Thursday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up the latest news from Australia and around the world.

1. Family murdered in axe attack.

Three members of a Perth family have been murdered in an apparent axe attack in South Africa where they had just moved.

The family had been living in Perth for six years and had returned to South Africa last year.

Martin van Breda, 54, his wife Teresa, 55, and son Rudi, 22, were found dead at their home in Stellenbosch, about 50km east of Cape Town.

Their daughter Marli, aged 16, is in a critical condition, while another son, Henri, 20, was slightly injured.

The Times reports that the son, Henri has been taken by police custody for questioning.

Eben Potgieter, chairman of the estate’s home owners’ association said  “[Henri] could not have been seriously injured because he could walk. I saw this myself. Henri is being treated as a witness at this stage. He had scratches and cuts.”

Martin van Breda worked for Engel & Völkers in Australia, an international company that sells and rents “premium residential property, commercial real estate and yachts”.

2. Martin Place siege inquest begins

A coronial inquest into the Martin Place Lindt Café siege begins today in Sydney.

No witnesses will be called on the first day instead Jeremy Gormly, the counsel assisting the coroner, will outline a provisional list of issues the investigation and inquest will look at.

The inquest announced shortly after the siege aims to determine how the deaths of cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34, and barrister and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson, 38, occurred, the factors that contributed to them and whether they could have been prevented.

 3. Calls for PM’s Chief of Staff to go

Despite calls from Rupert Murdoch for the Prime Minister to fire his Chief of Staff, Peta Credlin top Liberal MP’s have backed Ms. Credlin.

Yesterday Rupert Murdoch tweeted “Abbott again. Tough to write, but if he won’t replace top aide Peta Credlin she must do her patriotic duty and resign.”

The Australian reports that Education Minister Christopher Pyne and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton have rejected the suggestion that she should go.

Former chief of staff to John Howard, Senator Arthur Sinodinos, said it was unfair to blame Ms Credlin.

“At the end of the day, the person at the top exercises their judgment and makes a decision and that’s how it should be.’’

“Chiefs of staff don’t exercise vetoes over prime ministers. I think it’s unfair in this sort of situation to focus on staff.”

 4. Bali 9 execution date

As differing reports emerge on whether Bali 9 duo Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are listed for execution next month the Attorney General in Indonesia has said that they cannot submit for a second judicial review of their case.

Conflicting reports yesterday said that the two were listed for the next batch of people to be put to death but the ABC reports that this cannot be corroborated.

However as their lawyers arrive in Bali today news has emerged that the AG has ruled out a second judicial review.

5. Michelle Obama causes outrage after not wearing a headscarf in Saudi Arabia

Michelle Obama has caused controversy after choosing to not wear a headscarf while accompanying her husband on a trip to Saudi Arabia.

The First Lady dressed conservatively in black trousers and a long jacket, wearing loose clothing that fully covered her arms, but did not cover her head.

Hundreds of Saudis took to Twitter using hashtags translating to “#Michelle_Obama_Immodest” and “#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled”.

However other tweeters pointed out that Condoleezza Rice, the former Secretary of State, also did not wear a headscarf.

And in the past neither had either Hillary Clinton nor Laura Bush.

 6. Brisbane mother accused of murdering newborns wanted no more children.

By ABC

A Brisbane woman accused of murdering two newborn babies after concealing their births did not want any more children, a court has heard.

Sursaree Surmila Chand, 38, was charged with murder after the body of a baby girl was found in a washing machine at a Bald Hills home in 2012.

She was also charged with murdering a baby in 2010, although no body was ever found.

A Brisbane magistrate will decide on Thursday whether Chand will stand trial on the charges.

Her husband has been committed to stand trial on manslaughter relating to 2012 case.

Prosecutor Michael Lehane on Wednesday submitted Chand killed the babies because she and her husband did not want another child, that there were uncanny similarities between the two cases, and police examination of the family computer found there had been internet searches on terminations.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Wilson QC said her client had no case to answer on the 2010 murder charge because the Crown could offer no evidence that a baby was born alive.

Obstetrician Dr Douglas Keeping was asked by police to study photos, video and medical records to determine if Chand was pregnant in 2010.

Dr Keeping said Chand had a positive pregnancy test in April 2010, but presented to the Prince Charles Hospital with an empty uterus in November 2010.

Photos and video from October 2010 were shown to the court, which Dr Keeping said showed Chand was heavily pregnant.

“Having seen the video, I’m very certain to say she had a pregnancy that went to term or very close to term,” Dr Keeping said.

“Adding all of it together and the photos and the video … this was someone who was fairly heavily pregnant. That’s a no brainer.”

“Then she turns up to the Prince Charles with an empty uterus. Something’s happened in between.”

Under cross examination, Dr Keeping said he could not give any evidence on whether it was a live or still birth.

Witness and forensic pathologist Dr Beng Beng Ong, who completed an autopsy report on baby found dead in washing machine in 2012, found no signs of drowning.

“A person when they are immersed in water they get wrinkly skin … there was no sign of that,” Dr Ong said.

He said the most likely cause of death was hyperthermia, hypothermia or asphyxia by smothering by another person.

Another possibility was natural death through unknown source such as metabolic conditions, but no evidence of any disease.

“It’s a fairly remote possibility,” Dr Ong said.

“From talking to my colleagues and my own experience, I’ve never come across such a case.”

A version of this story was originally published on ABC and has been republished with full permission.

 7. 40 adults watching and nobody stopped to help

A woman who stepped in to intervene in the potential suicide of a young man has criticized the way 40 other adults watching did nothing to try and stop the man.

The Age reports that a teenage man was threatening suicide at a train platform on Tuesday afternoon.

A nurse, Jenny Szymanski was nearby and watching the situation unfold.

She said the teenage boy was screaming “I want to die, I want to die” but to make matters worse three boys on the opposite platform were taunting and laughing at him and at least 40 other bystanders were just watching.

Ms Szymanski told The Age that only one other man with a young child asked her to help.

“What floored me was that there would have been 40-plus people [on the platforms] – adults, professionals, all watching him yelling and watching all the heckling – and no one tried to stop what was going on,” she said.

“It was like a sideshow. This kid was in a traumatic state and wanted to kill himself and everyone was watching this happen. He was being heckled by the other kids and everyone was just standing there looking. Where do we get off potentially letting that happen? Why didn’t the adults there walk up and intervene?”

Ms Szymanski did talk to the teenager and attempted to talk him through while Metro staff alerted police.

He is now receiving treatment in hospital.

If you need help please phone Lifeline on Lifeline 131 114 or Beyondblue on 1300 224 636.

8. Kurds drive out Islamic State militants in Kobane

Kurdish forces have had a victory over Islamic State militants claiming back the Syrian border town of Kobane.

AFP reports that IS lost nearly 1,200 fighters in the battle, of a total of 1,800 killed – some are said to be Australian Jihadists.

9. Zombie cat comes back to life.

A cat who died after being hit by a car is making headlines across the world after he clawed his way out of his grave five days after being buried.

The cat, named Bart is now recovering in hospital.

For more read this post here. 

 10. Cost of having a baby

The average cost of having a baby in a private hospital is now $8,500 – that’s up 34% since 2009.

Medibank Private has revealed that it is the most common overnight hospital procedure. New mothers face out of pocket costs of $392 per birth.

The figures contract greatly to the cost of giving birth as a public patient in a public hospital – which is free.

 11. Typo destroys 124 year-old business in three days

A British court has ruled the UK government liable for the collapse of a 124-year old  printing business that went under after a single typo.

The Telegraph reports that the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, erroneously recorded that the Cardiff engineering firm Taylor & Sons Ltd had been wound up.

But in fact it was another company entirely named Taylor & Son Ltd which had actually gone bust.

The single ‘s’ caused the Welsh family company to go bankrupt.

“They [Companies House] had already sold the false information to the credit reference agencies,” said Philip Davison-Sebry, 57, former managing director and co-owner of Taylor & Sons Ltd.

“We lost all our credibility as all our suppliers thought we were in liquidation. It was like a snowball effect.”

A high court ruling has now found the British government liable for 9 million.

 12. Peanut allergy breakthrough

Scientists have made a successful breakthrough in treating peanut allergies – with yoghurt.

The study by the Melbourne Children’s Institute found a daily combination of peanut protein and a probiotic helped 80% of children.

Scientists gave a test group of children a daily combination of peanut protein and a probiotic in increasing amounts over an 18-month period.

The dosage of the probiotic used in the study was the equivalent of eating 20 kilograms of yogurt a day.

“Many of the children and families believe it has changed their lives, they’re very happy, they feel relieved,” lead researcher Mimi Tang told The Guardian. “These findings provide the first vital step towards developing a cure for peanut allergy and possibly other food allergies.”

 13. Sugary drinks linked to girls’ earlier period

A US study has found that girls who drink more than one sugary drink a day are likely to start having periods sooner.

The study published in the journal Human Reproduction, looked at 5,583 girls ages 9 to 14 between 1996 and 2001 and found that girls who drink over 1.5 servings of sugar-sweetened beverages a day had their first period 2.7 months earlier than girls who drank less.

Starting menstruation early is one factor in breast cancer risk.

A one-year decrease in age at the start of a girl’s first menstrual cycle is estimated to increase the risk of breast cancer by 5%, the study authors say.