Tuesday's news in 5 minutes.

1. More than $100 million to be wagered on Melbourne Cup today.

Punters will place 3,000 bets per second through the TAB today with more than $100 million tipped to be wagered on the big race.

Australians are expected to drop $140 million on today’s race – the 156th Melbourne Cup.

At Flemington, more than 100,000 people will gather to see the $6.2 million race despite a 60 per cent chance of rain, with another 20,000 to don their hats and fascinators at Royal Randwick in Sydney.

Around the world more than 700 million will watch the race, in offices, pubs, clubs, restaurants. All except those on the school pick-up who miss the 3pm race in favour of seeing which kid sprints out the school gates first.

The only Australian-bred horse in the 24-strong field, Jameka, has had one punter back the mare with an $80,000 bet at the Call of the Card.

Hartnell is expected to start favourite, but last year’s winning jockey Michelle Payne has tipped Our Ivanhowe to win.

The only female jockey in today’s race Katelyn Mallyon will ride aboard Assign hoping to make it a quinella of winning female jockeys after Payne’s historic win last year.

2. Eight-year-old girl ‘Trick or Treating’ hit by car, along with her mum.

A 27-year-old mother and her eight-year-old daughter have been hit by a car driven by a P- Plater while they were trick-or-treating in western Sydney last night.

The female driver of the ute allegedly mounted the kerb and struck the pair as she turned from Lakeside Pde onto Greenwood Parkway at Jordan Springs near Penrith about 6.45pm.

The Daily Telegraph reports the mother suffered pelvis injuries and was taken to Westmead Hospital in a serious but stable condition, while her daughter was taken to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead with lacerations to her head.

The driver and her adult passenger were uninjured.

3. Funerals for Manrique-Lutz family attended by hundreds.

Hundreds have attended the funerals for the Manrique-Lutz family who were found dead along with their parents Fernando Manrique, 44, and his wife Maria Claudia Lutz, 43, in their Davidson house a fortnight ago in what police believe was a murder-suicide.

Sky News reports that a tin of paint brushes symbolising 11-year-old Elisa and 10-year-old Martin’s love of art was placed at the altar of the Holy Name Catholic Church in Wahroonga.

Family members travelled from Columbia for the service.

“We must now find peace and acceptance in our hearts,” the relatives said in a statement.

“It is not easy, and the exposure has only exacerbated our pain”.

They hoped the tragedy would raise awareness “of the enormous economic, social and psychological stresses that families of children with disabilities bear”.

“Whilst science works day after day to comprehend all these different conditions, society cannot remain indifferent to the situations families bear, and needs to move and develop means to support them better.”

4. Dreamworld staff voluntarily return to work.

Staff at Dreamworld have returned to work less than a week after four people were killed in a raft ride accident at the Gold Coast theme park.

Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson could not say when the park would reopen but staff were being paid during the closure period.

“At this point there is no time-frame or decision about the park re-opening. I can confirm we will not be making a decision about re-opening or providing a time frame at any stage this week.”

Mr Davidson said they had started a “cautious and staged approach” allowing about 200 staff to return to work.

5. Lyme disease “does not exist in Australia.”

A new report says there is no evidence Lyme disease exists in Australia.

The report, in the Medical Journal of Australia, expresses concern about the increasing number of patients asking to be treated with antibiotics for what is now being referred to as “Lyme disease-like illness”.

“Until there is strong evidence from well performed clinical studies that bacteria present in Australia cause a chronic debilitating illness that responds to extended antibiotic therapy, treating patients with so-called ‘Lyme disease-like illness’ with prolonged intravenous or oral antibiotic therapy is both unjustifiable and unethical,” the report said.

But Lyme Disease Association Australia’s Sharon Whiteman told the ABC the definition of Lyme disease should be expanded to include more than one strain of Borrlia bacteria.

“The denial of Lyme disease in Australia is based on the fact they are attributing the definition of Lyme disease to the original 1970-1980 definition of Lyme being caused by a single North American strain of Borrelia Burgdoferi Sensu Stricto,” Ms Whiteman said.

“It’s non-scientific to deny evidence of these pathogens with very little contemporary research.”

6. Four-year-old suffered overdose after drinking GHB from water bottle at Albury.

A four-year-old girl has been rushed to hospital after taking GHB.

The Herald Sun reports the little girl started choking after drinking GHB, also known as “liquid ecstasy”, from a water bottle about 10.20pm on Friday.

She was taken to Albury Hospital before being flown to The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne in a critical condition.

She was released from hospital yesterday.

Officers seized two plastic bottles allegedly containing GHB from the home and charged a 30-year-old man with possessing a prohibited drug.

7. Woman sexually assaulted over 10-hour period by Thai tour operator dismayed at sentence cut.

A Thai man who stalked and sexually assaulted a young American tourist as she lay partially paralysed from a cliff fall near a popular Thai beach resort has had his sentence halved.

As previously reported by Mamamia, Hannah Gavios, 23, was hunted down by tour shop employee Apai Ruangwong who chased her to a cliff face where she fell 45 metres while trying to flee from him on the island of Krabi. He then pursued her and spent hours sexually abusing her, praying, masturbating and groping her as she lay on a rock, unable to move with a broken back.

Ruangwong, 28, was sentenced to 10 years jail earlier this month but had five years shaved off last week after pleading guilty to obscene behaviour and causing serious injury.

Hannan’s mother Gwen said she was dismayed, The Daily Record reports.

“I am dismayed that (the sentence) is automatically cut down to five years because of a guilty plea.”

She said her daughter would suffer the consequences of the attack “for the rest of her life”.

Hannah, who remains paralysed, is now back home in the US receiving treatment.

8. Could the FBI have broken the law over the Clinton email investigation?

Investigators have obtained a warrant to examine new emails potentially linked to Hillary Clinton, but there are growing calls that FBI Director James Comey may have broken the law over the new investigation.

Comey threw the presidential race into turmoil on Friday when he revealed that the agency was again reviewing Clinton’s email use.

The decision – less than two weeks before election day – followed the discovery of a string of emails belonging to one of her top aides, Huma Abedin.

The Wall Street Journal reports that there could be as many as 650,000 emails to analyse.

US Senator Harry Reid has suggested that FBI Director James Comey “may have broken the law” by disclosing the fact that new action is being taken in the Clinton email probe so close to the election.

The senate Democratic leader also accused Comey of having a “double standard” and being selective in the information that was being publicised.

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