Wednesday's news in under 5 minutes.

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

1. Pilot and crew died first after missile hit Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The Dutch Safety Board issued its final report last night into the shooting down of MH17 over east Ukraine on July 17 last year killing all 298 on board including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

The long-awaited findings of the board did not point the finger at any group or party for launching the missile despite many Western experts and governments blaming the Russian-backed separatists.

The Board’s chairman Tjibbe Joustra said “Flight MH17 crashed as a result of the detonation of a warhead outside the aeroplane against the left-hand side of the cockpit … this warhead fits the kind of missile that is installed in the BUK surface-to-air missile system.”

The report says that the crew were killed instantly. The pilot and crew in the cabin hit by the shrapnel within seconds and the cockpit crumbling off.

Some passengers on board flight MH17 may have remained conscious during the short period between it being struck by a missile and crashing to the ground.

However, Dutch investigators said it was likely that those on board were “barely able to comprehend the situation in which they found themselves” during the 60-90 seconds in which the plane came down.

The report said passengers would have been exposed to “factors that had an extreme impact on the body” such as the noise of the impact, the abrupt change in speed of the aircraft, the decompression and extreme cold.

As a result, it found that passengers were unlikely to have “performed conscious actions” during the short period, and no photographs or text messages were found on devices such as mobile phones aboard the plane.

However the report said that “one passenger was found with an oxygen mask around the neck… it remains unclear whether the person concerned put on the mask in a reflex or that it was done by someone on the ground after the passenger’s death.”

The report says the break-up of the plane took place quickly.

The report recommended that airspace over eastern Ukraine should have been closed at the time of the crash and that new rules should be introduced for flying over warzones.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov disputed the Dutch Safety Board’s findings as “biased” in order to “carry out political orders”.

“It’s a source of regret that, despite all Russia’s repeated and lengthy attempts to organise the investigation in such a way that it is comprehensive and unbiased, and for it to consider all the information we have … there is an obvious attempt to draw a biased conclusion, and carry out political orders” he said.

In a statement, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his thoughts and prayers were with the families and loved ones of the victims, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the reports findings provided critical insight into the incident.

“It determines the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, consistent with the Australian government’s initial assessment of the incident,” she said.

2. Kids saw mum dragged along road in hit and run.

Three children have witnessed their mother being dragged along the street by a car after a shocking hit and run in the Sydney suburb of Bass Hill.

29-year old Mariam Daoud was allegedly hit by a black Subaru Impreza outside a childcare centre on Monday.

The mother of three is now fighting for her life in hospital.

She was crossing Chester Hill Rd in Bass Hill about 3.15pm to give something to her sister-in-law parked on the eastern side of the road reports News Limited when she was struck and dragged along by the car.

The driver of the car allegedly fled the scene.

Police yesterday charged a 26-year-old woman from Earlwood with failing to stop and assist Mrs Daoud and negligent driving.

Ms Daoud’s 13-year-old son, Ali Jnaidy, said he wants to give his mother a hug and a kiss when she recovers.

“When I see her I am going to give her a hug and kiss her and never let her cross the road … `cause I don’t want anything bad to happen again,” he told Seven News.

3. Adam Goodes says booing one reason he retired.

In his first interview since retiring from AFL Adam Goodes has told Sydney University’s Honi Soit newspaper that the booing was “one of many reasons” he chose to retire.

He said there were a lot of factors. “Obviously with all the booing and everything, that was another piece of the puzzle that made my decision quite easy,” he said.

When asked about his decision to decline a lap of honor, or to be considered for the Madden medal he said:

“I was done. I was done a couple of months before that, I knew when I was finishing. I didn’t want, once I’d finished footy, to be part of any other things that I had a choice in. At the end of the day, it’s my choice to do the lap. At the end of the day, it was my choice not to be nominated for the Madden medal. I had my last football responsibility at the club Best and Fairest and that’s what I was looking for. It was my supporters, my members, at that event, and you know it was a very safe environment for me to go to and give my sendoff to the people that mattered.”

4. NSW to target domestic violence perpetrators.

The NSW Government will today launch a $60million package to target domestic violence that will focus on domestic violence offenders.

The ABC reports that the package will create Australia’s first dedicated police teams to target high risk domestic violence offenders.

Prevention of Domestic Violence Minister Pru Goward said this package represents a new approach to the issue.

“We need to target perpetrators in a way that hasn’t been done before,” she said.

“This is about more than managing domestic violence, this is a serious determined effort to reduce the level of domestic violence. There will be a great deal more resources for police to target high-risk and dangerous offenders.

“This sends a very strong message to perpetrators. They know who they are, they know what they’re doing and now they know police will be targeting them.

“The mandating of behaviour change for offenders I think will also be a game changer for many distressed families.”

The NSW Government’s package would also include money to set up the promised Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, where a victim will have access to her partner’s record of violence- and a funding injection for emergency accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence.

For domestic violence support 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

5. Man alive after six days in desert surviving on eating ants.

A 62-year old man who went missing in the West Australian outback for six days stayed alive by eating black ants.

Reginald Foggerdy, a hunter from Laverton had no water at all for six-days after he went after a camel he attempted to shoot and became lost.

Police superintendent Andy Greatwood said the 62-year-old grandfather survived without water and was forced to eat black ants.

“[He was] extremely dehydrated, a bit delusional, but he’s received treatment, first aid, on the ground and it’s fair to say he’s now sitting up and talking, so it’s looking very positive,” he told 702 Perth.

He is now recovering in hospital.

Laverton shire president Patrick Hill said he was “blood lucky” he wasn’t eaten.

“Wild dogs are everywhere out here and they are vicious — I saw five of them bring down a bullock.

“On Saturday the whole town was at the Laverton Races and there was a very hot wind blowing — everyone was feeling sorry that some poor bloke was out there lost in it, with no water.”

6. Teenage Parramatta shooter communicated with Australia’s top Islamic State recruiter Neil Prakash.

The 15-year old who shot and killed police accountant Curtis Cheng communicated openly with Australia’s top Islamic State recruiter Neil Prakash reports The Australian.

He also communicated with two other men Islamic State fighter known as Abu Omar, from Sydney and Prakash’s offsider in Syria, British fighter Raphael Hostey.

The Australian reports that 15-year old Farhad Jabar was not on the radar of authorities and police last week defended their monitoring of potential threats by saying they could not monitor “everybody, every single second of the day”.

7. Grandfather to receive 350 lashes.

A 74-year old British grandfather Karl Andree is facing 379 lashes in Saudi Arabia after being caught with illegal alcohol.

Mr Andree was jailed for 12 months after police found home-made wine in the boot of his car last year.

He has now served his jail term but is still locked up two months on as officials decide when to carry out the second part of his punishment – the 379 lashes.

The British Government have announced overnight they have intervened, with PM David Cameron saying he has written to the Saudi government about the “extremely concerning” case.

A controversial justice deal with Saudi Arabia worth millions of pounds has also been withdrawn.

8. Playboy to drop naked women images.

Playboy magazine is to stop publishing images of naked women as part of its redesign, it has emerged.

Its US owners say the internet has made nudity outdated, and pornographic magazines are no longer so commercially viable, The New York Times reports.

Playboy’s circulation has dropped from 5.6 million in the 1970s to the current 800,000, official figures show.

Playboy said that the move was part of a “redesign,” a “reimagined Playboy magazine [that] will include a completely modern editorial and design approach, and, for the first time in its history, will no longer feature nudity in its pages.”

It promised to “continue to publish sexy, seductive pictorials of the world’s most beautiful women, including its iconic Playmates, all shot by some of today’s most renowned photographers.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Playboy executives said the magazine had fallen prey to the digital age.

“That battle has been fought and won,” Playboy chief executive Scott Flanders said  “You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture.”

The magazine will still feature women in provocative poses – though not fully nude.

9. Breast Ironing affects 3.8 million women around the world.

It is a widespread practice in Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa with the girl’s mother being the abuser in 58 per cent of cases, according to the Department of Public Health Services.

For the practice to take place the girl has large stones, a hammer or a spatula that has been heated over hot coals applied to her breasts to compress or mutilate the breast tissue and make her look less ‘womanly’.

Leyla Hussein, writing in Cosmopolitan says that the rationale is to prevent the girls developing breasts between 11 and 15 years old in the belief that a flat childlike appearance will discourage unwanted male attention and premarital pregnancy.

“The words “culture”, “tradition” or “religion” might come up when trying to explain this absurdly harmful practice” she says “but as in the case of FGM, these words are only thinly veiled excuses.”

10. Pavolva not just NOT Australian but not even from New Zealand.

In a twist to heart of many it’s been uncovered that the humble pavlova may have first been created in the UK, or maybe even in the US, but certainly not in either Australia or New Zealand.

It had been claimed that a Wellington chef created the dessert for Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who first toured Down Under in 1926.

But writing in Good Food Dr Andrew Paul Wood and Australian Annabelle Utrecht, have found more than 150 pavlova-like cakes prior to 1926.

They “categorically state” the modern pavlova began life as a German torte – that then travelled to the US where it evolved into its final form.

They found more than 150 pavlova-like meringue cakes served with cream and fruit prior to 1926. They have also found more than 50 dishes named after Pavlova occurring before 1927.

“The idea that it was invented in New Zealand or even Australia is a total fiction, as is the notion that the first pavlova desserts are of Antipodean origin,’ Mr Wood (a New Zealander) said.

“The first recipe for a pavlova dessert is not the 1926 Davis Gelatine jelly. It is the 1911 Strawberries Pavlova recipe and this dessert is a dish on the move.”

Is there anything left that’s ours?

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