Thursday's news in under 5 minutes.

BREAKING NEWS:

Police in Adelaide have cordoned off a business premises on King William St as they believe South Australia’s most wanted man Rodney Clavell is inside.

Clavell aged 46 is a former prison guard with long criminal history and is wanted for offences including breaching a firearms ban.

The public has been warned Clavell could be dangerous and should not be approached.

The ABC reports that earlier this year, a sighting of the former prison guard sparked the lockdown of two schools, while police used dogs and helicopters in their search.

Police say it is crucial they find Clavell, but will not divulge the extent of their information on him.

For more on this developing story, see this post.

1. Madeleine McCann search

Two white gazebo-style tents have been put up and connected together above a place of interest in the scrubland where police in Portugal are scouring for missing Madeleine McCann.

Officers are using sniffer dogs and radar equipment to search the area.

Sky News reports one of the tents is covering a hole concealed by corrugated iron, which was exposed on Tuesday after trees and shrubs were cut down. It has been confirmed that a further two sites will be also searched.

2. Rolf Harris trial

The 90-year-old elder brother of Rolf Harris has given evidence in his brother’s indecent assault trial, saying the 84-year-old entertainer would never do what has been claimed.

Bruce Harris, who was also Rolf Harris’s manager, says claims by a makeup artist Harris put his hands in her shorts were ‘ridiculous’.

“That’s ridiculous. He would never do that and I wouldn’t let him do that, and he knew I wouldn’t let him do that,” he said.

“That’s just not possible.”

He told the court: “I would have taken the elder brother approach to a younger brother misbehaving.”

He added he had never seen Rolf Harris acting inappropriately.

Harris is charged with 12 indecent assaults between 1968 and 1986, involving four separate women. He denies all charges.

3. Warning over potential fatal virus in babies

Doctors are warning parents to take steps to prevent their babies contracting a potentially fatal virus.

Parechovirus was first reported in Australia in December last year and there have now been dozens of cases across the country. Currently at least 46 babies are infected.

The virus causes fever, rash and diarrhoea, but in severe cases can develop into hepatitis or encephalitis. There is no specific treatment for the virus.

Dr Leisha Callaghan from Brisbane’s Royal Children’s Hospital told the ABC parechovirus was ‘pretty nasty’ and that paediatricians are hoping a vaccine can be developed.

“Because it’s fairly new, we don’t know the long-term effects,” she said. “But certainly when little babies contract the virus they are very sick when they present.”

“They often have seizures – need to be in intensive care. There’s the risk of death and certainly long-term morbidity, with the possibility of significant brain damage.”

Doctors are asking parents to be vigilant in helping stop spread the virus.

The only prevention at the moment is to practice good hygiene: wash hands with soap and water after going to the toilet, before eating, after wiping noses, and after changing nappies or soiled clothing.

For further information visit this page here.

4. Clive Palmer

Clive Palmer’s remarks about the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff don’t seem to be going away, with Palmer United Party’s only female senator Jacqui Lambie buying into the debate telling The Australian she had little sympathy for Peta Credlin.

“What I find sexist is Abbott’s lies. I have little sympathy for Peta Credlin,” she said.

“We all have choices in life and she’s chosen to work for a bare-faced, uncaring liar who never told Australians before the last election that he would take $80 billion from health and education. (Mr Abbott) lied to every Australian woman before the election.”

For more on this story, see this opinion piece.

5. Prime Minister’s Indonesia meetings

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and has said that ties between the two countries were well on the way to getting back on track.

“I am confident that they are well on the way to resolution, satisfactory and successful resolution,” he said.

“The boats that were coming to Australia have almost entirely ceased to come, so I believe this is an issue which will not substantially further trouble us.”

He is now on his way to France.

6. 12-year-old girl’s secret message

A 12-year-old girl who died of a form of aggressive cancer has left an inspirational message hidden in her bedroom.

The family of Athena Orchard who discovered her secret message have released it for the world to share.

For more on this story, see this post.

7. Thousands gather to remember Tiananmen killings

Over 100,000 people have gathered at an outdoor vigil in Hong Kong overnight to mark 25 years since the Communist Party’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.

In Beijing, Chinese security forces extinguished any attempt to commemorate the anniversary. But in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park protesters bearing banners and photographs of the dead came in the thousands.

8. Six-hour day trial

In a move sure to leave some Aussie workers foaming with jealousy, a city in Sweden is set to trial the six-hour working day.

From July 1, one group of aged care workers in Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg will move to the six-hour day, while another will work for the full eight.

It is hoped that employees on reduced hours will be physically and mentally fresher, and improve their efficiency.

“People have long work lives, and it’s necessary to think of ways to create a more humane environment for them in the workplace,” Gothenburg councilor Mats Pilhem told The Local.

9. Internet leading to over sexualised kids

A new study on when parents talk to their children about sex has revealed many have not had the talk by the age of 15, despite studies showing that the average age children first view porn is 11.

Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg told News Limited: “I’m not sure they are having the conversations about pornography — what they are seeing online distorts their sexuality and intimacy.”

10. $110 million a year spent replacing lost coins

Royal Australian Mint’s chief executive, Ross MacDiarmid has told a Senate Estimates Committee that 255 million coins every year are lost by Australians – down the back of the couch, taken overseas in the pockets of tourists and stuck to footpaths.

It costs $110 million annually to replace these coins.

The committee also heard what it costs to make a five-cent coin.

It costs six cents to produce.

11. Judge ‘beats the ass’ of a lawyer

A judge in the US has been caught on CCTV camera in an altercation with a lawyer.

Florida judge John Murphy had an exchange of words with the lawyer with assistant public defender Andrew Weinstock.

“If I had a rock I would throw it at you right now. Stop pissing me off, just sit down,” the judge said.

When the judge ordered the attorney to leave the dock, the attorney refused — defending his right to represent his client. The judge then said “If you want to fight let’s go out back and I’ll just beat your ass.”

The pair then left the courtroom, and the CCTV captured noises of a scuffle. The judge then returned, saying: “I will catch my breath eventually. Man, I’m an old man.”

Both face disciplinary action.

12. Uber driver arrested

An Uber driver has been arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly kidnapping a 26-year-old woman and taking her to a motel.

Uber is a smartphone app and service that connects passengers with drivers of vehicles that are for hire and car-sharing services. The app allows you to rate rides and give feedback on drivers, which makes some customers feel more comfortable and safe than when catching a taxi.

The woman, who was allegedly drunk, said she woke up next to the driver in a motel room after he picked her up.

The driver has been arrested and charged with suspicion of kidnap for the purpose of sexual assault.

 13. Bashar al-Assad re-elected in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a landslide victory in presidential poll securing 88.7 percent of the vote, parliament speaker Mohammad al-Laham says.

The victory gives Assad a third seven-year term in office despite a raging civil war which grew out of protests against his rule.

“I declare the victory of Dr Bashar Hafez al-Assad as president of the Syrian Arab Republic with an absolute majority of the votes cast in the election,” Laham said in a televised address from his office in the Syrian parliament, Al Jazeera reports.

The opposition and its international backers have denounced the election as a farce.

Voting was held only in government-controlled areas, excluding vast chunks of northern and eastern Syria that are in rebel hands, Al Jazeera reports.

14. Same-sex British couples to marry in Australia

In a move welcomed by marriage equality advocates as a major step towards marriage reform, same-sex couples in which one partner has British citizenship will be able to marry from June 27 in some British consulates.

Hundreds of Australian couples are expected to marry and can begin the process to book ceremonies in Sydney or Perth from Thursday, Fairfax reports.

While couples who marry under the British laws will not have their marriages recognised in Australia, the move will increase pressure on the Federal government to allow a conscience vote on marriage equality.

15. Lego to launch female scientist series

Lego has announced  it will launch a series of female scientists and their lab tools.

The science-themed project was selected as the Lego Ideas winner on Tuesday, The Guardian reports.

The series, which includes an astronomer with a telescope and a paleontologist with a dinosaur skeleton, will hit shelves in August 2014.

The project idea was submitted by Dr Ellen Kooijman, a geochemist in Stockholm, who wrote in her proposal: “The motto of these [=(s)cientists is clear: explore the world and beyond!”

What news are you talking about today?