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Tuesday afternoon'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. Possible MH370 evidence washes up on WA beach.

A unopened Malaysian Airlines branded towelette has been discovered washed up on a beach in Western Australia.

It has been sent to experts in Canberra for testing to determine whether it could have come from the missing MH370 flight.

The towlette was found washed up on a WA beach.

 

According to Channel Nine, the towelette was found in Cervantes, north of Perth, by a couple walking on the beach.

Related content: MH370’s black box beacon was expired, report finds.

The plane went missing on March 8 last year, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. It is believed to have gone down in the Southern Indian Ocean off the coast of WA.

Experts said it could be possible for an item that small to travel such distances.

2. United Nations rejects Tony Abbott’s comments on asylum seeker torture.

The United Nation’s special rapporteur on torture has rejected claims by Prime Minister Tony Abbott that Australia is being lectured on human rights.

A new report on Australia’s asylum seeker policies found aspects had breached the international convention against torture.

Related content: Poor Tony Abbott, the United Nations is picking on him again.

Mr Abbott said Australians were sick of being lectured to by the international organisation.

But the special rapporteur, Juan Mendez, told AM the UN was just doing its job.

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mh370 towelette
A prostest on Nauru. (Image: Supplied)

“I do give credit to Australia for having a very robust, democratic system with guarantees of human rights for everybody,” Mr Mendez said.

“But it is my mission, my duty, to point out when any country, including Australia, falls short of its obligations under international law.”

Related content: The horrific affect of keeping children in detention.

The report, compiled by Mr Mendez, found Australia was violating the rights of asylum seekers on multiple fronts under the UN convention.

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The UN recently declared Australia to be in violation of the Convention against Torture.

Mr Mendez took issue with the detention of children, violence in offshore processing centres, and recent amendments to Australia’s maritime powers.

The Prime Minister responded by saying Australia was “sick of being lectured to by the UN”.

“Particularly given that we have stopped the boats, and by stopping the boats we have ended the deaths at sea,” Mr Abbott said.

This article was originally published by the ABC and was republished here with full permission.

3. Horrendous factory conditions could have contributed to “toxic tuna”.

The tuna that recently left diners at a Sydney cafe with scombroid food poisoning has been found to be produced in horrific factory conditions.

The Daily Telegraph reports the ISA Value Co Ltd factory on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, are horribly regulated and maintained, and employ only migrant staff.

 

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Images of the factories owned by Sea Value Group depict tuna laying in the sun on the ground, and thousands of cans stored in giant metal crates in alleged 34 degree heat. According to the telegraph, the workers are paid on $13 per day for 11-hour shifts.

mh370 towelette
Tuna consumed from Soul Origin cafe near Town Hall in Sydney gave customers Scombroid food poisoning. (Image: Urbanspoon)
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Recently, several Sydney residents who consumed tuna packed at this factory were struck with a severe type of food poisoning. The tuna is being tested by the Department of Agriculture. A recent spate of illnesses contracted from imported food products is pressuring the government to review its import standards and package labeling.

4. Reality stars killed in helicopter crash.

A group of sport stars, including an Olympic swimmer and boxer, have been killed in a helicopter accident while filming a French reality TV show. Ten people died when two helicopters collided over the La Rioja mountains in Argentina during the filming of the reality series Dropped.  

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Victims include champion sailor Florence Arthaud, 57, Olympic gold-medal swimmer Camille Muffat, 25, and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, 28.

ABC reports the survival-themed show drops athletes in inhospitable environments, which they must “survive” on-camera.

Eight French nationals and two Argentinian pilots were killed. No one survived the crash.

5. Asylum seeker aid group ‘unfairly dismissed’.

An inquiry into sexual and physical abuse claims at the detention centre in Nauru has found that staff may have been unfairly sacked.

Testimonies from the investigation were leaked to the ABC, and cast doubt on the validity of evidence provided in order to remove nine Save the Children employees from the centre.

Several staff from the Save the Children charity organisation were removed from Nauru detention centre after allegedly encouraging detainees to self harm.

The Moss inquiry, launched by then Immigration Minister Scott Morrison last year, aimed to look into abuse at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru, and to examine allegations that Save the Children staff had encourage asylum seekers to self-harm.

The leaked documents reveal Lee Mitchell, a key figure involved in pointing the finger at the Save the Children staff, said the evidence to dismiss the employees was not sufficient.

What news are you talking about today? Leave a comment below.