Monday's news in under 5 minutes

1. WA Cyclone

Cyclone Christine is picking up speed as it heads towards Western Australia’s Pilbara coast.

The storm is now a category 3 and is expected to bring wind and rain of up to 165km/h. It is forecast to hit most likely between Karratha and Port Hedland.

2. Co-sleeping

Alarming figures over co-sleeping have raised concerns amongst experts with statistics showing that 25 babies in NSW alone died as a result of sharing a bed with their parents. We look at this in more depth in this post here “ Co-sleeping data cause for concern.”

3. Concerns over Abbotts $5 GP fee

News yesterday of a proposed $5 fee for bulk billing doctors to reduce unnecessary visits to GPs and save the government around $750 million a year.

This morning the president of the Australasian College Emergency Medicine Dr Anthony Cross has told News Limited that he is concerned anything that impeded access to a GP could increase demand in emergency departments and make it harder for them to meet government targets to treat patients within four hours.

4. Russian bombing

Six weeks out of the Winter Olympic Games in the city of Sochi a female suicide bomber has killed at least 16 people and injured dozens at the main railway station in the city of Volgograd.

A nine-year-old child is among the more than 40 people injured.

5. Third vessel sent

A third vessel is edging closer to rescue trapped passengers aboard the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck about 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart since Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority requested the Aurora Australis and two other ships, a Chinese and French icebreaker, sail to assist the Akademik Shokalskiy.

The Australis, an Australian-flagged vessel, cut short its mission to resupply the Casey station in Antarctica and was due to reach the area today.

Authorities are considering air evacuations if the vessels cannot reach the Russian ship.

6. Michael Schumacher

In France former F1 champion racing driver Michael Schumacher has suffered serious head injuries after a skiing accident. The seven-time world champion in Formula 1 hit his head on a rock while skiing off piste in the French Alps.

He was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he is being treated for a ‘serious’ head injury.

 7. Mum tried to sell baby

In the UK a young mother has had her children removed from her care after trying to sell her baby boy on Gumtree for E$150,000. The mother said it was a joke, provoked by a dare from her partner.

 8. Parents blame wi-fi for sick son

In New Zealand the parents of a boy who died of brain cancer are blaming their son’s death on the school’s wi-fi system. Earlier this year, Ethan Wyman died after an 11-month battle with brain cancer.

His parents are now alleging that both his school-issued iPad and the school’s Wi-Fi system could have caused the cancer. The Wymans are now pushing the local school board to remove Wi-Fi devices from all school buildings and classrooms.

9. Obese but starving

A twelve-year-old girl in the US who suffers from a rare condition which causes her to gain massive amounts of weight even though her body thinks it is starving has been denied a gastric band operation by her insurers.

The girl, Alexis Shapiro had a benign brain tumor. More than half of children who have such tumors develop problems with excessive eating — called hyperphagia — and significant obesity.

10. Kids not moving

A concerning study out of South Australia showing that the percentage of kids walking or cycling to school has halved in a single generation.

A University of South Australia study also found the number of children exercising during recess and lunch has dropped significantly.

They found two-thirds of current students never cycled or walked to school, compared with one-third in 1985.

Cycling to school has almost vanished, down from two in every five students in 1985, to only one in 20 this year.

11. Woman charged over bushfires

A 55-year-old woman has been charged with deliberately lighting a bushfire in southern New South Wales on Sunday afternoon.

The blaze burned close to homes in West Albury destroying 30 hectares of bushland.

She has been released on bail to face court mid-January.

In Brief:

In QLD the Newman Government has said daylight saving is not a priority in Queensland despite an online poll showing residents are in favour.

In Spain thousand of people have attended a Mass in Madrid to honour family values and support government moves aimed at tightening restrictions on abortion.

 What news are you talking about today?