RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
TONY Abbott has been given major props from a big Hollywood star when they shared a workout overnight. Find out who in our morning news blog.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
LIVE UPDATES
Today
● Which Hollywood star has given our PM a big pat on the back?
● Joe Hockey delivers impassioned defence of his unpopular Budget
● Rogue MP Geoff Shaw turfed from Parliament
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.
9.40am
A heartwarming story for your Thursday morning.
An eight-year-old girl who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer three years ago has become the first person in the world to beat the illness.
England’s Claudia Burkill has been told by doctors for much of the past three years that she only had weeks to live, due to a malignant brain tumour that was diagnosed when she was five.
However, Claudia’s mum had good news to report to her Facebook friends at the weekend.
“Claudia is cancer-free and no longer classed as terminally ill,” Mrs Burkill wrote on her daughter’s Facebook page.
Read more here.
9.20am
She had a famously tough time in parliament and she continues to attract scandal from the political wilderness.
A royal commission into union corruption has heard that former prime minister Julia Gillard was handed a wads of cash in 1993 to pay for renovations on her Melbourne home by her then boyfriend Bruce Wilson.
The builder who did the work said Ms Gillard told him the renovations were paid for by Mr Wilson, who is accused of rorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Australian Workers Union members.
Ms Gillard has always maintained that she knew nothing of the AWU slush fund and that she paid for the renovations herself.
Read the full details in The Australian.
9am
A burnt dead body has been discovered in a shed that was engulfed in fire behind a home in Brisbane’s southeast in the early hours of this morning.
Early investigations suggest it is the body of a 50-year-old man who had been using the shed as a granny flat, firefighters told The Courier Mail.
Emergency services are on the scene and investigations are continuing.
8.45am
There was a flood of tears in court yesterday — including from the accused murderer — when the jury was played interviews with Allison Baden-Clay’s daughters on the day she disappeared.
The police recordings were the first piece of evidence in the trial of real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay, who has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife in April of 2012.
The interviews described how Allison had kissed her young girls goodnight, sang them a bedtime song and promised to be back to check on them. But she was never seen again.
The evidence brought many in the court to tears, including Mr Baden-Clay.
The case resumes today. Stay up to date with The Courier Mail.
8.23am
Islamic militants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a jihadist offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad.
Since the fundamentalists began their assault on Iraq’s second-largest city Mosul late on Monday, militants have captured a large sections of the country’s north, prompting as many as half a million people to flee their homes, AFP reports.
The lightning-fast attack, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has set off alarm bells in Western capitals.
However, security forces managed to thwart an assault on the city of Samarra yesterday.
8.05am
Although many have predicted that Barack Obama and Tony Abbott will not see eye to eye when they meet in Washington this week, the Aussie PM has confessed to a strong admiration for the US President.
Mr Abbott has described the world leader as an “extraordinarily gifted man” and revealed that he will push for a deepening of US-Australian relations.
The PM told journalist Simon Benson that he would seek a commitment from the US that its military and strategic rebalance to our region and Asia would be real and lasting.
And to sweeten the deal, Mr Abbott will give Mr Obama the quintessential Aussie gift — a malibu surfboard custom-made in Manly.
7.50am
News aggregator Feedly has been attacked by cyber criminals.
The site has posted that the perpetrators are trying to extort money from it.
“We refused to give in and are working with our network providers to mitigate the attack as best as we can,” the site posted.
Feedly is down this morning, but managers maintain that users’ data is safe.
The service is under a denial of service attack. We are working with our network provider to deflect it. Sorry for the inconvenience.
— feedly (@feedly) June 11, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: The service is under a denial of service attack. We are working with our network provider to deflect it. Sorry for the inconvenience.— feedly (@feedly) June 11, 2014
7.30am
This may be a bitter pill to swallow, but it turns out that drug companies are duping us into paying up to five times more for painkillers with flashy names that contain virtually the same ingredients as typical drugs.
As news.com.au’s Daniel Piotrowski reports this morning, consumer watchdog Choice claims that premium painkillers such as Nurofen Zavance, Panadol Rapid and Panadol Optizorb “dress up paracetamol and ibuprofen to get you to pay up to five times more for effectively the same product”.
The University of Canberra’s Associate Professor Greg Kyle has backed up Choice’s research, adding that claims that certain drugs can be absorbed by the body faster were accurate, but ultimately made little difference to pain relief.
7.15am
She lost her last boyfriend in the most tragic of circumstances — and now her new man is making headlines of his own.
Hollywood gossip site TMZ is reporting that Lea Michelle’s new beau Matthew Paetz was a gigolo in a past life.
For $US350 for one hour or $US6000 for a weekend, people could hire Paetz — under the alias Christian — through Cowboys4Angels, a company that offers male escorts.
Michelle’s former boyfriend, Glee co-star Cory Monteith, died last year.
7am
He’s been giving Victorian pollies a headache for the past few weeks, and now they will have some relief — well, at least for the next 11 days.
Rogue MP Geoff Shaw has been suspended from the Victorian parliament after former Liberal speaker Ken Smith changed his mind about backing Labor in its bid to expel him, AAP reports.
Mr Smith had pledged to back the opposition in turfing Mr Shaw from the House, but instead supported the government move to suspend the balance-of-power MP for 11 sitting days.
“The member for Frankston has trashed the reputation of this parliament over the past three and a half years,” Mr Smith said yesterday, referring to the Mr Shaw’s misuse of parliamentary entitlements.
6.30am
Treasurer Joe Hockey has delivered an impassioned defence of his unpopular Budget, saying government handouts are available to too many people.
As The Australian reports, Mr Hockey said the average employee worked for more than a month each year to pay for the welfare of another Australian.
“Payments are too broadly available to many people,” Mr Hockey told conservative think tank The Sydney Institute last night.
“It is fair to expect those who have the capacity to pay should accept more personal responsibility for their cost of living, the cost of raising their children, their health services and their education.”
6.15am
It’s yet to be seen whether the stadiums will be ready, but the World Cup is due to kick off at 6am tomorrow Australian time in Sao Paulo when host country Brazil takes on Croatia.
News.com.au sports expert Cameron Tomarchio has prepared an idiot’s guide to the 2014 Cup with a rundown of when the Aussies play, the major players, top matches and the hottest WAG.
He also rates the Socceroos’ chances of success. (Don’t get your hopes up!)
Check it out here.
6am
Hollywood star and proud Aussie Hugh Jackman has given Tony Abbott a major pat on the back as he continued his tour of the US overnight.
The Wolverine star posted a pic through Instagram after they shared an early morning workout.
“Look who popped into our early A.M. workout … The PM can train!!!” wrote Jackman, who is sporting a shaved head and beard for his new movie Pan.
The PM is due to meet US President Barack Obama later this week.
Originally published as RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
Proof you can own in Sydney for under $1m
Fresh government data has shined new hope on the great Australian dream, proving you can still buy a home in Sydney for under $1m.
Door open for taxpayers to own Rex
While the beleaguered Rex Airlines is yet to find a buyer, Anthony Albanese has promised to keep the carrier flying in regional and remote Australia.