RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
A MELBOURNE man was beaten to a pulp in broad daylight after a Gumtree deal went violently wrong. Plus, how Ed Sheeran made his adoring fans angry.
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LIVE UPDATES
Today
● Police warn of perils of online shopping after crowbar assault
● Lil’ Kim wins crown for most ridiculous baby name
10am
That’s it for our RUSH HOUR live blog for this morning. Catch up on all the stories you need to know today below.
9.50am
After a whirlwind tour of Canadia — whoops, I mean, Canada — Prime Minister Tony Abbott will visit the US on Tuesday morning (US time).
Mr Abbott will pay tribute to the Australians who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks when he visits the 9/11 memorial in New York City.
Ten Australians were among the 2983 victims of the attacks.
The PM spent the past two days in Ottawa where, among other things, he slipped up and called the country Canadia — before immediately correcting himself. (Didn’t stop Twitter having a field day with the gaffe though.)
9.05am
Australian TV golden girl Lisa McCune has been caught up in a sex tape scandal, with an explicit video of partner Teddy Tahu Rhodes being leaked to the media this week.
Women’s Day reports that the video shows a naked Rhodes, 47, having sex with an unknown brunette.
Tahu Rhodes and McCune struck up a very public love affair two years ago, despite both being married. They are currently starring together in The King and I in Melbourne.
It is not clear where the home movie was filmed and neither McCune or Tahu Rhodes has commented on it.
8.55am
What did Ed Sheeran do that made his fans so cranky?
One little tweet came back to bite the English singer-songwriter, according to AAP.
“Please stop coming to airports to meet me, I really appreciate the love but getting off of long haul flights I’m not in the best of states,” Sheeran tweeted.
But the tweets didn’t go down well with fans.
“@edsheeran it’s because of the fans you’re getting these long haul flights. Don’t be so naive, this comes with the territory,” Fiona wrote.
After the backlash, Sheeran deleted the initial tweets and replaced them with this.
Whatever.
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) June 9, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: Whatever.— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) June 9, 2014
8.30am
UPDATE: Police have captured the man who led them on a chase and then barricaded himself in a Los Angeles home with a rifle.
Television reports showed the suspect, 40, walk out with his hands up and then lie facedown on the grass in the backyard of a home with his hands behind his head and two dogs nearby.
The incident began when the man led police on a 45-minute chase along several freeways that ended in North Hollywood, the Associated Press reports.
Authorities shut down nearby on-ramps, evacuated at least one school and shut down others as police waited him out.
8.10am
After an unexpected loss to NSW in game one of the State of Origin, Queensland coach Mal Meninga has taken the surprise step of naming a 22-man team for game two.
The Courier-Mail noted that there were a number of bombshells among the rugby league squad, including two 30-year-olds who have not played Origin since 2011 — centre Willie Tonga and prop Jacob Lillyman.
Other shock inclusions were 19-year-old fullback Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt, who is only 13 games into his first full season for the Broncos.
The move is designed to provide for all contingencies as Maroons players lick their wounds from a injury-filled 12-8 loss in Origin I.
7.55am
There have been more explosive claims about rape in the Australian Defence Force Academy and now there are calls for a royal commission into the military’s handling of the abuse.
ABC TV’s Four Cornersaired fresh stories last night from four former cadets who claim to have been raped, sexually assaulted or denigrated while at the academy in the 1990s and 2009.
One woman still connected with the military says she continues to face contact with her alleged attackers, some of whom have risen within military ranks with commendations.
She was indecently assaulted by a superior in her bedroom in the 90s, when she was considered a low-ranked “divisional toy” at ADFA.
“I ... pretended to be dead really, and I wished I was,” she told the program.
Read more here.
7.35am
More details have emerged about the crash that left 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan fighting for his life.
The truck driver accused of triggering the highway crash that injured Morgan and killed another comedian hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours before the accident, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities said the 35-year-old Wal-Mart truck driver failed to slow for traffic and swerved at the last minute to avoid a crash. Instead, his truck smashed into the back of Morgan’s chauffeured Mercedes limousine, killing comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair.
Morgan, 45, was in critical but stable condition in hospital yesterday.
7.20am
A JURY will be empanelled today to examine whether Brisbane real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay murdered his wife Allison in a case expected to take four weeks.
Mr Baden-Clay has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder and of interfering with the mother-of-three’s corpse, The Courier-Mail reports.
He reported her missing from the couple’s Brookfield home in April of 2012, and she was found dead 10 days later under Kholo Creek bridge at Anstead.
More than 70 witnesses are expected to be called.
Keep up to date with the case with The Courier-Mail.
6.50am
He was crude, he was ugly, but we couldn’t help but laugh.
British actor Rik Mayall, best known for his portrayal of anarchist Rick in share-house sit com The Young Ones, has died aged 56.
The unexpected death has come as a shock, but police are not treating it as suspicious. His wife Barbara Robbin said he may have had a fit.
Mayall’s The Young Ones co-star, Nigel Planer, said he was “very, very sad and upset that we’ve lost Rik, who was inspirational, bonkers, and a great life force.”
6.30am
And you thought Gwyneth’s kid Apple, and Kim and Kanye’s daughter North were going to have tough lives.
Well, US rapper Lil’ Kim appears to have upped the ante in celebrity baby name ridiculousness with the moniker she slapped on her newborn.
The New York Post reports that the 39-year-old gave birth to a baby girl on Monday in New Jersey and named her Royal Reign.
6.17am
A man on loose with an assault rifle has put parts of Los Angeles into lockdown.
The incident began when the man led police on a high-speed chase throughout the city and then jumped out of his car.
He is now roaming the streets of North Hollywood armed with an assault rifle, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Police said the man was suspected of making terrorist threats against his former girlfriend.
A number of schools and roads in the vicinity are in lockdown.
Police are on the scene trying to establish whether anyone has been hurt.
Stay up to date with this developing story here.
6am
Online is the smartest way to buy and sell these days, right? Well, this man is among an increasing number of people who’ve fallen victims to internet bargain hunting.
Police are warning internet shoppers to beware after a man who sold a car online was savagely beaten with a crowbar when a Gumtree sale went sour, The Herald Sun reports.
Jonathan Heier, 30, was attacked by three men in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote after he sold an unregistered van for $1000 through Gumtree.
“You don’t think that would ever happen. For the first week and a half (after that) I was always looking over my shoulder outside my house,” Mr Heier told The Herald Sun.
Police advise people to be careful when buying or selling online, and keep personal details, such as addresses, private.
Originally published as RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
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