Monday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Newborn baby taken from  hospital

The mother of a newborn baby stolen from her cot in the maternity wing of a hospital says she does not have any hard feelings towards her baby’s kidnappers.

Elsje Pretorius’s five-day-old baby girl was sleeping when Elsje stepped into the shower in the Middlemore Hospital, in Manukau City, Auckland.

She immediately noticed her baby was gone when she reentered her room and her cot was empty.

Elsje told Stuff.co.nz that when she, and the nurse on duty told security newborn Nadine was missing they both panicked.

Police found the kidnappers through CCTV footage that showed a couple escaping the locked unit with the newborn just as another family entered.

Eight hours later they rescued Nadine at a flat that had two bassinets set up.

Stuff.co.nz reports that Fa’atiga Joe Manutui, 31, and a 26-year-old woman were arrested and charged with unlawfully taking a child with intent to cause her to be confined.

Elsje says she is relieved to have her baby back and had no hard feelings towards to accused.

2. Asylum seeker teenager self harms

A 15-year-old Iranian asylum seeker girl has been evacuated to Australia from Nauru following a reported self-harm attempt.

The ABC reports that the young girl’s desperate actions came after news of the Cambodia asylum seeker deal.

Ian Rintoul from Refugee Action Collective told The Daily Mail “There have been three days of intense protests arising from the ill-considered deal.”

“The protests have been met with a savage response from the local police as well as the detention centre securities.”

The ABC reports the girl was rushed to hospital when she was found to be vomiting blood following an attempted suicide.

If you need help please phone Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

 3. Germaine Greer criticises Duchess of Cambridge

Germaine Greer is making headlines for criticising the Duchess of Cambridge for being “too thin” and has said that Kate Middleton is smarter than the rest of the Royal Family.

“Kate is a great deal more intelligent than the rest of the royals,” Germaine Greer told Newsweek.

“She has been put in charge of William.”

The 75-year old has told Newsweek that Kate Middleton has a” bastard of a job” – that she “ cannot do or say anything spontaneous. She has learned what she has to do and say and how to do and say it in the approved way. Spontaneity will get her in trouble.”

She also said she hopes this is her last pregnancy and that she is concerned that the Duchess is “too thin.” “[Kate] is vomiting her guts up and shouldn’t have been made to go through all this again so soon,” she said.

“It’s not so much that she has to be a womb, but she has to be a mother. I would hope after this one she says, ‘That’s it. No more’.”

4. No one wants to be Kate

Meanwhile a survey in the UK has some startling results with only 1% of female respondents saying they would want to be Kate Middleton.

The YouGov study, published in Newsweek, showed that 89% of women have no interest in being the Duchess even for a single day.

Just as startling was the result showing that only 6% of men wished they were married to Kate.

5. 10 y/o boy dies neglect

A 10-year old boy has died of obesity related complications after his drug-addicted parents fed him a diet of junk food.

The boy was 80kg when he died.

The Coroner called the case “medical neglect.”

For more read this post here.

6. Sprouter trend

A trend which encourages young school students to post “racy and provocative” images of themselves on social media is causing concern among parents and police.

The Instagram accounts collecting images of “sprouters – a young girl or boy ‘sprouting’ into an adult are being described by Detectives as a new wave of child sex crimes.

Detective Stephen Loth from Taskforce Argos told The Courier Mail “We’ve had numerous investigations where child sex offenders have used photos that are publicly available to obtain further material from children.”

One mother whose 13-year old daughter had been trying to remove her image from an account spoke of how frightening it was.

“It’s really dangerous and if you’re a predator, these kids are easy to find.”

The Courier Mail reports that the accounts are scarily, age specific.

They cite an example of the Brisbane10 Sprouters who write they are “searching for attractive Year 10 students with the warning: “Help us find you … or eventually we will.”

7. Toddler bitten by snake

A three-year old boy is in hospital after being bitten by a tiger snake while playing in bushland in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne, Victoria.

Daniel Super was with with his parents and little sister when he was bitten twice on the ankle by the snake.

His father told Channel 7 that the snake bit him after Daniel stepped on it. “It very quickly reared up.”

8. Firefighter Facebook scandal

News Limited reports that the Queensland Fire Service is under investigation over a sexual harassment allegation where male firefighters began a Facebook “straw poll” rating which female colleagues would be best in bed.

According to the report Assistant Commissioner Peter Beauchamp launched an immediate investigation after a complaint was lodged earlier this year.

At least three male firies face the sack or disciplinary action over the scandal.

 9. Coalition bombs Syrian refineries

US-led coalition aircraft have targeted four makeshift oil refineries under Islamic State control in Syria, as well as a command centre.

10. Hong Kong protests

Violent demonstrations in Hong Kong have seen at least 26 people injured after pro-democracy demonstrators have staged the longest series of political protests since the 1997 handover.

CNN reports that the goal of the young protestors is to give the former British colony full universal suffrage.

11. Japanese volcano

At least 31 people are presumed to be dead after a volcano erupted near a popular hiking track in Japan.

“We have confirmed that more than 30 individuals in cardiac arrest have been found near the summit,” the ABC reports a Nagano prefecture police spokesman said.

12. Flight chaos after women sit next to Orthodox Jews

There has been chaos on a flight from New York to Tel Aviv when hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men refused to sit next to women according to the news site, Ynet.

The men are reported to have offered the women money to switch seats, and on board stood in the aisles rather than sit next to the women.

“I went to the bathroom, and it was mission impossible.” News Limited reports one woman said.

13. Half a million dollar ring stolen

A thief is on the run with a diamond ring worth more than half a million dollars which was stolen yesterday from a Sydney auction centre.

The pink argyle and white diamond ring is valued at $577,000 according to Fairfax Media.

14. Mother’s battle to save her son’s foot

A mother from Adelaide has been forced to crowd source an operation to save her son’s foot which may need amputating if she can not raise the funds for an operation.

Kate Turner’s eight-year old son Joshua has a rare disease called Arteriovenous malformation.

Doctors have told the Adelaide Mum that if he can’t get to Melbourne for treatment he will need to have his foot amputated. The family were rejected for patient travel funding by the SA Government being told  his treatment was a “second option” and not available for subsidy.

You can sign her petition here.

15. Authorities prevent 14-year-old girl from flying out to possible arranged marriage

A 14-year-old girl and her uncle have been stopped at Sydney airport amid fears the girls was set to be forced into an arranged marriage.

A joint investigation revealed that the girl was departing for Lebanon for the purpose of a wedding, the Daily Mail reports.

16. An IVF baby for just $800? It may be possible

Research has shown low-cost, low-stimulation techniques are almost as effective as convenional IVF – meaning Australian doctors have been able to cut the cost of having a baby using the process to just $800.

The Daily Telegraph reports that gentler stitmulation eliminates the need for ­anaesthetists and time in hospital, which reduced charges by up to 70 per cent

Fertility expert Dr David Molloy revealed research at a conference yesterday that revealed his ­clinics, which use the approach. have a 40 per cent success rate.

17. Human rights lawyer killed by the Islamic State

An Iraqi human rights lawyer has been executed by ISIS after speaking out against the Islamic militant group on social media.

Samira al-Nuaimy was a respected lawyer known for her humanitarian work promoting women’s rights in Iraq. She was killed publicly last week by masked firing squad after being detained on September 17.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has condemned the killing in a statement, saying al-Nuaimy was a “courageous woman whose only weapons were the words she used in defence of the human rights of others.”

“Al-Nuaimy was seized from her home by ISIL fighters and tortured for days before she was killed in cold blood by a squad of so-called fighters,” he said.

Her death comes after similar attacks on other prominent women in areas under ISIS control. In their statement, the United Nations acknowledged that educated, professional women were particularly at risk.

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