RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
YOU might think of it as one of the lowliest forms of employment but in fact there is a lucrative perk of being a chugger (ie. a charity mugger).
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
LIVE UPDATES
Today
● The Voice judge gives frank assessment of show’s shortcomings
● Crash at airport to throw traffic into chaos
● Another high school shooting in the US
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.
9.45am
It was 50 years ago today …
You might think that the madness that surrounds One Direction when they visit Australia is over the top, but it has nothing on the reception The Beatles received when the came Down Under on June 11, 1964.
Hordes of screaming fans braved the rain as the Fab Four touched down at Sydney Airport about 7.45am.
But the reaction reached fever pitch the next day when an estimated 300,000 people lined the streets of Adelaide to catch a glimpse of John, Paul George … and Jimmie. (Yes, it was Jimmie Nicol who appeared that day because Ringo Starr had laryngitis.)
9.20am
You might think that being one of those annoying backpackers who accost you on the street for donations to charity is one of the lowliest forms of employment.
But The Herald Sun reports this morning that chuggers (ie. charity muggers) are being given free flights to Australia to collect on city streets.
Charity marketer Cornucopia Consultancy offers to pay $1500 for return flights so British people, Europeans and Americans can work for six months in our capital cities.
If you are one of these chuggers and would be keen to be interviewed, get in touch with news.com.au journalist Victoria Craw on victoria.craw@news.com.au.
8.45am
It’s a doomed love story to rival Romeo and Juliet.
The star-cross’d love affair between a woman and a dolphin is the focus of a new BBC documentary.
In 1965, researcher Margaret Howe spent 10 weeks trying to teach a bottlenose dolphin named Peter to speak English through his blowhole as part of a NASA experiment.
Peter became besotted with Ms Howe and they did everything together — including eating, sleeping, bathing and playing. Her diary noted that Peter became aroused a number of times during the study.
After the experiment ended, Peter committed suicide by refusing to breathe and sinking to the bottom of his tank.
Read the whole tragic tale here.
8.30am
There was a heartwarming footnote to the ideological bromance between Tony Abbott and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which blossomed during the Aussie PM’s visit this week.
At one of the two conservatives’ press conference love-ins, the PM of the ice hockey-loving nation extended his admiration to our Treasurer.
“Let me also take this opportunity to commend you, Prime Minister, and also your Treasurer, Joe Hockey — now that’s a great name, isn’t it? Are you sure he isn’t Canadian with a name like that?”
“He’ll claim to be!” Mr Abbott replied.
8.15am
The Australian dollar has lifted today, thanks to an upbeat outlook for local business. Get the full details in today’s finance wrap.
8.05am
The prosecutor in the Rolf Harris sex abuse trial has ripped into the Australian entertainer in the latest developments in the ongoing case.
Summing up for the jury, Sasha Wass QC labelled the 84-year-old as a “sinister pervert who had a demon lurking beneath the charming exterior”.
She urged the jurors to find Harris guilty on the basis that 10 alleged victims had given “chillingly similar accounts” of his “deviant sexual behaviour”.
Harris has pleaded not guilty to assaulting four girls in the UK between 1968 and 1986.
Read more here.
7.50am
Aussie tennis star Marinko Matosevic has copped a serve on social media for some sexist comments.
The controversial comments came when he was asked about Andy Murray’s decision to hire a female coach.
“For me, I couldn’t do it (work with a female coach) since I don’t think that highly of the women’s game,” Matosevic said.
“It’s all equal rights these days. Got to be politically correct. So, yeah, someone’s got to give it (being coached by a woman) a go. Won’t be me.”
Twitter was not pleased.
@Visualiza29 It's different if someone like Murray says he couldn't work with a woman. He's a major champion. Matosevic, not so much.
— Dawn Rhodes (@rhodes_dawn) June 10, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: @Visualiza29 It's different if someone like Murray says he couldn't work with a woman. He's a major champion. Matosevic, not so much. & mdash; Dawn Rhodes (@rhodes_dawn) June 10, 2014
7.30am
UPDATE: There has been some relief to the traffic nightmare at Melbourne Airport this morning, after a taxi ran into two men early this morning.
The airport has just reopened one of the lanes to the departures drop-off area.
One lane of the upper level, Departures Drive, has now reopened and traffic is flowing well. Thanks to all for cooperation.
— Melbourne Airport (@Melair) June 10, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: One lane of the upper level, Departures Drive, has now reopened and traffic is flowing well. Thanks to all for cooperation. & mdash; Melbourne Airport (@Melair) June 10, 2014
7.15am
The trial of Gerard Baden-Clay, who is accused of murdering his wife Allison, has kicked off in Brisbane with explosive claims from the Crown prosecutor that their seemingly happy marriage was not what it seemed.
The Supreme Court heard yesterday that Mr Baden-Clay used a secret email account to tell his mistress that he loved her in the days before his wife went missing.
The former real estate agent, 43, has pleaded not guilty to the murder on April 19, 2012.
Read more about the continuing case here.
7am
Tony Abbott has continued his tour of the US, with a visit to New York City.
Our exercise-mad Prime Minister began the morning with a run with New York firefighters, before paying his respects at the September 11 memorial.
He later had the honour of ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
While taking a tour of the stock exchange floor, he reiterated to reporters his stance on climate change action.
“Is it the most important global issue the world faces right now? I don’t think so,” he said.
Read more about Abbott’s overseas adventures here.
6.41am
There has been another horror high school shooting in the United States overnight.
A gunman shot and killed a student with a semiautomatic weapon at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon.
Large numbers of armed police scambled to lock down the school after reports of shots fired about 8am local time.
Local police had contained the situation within about an hour.
“The gunman was located and the gunman is also deceased ... The situation is contained,” police chief Scott Anderson said.
6.30am
People heading to Melbourne Airport this morning can expect delays after a taxi hit two pedestrians just before 4am.
The departures drop-off area is closed after the taxi ran into two men who were unloading a mini van.
Paramedics told The Herald Sun that one man was crushed, while the other sustained a head injury.
Commuters should allow extra time if travelling to Tullamarine.
6am
The Voice judge Will.i.am has given a brutal assessment of the reality format, saying the best singer in the competition has no chance of winning the contest.
Speaking to News Corp’s Holly Byrnes, the Black Eyed Peas frontman said the winner was unlikely to have the best sound.
“It’s typical TV. They rarely vote for the person with the best voice. It isn’t really the best voice that wins, even though the show is called The Voice,” Will.i.am said.
“There is something sentimental, tugging on emotion, or people gravitate to that (artist’s) personality that factors in on why someone wins.”
Originally published as RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
Hopeful sign in search for missing campers
Police have provided an update in their search for a couple who were declared missing after they failed to return home from a camping trip in the outback.
Who let him in? Palestinian man’s terror links spark visa questions
A Palestinian man granted a visa to Australia has previously hosted political members of listed terror organisation at his Gaza art institute, and had multiple brothers and sons affiliated with the same violent groups.