Tuesday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. NASA announce they have discovered water on Mars.

NASA scientists have found evidence of briny water flowing on Mars during summertime saying the discovery “suggests that it would be possible for life to be on Mars today.”

The announcement overnight came after much speculation about what NASA’s big finding was. Scientists said that Mars is “not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past” but that they still do not known where the water is coming from.

Using high resolution imagine techniques, they found evidence of hydrated salts that are caused by briny water making narrow and elongated streaks appear on the surface of the Red Planet known as “recurring slope lineae” (RSL).

Research shows the streaks “appear and grow incrementally in the downslope direction during warm seasons”. NASA scientists suggest the streaks were formed as a result of salty “flows” or “seeps” because they bear a striking resemblance to the shapes and curves that water on Earth makes as it flows along the surface of the ground.

NASA’s John Grunsfeld said that the discovery means they will send a mission to Mars.

“These observations are giving us a much better view that Mars has resources that are useful to future travellers… I think we will send humans in the near future to Mars… to be able to live on the surface, the resources are there.”

2.  Inquest into Sydney woman who was set alight hears she had an unhappy marriage.

Warning: This item deals with domestic violence and may be distressing for some readers.

An inquest into the death of Sydney woman Parwinder Kaur has heard she called emergency services herself minutes before being set alight saying “My husband nearly killed me.”

32-year old Parwinder Kaur died in 2013 after she was set alight with what is thought to be lawnmower fuel. No arrests were ever made after her death with suggestions that Mrs Kaur had set herself on fire in a suicide attempt.

The inquest heard yesterday that Mrs Kaur court had complained to friends of being assaulted by her husband before, which included being pushed and shoved, slapped, kicked in the stomach and thrown out of home.

News Limited reports that he said he had never tried to hurt her.

Minutes after the December 2  call her neighbours reported hearing a ‘blood-curdling scream’.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Philip Strickland SC, told Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund that the evidence appeared inconsistent with a suicide attempt.

“The hypothesis goes like this: Parwinder thought the involvement of the police might somehow have provided her with a circuit-breaker to leave what was undoubtedly, at that time, an unhappy and possibly violent marriage,” Mr Strickland said.

Two minutes after the call Mrs Kaur ran from her home in a ball of flames.

The inquest continues.

For domestic violence support 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

3. Victorian Premier urged to adopt the coroner’s recommendations in the wake of Luke Batty’s murder.

The Victorian Government has been urged to adopt the “monumental” recommendations from State Coroner Judge Ian Gray’s report into the death of Luke Batty.

Family violence experts say that all of the coroner’s recommendations should be taken up.

In his findings released yesterday Judge Gray said police displayed a “disturbingly relaxed approach” to arresting Anderson and should be duty-bound to pass on concerns about his behaviour to the courts.

The 29 recommendations urged wide-ranging legislative and policy changes focused on making perpetrators accountable and integrating Victoria’s family violence services.

These include refusing bail to offenders facing court over previous bail breaches, a judicial power to force perpetrators to be assessed by a forensic psychiatrist, the creation of a Family Violence Advocate service to support women and children; mandating perpetrators attend behavioural change programs and dedicated prosecutors, advocates and outreach workers and the execution of all warrants relating to high-risk offenders to be treated as a priority.

He recommended that police introduce a “warning flag” to identify high-risk family violence perpetrators.

In a statement, Victoria Police told the ABC said it would be carefully considering the coroner’s findings.

“Victoria Police is absolutely focused on the critical job of improving our response to family violence,” the statement read.

“We acknowledge the difficult and challenging work that our members are confronted with every day in dealing with family violence incidents.

“We are committed to better working amongst all agencies involved in the prevention and investigation of family violence incidents.”

Judge Gray found that police, courts and child protection services missed several opportunities to hold Anderson accountable for his continued violent and threatening behaviour.

But he said that Luke’s death was not foreseeable and that no agency was directly to blame for such a rare atrocity.

For more read this post here. 

3. Police allege North Queensland woman posted a selfie then her jealous ex killed her.

QLD police will allege that a former soldier stabbed his ex-partner after he became jealous when he saw a photo she had uploaded to Facebook, showing her with a new boyfriend.

32-year old Corinne Henderson was stabbed to death on Saturday night in her apartment in Townsville. 36-year old Dane Andrew Pilcher was arrested over her murder.

The Courier Mail reports that Ms Henderson, a fly-in, fly-out mine worker, had spent the day at the Townsville Cup with friends and her new partner where she had posted a selfie to Facebook of the two together.

Mr Pilcher called police saying he was injured. He remains in hospital under police guard. Yesterday he had a bedside hearing from Townsville Hospital where he was remanded in custody, until November 17.

4.  Angelina Jolie’s powerful effect still ongoing.

Scientists have confirmed the  “Angelina effect” is till ongoing across the globe two-years after the actress made it public that she had her breasts removed due to a high genetic risk of cancer.

Several studies, including one released yesterday has shown a surge in women seeking genetic testing for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 gene mutations following her story.

Sue Shanley, acting director of the familial cancer clinic at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre told Fairfax Media referrals to Australian clinics tripled in the month of Jolie’s story and had levelled off at about double the rate seen before 2013.

“The increase in referrals has been in people who were appropriate to see us, so it hasn’t just generated anxiety in people without a significant history. It’s been the people we wanted to see,” said the clinical geneticist.

5. Calls for men to recognise that ovarian cancer is not just a women’s problem.

Mr Whelan is calling for men to be more aware of the fact that they can be carriers of the BRCA gene that caused Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie to have her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in 2013 and can pass it down to their daughters.

The former NSW Police Minister said that it was only after his daughter was diagnosed that testing showed the gene came from his side of the family.

He says his two sisters had ovarian cancer, but because this was never discussed with him – being “ women’s issues”, he did not know his daughter could be susceptible to the disease.

He told News Limited “I think in the wider community this is seen as a female problem and in the past, it was ‘let’s not talk about women’s sexual organs because it’s their private business’, well now it’s a public concern.”

Mr Whelan is also calling for the genetic testing for the BRCA gene to be Medicare funded.

6. 96 of healthy greyhound puppies killed each year due to overbreeding.

A NSW inquiry into the greyhound industry has heard that up to 17,000 healthy greyhound pups are killed each year out of 17,500 as a result of over breeding.

The Daily Mail reports that Greyhounds Australasia and Greyhound Racing South Australia found that between 74 and 96 per cent of greyhound pups are euthanaised.

“As little as four in every 100 greyhounds born each year will make it beyond about 42 months of age,’ counsel assisting the special commission of inquiry into the NSW greyhound industry Stephen Rushton SC said.

“As many as 96 in every 100 healthy young greyhounds born each year will be destroyed by the industry which bred them.”

The hearing continues today.

7. Children with sleeping problems could suffer mental illness.

A study from Goldsmiths, University of London, and Tel Aviv University has linked poor sleep in children with mental health problems.

The researchers found insomnia, disturbed sleep and nightmares are associated with a greater likelihood of developing mental health problems in later childhood or adulthood.

Dr Alice Gregory of Goldsmiths told The Daily Mail “Disorders typically start early in life so it’s negligent to ignore the childhood and adolescence period when trying to understand the development of psychopathology.

“Sleep can be assessed very early in life and has found to constitute an early risk indicator of later problems.”

In the study they found nightmares and ‘night terrors’ in children can be associated with the psychotic episodes such as schizophrenia later on in life.

Children who go on to be diagnosed with mania or bi-polar disorder are also found to have irregular sleeping patterns and shorter hours asleep.

8. Woman’s Day magazine publishes pics of George and Charlotte against Royal wishes.

Australian magazine Woman’s Day has become the first in the world to defy a request from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge not to purchase paparazzi pictures of their children.

The magazine published paparazzi pics of the Princess and Prince Charlotte with their nanny outside the gates of Kensington Palace.

In August the royal couple issued an open letter children warning that photographers were crossing a line using  “dangerous” and “distressing” tactics.

They expressed the fear that if press photographers cannot be controlled, Prince George and Princess Charlotte could end up spending most of their childhoods “behind palace gates and in walled gardens”.

It also expressed concern for the photographer getting mistaken for someone intending on harming the children.

“The worry is that it will not always be possible to quickly distinguish between someone taking photos and someone intending to do more immediate harm.”

The letter, signed by Jason Knauf, the Cambridges’ communications secretary appealing directly to consumers.

The letter said, “We are aware that many people who read and enjoy the publications that fuel the market for unauthorized photos of children do not know about the unacceptable circumstances behind what are often lovely images. We feel readers deserve to understand the tactics deployed to obtain these pictures.”

It also mentioned the cutsey language often used in the accompanying text noting that such pictures are “usually dressed up with fun, positive language about the ‘cute’, ‘adorable’ photos and happy write ups about the family” and give no hint to the underhand tactics used to procure them.

Woman’s Day’s images of the two is accompanied by the spiel “”In time spent cocooned at home in Anmer Hall with her mummy, little Charlotte has certainly grown. And, in excellent news, she looks just like her gorgeous big brother, Prince George.”

9. Brownlow and Dally M Awards have their big nights.

It was awards night last night for the football players of Australia. In Melbourne Fremantle player Nat Fyfe won the 2015 Brownlow Medal.

Fyfe is the first Docker to win the award.

In Sydney North Queensland player Johnathan Thurston has been crowned the NRL’s best yet again, winning the Dally M Medal for a record fourth time.

For more on the red carpet fashion go here. 

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au

 
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