Thursday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Phillip Hughes still critical

Cricketer Phillip Hughes remains in a critical condition after being struck on the head by a cricket ball while playing in a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday afternoon.

Cricket Australia team doctor, Peter Brukner, said last night that the 25-year-old remained in an induced coma.

“Phillip’s condition is unchanged and he remains critical,” Dr Brukner said.

“If there are any further developments we will let you know immediately.”

Questions now have emerged over the time it took for an emergency response to Phillip Hughes with Fairfax Media reporting that it took more than an hour from when Hughes was struck by the ball until he arrived at St Vincent’s Hospital for emergency surgery.

2. Ferguson officer Darren Wilson first interview

The police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in the US suburb of Ferguson has given his first interview saying there was “no way” that teenager Michael Brown had his hands up right before he was killed.

One of the core controversies of the case has been the theory that Brown held up his hands to signal his surrender. Wilson said they were “incorrect.”

“The reason I have a clean conscience is I know I did my job right,” Wilson said saying he would have taken the same actions had Brown, who was black, been a white man.

 3. Michael Brown’s parents respond

The parents of Michael Brown have responded to the interview on CBS’s Today Show saying that Wilson’s description of their son was crazy.

“For one, my son, he respected law enforcement. Two, who in their right mind would rush or charge at a police officer that has his gun drawn? It sounds crazy.”

The family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, said they intend to explore a civil or federal suit. “We’re just going to keep fighting and pray for a better outcome,” Michael Brown Sr. said.

 4. Rapists continue to serve in Defence

A taskforce has found that more than 1100 alleged perpetrators of sexual and other abuse continue to serve in the military and are unlikely ever to face punishment

The Defence Abuse Response Taskforce  urged the government to hold a Royal Commission into some of the most severe cases.

Defence Minister David Johnston told Fairfax Media the government would consider “very carefully” the call for a Royal Commission.

The report from the taskforce found at least 36 women who said they had been raped or sexually abused at ADFA between 1991 and 1998, and that 13 alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse at ADFA in the 1990s ware still serving with the military.

Air Chief Marshal Binskin said the ADF remained “committed to action against alleged abusers”.

But, reports Fairfax Media he said many of the alleged victims have made it clear to the taskforce they did not want to formally pursue any further action and the ADF had a responsibility to fulfill their wishes.

5. Merry-Go-Round baby

A toddler in Adelaide has been badly burned by a merry-go-round in a park.

Her mother posted a warning on YouTube that has been shared now over 10,000 times.

Amanda Hann said that her daughter, Ella, aged one went on a merry-go-round in a playground at 10.15 in the morning when it was only 26 degrees.

The playground at Semaphore in Adelaide is a newly designed one covered with a shade cloth.

“ONE SPLIT SECOND was all it took for my daughter to turn back to look at her grandma and at the same time go to take a seat on the bottom of the merry-go-round. I think the pictures of her horrific burn speak for themselves. “

The council said it complied with Australian playground standards.

For more read this post here.

 6. Aria Awards

Sia has taken four awards at the Aria Awards winning Best Pop Release, Best Video, Best Female Artist and the biggest award of the night – Album of the Year for 1000 Forms of Fear.

For more read this post here.

7. GP co-payment to be abandoned

The Federal Government is abandoning a centrepiece of its May budget, the $7 GP co-payment.

It is one of several measures swept up in what Prime Minister Tony Abbott is calling “a barnacle-clearing” exercise to remove policies slowing the Government’s momentum through its second year in office.

Sources have told ABC that the Coalition was “willing to go back to the drawing board”.

With only five sitting days left in the year, the Government has not introduced legislation to enact the co-payment as it does not have sufficient support to pass the Senate.

The Coalition was also expected to make further changes to its $5.5 billion paid parental leave scheme, a signature policy for Mr Abbott.

The policy would pay new mothers their full salary for six months.

Mr Abbott had already watered down the scheme, lowering the maximum possible payment from $75,000 to $50,000.

Further changes are now in the works.

Government sources denied the scheme was one of the “barnacles” mentioned, but they had foreshadowed “further refinement”.

A version of this story was originally published on ABC and has been republished with full permission
[raw]

[/raw]

8. Twenty-two-year-old man faces rape charges

News Limited reports that an Afghani man who came to Australia on a bridging visa  after arriving by boat from Indonesia in 2012 has been committed to stand trial for the rape of a nine-year old boy.

Omid Roshan, aged 22,  maintains his innocence, despite police claims they have CCTV footage and DNA evidence showing his guilt.

The rape allegedly took place after soccer match for refugees

Mr Roshan is accused of raping the boy in the back of his car then giving him $10 and telling him “Don’t tell your mum and dad”.

He was charged with rape, child abduction and three counts of committing an indecent act with a child.

He pleaded not guilty.

 9. Actress sentenced to 26 years jail

A Bollywood actress has been sentenced to 26 years in jail by a Pakistan court for appearing in a pretend wedding scene, staged on a daytime show broadcast by Geo TV and based on the marriage of the Prophet Mohamed’s daughter.

Veena Malik has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, along with her husband Asad Bashir Khan Khattak, the owner of the company that aired the programme Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and TV host Shaista Wahidi.

The Mirror reports that they have been given 104 years in jail between them.

The program sparked a wave of controversy in the Islamic country when it aired in May, despite the fact similar scenes had been aired in the past to little or no such public outrage.

 10. Bali methanol poisoning

A mother has spoken of how her “worst nightmare” has taken place when she received a phone call saying her son, celebrating schoolies in Bali, had been hospitalized after ethanol poisoning.

The teenager from Newcastle had drunk half a “blaster”, which is supposed to be a concoction of vodka, other spirits and pineapple juice.

Jackson Tuckwell lost his vision and ability to walk and was taken to hospital in Bali.

Fairfax Media reports that Jackson has been discharged from hospital now and has recovered.

His mother warned others about schoolies in Bali.

“The message needs to get out there, Bali is a beautiful place, but there is a downside and that is the nightclub scene. It can be very dangerous.”

11. Teacher claims student raped her

A 35-year old teacher in the US who is facing four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy in 2013 has turned the tables on him now claiming the boy actually raped her.

News Limited reports that Abigail Simon said the boy forced her to have sex.

“I didn’t engage in sex with him. He forced me to have sex with him,” she said.

The court heard that text messages between the two showed pictures of the teacher wearing a garter on his phone.

There are more than 1000 text message between the two.n

One text from Abigail Simon to the boy said: “I’m scared that you’re oly 15”.

Another “I’m just too old, as much as that stinks.”

 11. Mother pushes for regulations on laxatives

A mother in the UK is pushing for regulations on how laxatives are sold after her teenage daughter ended up hospitalized after taking 28 laxatives at once.

Carolyn Jones’s 16-year old daughter has been fighting an eating disorder for two years.

Carolyn told The Liverpool Echo her daughter collapsed and was rushed to hospital after her overdose.

She says she found 150 packets of laxatives around her home.

Sarah, 16, would buy hundreds of laxatives at a time and now her mother is now campaigning for a law change on their sale.

If this has brought up any issues for you or you need help or support you can call the Butterfly’s National support line on 1800 334 673

 12. Passengers push plane

A group of hardy passengers have had to get out of their plane and give it a push – in minus 52 degree temperatures.

The video which has emerged on YouTube shows the group happily pushing the Tupolev plane along the snow-covered runway in Igarka, which is beyond the Arctic Circle.

 13. Coffee bitter? Change the colour of your mug.

Scientists have proven that coffee tastes sweeter if drunk out of a blue cup.

In an article for The Conversation Dr George Van Doorn of Federation University Australia wrote “Our study clearly shows that the colour of a mug does influence the perceived taste and flavour of coffee”

The study showed that blue and glass mugs, reduced a coffee’s bitterness, without any need for sugar.

14. Man photographs bear moments before its attack.

A man in the US has taken photos of the bear that killed him — just moments before the creature mauled him to death.

Darsh Patel, 22, was walking with friends through Apshawa Preserve in West Milford, USA, when the group encountered a 160-kilogram black bear.

News.com.au reports the group took photos of the bear as it approached, but split up and ran away when it came within five metres.

The friends regrouped, calling the police when they noted Patel’s absence.

The Rutgers University student’s body and his mobile phone were later found, mauled, in close proximity to the bear. The bear was shot, and a necropsy revealed human tissue and blood in its system.

15. Loose screw lodged in plane window.

A passenger on board an Air Cananda flight to Vancouver received a nasty shock when a bolt came loose from the plane’s propeller, lodging in his window.

“So about halfway through my flight I heard a loud POP, looked out my window at a bolt that flew off the prop and broke through the outer pane,” the passenger — who goes by the user name Skips_LegDay — posted to Reddit, as the Daily Mail reports.

He added that even the pilot was surprised by the incident, having “never seen this happen in over 25 years of flying.”

“People around me heard it and seemed nervous once they saw the source of the sound,” he wrote.

“I got up and went to the FA [flight attendant] and quietly told her what happened, she came over to see it then called the pilot. He said it will be fine until we land as the cabin’s pressurized.”