Friday'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. Vows to do more to stop domestic violence.

Deputy QLD Police Commissioner Brett Pointing has told The Courier Mail the police force has a culture that “doesn’t take domestic violence as seriously as it should”.

He was speaking out after two deaths due to domestic violence in the last two days on the Gold Coast, the attempted murder in Brisbane of a woman and the murder of a six-year old girl allegedly at the hands of her father on Monday.

“It would be naive to think that we didn’t ourselves reflect the same inappropriate attitudes that exist in the broader community, and my very great challenge is to make sure where those remnants exist, we change those attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to ensure world’s best practice when it comes to investigating, preventing and investigating domestic and family violence.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the community was in shock at the last few days violence.

“What we have seen over the past few days is atrocious, it’s horrific, it’s absolutely vicious and it has tragic consequences,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the government would examine which recommendations from a Family Violence inquiry by former governor-general Quentin Bryce could be fast-tracked.

DV Connect chief executive Di Mangan told The Brisbane Times she wanted to see an immediate crackdown when people first breach domestic violence orders.

“We certainly want to see breaches jumped on immediately,” she said.

“We want the heavy hand of the law to come down on the first breach.

“And that in itself creates a message.”

For DV Help: 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). 

Related: Lisa Wilkinson: “Don’t let Tara’s death go unnoticed.”

2. Queensland mum shot in McDonalds was escaping domestic violence.

Warning this item deals with domestic violence and could be triggering for some readers. 

There are reports that the Queensland mother fatally shot yesterday allegedly at the hands of her ex-partner had only moved to the Gold Coast a month ago to escape her violent ex-partner.

Karina Lock, a mother-of four was shot in the head at 9.20am yesterday after an argument with her estranged husband in the carpark of Helensvale McDonalds.

Witnesses say they saw the man, Stephen Lock restraining Mrs Lock in a car parked at the McDonalds before she ran from the vehicle saying he was trying to kill her.

The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that about 30 witnesses saw Mr Lock shoot his wife, then kneel next to his dying 49-year-old wife, hold the handgun to his own head and fire.

One of the couple’s daughters arrived with an aunt about 30 minutes later.

Mr Lock was taken to hospital but family members have indicated they expect to turn off his life support today.

For more read this post here. 

3. Sister of accused murderer makes vow to watch over Tara’s daughter.

The sister of Lionel Patea, Jessica Palmer has vowed to watch over the daughter of Tara Brown in an emotional social media post.

Tara Brown died on Wednesday night after allegedly being beaten by her ex-partner Lionel Patea.

They have a three-year old daughter, Aria.

“I love you. I wish you could come back. No one deserves this experience. No one should die before their parents. No child should grow up without their mummy,” Ms Palmer wrote.

“How will I tell Aria that she won’t be going home to her mummy or her home?

“I’m scared to go to sleep because I don’t want to see you in my dreams. I want to see you in real life, full of life. I want to see your beautiful smile, those gorgeous dimples and your kind demeanour.”

“You were the best mummy,”

“I’m so angry you have been taken away from us, from your Aria. The day Aria was born was the most exciting day of my life. I couldn’t wait to meet her. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous she was and how I could love her ever so much.

“I hope you feel peace and know that you are loved. We will do everything possible to ensure Aria has the opportunities to become a hard-working, strong, moral, kind and respectful young lady.”

Lionel Patea has been charged with the murder of Aria’s mother, Tara.

For DV Help: 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

4. Man charged with attempted murder of  his partner after machete attack.

A 51-year old man, from, Acacia Ridge is Brisbane has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly ramming his partner’s car and chasing her with a machete.

The attack in Monterey Street, Wacol took place about 7.30am on Thursday.

Witnesses were forced to intervene after hearing the screams of his 44-year-old partner.

The Brisbane Times reports the woman suffered a cut to the head and neck injuries.

The man will appear in court today.

For DV Help: 24/7, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

5. Missing SA Mum’s ATM card used by “someone else” police reveal.

Disturbing new details in the search for missing South Australian mother Jody Meyers with CCTV vision from the Bank SA in the main street of Mannum showing someone else accessing an ATM with her bank card.

Nine News reports that details about who can be seen in the vision or if police know the identity of the person have not been released.

The family last saw the 20-year-old at her stepfather’s birthday party in Burdett, near Murray Bridge, on Wednesday August 26, when she left with her partner, Neil Archer.

Two days later, her mother received a text message saying she had finished her relationship with Mr Archer, the father of her child, and would contact the family soon on a different number.

She was not seen since.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers on 1300 333 000.

6. Scientists discover new an “almost human” creature.

At about 5 feet tall and only 100 or so pounds, and with a brain only about the size of an average orange, H. naledi is a combination of australopith-like and human-like features that, until now, was entirely unknown to science, researchers said.

“Overall, Homo naledi looks like one of the most primitive members of our genus, but it also has some surprisingly human-like features — enough to warrant placing it in the genus Homo,” said John Hawks, an anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Scientists were shocked to discover that H. naledi may have intentionally and carefully buried its dead — behaviour previously thought to be unique to humans.

Parts of at least 15 distinct individuals — infants, children, adults and elderly individuals — have been recovered from a chamber about 100 yards from the entrance to a cave called Rising Star in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site northwest of Johannesburg.

7. Childhood test to spot psychopaths.

Researchers have found children as young as three can have psychopathic traits.

The team from the University of NSW developed the diagnostic tool that shows very young children can display callous and unemotional traits linked to psychopathy.

Lead author of the study and senior lecturer at UNSW, Eva Kimonis told Fairfax Media the diagnostic tool would allow children at risk of psychopathy to get earlier treatment.

“Until now we didn’t really have a way to identify those traits in very young children,” she said. “This is really the first study which uses tools adapted for very young children and the sooner those children are identified, the earlier they can be helped.”

“Even very young children with these traits show that difficulty in recognising emotions in others and they are also not engaged by other people’s emotions,” Dr Kimonis said.

“When they see people in distress it’s not capturing their attention in the same way as it would for the healthy population.”

The study published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology says that parents are being encouraged to be very warm, involved and loving with them to see if that reduces those callous traits over time.

8. Islamic State offers prisoners for auction.

Islamic Sate have offered two prisoners for auction placing two full-page advertisements in a propaganda magazine Dabiq.

The men, Norway’s Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad and China’s Fan Jinghui were offered “for sale”pictured wearing brightly-coloured orange jumpsuits and with a message below them that reads:

“To whom it may concern of the pagans, crusaders, and their allies, as well as what are referred to as human ‘rights’ organisations; this (Norwegian/Chinese) prisoner was abandoned by his government, which did not do its utmost to purchase his freedom.”

A telephone number for “whoever would like to pay the ransom” is listed below, with the warning that its for a “limited time offer”.

9. Family release video of teenager left in wheelchair after taking ecstacy.

The family of a teenage girl who was left in a coma after taking one MDMA pill has released a video of her in a warning to others not to try the drug.

16-year old Amy Thomson at a party in Glasgow in Scotland in June and remained critically ill in hospital for a month.

In August she was transferred to a specialist rehabilitation unit for people with brain injuries. Her family have released this video.

Her cousin writing:

“Some people may have cried, laughed or being shocked seeing the video.

“But this is what a tiny pill can do to you. Amy won’t be like this for the rest of her life, she’s getting the best care and support.

“If this isn’t an eye opener for everyone who continues to take stuff, I dunno what is!”

10. Street view for cats. Purr-pect.

Gotta love Japan where the tourism board of the Hiroshima prefecture has created street view for cats. 

Yep, a site that offers a cat’s-eye look at the city of Onomichi and its restaurants and shops.

When you encounter a cat in the street-view application you can walk your paw-shaped cursor down the street while listening to street noises collected from the city along with contented purrs and meows.

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