Thursday'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. Federal Government announces domestic violence measures.

The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull will today outline a series of practical domestic violence measures aimed at stopping domestic violence in Australia.

The commitment aims to put domestic violence at the forefront of the nation’s conscience.

In his first major announcement as Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull will commit at least $41 million of a $100 million commitment towards training, support and school programs.

He will announce the measures with the Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash, Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, and former Victorian police chief Ken Lay.

News Limited reports that these measures include GPS tracking for serious perpetrators, training for emergency workers and hospital staff.

$15m of the package will be put towards placing duty lawyers in hospitals, and specialist teams of lawyers and social workers funded for legal assistance services.

$5m over three years will be put towards an expansion of the safter schools program that will focus on respectful relationships.

Areas with higher rates of abuse will be targeted by “local support co-ordinators”, who will help women access services such as emergency housing and welfare assistance.

$1.4million will be put towards establishing community engagement police officers in remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory to encourage women to support domestic violence.

The Minister for Women, Michaela Cash said the new measures would show the Government’s commitment to taking “practical immediate action” against domestic violence.

“We all have a role to play in ending this vile epidemic, and we are all responsible for effecting change: in our families, schools, sport teams, workplace, and communities,” Senator Cash told The Courier-Mail.

For more read this post here.

2. Step-father charged over murder of 12-year old girl.

NSW Police have charged a 31-year-old man with the murder of his 12-year-old stepdaughter in the Hunter Valley after her mother found her body in her bed early yesterday morning.

Detective Superintendent Craig Jackson said the girl’s body showed “signs of violence”, however there was no murder weapon.

Police arrested the girl’s stepfather driving away from the scene.

Fairfax Media reports that there are suspicions the girl was beaten before she was sent to bed .

The body did show some signs of violence, but in so far as when violence was inflicted, we are still making inquiries in relation to that,” Det Sup Jackson said.

“It would appear that there have been no previous reports [of domestic violence] made.”

The Daily Telegraph reports that the family, understood to be part of the region’s large African community, kept to themselves.

“You’d see the girl walking past sometimes to the shop or whatever, but she was very quiet; she would just keep her head down,” a neighbour Megan Colman said

“It’s just such a horrible thing to happen. I really feel for that poor mother.”

The 31-year old man will appear in court today.

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

3. Turnbull “concerned about asylum seekers”.

The Prime Minister has ruled out resettling refugees who are processed on Manus Island or Nauru in Australia, but said while he was “concerned” about conditions within the offshore processing network.

Speaking to the ABC yesterday he said while we had a tough border protection policy” it has worked.”

Mr Turnbull told Sky News that conditions in Papua New Guinea and Nauru could be improved.

“[Immigration Minister Peter] Dutton and I, and the Government, we are concerned about the situation on Manus and Nauru.

“We’re concerned that people are detained there, naturally it is not an ideal environment, we are doing everything we can to encourage them to return to where they came and the Government is actively looking at means of resettling them, whether it is in PNG, or indeed in Cambodia or looking at other options.

“It is tough, but the fact is we cannot take a backwards step on this issue.”

4. Australia beats Fiji in World Cup.

The Wallabies defeated the Fijians 38 to 13, but went without a potentially crucial bonus point after failing to score a fourth try in the second half.

Australia is third in the ‘pool of death’ as it is known behind England and Wales, who both secured the bonus-point win in their first games.

5. Breastfeeding doesn’t make your child smarter.

Despite previous evidence saying breastfeeding can improve your child’s IQ scientists have now found that  breastfeeding is not related to improvements in intelligence in children as they grow up.
Scientists from Goldsmiths, University of London conducted research on 11,000 British children – and found no reliable association between breastfeeding and higher IQ at age two.

Study co-leader Dr Sophie von Stumm, from Goldsmiths, University of London, said: “Many researchers have previously investigated whether being breastfed in early life benefits IQ.

“However, few of the earlier studies have employed strong research designs that produce reliable results.

“Children – and adults – differ in their cognitive abilities, and it is important to identify factors that give rise to these differences. But comparatively small events like breastfeeding are very unlikely to be at the core of something as big and complex as children’s differences in IQ.

“Instead, children’s IQ differences are better explained by long-term factors, for example, children’s family background and their schooling,” she said.

The Telegraph reports that Dr Sophie von Stumm assured mothers who bottle-feed they are not harming their children’s outcomes when it comes to academia.

“Mothers should be aware that they are not harming their child if they choose not to, or cannot, breastfeed. Being bottle fed as an infant won’t cost your child a chance at a university degree later in life.”

6. Judge who suggested juries may no longer think sexual relations with a child were ‘taboo’ faces a ban from hearing further sex cases.

A NSW judge who compared incest and pedophilia to homosexuality in a 2014 case and said that juries may no longer think sexual relations with a child were unnatural or “taboo” will now face a possible ban from hearing further sex cases.

The Australian reports that the Judicial Commission has found Judge Neilson’s remarks would “undermine faith in the system and diminish the significance of criminal conduct against victims.”

The finding said the comments would lead the public to think a judge of the District Court hearing allegations of significant sexual misconduct “does not regard the offences as significant crimes.”

In the 2014 case of a 58-year-old man known as MRM, who was charged with raping his younger sister in the family’s western Sydney home Judge Neilson said a jury might now find “nothing untoward” in the sexual advances of a brother to a sister who was sexually mature.

“Juries now regularly hear cases of sexual conduct which was once considered ‘unnatural’ or taboo,”.

7. Egypt pardons Peter Greste’s Al-Jazeera colleagues.

Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohammed were originally arrested in December 2013 and sentenced to three years in prison.

They were pardoned among a group of 100 people by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on the eve of the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

MENA news agency said a third person from the Al-Jazeera case was also pardoned but was not identified by name.

Al-Jazeera said on its website that it “continues to demand all charges and sentences against its journalists are dropped” despite the three pardons.

“Reminder that as well as Baher and Fahmy, there are 7 other AJ journos convicted in absentia whose lives have been affected,” the network’s communications head, Osama Saeed, tweeted.

8. Pope calls for action on climate change.

The Pope said that those who doubt the science of climate change need to step up, saying that the warming planet “demands on our part a serious and responsible recognition” of conditions awaiting today’s children.

The Pope also spoke privately with President Obama for about half an hour.

9. Man sells AFL Finals tickets on Gumtree because of ”promiscuous bride.”

A man has posted his preliminary finals tickets for Fremantle’s game against Hawthorn on Friday night after an engagement broke down due to what he says was a ”promiscuous bride.”

The man, named John says that he is selling the tickets to get back the money for a bucks night that had been cancelled.

“Please note – I am not a scumbag scalper, I am simply trying to pick up the shattered pieces from a ‘double banger footy bonanza big bus boozed up bucks night bash’ which has been abandoned last minute due to a promiscuous bride showing her true colors, amongst other things,”

He wrote:

“You may have noticed that like the many other Dockers v Hawthorn and West Coast Eagles v North Melbourne Prelim final tickets currently for sale on Gumtree that these tickets too are for sale at a price above cost price.

“This however is not because I am yet another spineless, pondscum, limp wristed, oxygen thief scalper with little or no morals, dignity, honor, self respect, sense of right from wrong etc… solely out for a quick buck at the expense of others, it is in fact in the interests of trying to recover the cost of a non-refundable bus hire deposit, function centre cancellation fee and various other expenses associated with organising and then at very short notice cancelling a weekend of wild festivities, celebrations and entertainment.

“Thank you for taking the time to read my ad. I have a few Eagles v Hawks tickets available too. Have a lovely day…. Unless of course you are a Hawthorn or Kangaroos supporter!”

10. Transgender woman detained at airports reveals everyday transphobia.

A transgender woman in the US who was detained at an airport has live-tweeted her experience as she was stopped for an anomaly – her penis.

Shadi Petosky claimed she was held for over an hour by Transportation Security Administration officials (TSA) who required her to go through secondary screening at Orlando International Airport in the US.

Shadi Petosky, said that T.S.A. officers calibrated the full-body scanner for a woman, and the device flagged what officers called an “anomaly” in the groin area. Ms. Petosky, said that the officers did not appear to know what to do once the scanner flagged her even though she had explained that she was transgender.

Petosky wrote that she was told to go back through the body scanner as a man after they thought she tested positive for explosives from her full body pat down. She said that two police officers, five airport officials and an “explosives specialist” responded to her while she was held.

The TSA told The New York Times it stands behind the officers’ handling of the situation.

“Our officers are trained to properly screen members of the transgender community,” TSA spokesman Mike England said.

11. Schools turn to professional starting gates at carnivals to avoid parents fighting over results.

Just to be extra careful to avoid “ugly parent syndrome” schools in WA are being forced to hire timing gates for sports carnivals.

WA Today reports that more than 150 West Australian schools have turned to electronic monitoring to deal with parents arguing over primary school sports carnival results.

Because nobody wants to see two mums brawling over whether Timmy or Toby were first over the line.

Over 165 schools hiring the gates at least once per year at $340 per day to assist over burdened staff and according to the report to avoid “ugly parent syndrome”.

WA Council of State School Organisations president, Kylie Catto, told Radio 6PR school funding was precious and shouldn’t be wasted on school sports days.

School communities should be about better values than that.

“It’s a bit of a sad reflection on our times.”

She said parents needed to be resilient as well as children.

“If it is purely about people being upset about their kids maybe getting third when they were second, or fourth when they were third, then of course the child might be slightly upset but let’s build some resilience in our kids,” she said.

“Let’s be resilient as parents.”

Ms Catto told 6PR that it was a bit of a problem when parents want their children to just be the best.

“Is it really all about winning? Are we only ever going to concentrate on straight A students or on the top 5 per cent?” she said.

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