We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.
1. Toddler died after being left in car in Victoria.
Police are investigating whether the 22-month old boy who died yesterday after being found strapped to his car seat in the driveway of a childcare facility in Kyneton was meant to be dropped off earlier that day and was forgotten by a female relative who had carried out her normal routine – in another potential case of what is termed “fatal distraction.”
The boy was found at 3pm when emergency services were called. The driveway where the car was located backed on to the local hospital, Kyneton District Health Service.
The Age reports that paramedics performed CPR on the boy but were unable to revive him. It has been reported that the temperature yesterday in Kyneton reached 31.6 degrees.
For more read this post here.
2. Northern Australia battered by two tropical cyclones.
Two cyclones are battering Australia this morning in both the Northern Territory and Queensland.
The situation for many is dire – with Tropical Cyclone Lam making landfall overnight as a Category 4 cyclone and Tropical Cyclone Marcia – which is the highest category – category 5 – expected to cross the Queensland coast at around 10am.
For more read this post here
3. Positive sign for Bali 9 duo.
In a positive sign Indonesian authorities have requested more information from lawyers of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan about the conduct of their sentencing judges.
A submission to the Indonesian Judicial Commission last Friday made claims that there was a potential bribe offered by the judges with an offer of a lighter sentence. The commission has called for further technical material about the complaint.
Further legal action surrounding the way in which Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo, denied their applications for clemency is due for a preliminary hearing in the State Administrative Court in Jakarta on Tuesday next week.
4. Government considers nannies as childcare option.
The long awaited Productivity Commission’s final report on childcare and early childhood learning will be tabled in Parliament today – with a recommendation to extend federal funding to nannies and prioritise childcare support to lower and middle income families with a single, means-tested payment.
Fairfax Media reports that the recommended subsidy rate is stricter than the draft reports recommendation. Now suggesting it should cover between 85 per cent of costs for families with incomes at or below $60,000 and 20 per cent for families earning $250,000 or above.
The subsidy would be for up to 100 hours of care a fortnight for children 13 and under and families would need to meet an activity test of 24 hours of work or study.
It would be available for all approved, centre-based, early childhood education and care services including long-daycare, occasional care and outside-school-hours care. It also includes all home-based care, including family daycare and accredited nannies
Social Services Minister Scott Morrison told Fairfax Media that while they were “considering” the nannies idea they needed to be careful not to strip staff off other areas.
“If everyone goes off and becomes a nanny, there will be no one working in childcare centres.”
The report suggests that implementing these changes would increase the number of mothers working by 1.2 per cent – 16,400 mothers on a full-time basis or 25,000 on a part-time basis.
5. Man at centre of racist train attack wants Chelsea fans prosecuted.
The man who was pushed off a Paris train in an apparently racially-motivated incident involving Chelsea fans has been identified by French media, and says he wishes to pursue a police complaint.
The 33-year-old French-Mauritanian man, a father of three, told Le Parisien he lost his phone during the “scramble” at Richelieu-Drouot, so had been unaware of the international attention it had received, or even that it had been filmed.
Speaking about the clash, he said: “I wanted to get into the car but a group of English fans [was] blocking me and pushed me away […] They told me things in English but I did not really understand the meaning of their words.”
“I understand also that they were attacking me because of the colour of my skin. You know, I live with racism, I was not really surprised by what happened to me even if it was a first in the subway.”
Souleymane said discussing the issue had given him “the courage to complain to the police”, adding: “I’ll try to do it [on Thursday] if I have the time, because I also work.”
“In any case, I intend to turn to anti-racist associations . These people, these English fans must be found, punished and must be imprisoned.”
6. Chloe Valentine’s mother Ashlee Polkinghorne assaulted in prison.
By Candice Marcus
Adelaide murderer Angelika Gavare allegedly assaulted Chloe Valentine’s mother Ashlee Polkinghorne in prison, documents have revealed.
Gavare is serving a life sentence with a non-parole term of 32 years for murdering Reynella pensioner Vonne McGlynn in 2008.
She is being prosecuted in Holden Hill Magistrates Court for the alleged assault.
Court documents reveal her alleged victim was Polkinghorne, who is in prison for the manslaughter of her four-year-old daughter Chloe.
Polkinghorne was given a jail sentence of seven years with a non-parole period of four years and nine months for manslaughter by criminal neglect.
The prison assault allegedly happened last May but no details yet have been given in open court.
A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for April.
This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared the ABC and has been republished with full permission.
7. Baby dies from starvation while mother does lactation porn.
A grand jury in the US will hear murder charges next week against a couple from Oregon whose 7-week-old baby boy died of starvation.
The couple are accused of child abuse which led to his death. Police allege the parents did pornography, which involved the mother self-lactating while others paid to watch online.
26-year-old Stephen Michael Williams Jr. and 21-year-old Amanda Marie Hancock claimed they fed the baby but never took him to the doctor.
8. US university apologises after acceptance letters sent in error.
A US university apologised to hundreds of students after they were sent acceptance letters in error.
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh sent 800 applicants the letters by email telling them the good news they had made the course.
A statement on the university website said “About 800 applicants to one of SCS’s master’s programs, the Master of Science in Computer Science program in the Computer Science Department, on Monday were erroneously sent acceptance letters via email.
“This error was the result of serious mistakes in our process for generating acceptance letters. Once the error was discovered, the university moved quickly to notify affected applicants.
“We understand the disappointment created by this mistake, and deeply apologize to the applicants for this miscommunication. We are currently reviewing our notification process to help ensure this does not happen in the future.”
What news are you talking about today?