Friday's news in 5 minutes.

1. Mum of murdered ‘Baby Doe’ toddler said boyfriend injected her with heroin.

Third Day Of Deliberations Begin In Bella Bond Murder Trial https://t.co/ZuO3B9ZAMk

— Boston Daily News (@BostonDailyNews) June 22, 2017

Jurors have entered their second day of deliberations in the trial of Michael McCarthy, who is accused of murdering his then-girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter, Bella Bond, in 2015.

Bella Bond’s body was found in a plastic bag near the Boston shoreline in June 2015. She was known in the media as ‘Baby Doe’ for three months, with a composite image of her face being shared by millions on social media, before she was officially identified.

Bella’s mother, Rachelle Bond, told a friend she had seen her Michael McCarthy murder her daughter. The friend then reported the crime to police.

Rachel pleaded guilty in February to accessory after the fact in her daughter’s murder, claiming she helped Michael dispose of her body.

She testified against him at his month-long murder trial, now in the deliberation stage, sharing horrific details of the night Bella died.

According to CBS News, she told jurors that on the night of Bella’s death, she saw her partner punch the two-year-old in the abdomen “so hard she bounced off a bed” when she refused to sleep.

She said she tried to administer CPR to her daughter, but Michael grabbed her by the throat and threatened her. She claimed the next thing she remembers is waking up near Boston Harbour after Michael allegedly injected her with heroin.

After helping stuff her daughter’s body into a duffel bag and throwing it in the river, Rachelle said she asked Michael why he had killed her little girl, the court heard.

“It was her time to die,” he allegedly said, adding that Bella was “a demon”.

Michael’s defense attorney argued that Rachelle was the “real monster” and the one responsible for Bella’s death in his closing arguments.

2. Turnbull Government’s ‘Gonski 2.0’ school funding overhaul passes in federal parliament.

Gonski 2.0 school reforms pass parliament https://t.co/iEe0bSl8BM pic.twitter.com/pYf66WwHwl

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 22, 2017

The Turnbull Government has chalked up a major policy win with its Gonski 2.0 overhaul of school funding passing the federal parliament before the long winter break.

The government shovelled an extra $5 billion into the plan to win over the crossbench, boosting the package to $23.5 billion over the next decade, AAP reports.

Labor and the Greens voted against the package, but the government secured the 10 crucial crossbench votes needed to get its funding shake-up over the line.

A marathon debate on the bill wrapped up in Senate during the early hours of Friday morning, with the bill then receiving its final tick of approval in the lower house about 2am.

“This is an historic opportunity for the parliament to now deliver once and for all true needs-based funding for Australian schools,” Education Minister Simon Birmingham said.

“To do so fairly, consistently across the nation.”

But Labor declared the coalition would “rue the day” its reforms were passed, vowing to fight against the schools funding package all the way to the next election.

“I will not forget and we will not forget that this legislation is not fair, it is not needs-based, it is not sector-blind,” opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said.

“There is nothing worse that this parliament can do than rob the children of Australia of hope and opportunity, and that’s what you have done,” she told coalition MPs.

Labor vowed to restore every dollar cut by the coalition.

The Gonski 2.0 package will ensure underfunded schools reach funding targets in six years instead of 10 and $50 million will be spent on a transition fund for Catholic and independent schools over 12 months.

The government also agreed to a new watchdog conducting a review of the schooling resource standard, which is the basis of the new needs-based funding model, and a guarantee the states won’t withdraw their funding as more federal money flows through.

The reviews can address whether the commonwealth, states, territories or authorities are not distributing funding on a needs basis, or whether schools are being over or underfunded.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said struggling students had waited far too long.

“It is a relief we finally have some commitment to bring forward the obligations to ensure that our schools right across the country that are underfunded can start to catch up,” she said.

Outgoing Liberal senator Chris Back, who had threatened to vote against the package, climbed aboard after the minister agreed to extend existing arrangements for Catholic and independent schools for a year.

The Greens refused to vote for the bill because of this transition package, but the government successfully negotiated instead with the crossbench.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the Gonski 2.0 scheme would ensure equal federal funding for students no matter where they lived, providing incentives for states and territories to meet their end of the funding bargain.

Schools will see changes to the money they receive from 2018.

3. NSW man charged with 11-month-old baby’s murder told doctors she ‘fell from a trampoline’.

NSW man charged with murder of 11-month old baby allegedly told hospital staff she’d fallen off a trampoline. #9Newshttps://t.co/nGZjZZtxjg

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) June 22, 2017

A man who is charged with murdering an 11-month-old NSW girl allegedly told hospital staff the girl had fallen off a trampoline.

According to 9 News, 35-year-old Brendan Toohey is accused of murdering the little girl in April 2014.

Bathurst Local Court heart Brendan took the girl to hospital and told staff she fell from a trampoline onto concrete while he was busy taking clothes of the washing line.

The little girl could not be revived and Brendan was charged with murder after an autopsy revealed the girl had died from a complex pattern of head injuries, which were not consistent with a fall from a “relatively short height”.

It’s believed Brendan was looking after the girl while her mother was undergoing a thyroid operation.

The man’s trial continues, and is expected to last two weeks.

4. New study finds breastfeeding could lower the risk of heart attacks in women.

Breastfeeding may lower a woman’s risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study shows. #AHANews https://t.co/gkfZMOkNPg pic.twitter.com/4V0NGYw8vX

— American Heart Assoc (@American_Heart) June 22, 2017

Breastfeeding has been linked to a reduced risk of heart attack or stroke later in life for mothers, AAP reports.

Research published in of the Journal of the American Heart Association found mothers who breastfed their babies had a nine per cent lower risk of heart disease, and a eight per cent lower risk of stroke, compared to women who had never breastfed.

While the cause for the reduced risk is unknown, researchers at the University of Oxford believe breastfeeding may “reset” a mother’s metabolism.

“Pregnancy changes a woman’s metabolism dramatically as she stores fat to provide the energy necessary for her baby’s growth and for breastfeeding once the baby is born. Breastfeeding could eliminate the stored fat faster and more completely,” co-author and research fellow Sanne Peters said.

Previous studies have suggested mothers get short-term health benefits from breastfeeding – such as weight loss and lower cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels.

However, the long-term impact of breastfeeding on the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases was unclear.

Researchers from the University of Oxford, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking University analysed the data from 289,573 Chinese women of an average age of 51.

Nearly all were mothers and none had cardiovascular disease when they enrolled in the China Kadoorie Biobank study.

After eight years of follow-up, there were 16,671 cases of coronary heart disease, which included heart attacks, and 23,983 stroke cases.

The authors noted this was only an observational study and further research was needed to confirm the findings, although they were significant.
Heart disease in Australia is the number one killer of women.

“The findings should encourage more widespread breastfeeding for the benefit of the mother as well as the child,” Professor Zhengming Chen said.

“The study provides support for the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that mothers should breastfeed their babies exclusively for their first six months of life.”

5. A man has been killed after a tanker and car collided in Victoria.

A man has been killed after a tanker and a car collided on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. https://t.co/PZSciHtt8U #Tyabb #7News pic.twitter.com/OKMtC9BLWT

— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) June 22, 2017

A man has been killed after a tanker and a car collided on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

The tanker, carrying flammable material, collided with the car at about 8.15pm on Thursday near Tyabb, Victoria Police said.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a man travelling in a Mercedes sedan crossed onto the wrong side of the road and crashed into the tanker which was carrying LPG and petrol.

The driver of the Mercedes was killed in the crash but the tanker driver escaped serious injury.

Explosions and a fire were reported after the crash, with emergency services prevented from getting closer to the scene because of the blaze.

Tyabb local Bruce Thompson said he heard a series of explosions from his home, which is about 500m from the accident site, AAP reports.

“I heard a massive explosion and then five or six smaller explosions after that,” he said.

“It really shook the house.”

Mr Thompson said there had been smaller incidents on the highway but it was a good road.

A Country Fire Authority spokeswoman said at least 100 firefighters had worked to extinguish the blaze caused by the explosion.

Ambulance Victoria said a man was treated at the scene for minor injuries. He was taken to Frankston Hospital in a stable condition.

6. Where do Aussie men get their news? While they’re on the loo, apparently.

COMING UP: Are you watching this on the loo? You’ll be surprised how many people are… Coming up, we’ll have the… https://t.co/997reEzQOy

— Nine News Darwin (@9NewsDarwin) June 22, 2017

More men are looking at news in the loo on smartphones or tablets than women do anywhere at work.

The News & Media Research Centre, which on Thursday released its research on the digital news consumption habits of Australians, was not too shy to limit its scrutiny to public spaces.

“In fact, more men use laptops in the toilet or bathroom to access news than they do on public transport,” said one of the report’s contributors, former ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger.

“How and where people consume news is increasingly of critical importance to those who produce it.”

The report was written as traditional news outlets Network Ten and Fairfax Media created headlines of their own in the face of financial difficulties.

It found just over half of adult Australians try to avoid the news often or occasionally, and only 63 per cent were extremely or very interested in news at all.

The report also found young people were more likely to consume “softer” cultural or entertainment news.

Participants under 35 were the biggest drivers of digital platforms, with one in three saying social media helped them distinguish fact from fiction, and there are many keeping up with news headlines via Facebook.

Trust in the news was low with only two in five Australians saying they trusted news in general.

“These kinds of challenges to established broadcast and print brands underline the ongoing impact of digital disruption on the content business, including news,” said Jerry Watkins, Director of the News & Media Research Centre.

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh writes in the report that while social media can expand the political conversation and help politicians reach people who might otherwise be disengaged, there was still a place for traditional media.

“A great strength of mainstream media is that it helps avoid the ‘echo chamber’ effect,” he said.

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