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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. Daniel Morecombe’s killer to be integrated in to the general prison population.

Brett Peter Cowan who was found guilty of the murder of Daniel Morcombe on the Queensland Sunshine Coast in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years will be integrated into the general prison population reports The Courier Mail.

Cowan will be allowed to visit a general prison population unit for two hours in the morning each day, if he chooses to, according to the Seven Network.

Prison authorities had deemed 46-year-old at serious risk of being targeted by other prisoners but psychologists agree he is now able to integrate.

2. Teenagers wanted over homophobic bashing in St Kilda.

Victorian police want to speak to four teenagers allegedly involved in a homophobic bashing in St Kilda.

North Melbourne Prahran hair salon owner, Danny Levi Bryce-Maurice was brutally bashed while celebrating a friend’s birthday in St Kilda Botanical Gardens with his husband James on Saturday, January 9.

Mr Bryce-Maurice says that when he visited the bathroom a group began to hurl homophobic taunts at him.

“The verbal abuse started as soon as they noticed me,” he said. One of the men called him a “faggot freak” and said “This is the men’s toilet, not the the ladies, f**king faggot, get the f**k out of here!”

Mr Bryce-Maurice said the four men were waiting for him and blocked his path when he tried to leave.

“They started punching and kicking me repeatedly to the face, head, and finally my body,” he said.

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“It was relentless. I could not defend myself.”

Police have four suspects in the attack, three men and a woman, all described as being about 19.

The first offender is described as 172cms tall and having a Caucasian appearance with sandy, blond shoulder length hair.

Anyone with information about the assault can call CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.

3. 24-year-old woman may be sent back to Nauru “to face her rapist.”

Yesterday’s high court ruling that Australia’s offshore detention regime is lawful has sent shock waves through many in the community who fear for the safety of women such as a 24-year-old Iranian woman who was allegedly raped on Nauru and now faces the prospect of being sent back to face her rapist.

Fairfax Media reports that Nazanin is in immigration transit accommodation in Brisbane, after allegedly being raped in May 2015.

Nazanin’s lawyer, Maurice Blackburn principal Dimi Ioannou told Fairfax Media she is traumatised by the sexual assault.

“She is still very anxious and fearful after what happened to her, and her attacker has not been charged by Nauruan police.

“Sending her back to where her perpetrator remains at large is likely to result in a rapid deterioration of her fragile mental condition and set her recovery back even further.”

“I am very worried about the safety of this young woman if the Immigration Minister decides to send her back to Nauru. She is still in a terrible state.”

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Meanwhile Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has told Sky News he wants the number of children in detention to be zero.

“One of the things that I wanted out of the portfolio is to be the Minister that removes kids from detention,” he said, “we are now down to 80 children in detention.”

 

4. Would you pay $3.50 for a babycino?

baby frothy coffee 1
Worth $3.50? ( Image via IStock)

A Hobart café has come under fire for the exorbitant price of a babychino – charging $3.50 – the same price as a coffee.

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The Mercury reports that customers have taken to social media to complain about the cost of the drink at Hobart’s Beaujangles Café in the CBD.

However the café owners say their ‘deluxe babycinno’ is so good it is ‘a mini delight on a plate’ rather than a cup of foam.

“Our special babycinos come with milk and chocolate froth, white and milk chocolate chunks, lollies and sprinkles” owner Leah Vigolo told The Mercury.

“Kids actually dictate to their parents where they want to go in the city, and it’s important to introduce something different for them.”

She said she would never charge for a standard babycino and that customers have become confused.

Comments on social media have ranged from “I think the real problem here is buying a “babycino” for your child in the first place” to “If people are silly enough to support these prices, and fail to understand that it is the consumer who has the power (to either support, or not, overpriced businesses), then likewise, the businesses concerned will continue to charge as they please.”

 

5. Backbench revolt over GST proposal.

News Limited reports that the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is facing pressure from the backbench over a potential plan to raise the GST to 15 per cent.

Colleagues are warning the PM the proposed plan is electoral poison.

Marginal seat MPs are concerned that a GST hike would push voters towards Labor.

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The Treasurer Scott Morrison is seen as supporting the potential change by allowing him to tackle bracket creep through personal income tax cuts.

Queensland MP Ewen Jones told News Limited he was not afraid of fighting a GST election.

“We were elected to fix the budget,’’ said Mr Jones.

“Is this tax the bogeyman people say it is? Anything Bill Shorten wants to throw at me, I’m more than happy to fight him on it.”

6. Energy drinks linked with hospital admissions for heart problems.

A new study has linked energy drinks and hospital admissions for adverse heart reactions.

Drinking more than two energy drinks per day is associated with heart problems that include a fast heartbeat, heart palpitations and chest pain researchers from the University of Adelaide found.

The study found 36 per cent of patients aged between 13 and 40 who attended an emergency department with heart palpitations had consumed at least one energy drink in the previous 24 hours reports News Limited.

Study co-author Dr Scott Willoughby said the study found eight patients had consumed more than five energy drinks and one had consumed 12 energy drinks with alcohol.

Dr Ian Musgrave, of the University of Adelaide’s Discipline of Pharmacology consuming energy drinks could be harmful.

“Energy drinks have become enormously popular in the past decade and half are consumed extensively by people who wish to reduce fatigue, increase wakefulness, and improve concentration and performance,” he said.

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“The major stimulant in these drinks is caffeine, which is generally safe when consumed at the recommended levels. However, some people appear to be more sensitive to the effects of caffeine, and the combination of ingredients in these energy drinks may pose a further threat to those who consume large quantities.”

7. Shift workers may have to pay more for childcare.

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The cap will disincentive Australia’s most flexible form of child care by making it unaffordable for families. ( Image via IStock)

A Senate committee has heard that proposed Federal Government reforms may lead to shift-workers being forced to pay more for childcare.

In its submission to the Senate, Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) has told federal Senators the hourly fee cap the government wants to introduce, a $10.70 benchmark, will unfairly impact parents using childcare for weekend, night or early morning shifts.

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The body said the benchmark does not factor in the additional costs involved in caring for children outside normal working hours.

“Essentially the cap will disincentive Australia’s most flexible form of child care by making it unaffordable for families,” FDCA chief executive Andrew Paterson said.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham has said that the benchmark caps were “generous and were designed to accommodate the majority of families, particularly those who are looking to work or work more”.

8. Bomb blamed for explosion that sucked passenger out of jet.

A plane has been forced to make an emergency landing in Somalia with a huge hole in its side after an explosion ripped through the aircraft.

The hole in the plane’s fuselage appeared shortly after take-off on Tuesday forcing it to turn around and land back at Mogadishu’s international airport. The pilot claimed a bomb had blown the hole in the fuselage.

Vladimir Vodopivec, 64, was quoted by a Serbian media outlet as saying: “I think it was a bomb.

“Luckily, the flight controls were not damaged so I could return and land at the airport. Something like this has never happened in my flight career – we lost pressure in the cabin. Thank God it ended well.”

Us investigators say it is likely a bomb caused the explosion.

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There are reports that an elderly man was sucked out of the hole.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a charred body fall to earth.

 

9. Family share photo of an unheard of newborn danger in the hope of helping other families.

Baby Milly and her sister. ( Scott Walker/ Facebook)

A father has shared a photo of his newborn in a bid to educate others about a potentially dangerous condition.

Scott Walker from Texas said that recently his family was was out to lunch when their five-month-old, Molly became “very upset,”

Mr Walker said they tried everything to see what was wrong but could not calm her.

They realised that Molly was a little overheated and they removed her socks and saw a strange mark on her toe. It turned out that Molly had a strand of hair wrapped very tightly around her toe.

Molly’s toe. ( Scott Walker/ Facebook)

The syndrome known as Toe-Tourniquet Syndrome is very common and could be extremely dangerous if not noticed and treated quickly. If it isn’t caught in time, kids can lose fingers or toes due to severe infections caused by the condition, along with surgery.

“The hair managed to minimize all the way by way of Molly’s pores and skin,’ wrote Scott on Facebook, ‘completely all around her toe, but it could have been worse experienced it absent significantly for a longer time untreated, or if the hair wasn’t accessible.”

Molly’s parents want to spread the word about the problem and its dangers.

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