RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
A SHOCKINGLY high number of expectant mums are putting their unborn babies at risk by breaking one simple rule.
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TODAY
● An elderly man crashed his car across train tracks on the NSW central coast
● A convicted child sex offender is on the run in Victoria
LIVE UPDATES
10.05am
That’s it for our RUSH HOUR live news blog for this morning. You can get across the stories you need to know today below.
10am
An influential think tank has recommended pushing up electricity prices 700 per cent during peak demand periods in an effort to reduce power bills overall.
A paper by the Grattan Institute floats the idea that power companies charge households for the strain they place on the network, as opposed to total energy they use.
The institute argues that electricity prices are too high and unfair, because some people pay more than they should.
Get the full details here.
9.40am
Lovers of classic rock rejoice!
Seventies mega-sellers Pink Floyd will release their first new album in 20 years in October, drawing on sessions recorded before the death of keyboardist Rick Wright.
Polly Samson, the wife of singer-guitarist David Gilmour, surprised fans on the weekend when she tweeted that the band had a new record to be released this year.
The English prog rockers are best known for their landmark albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and The Wall (1979).
Btw Pink Floyd album out in October is called "The Endless River". Based on 1994 sessions is Rick Wright's swansong and very beautiful.
— Polly Samson (@PollySamson) July 5, 20149.25am
Australians love it when we are beating the world at something, but this is not something to be proud of.
The United Nations 2014 World Drug Report reveals that Australia has the highest proportion of recreational drug users in the world, The Daily Telegraph reports this morning.
We rank first in ecstasy use, second for opioids, third for methamphetamines, fourth for cocaine and seventh for cannabis.
Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak blamed a cashed-up new generation of Aussies and a growing socio-economic underclass for the boom in illicit drug use.
Read the full details here.
9am
A South Australian grandmother has been charged with the stabbing murder of her husband in a crime that has shocked the residents of a quiet Adelaide street.
Lucia Colella faces a bedside court hearing today over the murder of her husband Antonio, who lived with his wife in a sleepy street in the suburb of Alberton for more than 20 years, The Advertiser reports.
Police and paramedics were called to the home at 7.50am yesterday where they found Mr Colella in a bedroom, with serious stab wounds to the head.
Read more here.
8.45am
A shockingly high number of expectant mums are putting their unborn babies at risk by breaking one simple rule.
A new report out today shows that almost 10,000 Queensland mothers-to-be smoke during pregnancy, The Courier-Mail reports.
The damning statistics fly in the face of health warnings, which implore pregnant women not to smoke because of the harmful effects cigarettes have on unborn children.
The figures, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, are better for NSW, with a decline in the percentage of smoking mothers in that state.
Read the full story here.
8.15am
Tony Abbott faces more dismal polling numbers this morning, as the backlash to the Budget continues.
The Coalition has lost support in its strongholds of Western Australia and Queensland, and women and voters older than 35 have also turned their backs on the government, an analysis of the latest Newspolls in The Australian shows.
On every measure, the Prime Minister’s satisfaction rating has fallen sharply and his dissatisfaction rate has soared.
Read more here.
7.50am
Novak Djokovic has wrested the Wimbledon title from seven-time champion Roger Federer in a thrilling men’s final.
Djokovic claims his second Wimbledon trophy after claiming the upper hand from Federer 6-7 6-4 7-6 5-7 6-4.
Federer appeared to be in control of the match but Djokovic stuck it out and managed a hard-fought win.
“He’s a magnificent champion, a great example of a great athlete, and a great role model for many kids,” Djokovic said of his opponent. “So I respect your career, and everything you’ve done, and thank you for letting me win today.”
Read a full wrap-up of the final here.
7.40am
Perth copped strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend and more wild weather is expected today.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts destructive winds, widespread showers and isolated thunderstorms this afternoon, and hail could follow in the evening.
7.20am
Oscar Pistorius’s lawyers have reacted angrily to the airing of footage on Australian TV that shows him re-enacting the night he shot dead his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Channel 7’s Sunday Night program aired the video last night, which had been commissioned by his defence team but not shown during the murder trial.
It shows the South African sprinter, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, retrace his movements of the morning of February 14, 2013, when he shot Steenkamp, describing how he mistook her for an intruder.
Sunday Night presented both sides of the story in a trial-by-TV style, with voters able to vote on whether they thought Pistorius was innocent or guilty of murder. For the record, the votes ended up about 50-50.
7am
The carbon tax is expected to be dead and buried this week as the new Senate kicks into gear.
Twelve new senators will be sworn in this morning and sit for the first time today, with a wily bunch of new faces holding the balance of power.
The carbon pricing mechanism is set to be repealed with the help of the Palmer United Party’s three senators. The days are also numbered for the mining tax, which is expected to be knocked on the head this week.
6.30am
Yes, you’re seeing that right. That’s a car parked across railway tracks on the NSW central coast.
Police believe the 79-year-old driver of this Toyota Camry may have mistaken the accelerator for the brake when he caused the car to crash through a fence, over the platform and onto the tracks at Wyong railway station about 10am yesterday.
The man was shaken but otherwise unhurt, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Trains were delayed between Sydney and Newcastle but disruption was minimal.
6.15am
The search for bodies will continue this morning after a fatal light plane crash off the far south coast of NSW.
At least one person has died and an air and sea search is under way for more occupants of the plane that crashed into the ocean south of Batemans Bay, yesterday, AAP reports.
Witnesses saw the aircraft crash into the water shortly after 12.15pm.
6.01am
A convicted child rapist is on the run in Victoria after fleeing an Ararat facility that holds some of the nation’s worst sex offenders.
Police issued a warning yesterday, the Herald Sun reports, after Andrew Darling cut off his electronic tracking bracelet and walked out of the home, known as the Village of the Damned.
Police say the 42-year-old, who was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, is a danger to the public and should not be approached. If members of the public see him, they should call 000.
6am
Good morning, and welcome to our “headlines in a hurry” news coverage. We’ll be bringing you the morning’s biggest stories so you can get across the news quickly.
Originally published as RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
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