Friday's news in under 5 minutes

1. Father had a criminal history

The Herald Sun has revealed today that Greg Anderson who beat his 11-year old son, Luke to death with a cricket bat on Wednesday, had a vast criminal history including domestic violence and child pornography.

At the time he attacked his son there were four separate warrants for his arrest but police failed to apprehend him.

In one of the incidents he attacked his ex-wife on May 16, 2012, assaulted her by grabbing her by the hair, pushing her to the ground and kicked her before threatening her with a glass vase.

The Herald Sun report that Anderson was living in his unregistered car and had had “little to do with his son for years before re-entering his life and taking his mother through a long court battle.”

Luke’s mum, Rosie Batty has said she is in shock “I’m the victim of family violence and if anything comes out of this, I want it to be a lesson to everybody.”

2. Corby banned from interview

The Indonesian government has banned Schapelle Corby from doing a television interview because it will cause “restlessness” in the local community.

They have said if she goes ahead they will revoke her parole and send her back to Kerobokan prison.

It is unknown what the statement by the Deputy Justice and Human Rights minister Denny Indrayana will mean for the Seven Network’s plans.

“If you’re going to do the interview, especially if it’s going to be paid, it will cause … restlessness in the community, so I have instructed the officer here at the Corrections Bureau to advise the family not to do it, because in the end, it will, to our understanding, cause polemic.” He said.

 3. Chemists refusing to stock contraceptives

As attention in Victoria turns towards abortion laws there is news today that many pharmacists are refusing to stock the morning after pill.

For twelve-years Thurgoona Soul Pattinson Chemist in Albury has refused to stock condoms and the owner has slipped a note into every packet of contraceptive pills he dispenses saying:

”If your primary reason for taking this medicine is contraceptive then it would be appreciated, that in the future, you could respect our views and have your OCP prescriptions filled elsewhere,” the note reads.

Other chemists are reported to refuse to stock the morning-after pill.

Dr Sally Cockburn has told the Border Mail “that one of her patients was refused access to the morning-after pill.” She said the woman fell pregnant and had to have an abortion. The Chemists involved have been named by Dr Cockburn is calling for more pharmacies to disclose their stance on contraceptives.

4. Arrests over gang rape

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with one count of sexual assault over an alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in western Sydney on Saturday.

The teen was refused bail and is scheduled to appear in court today.

 5. Missing NSW 12-year old found

A 12-year old girl missing from Sydney’s west for two days has been found.

Police were concerned when Fatima Al-Shara did not show up to school for two days. However after going missing Wednesday night she has now returned home.

 6. NZ bans rappers

New Zealand immigration authorities banned Los Angeles rappers Odd Future from entering the country yesterday after deciding they pose a threat to public order.

AP reports that the group was due to play an open-air concert with Eminem on Saturday in Auckland.

Authorities declined the visas after becoming aware of a 2011 incident in Boston in which some witnesses claimed group members incited fans to attack police officers.

7. Amanda Knox image

Amanda Knox has tweeted a picture of herself holding a sign declaring “”We are innocent” in Italian.

Knox has been sentenced to 28 years and six months in prison after an appeals court re-instated a guilty verdict over the murder of Meredith Kercher. Both Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are appealing against the reconvictions.

8. A second Giraffe, named Marius may die

It’s a bad week to be a Giraffe named Marius – with news that just days after the euthanasia of a healthy young giraffe, named Marius at Copenhagen Zoo a second Danish zoo has announced that it is considering a similar fate for another giraffe – also named Marius.

Jyllands Park zoo, in western Denmark, currently has two male giraffes, but has been approved to participate in the European breeding programme. If zookeepers manage to acquire a female giraffe, seven-year-old Marius will also be put down.

9. Man dead in detention centre

An Indian man has died at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre where he was being held for overstaying his visa.

“The man was not an illegal maritime arrival,” Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.

“He had been detained in January after overstaying his visa.”

10. Mum finds boy with no friends over a million

A mother whose son claimed he did not want a birthday party as he had no friends as started up a Facebook page for family and friends to wish him a happy birthday.

The page, for 10-year old Colin who has a sensory processing disorder, has gone viral with over one million likes. For more read this post here. “ Happy Birthday Colin”

11. Belgium to allow euthanasia for children

Belgium’s parliament will become the second country in the world to give children the right to die, as their parliament passes euthanasia laws for terminally ill children.

The legislation will make Belgium the second country after the Netherlands to allow incurably sick children to end their lives.

While the Dutch law, the world’s first euthanasia bill, enables mercy-killing in special cases for gravely ill patients 12 years or older, Belgium will be the first to lift all age restrictions.

12. British tourists jailed over tweet

Two British tourists have been refused entry to the US and jailed overnight for a tweet one of them sent saying he was going to ‘destroy America.’ The Daily Mail report that the Leigh Van Bryan and his friend Emily Bunting were handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell for 12 hours before being deported.

The tweet which stirred homeland security up read: ‘Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?’

Despite Van Bryan assuring the official that by ‘destroy’ he meant ‘party’ they still deported him.

13. Dad hero after punching pervert

A father in the US is being branded a hero after punching a man he saw masturbating whilst watching the father’s five-year-old daughter. It happened just after 10am in the morning.

KOIN news in the US now reports that the father could face charges.

What news are you talking about today?