Thursday's news in under 5 minutes

1. Bring them Home

A trumpeter has played The Last Post as the bodies of victims from the downed Malaysia Airlines flight landed in Holland. The Dutch King and Queen as well as more than 1000 family members, the Australian Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop were at Eindhoven airfield for the arrival when the planes landed last night at 11.50pm from the Ukraine.

Two transport planes carrying 40 coffins flew into Holland’s Eindhoven airport.

Family members of the dead were protected by screens to give them privacy in their grief.

A motorcade of hearses were at the airport to take the coffins to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks, where the long-process of identifying the bodies will begin.

A National day of mourning has taken place in The Netherlands and a minute’s silence was observed as the place carrying the first victims touched down. Flags were at half-mast and the country stood still as a mark of respect.

The dignity given to the dead has been in stark contrast to their treatment in Ukraine.

Social media shows respect

Twitter users have shown their respect by turning their avatars black to mark the day of mourning.

Thousands of online users have taken to social media –  using the hashtag #bringthemhome.

Parent’s grief

Meanwhile a heartbreaking statement by the parents of Mo, Otis and Evie Maslin, aged 12, eight and 10, and their grandfather Nick Norris, 68 has been released.

“No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for our children, for Mo, for Evie, for Otis. No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for Granddad Nick. No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for each other. This is a revelation that gives us some comfort.”

To read the statement in full read this post here.

Horror news for families

In devastating news horrified relatives of the MH17 crash victims have confirmed suspicions that looting of the bodies took place with the Netherlands’ De Telegraaf reporting that relatives dialing their loved ones phones have had them answered by people with ‘eastern European-sounding voices’

2. Ukraine fighter jets shot down

Ukraine’s security council has claimed that missiles that brought down two Ukrainian fighter jets overnight (1.30pm in Ukraine) were fired from Russia.

“Two of our jets were hit at an altitude of 5,200 metres. According to preliminary information, the missiles were launched from the territory of the Russian Federation,” the council said in a statement.

It is thought there were two men in each jet.

3. Taiwan plane crash

A plane has crashed in Taiwan killing at least 40 passengers after it came down in a storm after an aborted landing reports CNN.

The crash took place in the Penghu Islands off the west coast of the main Taiwanese island.

4. Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games has begun in Glasgow with a spectacular opening ceremony where Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle entertained the crowd.

The Queen was welcomed with a roar  and a moment’s silence was held to remember the 298 lives lost  on MH17.

But there is controversy with Tasmanians left furious after realising they have been left off the map of Australia featured on our Commonwealth Games swimsuit.

An Australian map is repeatedly splashed across the Speedo-designed swimsuit, but there is no sign of Tassie.

Australia has seven Tasmanian athletes competing in Glasgow and locals are furious about being snubbed. “I hope that it was an oversight and not deliberate. Tasmania also disappeared from Olympic medals and posters for Baz Luhrmann’s movie Australia, so it’s very disappointing that the same oversight has happened a number of times,”Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie told News Limited.

5. Gaza conflict

US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Israel as the death doll in that country rises to 35, 32 of which are Israeli soldiers, including a commander.

He has had a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both he and the British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond arrived today at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport – an airport being avoided by many international airlines after a rocket landed less than a mile from the runway.

More than 680 Palestinians have been killed during the conflict.

6. Peaches Geldof inquest

The inquest into the death of Peaches Geldof has heard that the fatal heroin dose that killed her was discovered in a box containing lollies.

The 25-year-old mother of two was found dead in April in the spare bedroom of her home with her 11-month old son Phaedra, close by in another room.

The inquest heard that she had successfully beaten her heroin addiction several months before but begun using again in February this year.

Police who searched the house after her death discovered almost seven grams of high purity heroin worth around £550 hidden in a cloth bag in a cupboard. Elsewhere they also found almost 80 needles and a number of burnt spoons.

Sky News reports that analysis of the drugs showed it had a purity of 61%. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fotheringham, who led the investigation, said it “far exceeded” the 26% purity usually found at street level.

7. Mum charged with adultery in Lebanon

An Australian mother of two has been charged with adultery in Lebanon and could face up to six month jail.

Mahassen Issa’s lawyer told News Limited that she would face court in Tripoli, Lebanon, today.

She had travelled to Lebanon to meet up with her new boyfriend after separating from her husband.

News Limited say that her husband’s family in Sydney has “welcomed her being charged and wants the mother of two children, aged six and nine, to be jailed.”

8. Man charged after drink spiking

A Sydney man has been arrested and fined after spiking the drink of his wife in a nightclub with Ritalin in order to get her to stay up later and have sex with him.

For more read this post here.

9. Home sold unknown to owners while they were overseas

A woman in Canberra has been shocked to find out that her home has been sold by scamsters while she was overseas.

The sale of the Canberra home four months ago was only discovered in recent weeks by the owner who was living in South Africa and contacted her estate agent after noticing that rent payments were late.

Police in Canberra are investigating the fraudulent sale and have consulted with police in South Africa, where the scammers are believed to have been based.

The Canberra Times reports that “Police will investigate a series of exchanges which led to the sale of the property without the owner’s knowledge or consent, and the disbursement of the funds generated by the deception,” a police spokeswoman said.

10. Turia Pitt back in court

Lawyers for Turia Pitt have appeared in court fighting for her compensation. Nearly two months after a settlement was announced the event organizers have not signed the agreement.

Turia Pitt suffered burns to 65% of her body and underwent a 900-day rehabilitation after the organizers of the 100km marathon event in WA’s Kimberley Region were found to have been underprepared when a bushfire broke out.

Greg Walsh, a lawyer for Turia Pitt told The Daily Telegraph the dispute “is causing a great deal of stress for Turia”.

“It’s very difficult for her,” Mr Walsh said.

11. Gang rape accused refused bail

A man has been refused bail after allegedly gang raping a teenage girl in a stairwell in Liverpool on June 21.

The man, named as 20-year-old Hassan Kugor is accused of luring the young teenager to the stairwell and along with two 16-year old boys raping her.

Magistrate Gary Still described the sexual assault accusation as a, “ gross violation of a person.” and refused bail. The two 16-year-olds were granted strict conditional bail.

12. Sad news for Arurto bear

The “world’s saddest bear” Arturo – a captive polar bear in Argentina has lost his chance to move to Canada with the director of the Mendoza Zoo in western Argentina telling The Associated Press that the 28-year-old bear is too old to safely be relocated.

A petition was signed by more than a half million people calling for the bear to be moved. Animal rights advocates claim that Arturo suffers from depression due to his poor enclosure.

Zoo director Gustavo Pronotto said that he wants people to stop bothering the bear. “Arturo is close to his caretakers,” Pronotto said.

“We just want everyone to stop bothering the bear.”

The Toronto Sun reports that Argentinean animal rights group EcoLogicos Unidos denounced the decision on its Facebook page, saying the zoo had “condemned Arturo to die.”

“Arturo is close to his caretakers,” Pronotto said. “We just want everyone to stop bothering the bear.”

It’s a decision Argentinean animal rights group EcoLogicos Unidos denounced on its Facebook page, saying the zoo had “condemned Arturo to die.”

Mamamia has previously written about Arurto here.

13. 12 year old’s PM letter

Claire Falls wrote to the PM angry when she heard that Australia’s Paralympic football team had their $175,000 Commonwealth funding reduced to nothing.

Her response was nothing short of well, nothing.

“One of the most enjoyable things about being Prime Minister is hearing from young people like yourself.” was the response.

“It says something positive about you that you were willing to take the time to write and share with me your thoughts about the issues that face our country”

Claire writes on her blog that she is angry at his lack of response.

14. Doctors remove 200 teeth

Doctors in India have removed 200 teeth from a teenager – in what is thought to be a world record.

The India Times reports that the 17-year old had complained of pain and swelling “Initially, it was not very clear what it could be and so we decided to go in for surgery,” said Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar, head of the hospital’s dental department.

“We started picking small teeth from the abnormal molar. These pearlies were of varying sizes, some as tiny as a grain of mustard and some almost the size of a marble. At the final count, we had a total of 232 of them. The fact that it was coming from a single molar was very unique,” she told The India Times.

15. Sydney mum faces jail after being charged with adultery in Lebanon

A Sydney mum could be imprisoned after she was charged with adultery while on holiday in Lebanon.

Mahassen Issa, 29, travelled to Tripoli, Lebanon, to meet her new boyfriend Mohammad Awick after separating from her husband. However, when she tried to leave Lebanon, her husband’s family alerted the authorities, and she received the news that she had been charged with adultery, and would be unable to leave the country.

She is currently being kept in Lebanon away from her sons, aged six and nine, with her court hearing scheduled for Thursday.

“I’m in a huge panic and I have no one to turn to. My family has disowned me. We have been receiving threats, my partner has received threats,’’ Ms Issa told the Daily Telegraph.

16. Crackdown on radical Islam in Aboriginal prisoners

Imams and ASIO have been called into Australian prisons to stop Aboriginal inmates from converting to radical variants of Islam.

Fairfax Media are reporting that Islam is being taught to Aboriginal prisoners by their Muslim fellow inmates, however the gross underfunding of chaplaincy services – there are just two Muslim chaplains working in prisons in NSW, even though Muslims  – means that they are being taught a radicalised version of the religion by the inmates, and not being given the sort of information that they would have received from an Imam or Sheikh.

To combat the problem, Imams and Sheikhs are being brought into prisons to deliver de-radicalisation messages during Friday prayers.

17. Sydney’s median house price tops $800,000

Sydney’s house prices have hit a record high, with the median house price in the city now sitting at $812,000. This is an 17 per cent increase over the past 12 months.

Across the country, growth has still been strong. On average, Australian house prices have soared 11 per cent over the past 12 months.

Canberra was the only capital city not to have an increase in house prices over the past financial year, with the media price dropping 0.5 per cent to $576,000.