Thursday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Three children dead as car plunges into lake.

The homicide squad is investigating the deaths of three children who were in a car driven by a 35-year-old woman which plunged into a lake at Wyndham Vale.

Police have not confirmed whether the woman was the mother of the children.

Police have now confirmed three of the children have died. A one-year-old boy, a four-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl.

A five-year-old girl remains in a critical condition at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The 35-year-old woman was assessed in hospital overnight before being released.

Police have said that she is assisting them with their enquiries.  She is yet to be interviewed in relation to the incident.

For more read this post here.

Anyone with information is asked to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

2. Boston marathon bomber found guilty.

A federal US jury has found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – the surviving brother behind the Boston Marathon bombings — guilty of 30 charges in relation to the Boston bombings, all of which carry the death penalty.

The bombings which occurred in April 2013 killed three people and injured more than 260.

Jurors found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of all 30 counts, including – conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, and aiding and abetting, conspiracy to bomb a public place, and bombing a public place.

The jury will now deliberate as to whether to sentence him to death.

For more read this post here. 

3. Man arrested over the murder of  Stephanie Scott

A 24-year-old man has been arrested and is expected to be charged with murder of 26-year-old Stephanie Scott.
The teacher from Leeton was last seen at her workplace at Leeton High School on Myrtle Street about 11:00am on Sunday.

Her mother said yesterday the disappearance of her daughter was heartbreaking.
“It is the worst thing I have ever been through. You can’t eat and you can’t sleep,” Merrilyn Scott said.

Police say that last night officers attended a home on Maiden Avenue, Leeton, where they spoke to two residents at the home. Around 7.30pm, another resident of the home – a 24-year-old man – arrived at the property.

The man was subsequently arrested and taken to Leeton Police Station where he continues to assist police with their inquiries. He is expected to be charged with Ms Scott’s murder and will appear before Griffith Local Court later today.

Police have said it is not Ms Scott’s fiancé who has been arrested.

Officers still have not located Ms Scott and ask that anyone who may have seen her or her car – a red Mazda 3 sedan with registration BZ-19-CD – contact police.

Police are also keen to speak to anyone who may have seen an older model, white Toyota Hilux space-cab 2WD with a canopy over the back travelling in Leeton or surrounds since Sunday.

Anyone who was in the vicinity of Leeton High School on Sunday (5 April 2015) is also encouraged to contact Griffith Police on (02) 6969 4310 or via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

For more read this post here.

4. Arrest warrant issued for Ben Cousins.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Ben Cousins after he failed to appear in a Perth court on traffic offences yesterday.

The troubled AFL star was charged with reckless driving, failing to stop and refusing a breath test on March 11.

The judge ordered that Cousins produce written evidence of his medical appointments before 4pm (WST) or an arrest warrant would be issued.

5. Cate McGregor defends PM Tony Abbott.

“I did him a disservice and grossly underestimated his capacity for friendship,” Ms McGregor told the National Press Club in Canberra.

She said that he rang her after she told him very quickly rang to say, “It was OK”.

“He didn’t run a focus group or ring [conservative Liberal MP] Cory Bernardi or Kevin Andrews to see if it was OK, he just did,” Ms McGregor said.

“He embraced risk in doing that.

“I actually said to him ‘your party won’t be thrilled about this’.

“You all know him – there is kind of a firefighter buried inside the politician still and he tends to barge in burning buildings if his friends are in there.”

She said that Mr Abbott had “provided leadership” in recognising her as a transgender woman, but he had “almost no credit.”

In an episode of Australian Story, when she detailed her struggles as a man and then as a trans-woman Mr Abbott publicly backed her by introducing her.

6. US police officer shoots black man in back.

Protesters have taken to the streets in the US after a white police officer was caught on video fatally shooting a 50-year-old black man in the back.

Michael Slager, an officer with the North Charleston Police Department, was arrested on Tuesday over the shooting.

If found guilty of murder, he could face up to life in prison or death.

The BBC reports that protestors calling out “Black lives matter!” marched outside City Hall in North Charleston.

7. Indonesia looks to April execution date for Bali Nine duo.

A spokesman for the Indonesian Attorney-General has said that the government is looking for a “good day” in April to execute the prisoners waiting on death row.

The Australian reports that the timing of the Asia-Africa Conference, to be held in Jakarta and Bandung from April 18-24 is a factor in finding the correct date with Mr Prasetyo saying it wouldn’t be “polite” to carry out the executions during the international event, “even if it is legal”.

8. Putting bins out early might attract fines.

A council in Melbourne is considering a plan where residents who put their rubbish bins out early could be fined up to $1500.

Darebin Council in the Northern Suburbs is looking at proposed laws where residents who put their bins out more than 24 hours before collections could at attract a $500 fine – the maximum a Victorian council can charge.

If they don’t pay the fine and it ends up in the Magistrates Court it could cost residents up to $1476.10 reports The Age.

9. Blogger who killed son sentenced.

Lacey Spears, the blogger who killed her five-year-old son by poisoning him with salt has been sentenced in the US to 20 years to life in prison.
Spears who documented her son Garnett’s “illnesses” on a blog called ‘Garnett’s Journey’ and was convicted by a jury in last month of second-degree murder

The court heard that Spears fed her son salt through a feeding tube which eventually led to his death in 2014.

 10. Ice-cream shortage in the Northern Territory.

A crisis amongst our NT kids (and, perhaps those a little older) with an ice-cream shortage reported in the Northern Territory after thieves broke into a suppliers refrigerator and left the door open over the long weekend.

It caused $45,000 worth of the sweet stuff to melt into a sticky, goey mess.

Duty Superintendent Louise Jorgensen told the ABC “It looks like somebody has tried to steal a little bit of ice-cream and in the process jemmied open the doors of the refrigerator trucks,” she said.

“They have taken whatever they thought they needed and left the doors open.

She said that a lot of the ice-cream was destined for the outlying Indigenous communities.

Folks we feel your pain.

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