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Monday's news in under 5 minutes.

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

1. Measles turns fatal for young Victorian woman.

Doctors have warned of the “terrible” consequences of low vaccination rates after a 23-year-old woman with measles developed a fatal brain infection.

The Medical Journal of Australia details how the young woman suffered “progressive neurological decline” after being exposed to the measles virus.

According to The Age the woman presented herself to the Western Hospital in Footscray last year suffering from involuntary jerks in her arms and legs, visual disturbances and reduced speech, she was falling over and wetting herself.

She now cannot walk or talk. She is bed-bound and suffering regular seizures at home, where her family is caring for her 24 hours a day.

“This case is important as it highlights a terrible consequence of a vaccine-preventable disease,” wrote Dr Eloise Williams, from Western Health and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory.

“It highlights one of the possible consequences if measles vaccination rates are not improved.”

The woman has been diagnosed with a terminal brain disorder SSPE  (subacute sclerosing panencephalitis)  a complication of measles that usually develops six to eight years after infection.

Sadly 95 per cent of people who get it die.

The report said “herd immunity” was “instrumental in preventing measles”.

Doctors believed the woman, who was born in the Philippines, developed the rare complication after having measles.

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The National Health Performance Authority data released last year showed about one in 10 Australian children was not fully immunised in 2014-15.

Another study published in the Medical Journal of Australia today has shown that despite fears more Australians are adopting anti-vaccination views, the proportion of parents who oppose vaccination has remained stable at about 3 per cent since 2001. 3.3 per cent of Australian children aged one to six were not fully immunised because of “vaccination objection”, according to 2013 figures, compared to between 2.5 to 3 per cent in 2001.

2. Grant Hackett in hiding after grabbing fellow passenger by the nipple “quite forcefully”.

Former Olympian Grant Hackett is in hiding after being questioned by Federal Police over an incident on a flight home from the Australian swimming championships yesterday.

Last night Seven News broadcast footage of the 35-year-old slumping in a wheelchair beside a group of police officers at Melbourne airport.

It has been reported that Hackett was involved in an incident with a fellow passenger who reclined his seat in front of Hackett.

Hackett allegedly grabbed the passenger” by the nipple “quite forcefully” reports The Daily Telegraph.

Seven News claims that Hackett “went to the toilet for an extended period, taking a bag with him. He emerged aggressive and agitated, taking offence to a male business class passenger who reclined his seat.”

Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert who was travelling with Hackett  said, “There was no altercation, no argument, no restraining behaviour from the flight attendants.”

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3. Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have arrived on the Gold Coast to appear in court today.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have arrived on the Gold Coast as Heard stands trial for allegedly smuggling the couple’s dogs in to the country last April while Depp was shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on the Gold Coast.

The couple were expected to apply for leave to appear via video link so they surprised local media when they arrived on their private jet yesterday.

Heard was charged with of two counts of illegal importation and one count of producing a false document, her incoming passenger card, after allegedly smuggling yorkshire terriers Boo and Pistol in to the country.

At the time Barnaby Joyce went head to head with the superstars threatening to have the dogs euthanised if they didn’t ‘bugger off’ back to the US.

“It’s time Boo and Pistol bugger off home … or we’re going to have to euthanise them,” he said.

The dogs were eventually deported.

Heard’s legal team entered an official plea of ‘not guilty’ in December. She could face up to 10 years in jail and a fine of $100,000 if found guilty.

It has been rumoured that Heard is pregnant with the couple’s first baby.

4. Negotiations between Sally Faulkner and her husband said to have “stopped.”

Ahead of appearing in a Beirut court later today it has been reported that negotiations between Sally Faulkner and her former husband have broken down.

Faulkner and eight others including a Channel 9 news crew are accused of kidnapping her two children off a Beirut street.

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It had been hoped that Ms Faulkner’s ex-husband, Ali Elamine would drop his pursuing of charges thereby reducing all the charges on the others to lesser offences and securing them a possible early release.

But Ms Faulkner’s lawyer Ghassan Mogabgab told News Limited: “We did not file for her release yet because the investigation is ongoing. We would have presented a demand for her release if we had reached an agreement with Elamine. But unfortunately the negotiations with Ali’s lawyer have stopped and I don’t know why?

“They started the first day and it was very positive and then the second day it was negative. I don’t know if they stopped it because there is a deal being done with the TV crew?”

The Australian reports that Mr Al-Amin knew of the kidnapping plans after being tipped off by a confidante of Ms Faulkner.

5. PM’s approval rating drops by 10 points.

The latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll conducted over the weekend has shown that should we go to an early election on July 2 we could end up with a hung parliament.

The poll put support for the Coalition and Labor on 50-50, assuming an allocation of preferences similar to those at the last election.

The national survey of 1402 electors showed support for the Coalition dropped by 3 percentage points since the March poll and the Prime Minister’s net approval rating dropped by 10 points.

The PM’s preferred prime minister rating fell by seven points although he still leads Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on a head-to-head comparison with double the support at 54-27.

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Mr Turnbull’s disapproval rating jumped up six points and he suffered a 25 per cent drop in his perceived ability to make things happen and a 20 per cent drop in his perceived strength as a leader.

6. Two young girls aged five and 10 travelling in South Australia have died in a horror car crash that also killed their grandparents.

Two young girls aged five and 10, travelling on the Augusta Highway, in South Australia’s mid-north have died in a horror car crash that also killed their grandparents.

The two girls along with a 70-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman were travelling in a car that collided with a truck near Crystal Brook.

The car was towing a caravan at the time of the crash.

One man in the truck was treated for serious head and leg injuries, and he was airlifted taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

7. Hundreds dead after 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes off Ecuadorian coast.

At least 233 people have died in Ecuador following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck off the country’s northwest Pacific coast.

President Correa confirmed the death toll had reached the hundreds after the quake caused “considerable damage” near the epicenter as well as in the largest city of Guayaquil.

There has been widespread damage, particularly in western coastal areas, with many people feared trapped under collapsed buildings.

It follows the deaths of at least 32 people across the Pacific in Japan after two large earthquakes hit in the past few days.

8. Study shows one in five Australians believe people with anxiety ‘put it on’.

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Study shows one in five Australians believe people with anxiety 'put it on'. Image via IStock.

A distressing study by BeyondBlue has shown that life for people with anxiety is made harder by a community attitude that sufferers “put it on”.

The research shows that one in five Australians believe people with anxiety are "putting it on" and that more than 10 per cent of Australians aged between 30 and 34 believe people with anxiety are untrustworthy.

Reported by Fairfax Media the study shows that almost half agree that people with anxiety are judged or discriminated against.

Beyondblue chief executive Georgie Harman said anxiety was not just feeling stressed or worried.

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"It is when these feelings don't subside and are ongoing without any particular reason or cause. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but for someone experiencing anxiety, these feelings can't be easily controlled," she said. Up to 2 million Australians have anxiety, said to be the most common mental health condition in the country.

The study comes as a post from a British woman on anxiety goes viral. British merchandiser Amber Smith posted two pics on Facebook. The first photo is a selfie. The second - taken shortly an anxiety-induced panic attack.

She writes: F**K all of you small minded people that think that because I physically look 'fine' that I'm not battling a monster inside my head every single day.

Someone actually said this to me one day 'aren't you too young to be suffering with anxiety and depression? What do you actually have to be depressed about at your age?' Wow, just wow.

I'm a strong person, I've been through my fair share of crap in life (the same as anyone else) and I will be okay. I have the best family and friends around me and I am thankful everyday that they have the patience to help and support me.

To anyone who is going through the same, please do not suffer in silence. There is so much support around - Don't be scared to ask for help."

 

 

 

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