Friday's news in under 5 minutes

1. MH17 developments

Operation Bring Them Home is in full swing with 50 federal police officers on standby to help secure the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told media that the AFP officers are in London awaiting approval for an international force to secure the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash.

“We are ready to deploy Australian police to the Ukraine, to help secure the site as a part of an international team under United Nations authorities,” he said.

The ABC reports that the Ukraine authorities have handed over official responsibility for the site to the Dutch – a responsibility in name only as the area is controlled by the rebels.

Dutch pay tribute

Large crowds have lined the Dutch roadside to pay their respects to the victims of the MH17 plane disaster as two more planes arrived in the Netherlands.

Credit cards used by looters

Just when you thought things could not get any worse for families of the MH17 victims they do. Reports today that a credit card belonging to a dual passport holder – a British-South African victim – has been stolen and used by looters.

The 43-year-old helicopter rescue pilot Cameron Dalzie’s brother in law, Shane Hattingh, told CNN that the rebels that have no respect for each other. “Look what they’re doing… It’s no surprise that they were treating the remains of people like that. It made me angry beyond words.”

Family refuse to believe daughter is missing

A family from Perth whose daughter was believed to be on MH17 say they do not feel she is dead and are traveling to Ukraine to search for her.

The parents of Fatima Dyczynski told Daily Mail Australia it was something they had to do. “Every day we believe she is still alive,” he said.

‘We believe our daughter is alive and we’re going to look after her. “We know it’s a dangerous place but we have to go because she is our daughter.”

2. Plane crashed with 116 passengers on board

Another plane disaster has rocked the world – coming exactly a week after flight MH17 was downed over Ukraine. An Air Algerie flight with at least 116 passengers on board dropped off the radar over the Sahara as it crossed Mali in bad weather.

It now appears the plane crashed in a remote area of Mali.

For more read this post here.

3. Chloe Valentine appeal

The South Australian appeals court has declined to increase the jail terms of Ashlee Jean Polkinghorne and Benjamin Robert McPartland who were convicted after forcing four-year old Chloe Valentine to repeatedly ride a motorbike until she died.

In a unanimous decision the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed a challenge against the four-year non-parole jail terms. Justice Peek said courts should only grant prosecutors permission to challenge sentences “in rare and exceptional cases”.

The Advertiser reports that Chloe’s father said he was unhappy with the decision – saying he was “pretty pissed off” and that the couple should have been jailed for “life”.

Mamamia has previously reported on Chloe’s tragic death here.

4. Hot car death Mum not guilty

A Bendigo mother who left her five-month old daughter in a car for over two hours on a 30-degree day has been found not guilty – with ‘forgotten baby syndrome’ attributed to her tragic mistake.

For more read this post here.

5. Sudanese woman arrives in Italy: meets Pope

Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who was spared a death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity and then barred from leaving Sudan has flown into Rome on an Italian government plane.

Vatican Radio is reporting that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was on hand to greet Miriam at the airport and announced a “day of celebration” in honor of her long-sought release.

She then met with Pope Francis, along with her husband Daniel Wani, her two year-old son Martin and baby Maya who was born in prison two months ago.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, S.J. said the meeting took place in a “very serene and affectionate” environment and that Pope Francis thanked the young mother for her “courageous witness to perseverance in the Faith.”

6. Discrimination in the work place

The long awaited Australian Human Rights Commission report into discrimination has been released and shows that 49% of women and working mothers have experienced discrimination in the workplace when they fell preganant.

The Human Rights Comission found cases where careers were stunted and demotions occurred were common place. Elizabeth Broderick told the ABC that no sector was immune to the discrimination.

One in two women and one in four men have experienced discrimination relating to their family obligations. 22 per cent of women who had suffered discrimination opted out of the workplace entirely

Women were not alone 27% of men also reported discrinination after taking annual leave when they had a family.

7. Adelaide child abuse

The Advertiser reports that the man at the centre of a Families SA sex abuse case was investigated a year ago for alleged inappropriate behaviour involving a female toddler in his care.

He was cleared though of the charge. The man has been charged with sexually abusing seven preschoolers.

8.  Reports ISIS order 4 million women to undergo female genital mutilation

There are growing concerns over a report that the United Nations has said militant group Islamic State (Isis) had ordered all girls and women in and around Iraq’s northern city of Mosul to undergo female genital mutilation.

The order, if proved to be correct, would potentially affect 4 million women and girls.

“We have current reports of imposition of a directive that all female girl children and women up to the age of 49 must be circumcised. This is something very new for Iraq, particularly in this area, and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed,” Jacqueline Badcock, a UN spokesman told reporters.

The BBC reports that there are some doubts on social media about the basis for the report. One document posted on Twitter suggested it may be a year old and have been issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, the group’s previous name.

9. Death penalty

Protestors have reacted in horror at the news a convicted murderer who was put to death on Wednesday in Arizona was seen gasping and snorting for more than 1½ hours before he died.

The apparently botched execution of 55-year-old Joseph R. Wood III is the latest lethal injection to go wrong in the U.S., coming less than three months after an Oklahoma inmate died of a heart attack 40 minutes into a procedure that had to be halted. USA Today reports one witness Troy Hayden, said it was “very disturbing to watch … like a fish on shore gulping for air.”

However family members of Wood’s victim were not concerned. Jeanne Brown, told USA Today what Wood experienced did not compare to the pain her family has suffered for the past 25 years. “You don’t know what excruciating is — seeing your dad lying there in a pool of blood … This man deserved it,” she said.

10. Queen photo bombs

The Queen has pulled off the world’s greatest photobomb when she snuck in a sly smile in the background of Hockyroos Jade Taylor’s selfie before their match at the Commonwealth Games.

The Queen then watched Australia beat Malaysia 4-0.

11. Women strike it big at Glasgow

Anna Meares has become our greatest ever female track cyclist at the Commonwealth Games with gold on the first day of competition.

Her gold medal in this morning’s 500 metres individual trial in Glasgow was the fifth of her career. The 30-year-old set a new Games record time.

Later in the day Australia’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team smashed the world record in winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell, Emma McKeon and Melanie Schlanger clocked three minutes and 30.98 seconds in Thursday night’s final.

Emma McKeon has also won Australia’s first gold medal in the pool with a win in the 200m freestyle final. Her brother, David has won silver in the 400m Freestyle.

12. Toddler language concerns

A study has shown that poor language skills as a toddler could be a sign children will develop major behaviourial problems in later life.

The study, “The Role of Language Ability and Self-Regulation in the Development of Inattentive-Hyperactive Behavior Problems,” in the journal Development and Psychopathology says that if children are lagging behind at three and half years old, parents should seek help.

Researchers claim it could be a sign of ADHD and other disorders of inattention and hyperactivity.

13. 157 Tamil asylum seekers to be transferred to the Australian mainland

The 157 Tamil asylum seekers currently being held in a customs vessel at sea, are reportedly being taken to a detention centre on the Australian mainland.

The Guardian reports that the asylum seekers – who have spent nearly a month at sea, is an undisclosed location – will be taken to the Curtin detention centre in Western Australia. This will be the first asylum seeker boat arrival to be allowed to the mainland of Australia in six months.

This transfer of the asylum seekers comes while the Government faces the High Court, in a case that will determine the legality of whether or not the government can take asylum seekers to countries other than Australia against their will.

While at sea, the asylum seekers on the customs vessel – including 37 children – have reportedly been kept in windowless rooms for 21 hours a day, and not given access to qualified interpreters adequate legal representation.