Thursday's news in under 5 minutes

1. Commission of Audit report.

A plan to deny school-leavers welfare for the first six months is believed to be a part of the Commission of Audit’s report into government spending to be released today.

The Daily Telegraph has revealed that the budget will impose ‘earn or learn’ waiting periods and tighter criteria to qualify for unemployment benefits such as Newstart and Youth Allowance.

The 86 recommendations from the Commission of Audit are due to be released at 2pm this afternoon.

Fairfax Media reports that part of the audit recommends whole agencies in Canberra be slashed with much responsibility handed back to the states in education, health and other services.

2. Bruce Highway sinkhole.

A two-metre-wide sink hole has opened up on the Bruce Highway near Bowen in Queensland, forcing the police to close the road and divert traffic.

The police said a section of the highway, 30 kilometres south of Bowen, simply collapsed.

3. Bob Hoskins dead at 71.

Actor Bob Hoskins, famous for his role in films such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, has died at the age of 71 following a bout of pneumonia.

Hoskins, whose screen roles during his four-decade-long career spanned from gangster films to animated hits, retired from acting in 2012 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

4. WHO report on killer antibiotic resistance.

A World Health Organization report on antibiotic resistance, which can lead to minor injuries and common post-operative infections becoming fatal, has the grim warning that it is no longer a prediction for the future but is happening “right now”.

The report analyzed data from 114 countries and found that antibiotic resistance was happening in “every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country”.

The report warns that an infection with resistant bacteria not only makes the likelihood of death from an infection up to twice as high but would make infections “harder or impossible to control”.

5. Court says Amanda Knox delivered fatal stab to Meredith Kercher.

An Italian court has released its reasoning behind the January conviction of Amanda Knox.

The Florence Court of Appeal said the victim, British student Meredith Kercher, was stabbed by both Knox and Knox’s then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito after a violent fight over money.

In the 337-page explanation, judges said Kercher was stabbed in the neck by two different knives, a longer one which was Amanda Knox’s and a smaller one which was Sollecito’s.

They said another man, Rudy Guede, held the victim down and committed sexual assault.

The court said it was not necessary for all of the assailants to have the same motive and that the murder was not attributable to a sex game gone awry as Meredith Kercher never would have permitted such a thing.

Experts say the release of the document now opens the case up for an appeal.

6. Note found inside shopping bag.

An Australian woman living in New York has found an extraordinary note hidden inside a shopping bag from Sak’s Fifth Avenue.

The note, pleading for help, was from a Chinese prisoner working in the factory that made the bags.

For more, read this post:  “ You won’t believe the note this woman found in her shopping bag.”

7. Execution goes wrong.

Oklahoma’s planned first double execution in 80 years has gone horribly wrong after the first prisoner sat up during his procedure saying “something’s wrong” 14 minutes into it.

Convicted murderer Clayton Lockett’s execution involved the use of a new cocktail of drugs that included the sedative midazolam as the first in a three-drug combination.

But the drugs did not work, instead the prisoner gasped and twitched in agony until dying of a heart attack 43 minutes later.

The Governor of Oklahoma has said that this will not stop the death penalty in her state.

8. Plastic containers a health hazard.

A study published in the The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology has shown that a controversial compound found in plastic containers for food and drink could be causing obesity and diabetes.

The compound BPA is used in the manufacture of plastic food and drink containers that is banned in most parts of the world but allowed in Australia.

BPA can leak from the container into the food or drink, particularly when heated.

Current guidelines say it is safe to ingest up to 50 micrograms of BPA per day.

However, new study shows that these guidelines need to be re-thought. In Europe, the intake is soon to be dropped to 5 micrograms per kilo per day.

9. Concerns over new pap smear guidelines.

A cancer survivor has spoken out over the new regime for pap smears.

The Medical Services Advisory Committee has proposed that women undertake an HPV test every five years, commencing at age 25, instead of the current pap smear test every two years from 18.

Chelsea Farry who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 23 after a routine smear has told The Courier Mail, “If what they are proposing was in place, I would never have had my pap smear and who knows where I would be now or whether my tumour would have grown in that time.”

10. Porn star films in university library in Melbourne.

A pornographic movie, shot this year in the La Trobe University library, has “shocked and appalled” the university who were unaware of its existence.

The film, starring Adult film actor Angela White, was shot without permission and was only recently brought to light to the university by some students.

The Herald Sun reports that the Netherlands-based production company AGW Entertainment have issued an apology.

“AGW Entertainment B.V. regrets that the filming and/or posting of the video in question may have offended members of the public,” the company said in a statement.

The company removed the trailer and full video from all servers and websites it leased, owned and operated on Monday.

11. Boy dies after ingesting rat poison.

A four-year-old boy has died after his mother said he ingested rat poison that had been left out their building in New York.

Authorities first suspected the four-year-old died of alcohol poisoning as his brother reported saw him drinking “from a 25-ounce can of King Cobra malt liquor left in the building’s hallway”.

12. The main reason men cheat.

A survey has revealed the main reason men cheat — and the results may be surprising.

The study of more than 5,000 cheating men revealed that 78 per cent of the respondents are in their first marriage and that 82 per cent of them began to be unfaithful after having children.

The most common reason men gave was that sex with their partner stopped being passionate after the baby came, while the second reason was that their partner began to turn their attention to the baby.

What news are you talking about today?