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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. Russia reacts to shooting down of Russian fighter jet over Turkey.

The Turkish military say a Russia Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet was warned 10 times before being downed near the Syrian border by two Turkish F16 jets for violating the country’s airspace.

The incident that took place last night has sparked a diplomatic row between Turkey and Moscow.

There are conflicting reports as to whether one or two of the pilots were killed. Turkmen rebels claimed both pilots had been killed after they shot at them when they parachuted from the plane.

Other reports say that only one pilot was shot and the other pilot died upon landing after they parachuted from the jet.

Fairfax Media reports that a radar track released by the Turkish military purports to show the downed Russian Su-24 fighter passing over Turkish territory before it was shot down. This contradicts an earlier statement from the Russian Defence ministry, saying: “During all flight time, the plane was flying only within the borders of Syrian territory. Objective monitoring data shows it.”

Overnight Vladimir Putin accusing Turkey of stabbing Russia in the back.

The Russian president insisted that the plane was downed over Syrian territory as he accused Turkey of being terrorist accomplices.

The Russian leader said the jet “did not in any way threaten Turkey” and the incident will have “serious consequences” for relations between the two countries.

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Mr Putin said the aircraft was shot by a missile from a Turkish jet over Syria around 1km (just over half a mile) away from the Turkish border.

2. Stephanie Scott’s accused killer and his brother to appear in court today.

Stephanie Scott’s accused killer Vincent Stanford to appear in court today.

The man accused of killing NSW teacher Stephanie Scott is due to have his matter mentioned in a Riverina court today.

AAP reports that 24-year old Vincent Stanford – along with his twin brother Marcus are expected to appear via audiovisual link.

Vincent Stanford is facing charges over the sexual assault and murder of Stephanie Scott in the NSW town of Leeton in April.

His brother Marcus has been charged with being an accessory after the fact.

Update: The case has been adjourned until February 25, as psychiatric documents sought from the Netherlands were not expected to arrive until January.

3. Study reveals dangerous attitudes amongst Aussie boys.

“It wasn’t that bad … it’s not like he punched her … if there was an injury, then it would be bad”

Research out today shows that Australian children have deeply ingrained attitudes towards gender roles and violence.

News Limited reports that the research, which will shape a $30 million national domestic violence prevention campaign, shows primary-school aged children think violence against females is acceptable in some circumstances.

It shows that many Australian children and teenagers blame female victims, and excuse, empathise with, and minimise the behaviour of male perpetrators.

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In the study children were asked to respond to a number of scenarios depicting gender inequality and aggression.

“It wasn’t that bad … it’s not like he punched her … if there was an injury, then it would be bad” one girl aged between 10 and 14 told researchers.

Another response: “She said something he didn’t like … the girls were being mean,” said a 10-14 year old boy.

Boys and young men were “fast to externalise the behaviour by blaming others, particularly the female” researchers said.

One boy aged in the 15 to 17 category told researchers: “Perhaps the girl is not giving him attention.”

The research commissioned by the Department of Social Services  found that too often, adults blame the victim.

Social services minister, Christian Porter, said“ Too often, adults believe that disrespectful and aggressive behaviour among young males towards young females is some form of rite of passage that should be understood rather than judged, saying ‘boys will be boys’.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the research paints “a disturbing picture” about the views many Australians have about domestic violence.

“It tells us that far too many people excuse, diminish and blame the victim when it comes to violence against women, now that is utterly unacceptable,” he said.

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

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4. Labor call for Domestic Violence leave on White Ribbon Day.

The Labor Leader Bill Shorten will call for the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to back the idea of domestic violence leave.

At a White Ribbon Day breakfast Mr Shorten will commit a Labor government to guaranteeing five days domestic violence leave by inserting it into the National Employment Services, which sets out minimum employment conditions reports The Daily Telegraph.

Already many major companies such as Telstra, NAB, Virgin Australia, IKEA and Blundstone Boots have access to domestic violence leave.

Labor will argue the policy provides a dividend through improved productivity, increased employee retention and reduced absenteeism.

Anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty has said: “The ability to maintain your employment, keep your job, it helps secure somewhere to live, it helps you to have that ongoing working contact with your colleagues, it’s a really important part of your journey.”

5. Gender pay gap continues to widen.

The Women in NSW 2015 report analysed the past four years of data, including figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It found that men earn about 20 per cent more on average and women working full-time earn $320 a week less than men.

The starting salary for a woman who has just finished university is also $4000 less than a man.

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It found that three out of five undergraduate and postgraduate students were women and 77 per cent of girls finished Year 12, compared to 67 per cent of boys.

The report, according to Fairfax Media, also found that women are also working harder than men at home, spending an average of 12.5 hours per week more on unpaid household work.

6. Two teenagers charged after stabbing of Gold Coast teen.

Two teenagers have been charged after the stabbing of another teen in what police believe was a dispute over Facebook.

The Gold Coast schoolboy was rushed to hospital after being stabbed in a street 200m from school.

A 15-year-old boy from Mermaid Waters has been charged with one count each of grievous bodily harm and armed robbery and another 15-year-old boy from Miami has been charged with one count of armed robbery.

Workers in a car yard and a day hospital stabilised the victim after he collapsed in the street.

Detective Inspector Mark White, of the Child Protection Investigation Unit, said “There are other ways to mediate issues without resorting to violence and, in this case, extreme violence,” he said.

“We definitely are concerned about this level of violence on the streets so close to a school.”

7. Victorian dog laws under review after dog attacks rise.

A Victorian Legislative Council inquiry will resume today examining the effectiveness of Victoria’s restricted breed laws.

Five breeds of dogs, including pit bulls, are restricted in Victoria and the inquiry will examine if that needs to change based on the number of attacks.

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It comes in the wake of an attack on a four-year old girl on the weekend.

Alivia Dowling suffered a serious facial injury after being bitten on Sunday night by a staffy cross.

Her parents told Nine News that the attack came from nowhere.

“There was no warning sign, that was the scary part,” mum, Amy Dowling, said.

8. Austrian teens who ran away to join Islamic State “beaten and killed.”

17-year-old Samra and her friend, 15-year-old Sabina.

A teenage girl from Austria who ran away to join IS fighters in Syria was reportedly beaten to death after trying to escape from the violent Islamic State group in Raqqa.

The Local reports that 17-year-old Samra and her friend, 15-year-old Sabina, travelled to Syria together last year  – both are now believed to be dead.

Various sources say that Samra was beaten to death but the interior and foreign ministries in Austria have not confirmed this.

“We cannot comment on individual cases,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Thomas Schnöll told the Austria Press Agency. Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundböck also said that he could not comment on the matter.

The Daily Mail reports that there were reports one of the teenagers was killed in the fighting in Syria while the other has disappeared.

 Three months ago  the Austrian government said it had informed both sets of parents of the girls that one of them might have been killed.

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9. Family of boy arrested after making clock demand $15m.

Ahmed Mohamed

The Muslim teenager arrested when a teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb is threatening to sue his school and the town of Irving, Texas for $15 million.

The young robotics fan brought in a homemade clock to impress a new teacher at MacArthur High School. Instead Ahmed Mohamed was accused of trying to scare people with a hoax bomb and escorted from the school in handcuffs.

The 14-year old received worldwide support from many including President Obama, Mark Zuckerberg and NASA after the incident he said was racially motivated. The new found fame saw him visit the White House, New York and make many TV appearances.

His lawyer now says that there was a dark side to his fame, which caused “severe psychological trauma,” according to a letter notifying the city and school district of his demands.

His lawyers insist that the school, police force and city officials violated Mohamed’s rights by wrongfully accusing and detaining him and then decided to “trash” him when the media got wind of the story.

“Ahmed clearly was singled out because of his race, national origin and religion,” wrote his attorney, Kelly Hollingsworth.

The letter noted that Beth Van Duyne, mayor of Irving, called the clock a “hoax bomb” during an appearance on the Glenn Beck television show and nodded as Beck and his other guest called the story “an influence operation” in furtherance of a coming “civilisation jihad”.

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“Not only was this dangerous ‘baiting’ that destroyed any chance the Mohamed family ever had of being truly safe and secure in the United States, but it was also defamatory,” his lawyers wrote.

The family received threatening emails and left their home after their address was publicised.

10. The children on Santa’s naughty and nice list revealed.

This must be Anna and Harry.

The annual survey of the children whose names are most likely to be on the naughty or nice list has been revealed.

A British company “School Stickers” compiles the list each year. The company surveys more than 70,000 children to get their results.

This year’s list has revealed if your name is Anna, Millie, Harry or Ryan you can be pretty certain that IPad or Lego set will be sitting pretty in your stocking this year. But those children named Joseph, Leah, Holly and James might have to work harder for the next few weeks at being “nice.”

But don’t worry if you made the naughty list, with exactly one month to go until Christmas there is plenty of time to catch up.

Nicest Girls

  • Anna
  • Courtney
  • Millie
  • Miah
  • Grace
  • Bethany
  • Lily
  • Ella
  • Ellie
  • Laura

Nicest Boys

  • Harry
  • Ryan
  • Ethan
  • Lewis
  • Ben
  • Adam
  • Nathan
  • Oliver
  • Dylan
  • Benjamin

Naughtiest Girls

  • Leah
  • Eleanor
  • Jasmine
  • Abigail
  • Olivia
  • Holly
  • Georgia
  • Chloe
  • Amelia
  • Shannon

Naughtiest Boys

  • Joseph
  • James
  • Joshua
  • Luke
  • Samuel
  • Matthew
  • Daniel
  • Mohammed
  • Owen
  • George

 

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au
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