RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
WHAT do you do if you can’t find your husband? Divorce him via a Facebook message, and change your relationship status to single.
Good morning, and welcome to our morning news coverage. We will be bringing you the best of what’s happening this morning, so you can get across the news quickly.
9.45am
A 100-year-old Japanese woman has become the world’s first centenarian to complete a 1,500-metre freestyle swim, 20 years after she took up the sport.
Mieko Nagaoka took just under an hour and 16 minutes to finish the race as the sole competitor in the 100-104-year-old category at a short course pool in Ehime, western Japan, on Saturday.
Her achievement is expected to be recognised by Guinness World Records.
9.35am
George and Amal Clooney have taken action to discourage locals and fans from disturbing them in Italy.
According to Fairfax, anyone who sets foot on their Lake Como properties or disturbs the occupants faces a $600 fine. The mayor of the Laglio community in northern Italy has posted a public notice to protect the couple’s privacy and this has been placed around their home.
9.35am
An Australian is among six Greenpeace activists who have boarded a Shell oil rig in the Pacific Ocean.
Zoe Lennox, 21, has infiltrated the 38,000-tonne Polar Pioneer platform, which is in the Pacific Ocean en route to the Arctic.
The group, which also includes activists from US, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Austria, climbed aboard the platform, 1200km northwest of Hawaii, on Tuesday morning, Greenpeace says.
I'm just one person stuck on a drill rig, but you are many. http://t.co/QVIUI5dAYS #PeopleVsShell #TheCrossing pic.twitter.com/rdH7EWb7Jx
— Zoe Buckley Lennox (@zoevirginia) April 6, 20159.30am
A Chinese chemical plant has exploded for the second time in two years.
Three people were injred in an explosion at the plant in the eastern city of Zhangzhou, Chinese media reproted.
Footage from an amateur video posted by China’s CCTV News showed flames billowing into the air following the explosion at the plant producing paraxylene -- a chemical used to make fabricin Fujian province.
9.15am
Police have charged a man with murder following a stabbing at Toukley, on the NSW Central Coast yesterday.
Just after midnight on Monday, police were called to the Beachcomber Hotel where two men aged 25 and 28 had sustained stab wounds after an alleged altercation with four other patrons.
They were both taken to Gosford Hospital where the older man, Greg Gibbins, later died.
Last night a 20-year-old man was arrested at a house in Halekulani and later charged with murder.
9.05am
Greece has confirmed it will make a 460 million euro ($A660 million) debt payment to the International Monetary Fund this week as it seeks to allay concerns over the country’s solvency.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said late on Sunday that Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had pledged to make the payment on time in a meeting Washington.
8.55am
Gold Coast fitness queen Ashy Bines has stopped short of apologising to fans after it was revealed large sections of her clean eating recipes were ripped off from other websites.
At least 10 recipes from Bines’s online products have been identified as being exactly the same or slightly changed from those found on other food blogs with earlier dates — with one even using the same photo.
Addressing the revelations on YouTube, Ms Bines said her books had been outsourced to an unnamed nutritionist.
8.45am
British comedian John Oliver and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have reframed the government surveillance debate in terms we can all understand: personal nude photos.
The TV host played videos of Americans who had no idea who Snowden was, with many mistaking for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Oliver then showed a video of people being interviewed about having their personal nude photos stolen, which got them more fired up.
“The bad news is [the government’s] still collecting everybody’s information — including your d*ck pics,” Snowden said.
8.30am
A batch of burnt popcorn caused the evacuation of four cinemas at a West Australian cinema complex last night.
Firefighters were called to the Grand Cinema Warwick just after 9pm, according to The West Australian.
It is believed that burnt popcorn may have caught alight after it was thrown into a bin. Firefighters were called when smoke appeared throughout the building.
8.15am
Did you miss the AFL television smorgasbord last night?
Here is a wrap-up of an action-packed day of footy news, headlined by Hawthorn’s dominant win over Geelong, the contentious illicit drugs policy and the conundrum surrounding Gary Ablett’s shoulder
8.10am
The political crisis that has engulfed the federal parliament for the past 18 months will lead Australia down a “road of economic despair”, the nation’s leading industry and business groups have warned.
With the Reserve Bank considering another interest rate cut today, the country’s largest employer groups have issued an extraordinary joint statement demanding all sides of politics start acting in the national interest.
Warning that Australians’ standard of living was in jeopardy because of a lack of political courage to engage in reform, the statement petitioned all sides of politics to govern in the tradition of the “reform giants” — Hawke/Keating and Howard/Costello.
8.05am
Australian comedian Sarah Kendall has called out a new generation of joke-tellers who cannot take criticism.
“I think we’re in a culture where, as soon as someone is criticised, they immediately say: ‘You can’t censor me. This is free speech!’
7.55am
A beanie belonging to missing boy Luke Shambrook was found last night, as hundreds of volunteers scoured dense scrubland around Lake Eildon in Victoria.
The breakthrough clue came after a slow and frustrating day for volunteers, who scoured a 10sq km area around the Devil’s Cove campground where the 11-year-old was last seen.
Luke, who has autism, was last seen about 9.30am on Good Friday wearing the beanie, grey pants and a black jacket with red sleeves.
7.40am
American television journalist Diane Sawyer will conduct a two-hour interview with Bruce Jenner that will air on Friday, April 24.
The US network ABC says that the former Olympic champion and patriarch of the Kardashian television clan will give a “far-ranging interview.” Jenner has not spoken publicly about it but he has been looking more feminine in appearance, and those in his inner circles have not challenged speculation that he is preparing to live as a woman. The interview will air at 9pm on April 24.
7.20am
The Bali Nine duo yesterday lost a bid to challenge their clemency rejections and Jakarta is now just waiting on the legal efforts of a few other prisoners before setting an execution date for 10 inmates, including the two Australians.
Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran plan to move their battle to the constitutional court, despite Attorney-General HM Prasetyo dismissing such plans as delaying tactics.
“No, there shall be no more (delays),” he said after Monday’s verdict.
7.05am
Game of Throne fans are about to get rocked by a brand-new bunch of butt-kicking women as they count down to the premier of season 5.
6.55am
Sydney rail workers spat on by unruly commuters want bosses to supply “spit kits” to collect the saliva of offenders for DNA testing.
The portable testing equipment will deter the increasing number of spit assaults on guards, station staff and drivers, the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said.
Workers worried about violent attacks also want Sydney Trains’ management to provide employee ID cards fitted with panic alarms and cameras to record confrontations with violent customers.
6.45am
The federal Coalition has lost its edge among male voters for the first time in the five-and-a-half years Tony Abbott has been Liberal leader.
Labor’s support from men has climbed to a five-year high of 38 per cent, according to an analysis of Newspolls conducted exclusively for The Australian in the first three months of this year.
It is now equal with the 38 per cent of men who support the Coalition, which is the lowest level since Malcolm Turnbull was leader in 2009 and down 10 points since the election in 2013.
6.30am
Prince Harry has landed in Darwin for the next stage of his month-long duty with the Australian Army.
The Prince arrived at RAAF Base Darwin just after 4pm Monday (ACST), and was escorted to Robertson Barracks by a convoy of official vehicles.
While in Darwin, he will head out with members of Norforce, the mostly indigenous unit which patrols across northern Australia.
6.15am
A man who allegedly filmed men’s private parts in a toilet block at the Royal Easter Show yesterday has been charged.
About 5.30pm on Monday, security staff alerted police working at the show that a man was allegedly filming adult men urinating in a toilet block.
The 26-year-old man was arrested and charged for filming a person’s private parts without consent after police viewed images on his phone.
6am
A woman has been given court approval to legally divorce her husband via a Facebook message.
In a landmark ruling, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper is allowing a US woman, Ellanora Baidoo to serve her husband with divorce papers via a Facebook message. She has also been granted permission to change her relationship status to “single”.
According to the New York Daily News, Baidoo and Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku got married in a civil ceremony in 2009 but their relationship soured after Blood-Dzraku failed to follow through on his promise to organise a traditional African wedding ceremony as well.
The wedding was never consummated and the couple never lived together. He kept in touch with Baidoo using phone and Facebook.
Dutton’s ‘personal’ promise on DV action
A national register of convicted domestic abusers and new laws targeting coercive control would be implemented if the Coalition is elected next month.
Albo’s $1.2bn pledge amid tariff threat
The Albanese government will invest $1.2bn into Australia’s critical minerals supply, which will likely play a major role in negotiating a tariff carveout from the Trump administration.
‘Why are Aus troops training for China war?’
The Defence Minister has addressed reports from the Philippines where local and US troops are engaged in “full-scale war” training.