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Tuesday'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. Man under police guard in psychiatric unit after death of 11-year old girl.

Zoe Buttigieg. (Facebook)

More than 30 hours after the death of 11-year old Zoe Buttigieg in Wangaratta a prime suspect remains in a psychiatric ward.

The 29-year-old Mildura man is under police guard at the Kerferd psychiatric unit in Wangaratta.

It is reported that the man attended a party at home on Saturday night, and an altercation took place.

The man then left the party and walked away between 4.30am and 6.20am.

He was stopped by police and paramedics about a kilometre south of the Glenrowan BP service station about 6.20am.

Zoe’s mother mother Janelle Saunders found her daughter dead around 11am.

Detective Sergeant Paul Tremain said the incident was not domestic violence related, and said police were not seeking anyone else.

“It’s always hard on those who have to investigate where children have had their lives taken in the manner this has occurred,” he said.

“I can’t go into the matter of how that’s occurred.

“Whenever there is a death of a child involved it’s always hard.

“The family are obviously devastated.”

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

2. Police and volunteers look for clues in murder of Brisbane mum.

Danielle Miller.

Police and SES are volunteers are searching a South Brisbane street in the hopes of finding evidence as to what happened to Brisbane mother-of-two Danielle Miller.

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The 44-year old was found dead in her home on Chatsworth Road in Greenslopes on Saturday night.

AAP reports that Ms Miller’s body showed signs of strangulation, but police could not confirm that saying they had no plans to release the manner in which Ms Miller died.

There have been reports of an argument at Ms Miller’s house on Thursday night and a male seen in the vicinity of the area on Friday morning.

Investigators are calling on people who might have noticed anything unusual on Chatsworth Road over the weekend to come forward.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

3. Mother gives evidence against her ex-boyfriend Kodi Maybir over the alleged murder of her seven-year-old son – known as pogo stick death.

The mother is serving 10 years jail.

A mother, serving a minimum 10-year jail sentence for manslaughter over her seven-year old son’s death has given evidence against her ex-boyfriend, a Christian music producer.

The 27-year-old woman and her ex-partner originally claimed the boy’s fatal injuries were caused by a fall from a pogo stick in Sydney.

She eventually pleaded guilty to her seven-year-old son’s manslaughter, assault and the production of child abuse material earlier this year. The trial uncovered sickening details of one of the worst cases of abuse ever seen in Australia.

Kayla James has now given evidence against her ex, Kodi James Maybir who is accused of the boy’s murder.

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Fairfax Media reports that a video of the mother disciplining the boy was played to the court yesterday.:

“The little boy stands tearfully in the darkened room as his mother subjects him to a lengthy verbal interrogation and records the humiliation on her mobile phone.
“You impolite piece of shit,” Kayla James tells the seven-year-old.
“You don’t talk to me like an impolite piece of shit,” she continues.
“Yes mum,” the boy replies in a small voice.During a recording lasting more than 15 minutes the mother tells her son he is a liar and repeatedly chastises him for soiling himself rather than asking to go to the toilet.
“I was standing there and I wanted … but I pissed my pants,” says the boy, who has an intellectual disability.
“You sound a lot more like a one-year-old than a seven-year-old,” the mother tells him”

The mother claimed she was “disgusted” by her behaviour on the video but said she was “under the influence” of her partner.  She said “ Previous [sic] to meeting Mr Maybir I was loving – like I made sure my children were respectful. After, with Mr Maybir … I was doubting myself as a parent,”

“I was told that my parenting skills were inadequate. He explained to me that I wasn’t as firm as I should be and how my children manipulated me.”

The court heard that Maybir inflicted violent punishments on the boy including punching him in the face,  and hitting him on the feet with the heel of a shoe.

Maybir has pleaded not guilty.

For help: Lifeline 13 11 14. Kid’s Helpline: 1800 55 1800. DV and Sexual Abuse hotline 27/4: 1800 737 732

 

4. Sydney woman dies at music festival.

Fairfax Media reports that the young woman was found dead on Sunday morning at 5.30am on the grounds of the Dragon Dreaming Festival in Wee Jasper near Lake Burrinjuck, about 50km south west from Yass.

Police had requested that the four-day music festival not go ahead.

“It is tragic that a young life has been lost and that a family is mourning the life of their daughter,” Superintendent Dzevlan said.

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“I didn’t want this event to happen in the first place,”

“We put our objections forward to council and as a result of these drug detections, and the tragic death of a young lady, we will again be putting our recommendations forward for this event not to take place in our community,” he said.

The Dragon Dreaming Festival claims the event is a celebration of “art, music, nature, and the freedom of self-expression in a safe, family friendly gathering”.

5. Beer bottle rape “ was just a prank”.

Warning: This item deals with sexual assault.

A court has heard that three men who raped a male friend with a beer bottle were just involved in a “Jackass-type” prank.

A lawyer for two of the men who stand accused of filming the alleged rape and posting the video on social media, after their friend had passed out drunk during an Australia Day said it wasn’t rape but a joke.

“There’s no rape. It’s a simulated rape, with video taken and put on Facebook,” he said

“There’s no reason why this should … be getting press coverage, which is adverse to these four boys because it’s just silly, and it should be handled in the proper way by the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) and it should be mediated and should be dismissed.”

“There was no rape involved. No bottle went through this bloke’s anus, for the record.”

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The Brisbane Times reports that three of the accused are aged 19 and the other is aged 21. The alleged victim is also 19.

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

6. Bacon “carcinogenic to humans.”

The World Health Organisation has warned that processed meats — such as bacon, sausages and hot dogs — “will cause” cancer, and that red meats including beef, pork, veal and lamb are “probably carcinogenic” to people.

Bacon “carcinogenic to humans.”

A group of 22 scientists reviewed the evidence linking red meat and processed meat consumption to cancer, and concluded that eating processed meats regularly increases the risk of colorectal cancer.

Its report said 50g of processed meat a day – less than two slices of bacon – increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.

In a piece published in The Lancet the researchers put processed meats in the same category of cancer risk as tobacco smoking, alcohol and asbestos. This does not mean that they are equally dangerous, says the International Agency for Research on Cancer — the agency within the WHO that sets the classifications.

A bacon sandwich is not as bad as smoking.

“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” Dr Kurt Straif from the WHO said.

7. Education department supports school that let students walk out during national anthem.

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Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School told their Shiite Muslim students that they could leave while the national anthem was sung in accordance with their religious beliefs during Muharram, a month of mourning that marks the death of Imam Hussein.

During the month long religious period the Shiite do not participate in joyful events such as listening to music or singing.

It came to light when a caller to radio station 3AW said that her grandchildren attended the school and that she felt the students should be told to stay during the singing of the anthem.

“Two children got up and said ‘welcome to our assembly’. With that, a teacher came forward and said all those who feel it’s against their culture may leave the room,”  Lorraine McCurdy told 3AW.

The education department however has defended the school saying schools should be inclusive of all students.

“This includes understanding and respecting religious or cultural observances.”

Multicultural Affairs Minister Robin Scott told The Age it was common for schools to cater to the beliefs of “religious and non-religious students”.

“We are aware that this is a time of religious observance and singing the anthem has never been an issue for these students before.”

Islamic Council of Victoria secretary Kuranda Seyit said it was “a storm in a teacup,”

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“I think that its important that we don’t blow this out of proportion, and understand that the national anthem is something that Muslims take great pride in singing.  In this particular incident it happened at a time when they were not allowed to sing and I think we should respect that choice.”

“The school has acted respectfully and tried to accommodate the religious needs of their student population.  This is a sign of Australia’s multi-faith strength, where we can respect each other’s faith and work together to maintain social harmony.

8. QLD Government not to change abortion laws.

Following an editorial in the Medical Journal of Australia that outlined the need for abortion laws to be updated to better reflect modern medical practices to prevent women from travelling interstate, creating abortion “tourism” the QLD have indicated that they have happy with the way abortion law currently sits in that state and have no plane to change laws.

In QLD is illegal for a woman to have an abortion unless it can be proven the woman’s mental or physical well-being is at risk.

A pregnancy termination can be either medical (prior to nine weeks) or surgical (after nine weeks).

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath told The Brisbane Times the Queensland government would not be considering any changes to the abortion laws in the immediate future.

“We have no plans to change the laws at this time.”

9. Quake rocks Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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At least 12 of the victims were Afghan schoolgirls killed in a crush as they tried to get out of their building in the north-eastern Afghan province of Takhar, just west of where the tremor’s epicentre was located.

“They fell under the feet of other students,” said Abdul Razaq Zinda, provincial head of the Afghan National Disaster Management Agency, who reported heavy damage in Takhar.

The death toll could climb in the coming days because communications were down in much of the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range where the earthquake was centred.

In 2005, a magnitude 7.6 quake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir left more than 75,000 people dead.

 10. Girl “beheads rapist’s five-year-old son in revenge for attack”.

Warning: This item may distress some readers.

The Times of India reports the girl kidnapped the five-year-old boy while he was playing before killing him. His body was found burnt and wrapped in a polythene bag.

The girl, said to be addicted to “whitener” (correction ink) was away lured by the man before he allegedly raped her.

The Times reports that a police officer known as Sing said:

“Two cases have been registered – one of murder and the other of rape. Both the cases will be investigated. Family of the rape accused met me today alleging that the rape charges are fake. It will be investigated. There are certain things that need to be kept in mind – the girl is a drug addict and has often got into scuffles with people over minor issue – she has got into fights for even Rs 10. Her mother is unwell and father a laborer, she is coming from a very poor family background. There is no family discipline either. She has been spotted consuming drugs. A fair inquiry will be done.”

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11. Facebook introduces new search feature that includes 2 trillion public posts.

Is your privacy protected?

Might be time to check your privacy settings. Facebook has extended its search feature to include nearly two trillion old posts people have made under the ‘public’ setting.

Until now, the site’s keyword search tab showed results for profile pages, groups and events.

Now, users’ individual posts – as well as entire conversations – will be visible to anyone who searches for them on the site, if they were originally made under the setting ‘public’.

Facebook’s Vice president of Search Tom Stocky said “When you search, you’ll now see the most recent, relevant public posts along with posts from your friends.

Search results are organised to help you cut through the noise and quickly understand what the world is saying about a topic in the moment. You also can pull-to-refresh and see the latest public posts.”

But privacy group are worried that users old posts may not have been set to private.

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