1.The father of a six year old girl found dead in her bedroom in Kedron, outside Brisbane, on Monday morning has been charged with murder.
The Brisbane Times reports that the girls’ father, Stephen Philip Playford, was also charged with attempted murder by homicide detectives on Monday night.
The Courier Mail report Playford is “an international mining entrepreneur and budding property developer”.
The six year old girl slept in a room with her sister.
“The man was located on Gold Coast and spent time in hospital before he was questioned and detained by police,” the report says.
The body of his six-year-old daughter was discovered about 8am in the family home the man shared with his wife and eldest daughter.
2.The dentist who killed Cecil the Lion will return to work today.
The Star-Tribune says Walter Palmer, whose dental surgery became the site of protests after he was revealed as the man who shot Cecil with a crossbow while on a hunting trip to Zimbabwe, has given one interview in which he said he wanted to get on with his life.
The Tribute says that Walter complained “that the hunt was legal and that he and the others in his party had no clue that the lion was the revered 13-year-old with the distinctive black mane.”
“I have a lot of staff members, and I’m a little heartbroken at the disruption in their lives,” the casually dressed Palmer said during the meeting with two reporters, his attorney Joe Friedberg and a public relations consultant.
“And I’m a health professional. I need to get back to my staff and my patients, and they want me back. That’s why I’m back.”
“This has been especially hard on my wife and my daughter,” he added.
“They’ve been threatened in the social media, and again … I don’t understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all.”
3.Australia is likely to increase its refugee intake to accommodate more of the desperate families fleeing from war-torn Syria.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australia is also like to take part in a bombing campaign over Syria, in an effort to defeat the terror group, ISIS.
Australia currently plans to take 13,750 refugees this year. The Herald says this may be increased to more than 18,000.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia would act with “decency and force”, and would not hesitate in protecting Iraqis and Syrians.
The ALP has called for a 10,000-person increase in the refugee intake, with a $100 million aid package to go with it.
4.A former US diplomat who fled to Australia after being accused of the cruel slavery and sexual abuse of her African housekeeper has been ordered to pay more than $4 million in damages.
The Age reports that Linda Howard employed the Ethiopian-born maid in Yemen, and later moved her to Japan.
She claimed she was repeatedly raped by Linda’s husband, Russell Howard, who has since died.
The maid told the court that Mr Howard would rape her when his wife was at work at the US embassy.
He also “used his right hand to choke and restrain” her.
The damages included $1,250,000 for the emotional distress caused by sexual servitude and $44,500 for forced labor.
Linda Howard was accusing of fleeing to Melbourne during the case. She contested the judgment in the Supreme Court of Victoria, claiming she treated her housekeeper like a daughter.
The judge, Justice Jack Forrest ruled for the maid.
