Tuesday'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. UK scientists granted permission to genetically modify human embryos.

The UK’s fertility research regulator has approved an application by a laboratory for permission to genetically modify human embryos.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) approved an application from the Francis Crick Institute in London.

The move is the first time scientists have been given permission to genetically modify human embryos.

But they will not be able to implant the embryos into women for treatment.

The team leader Dr Kathy Niakan wants to study embryos as part of research into what happens in the first seven days after fertilisation and as her team investigates miscarriage. Currently around 50 per cent of fertilised eggs do not develop properly and experts believe that faulty genetic code could be responsible.

Scientists are hoping to discover which genes were crucial for healthy cell division and screen out embryos where their DNA was not working properly, potentially preventing miscarriages and aiding fertility

Dr Niakan has said that in the future the research could lead to “tweaking” embryos used in IVF to maximise chances of survival.

Though the decision has prompted concerns it is opening the door to designer and GM babies.

2. Zika virus declared global emergency by World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization has declared the spread of the mosquito-born Zika virus a global emergency.

Overnight a committee of independent experts to the United Nations agency met and made the designation.

The WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of international concern as Ebola.

The declaration is only the fourth in WHO’s history and comes just days after the organisation said the total number of cases could hit 4 million by the end of the year.

It means research and aid will be fast-tracked to tackle the infection.

WHO director general, Margaret Chan called Zika an “extraordinary event” that needed a coordinated response.

“I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in Latin America following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014 constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”

She said the priorities were to protect pregnant women and their babies from harm and to control the mosquitoes that are spreading the virus.

She advised pregnant women to consider delaying travel to areas affected by Zika and seek advice from their physician if they are living in areas affected by Zika, as well as protect themselves against mosquito bites by wearing repellent.

3. Australian man with Zika after monkey bite in Bali.

A 27-year-oldAustralian man has been hospitalised in Bali after it is believed he contracted the Zika virus after he was bitten by a macaque monkey while on holiday in Bali.

News Limited reports that the man is the third known Australian to have contracted the virus. A 52-year-old Australian woman was diagnosed with Zika after visiting Jakarta, and a second Queensland woman was infected with the virus after a 2014 trip to the Cook Islands.

The virus has been linked to potentially fatal defects in unborn babies in South America, it is believed to have been primarily transported by mosquitos.

4. Turnbull warns of double dissolution as parliament goes back today.

The first order of business when Parliament resumes today after a long summer break will be the reintroduction of the bill to resurrect the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

News Limited reports that crossbench senators, Jacqui Lambie, Glenn Lazarus, John Madigan and Ricky Muir have been put on notice that the government will call a double dissolution should they block laws to crack down on corrupt unions for a second time.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash yesterday said that the government would not rule out the possibility of an earlier double dissolution election.

“I hope that the crossbench is able to sit down with me and discuss each piece of legislation on its own merits,” Senator Cash said. “Whether or not we call a double dissolution is something for the Prime Minister to decide.”

5. Police officer remanded in custody over murder of two-year-old son.

A 38-year-old Queensland police officer accused of murdering his baby son has been remanded in custody after appearing in Brisbane court yesterday.

Over the weekend Colin David Randall was charged with the murder of his son 18 months ago.

A joint investigation by the State Crime Command, child protection unit, police Ethical Standards Command and the Crime and Corruption Commission spent more than a year examining the baby boy’s death.

The officer had been on full pay since a month after the child’s death, but that will be reviewed now he’s been charged.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said it had been a complex investigation.

“I hope it gives confidence to the public that no matter who is involved in these matters, we will always investigate rigorously and competently in taking the matter to its conclusion,” he said.

“I’ve known for some time that the investigation’s on foot. A normal murder investigation is tough enough but when it’s a child, and particularly an infant as it is in this case, there are other complexities, particularly around the medical side of things.

“It’s one of those things where the team involved have to put their thoughts aside about the personalities and people involved and focus on the investigation at hand and that’s what they’ve done.

“It is now up to the court to decide.”

6. High court detention judgment to be handed down tomorrow.

The fate of 38 babies and more than 15 women will be determined this week as the High Court hands down its judgment  on the case of a Bangladeshi woman who was detained on Nauru but brought to Australia for medical treatment during the last stages of her pregnancy.

The case is the lead case linked to a series of challenges on behalf of 260 people who sought asylum in Australia by boat, were subsequently ­detained on Nauru but are now living on the Australian mainland after being brought here for ­urgent medical treatment or for mental health reasons – this includes 38 babies.

The Australian reports that the case, which challenged whether Australia had the constitutional power to detain people on foreign soil just before the Abbott Government passed legislation to give it that authority may see the complete for the return of children to detention on Christmas Island.

Shine Lawyers special counsel George Newhouse told The Australian “This is a very important case because it challenges the validity of the offshore processing regime. If the plaintiff is successful then I would expect the government will need to reassess its entire offshore processing policy.”

7. Get real Australia .. That’s bulls**t.”

Strong words on domestic violence from our 2016 Australian of the Year on last night’s Q&A have been met with applause and agreement.

When asked about Mark Latham’s recent remarks about domestic violence Australian of the Year David Morrison replied.

“It’s not about the statistics, it’s about the lives that are being taken and damaged here. What do you want to do? You want to compare a particular figure from a year to a year?”

He said that family and domestic violence was “the greatest social challenge we face” in Australia.

“Get real Australia. We run the risk of being a nation of bystanders comforted by statistics. There are people dying and people whose lives are absolutely ruined as a result of domestic violence and what’s more, we are all as a society the victim. That’s bulls**t.”

“It is not just the courts, it is first responders like police, it is the community organisations like the Domestic violence Crisis Service in the ACT. But they are all stretched. There is now a demand out there.

“We are all stretched to deal with this but if we don’t deal with it, what is the legacy we leave for those who follow us?”

His comments were echoed by the panel.

There is no level that’s okay,” Catherine Keenan, Local Hero of the Year said, “Even if it has gone down, it is still not okay. It is still something we have to argue about. There are women dying every day. It is something we have to as a society address.”

8. World’s best chef found dead.

The man known as the “World’s Best Chef “ has been found dead after an apparent suicide.

Benoit Violier, whose restaurant near Lausanne recently topped a list of the world’s best, was been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot reported Swiss Police.

The 44-year-old’s restaurant the Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier, served dishes such as saddle of Pyrenean young lamb and crispy Landes duck foie gras.

It earned three Michelin stars and came top in France’s La Liste ranking of the world’s 1,000 best eateries.

According to The New York Times Violier was a perfectionist who said that nothing about haute cuisine could be taken for granted.

“The strictness about myself always has to increase more and more,” he once told a restaurant guide. “Nothing can be definitively acquired; everything must be done all over again every day.”

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