to stop using plastic cups, lunch boxes, sippy cups and bottles for kids after research showing that even “BPA-free” plastic can harm your child.

The study by UCLA says that a popular chemical alternative to BPA can still pose significant health risks, including disrupting hormones and embryo formation.

Professor Nancy Wayne, from UCLA, said the findings were frightening.

“As much as feasible, limit plastic food and beverage containers,” she said.

“It’s time to go back to stainless steel Thermos containers and paper lunch bags.”

Many countries, such as Australia, have, since 2010,  urged manufacturers of baby bottles, sippy cups and canned food to abandon BPA after findings that BPA has been linked with prostate cancer, infertility, asthma, heart disease and a number of neurodevelopmental disorders. Instead many manufacturers use BPS (Bisphenol S).

Prof Wayne said her team’s research suggests BPS can also cause changes in embryonic cells.

“Our research showed that low levels of BPS had a similar impact on the embryo as BPA. Consider it the aquatic version of the canary in the coal mine,” Prof Wayne said.

Dr Nick Osborne, an epidemiologist and toxicologist from the University of Sydney told News Limited “Everyone has these man-made chemicals in their blood, the question is, is there enough to do harm? If the manufacturers are taking BPA out, what are they putting in as a substitute? We just don’t know.”

But in response to the study, when it was first published in the US, the American Chemistry Society sought to reassure parents releasing a statement on the research.

“The relevance for human health of this limited study on zebrafish is unclear ” they said.

“The findings of the study do not demonstrate that low levels of BPA have any effects on human health, as suggested by the authors.

“The study examines effects of BPA and one alternative on zebrafish embryos in water. In contrast, we know humans are exposed to only trace levels of BPA through the diet. It is well established through extensive scientific research that humans, including pregnant women, efficiently convert BPA to a substance with no known biological activity and quickly eliminate it from the body.

“Many government bodies around the world have evaluated the scientific evidence on BPA and have clearly stated that BPA is safe for use. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded recently to the question, ‘Is BPA safe?’ with one unambiguous word: ‘Yes.’ Supporting this clear conclusion is one of the largest studies ever conducted on BPA, which was published by FDA researchers early in 2014 and is directly relevant to human health. In comparison, the results of this new study on zebrafish provide little or no meaningful information to assess the safety of BPA.”

5. Queensland opposition leader Lawrence Springborg calls for asylum seeker baby Asha to be discharged from Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

The Queensland opposition leader Lawrence Springborg has said that baby Asha, the 12-month-old, Darwin-born daughter of Nepalese asylum seekers who was flown to the Brisbane hospital for treatment to accidental burns she received while learning to walk in a detention centre on Nauru last week, should be released.

Doctors on Friday issued a statement saying they refuse to let her go if she is to return to Nauru.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said the hospital physicians should release her, as it is “the law of the land.”

“We always should take advice of clinicians with regards to the suitability of a patient for discharge, regardless of whether they are an infant, a child or an adult, but of course once the person is right to be discharged, they should be treated in accordance with the law of the land.”

6. All members of a British band die after car plunges into canal.

An entire British rock band and their manager have died after the car they were travelling in plunged into a canal in Sweden.

The band, Viola Beach consisted of Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin – and their manager Craig Tarry. They all died in the incident in Sodertalje, 28.96 km from the capital Stockholm on Saturday.

Their vehicle went through the barrier of a bridge that had opened to let a boat pass underneath.

The four-piece released their debut single Swings & Waterslides last year.

7. Christchurch cleans up after Valentine’s Day earthquake.

A week out from the fifth anniversary of the deadly 2011 quake a 5.7 magnitude aftershock in Christchurch has left many reeling.

It was the biggest recorded aftershock in years for Christchurch. Luckily no one was hurt but many areas reported damage with a cliff collapsing into the sea near Taylors Mistake.

GeoNet spokeswoman Anna Kaiser told AAP  that locals should expect a number of aftershocks in the coming days and scientists say there is a 50 per cent chance of another quake above 5.

8. 1/3 of 18 to 24-year-olds eat dinner in bed once a week.

A study has shown that traditional sit-down family dinner is no longer the norm with many of us eating on the go and checking social media sites during dinner.

The research, commissioned by MasterFoods Australia, found that 50 per cent of us are eat dinner at least once in front of the TV each week.

Almost a third of those in the 18 to 24 age bracket eat dinner in bed at least once a week and the 25 to 34-year-old age group are most likely to eat on the go.

But it looks like we are at least eating right with 73% of us preparing dinner from scratch at least once or twice a week.

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