RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
EERIE photos of Melbourne as fog blankets the city this morning. The wintry weather also left airline passengers stranded.
TODAY
• Fog is covering Melbourne on a freezing morning, causing delays at the airport and it could take hours to clear.
• The pro-Russian separatists have handed over the black box to Malaysian investigators. More updates here.
• Rotten meat was sold to McDonald’s and KFC in China.
10am
That’s it for our live #RUSHHOUR news blog. You can get across the stories you need to know today below or go to news.com.au for the latest headlines.
9.45am
World efforts to broker a ceasefire in war-torn Gaza have gathered pace.
Israel has launched a blistering 14-day assault on the enclave, pushing the Palestinian death toll to 548.
Washington and the United Nations have demanded an “immediate ceasefire” but so far there has been no let up in the Israeli offensive, with another 31 Gazans killed in a series of strikes.
9.20am
Premier Campbell Newman has apologised to the people of Queensland and announced he will reverse some of his controversial policies.
Mr Newman said changes included that appointments to the Crime and Corruption Commission would again be bipartisan and bikies would no longer be isolated in jail.
“I’m sorry today if we have done things that have upset people,” Mr Newman said.
His comments come after Labor won the Stafford by-election by a huge swing of 18.6 per cent at the weekend. The result does not bode well for his re-election chances.
9am
Police believe human remains washed ashore at Pearl Beach could be that of five-year-old drowning victim Chayce Kofe.
8.50am
Rotten meat was sold to McDonald’s and KFC in China including meat that was dropped on a factory floor and out-of-date meat mixed with fresh meat.
The companies have stopped using meat from Husi Food Co but the latest report has dented confidence in dairies, fast food outlets and other suppliers in the country.
KFC’s reputation was also impacted by a report in December last year that some chicken suppliers were violating rules on drug use.
8.40am
The Productivity Commission’s long-awaited draft report into the childcare system recommends scrapping the childcare benefit and the childcare rebate and creating a single subsidy to cover childcare costs, including, for the first time, nannies.
8.30am
The pro-Russian separatists have handed over the black box to Malaysian investigators. More updates here.
8am
A cure for AIDS is still many more years away, with researchers unwilling to set any sort of timetable.
“I don’t know how long it will take to get a cure,” said French virologist Francois Barre-Sinoussi, who is credited with discovering HIV, told Melbourne’s AIDS 2014 conference.
7.45am
Fog is covering Melbourne on a freezing morning, causing delays at the airport and it could take hours to clear.
Parliament House lit up red for #AIDS2014 Melbourne pic.twitter.com/wCrDvmHi1v
— Barbara (@cullenarius) July 21, 2014Good Morning Fog. #Melbourne pic.twitter.com/P606qV2xds
— Satbir (@Satbir90S) July 21, 2014Melbourne covered in fog at 8.10am #itscoldtoo pic.twitter.com/9fUHKqjQrG
— Madonna King (@madonnamking) July 21, 20147.30am
Detectives are on the hunt for a prison escapee who fled from Department of Corrective Services guards in Armadale, Western Australia this morning.
Michael James Hayward, 20, was being transported from a hospital to Karnet Prison Farm when he escaped from the guards just before 10.30am yesterday.
Anyone who sees Mr Hayward should call police on 131 444.
7am
Blue Mountains beauty Anja Nissen has been voted Australia’s favourite singer on The Voice.
The 18-year-old singer beat out Team Ricky’s Jackson Thomas and Team Kylie’s favourite Johnny Rollins to take the title last night.
6.40am
James Packer’s Crown Resorts is setting up the biggest corporate philanthropic foundation in Australian history.
The Crown Resorts Foundation will contribute $100 million to the National Philanthropic Fund, while the Packer family will give another $100 million over the next 10 years.
It will focus on improving indigenous education, assisting community welfare programs and making artistic endeavours accessible to more Australians.
6.20am
Australia’s greatest ever female cyclist Anna Meares will carry the nation’s flag in the opening ceremony of her fourth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The games will begin on Wednesday, July 23.
5.50am
The remains of around 282 bodies recovered from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines MH17 are finally on their way to the Netherlands.
Dutch pathologists will undertake complex and sensitive work, which could take weeks, before the bodies are returned to their home countries.
RELATED: This morning's updates on MH17
It is understood the train will go to Kharkov and then a Dutch plane will take the bodies directly to Holland, arriving Tuesday afternoon AEST.
There has also been breakthrough on the black boxes, with pro-Russian separatists reportedly agreeing to hand them over to Malaysian experts.
5.31am
The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to support Australia’s resolution for a full and independent investigation into the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster.
The Australian resolution, backed by France and Lithuania, will provide safe access for international investigators to collect the bodies, examine the site, access the black box flight recorders and hunt for those responsible for the atrocity.
Russia, as one of five permanent members of the Security Council, had the power to veto the resolution but did not.
This will allow international experts to investigate the crash, retrieve bodies from the site and find out who was responsible for shooting down the Malaysia Airlines flight.
#UNSC adopts resolution condemning downing of #MH17 and calling for unrestricted access and independent investigation. #Ukraine
— SCR (@SCRtweets) July 21, 20145.30am
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.
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Infamous Aussie outback pub up for sale
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Unlikely backer of state’s hunting plan
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