Friday's news in under 5 minutes

1. Newborns taken from addicted mums

Nearly 13,000 babies aged under one have been removed from their mothers in the past eight years — but there are questions as to whether this punitive move is having any affect on assisting those mothers.

The figures, released at the Australian Institute of Family Studies conference in Melbourne this week, showed that 192,600 children of all ages have gone into out-of-home care in the same period.

In Victoria alone, 446 babies under the age of one were removed from their mothers in the last financial year, compared with just 119 in 2004-05.

The Herald Sun reports there is anecdotal evidence that an increasing number of babies were removed from maternity wards.

Dr Stephanie Taplin, from the Institute of Child Protection Studies at the Australian Catholic University, told News Limited: “many of the women affected were abusers of substances including illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco.“

The conference heard that despite the increases there was no evidence of this move having any assistance.

“You can take the children away but we know this is going to do the mother damage and she may just go on to have more children, who might also be removed,” she said. “Is it better for the baby? We just don’t know. There is a desperate need for more data tracking individual children over time.”

She also said this increased focus on reporting was keeping women away from government assistance because of concerns their child might be taken away.

2. Police reach MH17 crash site

Two weeks after the downing of MH17 – and after four attempts to do so — a team of international police  including 17 Australians have finally reached the MH17 crash site.

Julie Bishop posted on Twitter: “At last work begins to bring our people home.”

The OSCE held a minute’s silence at the site two weeks to the day the plane came down.

3. PIN Day

From today, Australians will no longer be able to pay for their credit card purchases through the traditional method of signing, instead requiring a PIN to enter.

Australian Retailers Association Executive Director Russell Zimmerman told News Limited consumers have been warned for months and they risk being stranded at the checkout if they weren’t prepared for today’s shift to PINS.

For more read this post here

4. Expert says no to national curriculum

Australia doesn’t need a national curriculum, an internationally-renowned education expert Dr Yong Zhao told principals in Brisbane yesterday.

He said schools currently stifle creativity — and argued they should be using “personalised learning based on a student’s passion, encouraging creativity and entrepreneurialism.”

“To really catch up with the changes technology has created for us, we need a paradigm shift,” he said.

News Limited reports Dr Zhao said: “Our education has been preparing people for the wrong economy.

“Stop debating on test scores, on national curriculum, think how do we utilise our resources … to create a personalised learning ecosystem for every child so they can be passionate, so they can be great.”

He criticized the ‘sausage-making model’ of the Asian countries, which he suggested produced students with similar skills and similar knowledge.

5. Abigail Hernandez accused called “Crazy Nate”

Details have emerged about the man accused of kidnapping US teenager Abigail Hernandez when she was 14 years old and holding her in a shipping container for nine months.

WLBZ-2 reports that 34-year-old Nathaniel Kibby was referred to by neighbours as “Crazy Nate.”

This arrest is not his first: court documents show he was arrested for possession of marijuana less than two weeks after Abigail Hernandez’s disappearance.

Kibby also made several court appearances — including one for another charge of simple assault and criminal trespassing in March this year — all during the nine-month time frame when Hernandez was missing.

For more, see this post.

6. Racist rant

The woman who went on a racist rant on a NSW train has faced court.

Karen Bailey initially gave a false name when a video went viral of her racist remarks towards a family of Asian descent.

She pleaded guilty to offensive language in the Downing Centre Local Court today, and told Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan she was “absolutely appalled” at her behaviour.

She was given a 12-month good behavior bond.

7. Private primary schooling no better

It seems that shelling out up to $25,000 a year for private schools in the primary years may have no educational benefits.

The Herald Sun reports an analysis of NAPLAN results presented to the Australian Institute of Family Studies conference yesterday found that, compared grade 3 and grade 5 NAPLAN results in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and literacy, once controlling for student background, there was no difference between private and public student achievements.

8. Ebola outbreak

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have said they can give little assistance to Australians travelling in Ebola-affected areas who are stricken with the disease.

Fairfax Media reports that DFAT said: “The Australian government may have limited options in providing consular assistance in these circumstances.”

Meanwhile, the United States will be sending 50 disease experts to West Africa over the next 30 days in a bid to combat the outbreak of the Ebola virus, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

9. Doll causes social media outrage

A controversial doll has been making headlines, with calls emerging for it to be banned.

Mothers say they were “shocked” to find a penis on the “You and Me Diaper Doll”.

For more on the controversy — which many parents may find baffling — see this post.

10. Gaza Israel conflict

The US has joined the international condemnation of the shelling of a school in Gaza, saying that it is “totally unacceptable and totally indefensible”.

It the strongest criticism yet the US has made of Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.

However as reported by The Times, Israel has vowed to keep its troops in Gaza calling up 16,000 more reservists to help destroy the cross-border tunnels.

“Until now, we have destroyed dozens of terror tunnels and we are determined to finish this mission — with or without a ceasefire,” Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.

11. Harry Potter is good for you

Turns out that reading Harry Potter books is not just entertaining, it is good for you.

A study published in the in The Journal of Applied Social Psychology, shows reading the Harry Potter series significantly improved young peoples’ perception of stigmatised groups like immigrants, homosexuals or refugees.

Three separate studies were used in the research in which a readers’ ability to assume the perspective of marginalized groups was studies – and in all three studies it improved.

12. Women suffer financially after divorce

The household income of Australian women drops by 21percent in the year following a separation, whereas men’s incomes drops by only 1percent.

The report, to be presented at the Australian Institute of Family Studies conference today, shows the effect of divorce is long-term with six years later women still having an income 12 percent lower than the income of non-divorced women.

13. Think paying $4.00 for a coffee is steep?

An American couple travelling in Rome have been so outraged by the prices they paid in a café for gelato they called the police.

The Telegraph reports James and Marian Luciani ordered their ice creams at a café near the Trevi Fountain — and were furious when they were charged 42 euros (A$60) for three ice creams and a bottle of water.

“We’d just paid 59 euros for our entire dinner, including a litre of wine, and then were charged 42 euros for gelato!” Mr Luciani said.

“We’ve been careful in watching out for pickpockets in Rome, but I never thought I would get scammed here.”

The police confirmed that the prices were indeed correct.

The café manager justified the hefty bill saying the glass bowl the ice cream was served in was so big, “you could have it for lunch!”

14. UN announce Hamas-Israel ceasefire

The United Nations has announced a new ceasefire in the bloody Israel/Gaza conflict.

A joint statement from the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said Hamas and Israel would unconditionally cease fire for 72 hours beginning Friday morning, Al Jazeera reports.

The US and UN statement said during the ceasefire, Israeli and Palestinian delegations would head to Cairo for negotiations aimed at reaching a durable ceasefire.

“During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive  urgently needed humanitarian relief, and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured, and restocking food supplies,” the statement said.
  
“Overdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure could also continue during this period.

 15.  Doctor with Ebola makes the ultimate sacrifice

A US doctor infected with Ebola has made the ultimate sacrifice — after insisting an older female missionary, also suffering from Ebola, be given a potentially life-saving serum.

Yahoo News reports that an experimental serum arrived in Liberia on Wednesday — but on learning there was only enough dosage for one patient, 33-year-old medical missionary Kent Brantly insisted that 60-year-old Nancy Writebol take the serum.

The Huffington Post reports that Dr David McRay, a director at the Texas hospital where Dr Brantly worked for four years, told reporters Dr Brantly was “terrified” of the disease progressing further.

“He is not in critical condition at this time but he is seriously ill and the prognosis is grave,” Dr McRay told reporters.

But in a touching twist, the president of the organisation for which Dr Brantly works said the doctor had received blood from a 14-year-old boy — who had survived Ebola because of Dr Brantly’s care.

“The young boy and his family wanted to be able to help the doctor that saved his life,” Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, said in a statement.

There is no known cure for the often-fatal Ebola, which begins with symptoms including fever and escalates to vomiting internal bleeding and diarreah. 

16. Liberal party candidate in hot water over tweets

Update:

Aaron Lane has resigned following revelations about a string of homophobic tweets, the Star Observer reports.

Lane reportedly withdrew his candidacy this afternoon, prior to a meeting of the Liberal Party’s Administrative Committee.

Just hours earlier, Victorian Premier Denis Napthine called for Lane to step down.

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

A Liberal candidate for this year’s Victorian election, Aaron Lane, has drawn criticism over a series of homophobic tweets made between 2011 and 2012.  

The tweets use offensive terms such as “faggots” and “homos”, and refers to Peter Slipper as “the big C”. He also reportedly referred to masturbation.

Lane has been summoned to party headquarters on Friday to explain the tweets,  News Corp reports, and The Age reports that Liberal State Director Damien Mantach confirmed today he planned to speak to Mr Lane.

“The Liberal Party finds the comments made by Mr Lane on social media to be inappropriate and offensive,’’ Mantach said in a statement.

“The party takes these matters very seriously.’’

Lane was formerly a Young Liberal president and is a research fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, Fairfax Media reports.

The Courier reports there is a growing call for Lane to resign following the tweet scandal.