1. UPDATE: Malaysia Airlines offers compensation to relatives.

The relatives of those killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will receive the equivalent of $5,500 in compensation from the airline.

Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya made the announcement today, saying the airline may increase the payments as the search for the plane’s wreckage continues, News.com.au reports.

“This unprecedented event in aviation history has made the past 18 days the greatest challenge to face our entire team, ” Mr Yahya reportedly said.

The passengers’ families will also receive  “continued support” from the airline, he said.

Earlier today, MM wrote:

The Prime Minister of Malaysia has confirmed that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 ended its journey in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The plane carrying 239 people plunged into the Indian Ocean.

In a statement last night in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Najib Razak said intelligence from British satellites and investigators showed that MH370 is likely to have “ended” in the southern corridor of the ocean.

For more, read this, and to read his statement go to this post here “No survivors on MH370”

2. Bail denied

In Egypt, bail has been denied for Australian journalist Peter Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues.

In the third hearing overnight, police witnesses were questioned about the arrests. Most said they stand by their original statements.

The ABC reports that in a recess, Greste said prison conditions were tough and that the prosecution had failed to provide a shred of evidence.

3. Oscar Pistorius trial

The trial of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has taken a dramatic turn with text messages revealing that Reeva Steenkamp was scared of his temper.

The court heard that a message sent less than three weeks before he shot her dead read: “I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me,” while a later text read, “I can’t be attacked by outsider for dating u and be attacked by you the person I deserve protection from.”

The evidence showed that about 90 per cent of the messages were normal and loving messages.

However, others were read out which showed the athlete’s jealousy.

Pistorius has said he shot his girlfriend by mistake through a locked toilet door, thinking that she was an intruder in his home.

4. George Brandis defends the right of the bigot

Attorney-General George Brandis has made a controversial statement in Senate defending the right of Australians to be ”bigots”.

Senator Brandis made the case for the Government’s changes to race hate laws. The Government is planning the changes after columnist Andrew Bolt was found to have breached Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in relation to two articles he wrote about fair-skinned Indigenous Australians.

The Senator’s statement came as an answer to Indigenous Senator Nova Peris.

“People have the right to be bigots you know,” Brandis said.

“In this country people have rights to say things that other people find offensive or bigoted.”

5. Domestic violence

A woman in hiding from her violent partner has spoken to the Herald Sun about how her alleged attacker was freed on bail.

Mobile phone footage shows him wielding a large knife at the woman. He received just 120 hours’ community work for the attack.

She has said she fears for her life.

The Herald Sun reports, “He is alleged to have smashed into his victim’s home and broken her nose. For a staggering third time, he was allowed to walk from court on bail.”

6. Eight dead, 108 missing after US mudslide

A mudslide in Washington State on Saturday has killed eight people and left 108 people unaccounted for.

It comes in addition to the eight people confirmed dead and the 12 injured in the catastrophe.

Hundreds of rescuers are scouring through a tide of mud, which swept away dozens of houses on Saturday, in the town of Oso, some 100km northeast of Seattle.

7. Serial abuser bashes four-year-old boy

In South Australia, a man has been jailed for 16 years after bashing a four-year-old boy almost to death.

He had previously been set free on bail for separate charges of beating four women.

Mervyn Burton, 26, pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated causing harm with intent and one count of causing serious harm with intent against the boy.

Domestic violence expert Dr Sarah Wendt told The Advertiser the case highlighted the dangers of allowing such offenders to remain free on bail despite repeated offending.

8. Russell Crowe’s movie

Russell Crowe’s new movie Noah has been banned in Indonesia with censors saying it offends Muslim viewers.

The Hollywood epic, which opens in Australia on Thursday, has already been blocked by censors in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Indonesia followed on Monday with an unanimous decision by the Indonesian Censorship Board.

9. Overseas adoptions streamlined

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Prime Minister is planning on expanding Australia’s intercountry adoption system and streamlining visa processing.

Recent amendments streamlined adoptions from Taiwan and South Korea but News Limited reports that many new countries not subject to the Hague Convention will be added to the list of countries Australia has agreements with.

10. Children living in hell

Children being held in detention on Christmas Island have told a Human Rights Commission inquiry about their lives, saying it is like “living in hell”.

The 315 children living in detention were assessed by the Human Rights Commission.

President of the Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs told The Age, ”If we saw these children in Australia, we would be reporting them to DOCS.”

11. Multi-millionaire cuts kids from will

A father of five worth over $900 million has revealed that he will leave his money to charity rather than his children.

John Roberts, known in Britain as the “Kitchen King”, has told The Times he wants his children to be happy and normal and has cut them out of his will.

What news are you talking about today?