Thursday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Melbourne Ebola scare

There are reports this morning that Royal Melbourne Hospital may be treating a suspected Ebola case.

Nine News reports that paramedics were wearing full hazmat suits as they picked the man up from Port Melbourne.

He was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital.

The man is believed to have recently visited West Africa.

The hospital has since watered down the reports saying they are “not treating an Ebola case”

2. House of squalor plea hearing

The father of a five-year old boy who died after cutting his foot on an open tin of cat food that was buried beneath knee high rubbish on the floor of his Melbourne home has told a plea hearing that he allowed his kids to live in the filth and squalor as he feared his wife who he testified was mentally ill would take them from him.

His wife died earlier this month from organ failure due to complications from alcoholism.

The boy and his older brother had never visited a doctor, nor attended school.

Crown Prosecutor Susan Borg told the court that the cause of death could have been tetanus or botulism but was difficult to determine.

“Toxic gas produced by rotting food also could have been a factor,” Ms Borg said.

She told the court that the father made a decision that it was perhaps easier not to go head to head with the mother.

‘The father went out into the real world to work, where he earned $160,000 per year, then returned to the filthy conditions but did nothing.”

“He did nothing to help those children,” she said.

The court heard that the mother had tricked her husband and into believing the boys attended school by inventing stories about school excursions and buying medals she told him they’d won.

The boys were told to lie to their father telling him about their day at school if he asked.

The Daily Mail reports that Crown Prosecutor Ms Borg said she did not believe it was necessary to impose an immediate jail term on the man.

He remains on bail and will be sentenced in November.

 3. Jakarta International School allegations

Fairfax Media reports that the allegations against two teachers at the Jakarta International School have now been made more formal with police telling the accused that they would face trial in an Indonesian court.

Two teachers from the prestigious Jakarta International School, who have spent 108 days without charge in police detention over child sex allegations, were told yesterday that they would face trial in an Indonesian court.

Canadian school administrator Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teachers’ aide Ferdinant Tjiong have spent 108 days in police detention without charge over the  child sex allegations.

Two preschool boys alleged they were raped by the men.

Fairfax Media reports that the family of the first alleged victim has filed a $US125 million lawsuit against the school

4. Treasurer’s Pizza outrage

The Treasurer Joe Hockey has used a comparison to a night out in a pizza restaurant to illustrate a point he was trying to make about red tape.

He said yesterday that he once became so angry when he was dining out at a local pizza shop at certain council regulations that he exploded and called the mayor to complain.

He told business owners“I took my kids to a little park up the road and there’s a pizza shop there and we met up with another family … [there were] two tables outside [with] three chairs on one table, four on the other,” Mr Hockey said in Canberra.

“I went to put the two tables together and the owner of the pizza shop came out and said ‘I’m sorry Mr Hockey, you’re not allowed to do that, the council regulation prevents you putting the two tables together’.”

“There were eight of us, so I went inside to get another chair and they said, ‘Sorry Mr Hockey, they’ve said you can only have seven chairs [outside], not eight’.”

Mr Hockey said that’s when he “exploded.”

“I actually tracked down the mayor, it was 6 o’clock on a Friday night, and I think the whole suburb heard the conversation,” he said.

“I want you to know that the Treasurer of Australia feels the same pain you do … that’s what I’m trying to say,”

5. Aquarium accused of animal cruelty

The animal rights group PETA has accused the Sydney Aquarium of animal cruelty for hosting after hours parties which they say would distress the animals.

The Daily Mail reports that PETA wrote to the aquarium saying” ‘Events such as this, which take place outside normal opening hours, while animals would normally be resting, are likely to have a detrimental impact on aquarium residents, particularly if the visitors behave in a manner that causes the animals stress.”

Management at the Aquarium responded saying that animal welfare was one of their highest priorities.

“All functions are developed in coordination with our curatorial staff to ensure they do not exceed the aquarium’s normal day-to-day noise levels and are aimed to provide an intimate evening at the aquarium while maintaining an appropriate end time to benefit the animals,”

 6. Man wanted in relation to a Melbourne sex attack

Police have released an image of a man wanted for questioning in relation to a sex attack on a woman in Melbourne.

Police have been told the 31-year old woman was walking her dog yesterday in Altona, when she was grabbed from behind by a male wearing a bandana.

The male held a knife to her throat and tried to drag her into bushes.

Police are searching for 16-year-old Jake Taylor-Cain over the incident. He is described as being Caucasian, about 190cm tall, with brown wavy hair and a medium build, and was last seen in St Albans.

Police believe he is frequenting the western suburbs of Melbourne.

If seen police ask you to call 000 immediately.

7. Climate change plan

The government has secured a deal with the Palmer United Party on its $2.55 billion direct action climate policy making several concessions to win over their support.

The policy which Clive Palmer once described as a waste of money means the government has, in return, agreed to fund an investigation into an emissions trading policy.

Under the Direct Action plan, polluters would be paid to reduce emissions.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said “This is a tremendous outcome for the government reports The Australian. 

Labor leader Bill Shorten said it was a dirty deal. “Tony Abbott has once again sold his soul to Clive Palmer and Australia will pay the price,” he said.

8. Facebook bans breasfeeding pic

A breastfeeding photo has gone viral after Facebook seemed it offensive.

The photo of new mum Emma Bond breastfeeding her premature baby was banned by the social media giant after it was reported by a user.

But it has now gone viral and attracted headlines worldwide.

For more read this post here.

9. Will this country axe the Union Jack?

The Prime Minister of New Zealand has said that the country will hold a binding vote on whether to change the flag in 2016.

Two votes will be held on the issue.

The first at the end of next year, will ask the public to choose a preferred design.

The second referendum, in 2016, will pit the winning new design against the current flag.

 10. Child poverty report

A Global poverty report into child poverty has found that child poverty has increased in 23 countries in the developed world since the start of the global recession in 2008.

The Children of the Recession report by Unicef says the number of children entering poverty during the recession is 2.6 million greater than the number who have been lifted out of it. “The longer these children remain trapped in the cycle of poverty, the harder it will be for them to escape,” it says in Children of Recession: the Impact of the Economic Crisis on Child Wellbeing in Rich Countries.

In Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland, child poverty rates rose by over 50%.

Of more welcome news was the fact that in 18 countries child poverty actually fell, sometimes markedly. Australia, Chile, Finland, Norway, Poland and the Slovak Republic reduced levels by around 30%.

11. Lingerie company body shaming

Victoria’s Secret is coming under fire for an advertising campaign that many say is ‘body shaming.’

A change.org petition and a hasttag #iamperfect has been making the rounds on twitter.

Their “Perfect ‘Body'” advertisement features a row of 10 clad women in bras and knickers – at least three of who have visible ribs.

 “It’s the 21st century and we still have to tell big corporate companies to stop body image shaming young girls ‪#iamperfect ‪#victoriasecret” was one tweet.

12. Men reluctant to help kids

A study has shown that 2/3 of Australian men are somewhat reluctant to help a lost child for fear they would be viewed as a pervert.

45% of fathers say it would ‘cross their mind that someone might interpret their actions as inappropriate’, but if a child was in “great distress” they would go to their aid reports News Limited.

13. Children in childcare more likely to develop problem behaviours

A study has shown that children who attend childcare are more likely to exhibit problem behaviours such as aggression and hyperactivity.

The study by the University of Adelaide monitored 3200 children and found that the length of time spent in childcare centres was directly linked to increases in problem behaviours by the age of four or five.

The Daily Mail reports that the study showed the same behaviour problems were not exhibited by children in family day care or looked after by nannies.

There was an upside though with these kids less likely to be anxious or depressed than children who did not attend childcare.
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