Monday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Darwin murders

The decomposing bodies of a mother and her two children found on Darwin property over the weekend could have been the result of a murder/suicide or a triple homicide, police say.

The owner of the property found the bodies of 46-year-old Jenny Wells, her seven-year old daughter and her 11-year-old son inside a tent near the main house.

Neighbours have told Nine News that Jenny Wells was a”lovely woman” – a local vet who was well established in the Darwin community.

Police would not confirm whether two knives found at the scene were the weapons used in the deaths of the children or woman.

2. Melbourne women in fear

After three sexual assaults on women in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, a group of locals are calling for their streets to be made safer with improved lighting.

It is the same area where Jill Meagher was murdered 20 months ago.

Elizabeth Pertile, a local resident told The Age, ”You feel a little insecure when you can’t see 10 or 20 metres ahead of you. You just don’t know who’s out there and there’s always that threat.”

3. Freed US soldier

A US soldier has been freed after five years of capture by the Taliban.

US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was freed as a part of an agreement in which he was exchanged for five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The detainees will be handed over to Qatar.

Shortly after the deal was announced President Obama faced criticism over the transfer of the Taliban inmates. Republican Senator John McCain – while welcoming Bergdahl’s release – called the transferred detainees ‘‘hardened terrorists.’’

Sergeant Bergdahl is now being treated at a US military hospital in Germany.

Making headlines in the US today is the news that his girlfriend, who he told not to wait for him, has moved on and found another partner.

4. Asylum seeker dies

An asylum seeker living in the Victorian city of Geelong on a bridging visa, has died after suffering what are thought to be self inflicted burns to 90% of his body.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the Sri Lankan man’s death over the weekend. The Minister said the man had been granted a bridging visa in May last year and a further bridging visa in July.

5. New video of kidnapped schoolgirls

A British newspaper has published transcripts from a new video of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. The video, not released publicly, was seen by The Mail on Sunday.

It was taken in a jungle clearing a month after their abduction.

In the video, eight girls plead for release, they say that they are hungry and were taken by force.

A tall girl, aged about 18, says tearfully: “My family will be so worried.”

Another says: “I never expected to suffer like this in my life.”

A third girl tells the camera says: “They have taken us away by force.”

The video has supposedly been shown to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. It was intended to serve as ‘proof of life’ for the girls and to encourage the President to accede to the terrorists’ demands.

6. Christopher Pyne confused over university fees

The Education Minster Christopher Pyne has added confusion to the debate over university fees, by contradicting advice on the government’s web site.

When asked on the ABC’s Insiders program if students who are enrolling today or next year would be repaying their debts at a higher rate, Mr Pyne replied: ”Anybody who was enrolled before May 14, nothing will change in terms of their arrangements.”

According to Fairfax Media the government’s Study Assist website states that the new indexation arrangements will ”apply to all HELP debts (including those incurred by former students, continuing students and new students) beginning with the indexation of debts on 1 June, 2016”.

7. Jamie Gao case

Jamie Gao, a Sydney student allegedly murdered by disgraced former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara, was due to give evidence at the Australian Crime Commission in the weeks before his death according to News Limited.

The commission focuses on gathering intelligence on organised crime.

Last week the commission denied Gao had been acting as an informant. According to News Limited, Federal Police had been watching Gao since 2011 as a suspected drug importer.

8. School girl shorts protest

A schoolgirl in Canada has been suspended after her shorts were too short.

She has fought back saying that the dress code system encourages rape culture.

For more read this post here.

9. A warm winter ahead

Australia has had its warmest start to winter in a decade, with minimum temperatures expected to be warmer than usual nationwide for winter.

Sky News chief meteorologist Dick Whitaker told The Australian there was a 75 per cent chance of an El Niño developing over the next three months.

“That is associated with warmer than average conditions for southern mainland Australia so it is shaping up to be a very warm winter indeed.”

There is a greater than 60 per cent chance winter will be warmer than normal in the southeastern states, while in Tasmania, most of Victoria and southwestern Australia there is more than an 80 per cent likelihood of higher temperatures than usual.

10. Neurosurgeon questions need for bike helmets

A UK neurosurgeon, Henry Marsh, has caused controversy by questioned the effectiveness of bike helmets.

The UK Telegraph reports the top neurosurgeon said: “I see lots of people in bike accidents and these flimsy little helmets don’t help.”

He quoted evidence from the University of Bath that suggests that wearing a helmet may even put cyclists at greater risk. The research showed that drivers get around 3 inches closer to cyclists who wear helmets because they perceive them as safer.

He said: “I ride a bike and I never wear a helmet. In the countries where bike helmets are compulsory there has been no reduction in bike injuries whatsoever.”

11. Reluctant Grannies

A study has shown that women in their 50s are increasingly becoming what is termed ‘reluctant grandmothers’.

“Women see their friends lumbered with the daily care of grandchildren and fear that happening to them, too,” says Lynn Chesterman, chief executive of The Grandparents’ Association told The Sunday Mail.

“Admitting you don’t want grandchildren is the new taboo,” says Chesterman. “In the same way that it was once frowned upon if a woman didn’t want children, now that stigma has shifted to women who’d rather not be grandparents. There’s little possibility of speaking out without being branded as selfish by your peers – and your own children. ”

According to a study 39 per cent of grandmothers would prefer a life free from too many family duties, with a majority expressing anxiety about caring for their grandchildren to the extent that the youngsters become a ‘burden’.

12. Paper plane throw

A remarkable paper plane throw has gone viral on YouTube.

The video shows fans at a game between England and Peru at Wembley Stadium who decided to start throwing paper planes to distract them from the uneventful game. One of the planes can be seen flying down over the grass and remarkably it hits Peru player Hansell Riojas on the back of the head.

The fans go wild.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NheoDL65q14

13. Third anniversary of the disappearance of Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon.

On the third anniversary of the disappearance of missing Victorian schoolgirl Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon, police have released an image of a white station wagon which may be related to her disappearance.

The 13-year-old disappeared on her way to school on June 2, 2011 – and police are investigating a report that a witness saw a young girl in the passenger seat of a white Ford Falcon wagon, between 8.30am and 9.00am on the day Bung went missing.

The driver of the car was described as being of Caucasian appearance and in his late 50s, with hair combed back in a “rock and roll” style.

Detective Inspector John Potter said, “The sighting may well be completely innocent, but it is relevant to us and we need to investigate it.”

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

 14. Tony Abbott under fire for “odd” D-Day press release

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been criticised for releasing a statement and YouTube video in which he commemorates the 70th anniversary of D-day landings – before plugging Australia’s business interests.

The Prime Minister’s Office released the awkward press release at the weekend, describing Abbott joining sevenAustralians who were at the landings that “changed the course of human history”.

“Over 3,000 Australians were involved — including 2,500 air force personnel who provided air support for the Allied landings,” the document said.

But it went on to take a partisan dig at the former Labor government.

“My message to overseas investors is that Australia is open for business,” he said.

“The Government’s Economic Action Strategy to lower tax, cut red tape and encourage trade will improve the competitiveness of businesses — so that we can build a stronger Australia,” he said.

15. Pregnancy news for AFL footballer Nick Riewoldt

AFL footballer and St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, 31 and his wife Catherine are expecting their first child.

The happy couple announced their news via Instagram today.

Catherine posted this picture alongside a caption quoting the Bible:

“December is going to be a very exciting month!! Every good and perfect gift is from above” James 1:17 @nriewoldt”

The pair married in a large wedding in her home town of Waco Texas in October 2012 after meeting by a pool in Las Vegas five years ago.

Catherine told the Herald Sun: “Nick and I are so over the moon, it’s a blessing beyond all comparison. We’re so glad we can finally share this happiness with our family and friends. I’ve been lucky so far and looking forward to a continued healthy pregnancy.”

“Now we just can’t wait until December when our little Aussie Texan arrives,” she said.

16. Malcolm Turnbull says leadership speculation is “quite unhinged”

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull says speculation he is planning a leadership challenge is “quite unhinged” and “borders on the demented.”

Right-wing News Corp commentator Andrew Bolt suggested in his column on Monday that a dinner Mr Turnbull had with MP Clive Palmer, Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson, Liberal Party vice-president Tom Harley and his business partner John Fast last week was part of a leadership campaign.

Bolt wrote that the dinner was designed to send an “unmistakable message” to Liberal MPs – “replace Abbott with Turnbull as prime minister and maybe Palmer will play ball”.

“This is Turnbull, on the far left of the Liberal Party, charming a constituency that hates Abbott and which would back Turnbull to replace him – even if it still wouldn’t vote Liberal,” Bolt wrote.

Mr Turnbull launched a verbal attack on Bolt at media event at Parliament House, telling reporters: “I saw the question that Andrew Bolt asked the Prime Minister on Sunday and I’ve seen his column in some of the News Limited papers today.”

“It borders on the demented, to string together a dinner with Clive Palmer and my attending, as the Communications Minister, the launch by a cross-party group of friends of the ABC and say that that amounts to some sort of threat or challenge to the Prime Minister,” he said.

“It is quite unhinged.”

A former staffer to Mr Turnbull told the ABC he and Mr Palmer are old friend, who formed a friendship prior to Mr Turnbull’s leadership of the Liberal Party in 2009, the ABC reports.

What news are you talking about today?