Tuesday's news in under 5 minutes

1. Graphic footage of whale slaughter

Activists from Sea Shepherd Australia have released graphic images of the Japanese whaling fleet processing harpooned minke whales in waters south-east of Tasmania.

Sea Shepherd Australia’s managing director, Jeff Hansen, said the International Whaling Commission’s Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was being tainted by the illegal slaughter of these whales. The Sea Shepherd  is now pursuing the Japanese fleet after finding all five of its vessels in the Southern Ocean.

The Japanese consul-general in Melbourne, Hidenobu Sobashima, told Fairfax Media that unlawful violent activities by Sea Shepherd against vessels engaged in research whaling were ”inadmissible”.

2. Bali mother and daughter deaths

Police have ruled out foul play in the case of the tragic deaths of mother and daughter, Noelene and Yvana Bischoff who died within hours of each other on Saturday in Bali. Local police speculated food poisoning or anaphylaxis was to blame.

The ABC report that a doctor who has examined the bodies says there are signs of choking or asphyxiation. However there are reports that the family has refused to allow an autopsy -sending a letter through the consulate stating their wishes.

This morning SkyNews have revealed that under Indonesian law an autopsy can proceed without permission from today.

3. Missing man found

A family searching for their missing son have found him through the most amazing stroke of luck – from a picture on the front page of a newspaper, and by harnessing social media.

For more go to this post here. “Homeless man found by family.”

4. Coalition Direct Action plan

Acting opposition environment spokesman Tony Burke has told The Australian that the Coalition’s Direct Action plan was “a dressed-up slush fund, which is ineffective and costly”.

The comments come after the release of a green paper that shows that companies will not be punished if they fail to meet their carbon emissions targets under the Coalition’s Direct Action plan. Instead, the government will introduce “flexible compliance arrangements”.

The Federal Environment Minister, Greg Hunt said the plan was not designed to be punitive.

5. Pre-schooler death

A four-year-old boy has been hit by a car and killed whilst on holidays on the NSW Central Coast.

Police said the driver of the Toyota Pardo, a 60-year-old woman, stopped after the incident and sought to help.

6. Arctic chill

Around 149 million people- about half the US population – were expected to be in the grip of a deadly ‘polar vortex’ sweeping across America bringing temperatures to as low as minus 50. At least 32 states are in the path of the icy vortex of Arctic air.

7. Too risqué for the Members

A Sydney solicitor has been turned away from the Members Stand of the Sydney Cricket Ground because her dress was too short. The SMH report that despite pleading that she would leave her trenchcoat on over the top of the dress the steward told her it was not acceptable.

The rules for the Members Reserve – which includes the M.A. Noble Stand, the Ladies Stand and the Allianz Stadium Members Area – states that dresses should be ”of a respectable length”.

8. Shooting victim in coma gives birth to daughter

A shooting victim who was in a coma for four months has given birth to a daughter, and then tragically died.

Carolina Sepe, 25, gave birth to a 1.1kg girl in a Naples hospital on December 19 thanks to doctors who performed a caesarean section, according to the UK Telegraph.

The baby was being kept on life support but is in a stable condition.

She was 10 weeks pregnant when she was shot in the head by her neighbour.

9. Judge in India

A judge in India has said that ‘all premarital sex is immoral’.

The Judge made the remarks while finding a 29-year-old Indian man not guilty of raping a woman just because he had promised beforehand to marry her.

“No religion in the world allows premarital sex,” the judge added.

10. Worst dating profile ever

A blogger has set up what she calls the worst dating profile ever. She used an image of a model as her profile pic – but was surprised to get 150 messages in 24 hours.

She says she ‘made sure my creation touched on every major facet of being truly horrible: mean, spoiled, lazy, racist, manipulative, and willfully ignorant, and I threw in a little gold digging just for funzies. “

Alli Reed said that she learnt “these men don’t care about her personality; there is no lower limit to how deeply repulsive she can be on the inside, as long as she’s hot.”

11. Stuck in a washing machine

A naked man, waiting to surprise his partner when she arrived home has become stuck in a washing machine in country Victoria.

Firefighters, paramedics, SES and Shepparton Search and Rescue Squad attended the scene. It took officers 20 minutes to free the man after they greased him up with olive oil.

In Brief:

Indonesian authorities say the Australian Navy forced an asylum seeker boat back towards Indonesia, where it ran out of fuel and ran aground.

The University of Queensland has apologised to 400 students who were offered scholarships on Christmas Eve only to have the offers withdrawn in the new year. The University say the offers were inadvertently made through an administrative error.

What news are you talking about today?