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Tuesday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. MH 17 developments overnight

The black box was handed over in front of a large media contingent.

 

BREAKING NEWS: Separatists have now handed over the black box to the Malaysian delegation.

This morning at 5am the UN security council voted in favour of Australia’s resolution demanding full and unfettered access for investigators at the Malaysia Airlines jet crash site in eastern Ukraine.

The Australian-sponsored resolution, which passed unanimously, also calls for a halt to all military activities around the site and for Russian-backed separatists to allow international investigator complete access to the crash site.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said, “We must have answers. We must have justice. We owe it to the victims and their families.”

Bodies begin journey to Holland.

Finally some relief for victim’s families with a significant breakthrough. Malaysia has announced that they have an agreement with separatist leader Aleksander Borodai to retrieve the bodies.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a press conference and on his Facebook page that they have also reached an agreement to hand over the two black boxes to allow an investigation to begin.

The bodies will be taken to the city of Kharkiv – where it is reported they will then be transported to The Netherlands via plane.

Prime Minister Abbott

Yesterday Prime Minister Tony Abbott voiced his concerns that Russian-backed rebels remained in control of the crash site.

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“Given the almost certain culpability of the Russian-backed rebels in the downing of the aircraft having those people in control of the site is a little like leaving criminals in control of a crime scene,” he said.

In other developments:

  • US President Obama has called on Russia to rein in the rebel fighters, who he said had treated remains poorly and removed evidence from the site. “What exactly are they trying to hide?” he said.
  • The main rebel-held city of Donetsk has seen heavy clashes with violence near the city’s airport and the railway station.
  • Dutch investigators have been the first international investigator to arrive at the scene in Torez in Ukraine, where the remains of victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash are being stored. The three forensic scientists are aiming to start work on identifying the 196 bodies kept there on a train.
  • A separate group of 31 investigators is now in the eastern city of Kharkiv. The team – from the Netherlands, Germany, the US, the UK and Australia – is expected to proceed closer to the crash site today.

2. Open letter goes viral

Elsemiek de Borst! died on MH17

A father has penned an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin after his 17-year-old daughter died on MH17.

“Thank you very much mister Putin, leaders of the separatists or the Ukraine government! For murdering my loved and only child, Elsemiek de Borst!” Hans de Borst wrote.

His 17-year-old daughter had planned to become an engineer after she finished high school next year.

“She was looking forward to it,” her father wrote. “But suddenly she is not here anymore! She has been shot out of the sky, in an unknown country, where there is a war going on!

3. Australian journalist slammed for rifling victim’s belongings.

A day after a UK Sky News reporter faced international condemnation after going through an MH17 victim’s bag live on air – before realizing what he was doing was wrong — an Australian journalist has done the same thing.

ABC reporter Phil Williams has admitted to the ABC’s PM program that he too has touched items.

The ABC received over 100 complaints about his actions. He defended himself saying, “Yes, and look, that’s, I am guilty of picking up a, touching a scarf on the ground, and that’s because, these are, so there are piles of people’s belongings that have just been collected and dumped on the roadside.”

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“


So it’s not as though it’s a crime scene, an uncontaminated crime scene there. 

But yeah, I’m very cautious about that.”

“
You can’t go more than a few metres before finding some other personal item or a piece of the plane, someone’s diary, someone’s t-shirt, and, very sadly, occasionally some parts of bodies themselves.
”

4. Childcare report

The report gives more flexibility for child care options.

After a long wait the Productivity Commission has released its draft inquiry report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning.

One of the key features of the proposals is what many were counting on – the ability to claim back the costs of nannies – and a single means payment that would go directly to the parents’ choice of provider.

For all the recommendations read this post here.

5. Gaza/Israel conflict

Overnight four people have been killed and a further 70 injured after Israeli tank shells hit a hospital in central Gaza, according to Palestinian medics.

Thirty of those wounded in the attack were reportedly medical staff.

As the US Secretary of State, John Kerry heads towards the Middle East the UN Security Council has demanded a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The conflict between Israel and Gaza has now hit the two-week mark as conflict intensified overnight.

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The humanitarian side of the crisis is only just being uncovered with reports on twitter from the UNRWA that as many as 100,000 residents were taking refuge in 67 shelters. “Situation for civilians beyond imagining,” UNRAW spokesman tweeted Chris Gunness, said in a post on Twitter.

The death toll from the conflict has reached 500 Palestinians and 20 Israeli deaths.

6. Cannibal nurse found guilty

A nurse in the UK who fantasized about killing and eating a teenage girl has been convicted of sexual grooming.

Dale Bolinger, 57, tried to meet up with a 14-year-old girl named ‘Eva’, saying he would behead her and then cook and eat her remains.

The BBC reports that he arranged to meet the young girl – a Mexican living in Germany — at a train station, sending her a message the day before saying: “I’ll eat everything from your feet to your face. You’ll be completely consumed.”

Eva did not show up to the meeting, and Bolinger was arrested in February last year following an FBI tip-off.

Police also found messages posted on the Dark Fetish Network by Bolinger in which he boasted that he had killed and eaten both a 39-year-old woman and a girl of five.

7. Everyone wants a girl

Why does everyone want a baby girl?

A US IVF clinic has surprised many with revelations that one in ten of their patients are now seen for gender selection with the largest numbers of couples from outside America coming from Australia, the UK and Canada.

The US based clinic run by Dr Daniel Potter, who runs a large fertility clinic in America, told the UK Telegraph he treats treats 10 patients from Britain alone a month who want to have IVF treatment.

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The sex they are overwhelmingly selecting is female, with 8 in 10 choosing to have a baby girl.

He told The Telegraph: “Some have only one child but most have two or three of the same gender. The process is driven by the mother who has identified with little girls since her own childhood and has always had a place for a daughter. When they do not have one, it is like a death and they grieve for their little girl.”

8. Revolutionary condom

Condom which attacks sexually transmitted viruses

A new condom which attacks sexually transmitted viruses through a gel has been given the go ahead for sale in Australia.

Australian biotech Starpharma announced yesterday that the Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration had approved the use gel which can attack viruses which cause HIV, genital herpes and human papillomavirus.

9. Daniel Morcombe’s killer’s jail conditions

Seven News have reported on life behind bars for Brett Cowan, who was jailed for murdering Daniel Morcombe.

The first images of Cowan show he has put on weight in jail and reports are he is a target of bashings. Bruce and Denise Morcombe told Seven that they refuse to let Cowan’s image unsettle them.

“No one likes a child killer, or a child molester and that’s what Cowan is,” Denise said. “He’s grown his goatee back dyed his hair darker.

“He actually looks like he’s put a lot of weight on … he does look a bit porky.”

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Brett Cowan from Seven News footage

10. Prince Harry hates Twitter

Prince Harry has claimed that he used to use social media, but now no longer does and that he “hates” Twitter.

The Prince made the statement at a school in the UK where children are being trained as “digital champions” for the forthcoming Invictus Games – a international sporting competition to be hosted in London in September 2014 for wounded injured and sick Service Personnel.

“The issue for myself and my family, put quite simply, is that it’s very hard for me to tweet about the Invictus Games and tweet about something that means a lot to me, whereas I at the same time really quite hate Twitter by the invasion of privacy.”

11. Packer’s corporate philanthropy

News Limited have announced the biggest corporate philanthropic foundation in Australian history, with James Packer’s Crown Resorts to unveil a $200 million to be funnelled into worthy charities over the next 10 years.

12. Great Barrier Reef

Bad news for the reef

In a devastating blow scientists have claimed that The Great Barrier Reef is in the worst state it’s been in since records began.

With the reef facing threats from coastal development, such as the dredging project at Abbot Point, experts have said the reef will be “pretty ugly” in 40 years time.

SBS reports that a Senate committee investigating how the Australian and Queensland governments have managed the reef (ahead of a UNESCO decision next year about whether to list it as a World Heritage site in danger) has heard from the Australian Coral Reef Society Society president Professor Peter Mumby, “It will be really pretty ugly.”

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“The reef is in the worse state it’s ever been in since records began. There is so much scope to improve governance.”

13. Adelaide man charged with sex crimes against seven children

A 32-year-old man from Adelaide has been charged with sex crimes against seven preschool aged children, who were under his care at a government-run childcare centre.

The man, an employee of Families SA, has now been charged with seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with young children. He was also charged with the production and dissemination of material that featured child exploitation.

Some of the crimes were committed at the care centre, and police said that it was not yet clear whether the man was acting alone or with others.

Police have also warned that there could be more victims, as the man also cared for children outside of school hours.

Assistant crime commissioner Paul Dickson said, “As a police officer and as a father I am abhorred by these crimes… This investigation will remain a priority for police. Due to the complexity and enormity of the data yet to be analysed, [it] may take many months to complete.”

Families SA deputy chief executive David Waterford called the crimes as “disturbing and horrifying”, and also revealed that the man had undergone background checks before being employed.

The man in question will appear before the Magistrates court on August 19.

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14. Sky News reporter who rifled through a MH17 victim’s suitcase issues apology.

Reporter Colin Brazier from Sky News was condemned earlier this week, after he rifled through MH17 passengers’ luggage live on air.

While reporting from the crash site, Brazier opened a suitcase and picked up a set of keys and a toothbrush from inside. These items were believed to belong to deceased passengers on board flight MH17.

Today, after facing backlash from the public accusing him of invading the rights and privacy of the dead, Brazier has issued an apology.

“At the weekend I got things wrong,” he said.

In a piece penned for The Guardian he continued, “The crash site of flight MH17 is like the set of a horror story. Except that movies are never allowed to show what we saw over the weekend.

“I could not comprehend what we were seeing. Bodies and body parts everywhere. I phoned my wife. ‘It’s a butcher’s year,’ I said.

“Too late, I realised that I was crossing a line. I thought aloud: ‘we shouldn’t be doing this… this is a mistake,’ an instant apology that was only selectively quoted by those determined to see what I did as a powerful example of journalistic vulturism.”

Brazier was reprimanded not only by the public, but also by UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron alluded to Brazier’s actions, stating, “People are leafing through personal belongings in a way that is completely inappropriate”.