Monday'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. NSW Police reveal new evidence in search for William Tyrell.

NSW Police have revealed new evidence in the search for missing three-year old William Tyrrell.

Speaking on Channel Nine’s 60 minutes on the one year anniversary of William’s disappearance Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin said that police were investigating two suspicious vehicles that were parked strangely on Benaroon Drive in front of his grandmother’s yard in Kendall on the mid north coast.

The cars, a white station wagon and a grey sedan were parked unusually close together, between driveways with their windows down in the days leading up to the three-year-old’s disappearance.

Police say they want to speak with the drivers of those cars.

Det Inspector Jubelin said that the number of people interviewed over William’s disappearance was “in excess of 1000”, with a “number of persons of interest”.

For more read this post here.

2. PM: Australia to take more refugees from Syria.

The Prime Minister has pledged to take more refugees from Syria – in response to the growing humanitarian crisis in the area – but he will not extend the overall size of Australia’s humanitarian resettlement program.

Mr Abbott said any increase in refugees from the Middle East would come under existing quotas that are fixed at 13,750 this year and next year, before increasing to 18,770 by 2019.

“We are proposing to take more people from this region as part of our very substantial commitment to the UNHCR,” he said.

“Our focus will be on families and women and children, ­especially of persecuted minorities, who have sought refuge in camps neighbouring Syria and Iraq.”

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton left for Geneva last night to ask the United Nations how the Government can assist in the crisis.

Lebanon, which has a population of 4.5 million, is hosting about 1.2 million Syrian refugees.

3. Four-year old boy injured on escalator.

A four-year old boy has suffered a serious arm injury after becoming trapped on an escalator operating in a shopping centre on the NSW Central Coast.

The boy’s arm reportedly became trapped in the escalator for more than an hour after he continued to hold the handrail at the end of the escalator in the Tuggerah Shopping Centre.

He was airlifted to Westmead Children’s Hospital.

The boy’s father was also injured when he tried to free his son.

4. Starving two-year old suckled from pregnant dog.

A starving toddler has been taken into care in Chile after he was found suckling from a neighbour’s dog.

Two-year-old boy was found neglected and nearly naked at a mechanic’s workshop being breastfed by a dog.

Neighbour Lory Escudero, noticed the little boy was being fed by the dog.

“We have our dog who is there and she’s pregnant,” she said. “The hungry boy suckled on the dog’s teats for milk.

“Everyone that is here, we’re all parents and if you saw what we saw from my position as a woman, as a mother, it was terrible.”

The boy was taken to hospital where he was treated for malnutrition, skin infections and hair lice.

His mother attended the hospital – but was inebriated, police said.

5. White woman accidentally impregnated with African American man’s sperm loses legal battle.

A white woman in the US who was accidentally impregnated with the sperm of an African American man has had her lawsuit tossed out of court by a judge.

Jennifer Cramblett took legal action in 2014 against an Illinos Sperm Bank because she was artificially inseminated with sperm from the wrong donor and gave birth to a mixed-race daughter.

The sperm bank apologised and refunded part of the cost to Cramblett and her partner Amanda Zinkon.

Cramblett however still proceeded to sue alleging the mistake caused her and her family stress and suffering.

She claimed her daughter, Payton, now 3, would grow up feeling like an “outcast.”

“Getting a young daughter’s hair cut is not particularly stressful for most mothers, but to Jennifer it is not a routine matter, because Payton has hair typical of an African American girl,” the lawsuit said. “To get a decent cut, Jennifer must travel to a black neighborhood, far from where she lives, where she is obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome.”

The judge said it lacked legal merit.

6. Pope calls on all Roman Catholics to take in people who “flee death in conflict and hunger.”

Pope Francis has used his weekly address to call on all Roman Catholics — and by extension all fellow Europeans — to take in people who “flee death in conflict and hunger.”

He was responding to the mass migration of tens of thousands of people, many from Syria and Iraq who have been arriving in Europe in recent weeks.

Referring to the “tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees that flee death in conflict and hunger and are on a journey of hope,” Francis said, according to Vatican Radio, “the Gospel calls us to be close to the smallest and to those who have been abandoned.”

He specifically asked that the European bishops support the effort.

7. Migrants welcomed at Austrian and German train stations.

Local people in Munich and Frankfurt applauded them as they arrived and handed out chocolates and toys to the children.

More than 12,000 people arrived in Germany over the weekend, greeted by cheering crowds.

They bussed away to conference centres, school halls and other large spaces that have been converted into temporary housing centres.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said his own city had surprised him by how effectively it had responded to the crisis reports The Independent.

“Of course there are some limits responding given the space we have in Munich but that is not the question I am asking myself,”

“Every day I am asking myself how can we accommodate these people, these refugees, how can we give them a feeling that they are safe here in Munich, here in Germany. I am not really thinking about how many people can we afford and can we take here in Munich. That is not the question.”

8. Calls for a rethink of the school starting age.

Experts are calling for a re-think to the school starting age with school transition expert Kay Margetts telling The Herald Sun that all children starting school should already be five.

She said that research showed the youngest children in a class tended to do less well.

In Victoria a two-year prep class – for children on the younger end of the age spectrum has been proving so popular that parents are being labeled “desperate” to get in.

Melbourne Graduate School of Education Associate Professor Kay Margetts told The Herald Sun the gap in starting ages of prep pupils was a problem.

“There is little or no research that shows starting before five is beneficial” she said.

• In Victoria, and ACT kids can start prep aged 4 years, if they turn five by April 30
• In NSW and WA they must have turned five by July 30.
• In QLD children must be enrolled in the year they will turn six by 30 June.
• In SA if your child turns five before 1 May they will start school on the first day of term one in that year.
• In TAS kids must be five by 1 January to be enrolled in Prep, the first year of school.

9. Case against Johnny Depp’s wife Amber Heard for illegal dog importation is due in a Gold Coast court today.

The wife of superstar Johnny Depp, Amber Heard will not appear in a QLD court today with her lawyers seeking an adjournment till a later date.

The Courier Mail reports that Heard is facing two charges of illegal importation and one count of producing a false document after she allegedly brought her two Yorkshire Terrier’s Boo and Pistol into the country.

She could face up to 10-years jail time and a fine of $100,000 if found guilty.

10. How to create the perfect piece of toast.

There’s nothing better is there? And the formula for making the perfect piece of toast has now been revealed.

So get your stopwatch ready – you need to toast your bread for 128 seconds to get the most desirable ‘slightly golden’ colour.

You also need to leave the toast for 22 seconds before buttering – smearing on spread before this risks making the bread soggy.

There is no study though as to whether honey, vegemite or jam is the perfect topper.

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

 
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