Friday's news in under 5 minutes

1. Asylum seekers make it to Christmas Island

A boat carrying 28 asylum seekers has made it to Christmas Island without being detected  after their boat sank.

Fourteen of the asylum seekers have been picked up but the remaining are unaccounted for. Authorities will continue searching for the remaining asylum seekers at first light.

Labor and the Greens have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Government’s border protection policy over the incident.

The Government’s weekly briefing on Operation Sovereign Borders is due today.

2. Guilty of Tanilla’s murder

Yesterday in the Supreme Court of NSW Warren Ross was found guilty of brutally murdering two-year-old Tanilla Warrick-Deaves. He had subjected the toddler to abuse ‘akin to torture’. For more on this horrific crime read this post here. “Warren Ross guilty of murder”

3. Nigella in court

Nigella Lawson has had her second day on the stand in the trial of her former assistants. She told the court ‘If you want to put me on trial, put me on trial’ as she repeatedly denied being a ‘regular cocaine user’.

Nigella who has admitted using cocaine and cannabis, said: ‘I promise you… regular cocaine users do not look like this. They are scrawny and look unhealthy.

‘If you think I’m going to sabotage my health and leave my children as orphans, you are very wrong.’

She said she rather be ashamed for her drug use than bullied by the peddling of lies by among others her ex-husband.

4. Concerns over pill

Australian women are still being prescribed a contraceptive pill temporarily banned in France earlier this year, in breach of the advice of the medicines regulator.

An ABC News investigation has found Diane-35 is still routinely prescribed off-label even though it is only approved in Australia as an anti-acne medication.

It can be used as contraceptive in women with hormonal problems.

 5. Call for safety warning on beds

A Melbourne Coroner has warned parents of the dangers of moving their toddlers to single beds after a two year old tragically died while trying to crawl out of bed.

She died when her head and neck became stuck between the mattress and the railing at the end of her bed.

The toddler had made the transition from a cot to a single bed just two weeks before she died.

 6. North Korea’s labor camps

North Korea is showing no signs of scaling back its fearsome labor camp system, with torture; starvation, rape and death a fact of life for tens of thousand of inmates, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

 7. Childcare inquiry

Stay-at-home parents could be paid to look after their own kids, in a “cash for care” plan to ease the nation’s day care shortage.

The Producivity Commission is considering the scheme which is used in Finland, Norway and Sweden. It pays families a government benefit if they do not use taxpayer-subsidised childcare.

The payment – set at about 10 per cent of the average wage, or roughly $600 a month – cuts out when the child turns three.

Public submissions to the Productivity Commission are due by February 3. You can have your say www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/childcare

8. Apology to department store

A five-year old has apologized to a UK department store for breaking a Christmas bauble. The girl, known only as Faith, sent a handwritten apology after she accidentally broke the decoration on a visit to the shop.

Staff at the department store are keen to meet the youngster but baffled as to who she could be.

9.Weight loss chip

Scientists are developing a computer chip that could be implanted in an obese patient’s arm to help weight-loss.

It would constantly check for fat in the blood and, when someone has eaten too much, release a hormone that sates hunger.

The chip is expected to be tested on humans in about three years, and the scientists say they hope to have a functional chip on the market in five to 10 years.

10. Tongue Twister

Can you say this? US researchers have found the world’s most frustrating tongue twister.

It may not make much sense, but the phrase “pad kid poured curd pulled cold” completely defeated volunteers taking part in a US speech study.

11. Rare triplets born

Doctors at a Northern California hospital say a couple has given birth to a rare set of naturally conceived identical triplets.

The Sacramento Bee reports Abby, Brin and Laurel Hepner were born November 22.

The triplets were produced when a single, fertilised egg split into three. The odds of producing identical triplets without fertility drugs range from 1-in-1-million to 1-in-100-million.

 Is Qantas on the way out?

Qantas has announced that it will cutting at least 1000 jobs over the next year. The news comes as the airline prepares to report a loss of around $300 million for the second half of this year.

 In Brief

Lauryn Eagle, boxing beauty and health and fitness promoter, has been charged over an assault that occurred on Monday

Elton John is to play a concert in Moscow tomorrow during which he’s vowed to raise the issue of Russia’s legal crackdown on gay rights.

The Abbott government has accepted Indonesia’s six-step process for restoring the bilateral relationship in the wake of the Australian spying scandal.

In the cricket Australia is 5/273. Skipper Michael Clarke is not out on 48.

What news are you talking about today?