RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
THE Texas cheerleader with a “menacing smile” proves she’s tougher than her critics and also explains why she’s inspired by The Walking Dead.
TODAY
• Kendall Jones has spoken out about comments that she has a “menacing smile” and the death threats over her pro-hunting photos.
• For updates on Malaysian Airlines MH17, click here.
• Major US, European and Canadian airlines have cancelled flights to and from Israel.
• Former US President Bill Clinton reportedly has a buxom blonde mistress.
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.
9.55am
Krispy Kreme mania continues in Adelaide with the local council forced to slap doughnut lovers with 145 parking fines after a flood of complaints from nearby residents.
The new store has been inundated with traffic and people since it opened last week, fines range from $62 for stopping in a loading zone to $245 for parking in a bicycle lane.
It comes as two teenagers were robbed of their doughnuts at knifepoint and people lined up for two days ahead of the opening.
9.45am
UPDATE: Newcastle fullback Darius Boyd has been checked into a mental health facility at the end of a tumultuous fortnight for the troubled star.
9.25am
The legalisation of medicinal cannabis in NSW looks increasingly likely with political leaders backing the idea.
Premier Mike Baird, Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner and opposition leader John Robertson last night indicated provisional support for legalising the drug for medicinal purposes, so long as key concerns over regulation and supply are addressed. The Greens also support it.
9am
A Queensland man who tortured a female flatmate in a bid to get cash and sex has been jailed for more than four years.
Fillipo James Musso, 21, was accused of stomping on the face of his girlfriend’s 20-year-old flatmate, trying to strangle her, bashing her with a broomstick, using pliers on her right finger, and threatening to rape her.
He plead guilty to torture, assault, extortion, sexual assault and attempted fraud but remained unrepentant yesterday during the sentencing, hurling expletive-laden threats at detectives in court.
8.45am
A horse owned by the Queen and which won one of England’s most prestigious races has failed a drugs test.
Buckingham has confirmed Estimate, which won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013 and came second in this year’s edition, has tested positive for morphine, a banned substance.
“Initial indications are that the positive test resulted from the consumption of a contaminated feed product,” a statement from the Queen’s bloodstock and racing adviser said.
8.25am
The rotten meat scandal is spreading fast, dragging in US coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King and others, as well as McDonald’s products in Japan.
It was revealed yesterday that McDonald’s and KFC in China had been supplied meat from Husi Food Co factory where out-of-date meat was mixed with fresh meat.
Now Starbucks has said some of its cafes previously sold products containing chicken originally sourced from Shanghai Husi, and McDonald’s in Japan confirms it also sourced some of its Chicken McNuggets from the company.
8.10am
Controversial Newcastle fullback Darius Boyd could face a club investigation following revelations a luxury hotel room he was staying in last week had $1500 worth of damage done to it.
8am
A year after Kevin Rudd opened ASIO’s new $700 million headquarters in Canberra, not a single spy has moved in.
Sources have revealed to The Australian that continued delays with the Ben Chifley Building, as it has been named, could mean ASIO may not move into its headquarters fully until early 2016 — nearly eight years after the project was first announced.
There have been fears that Chinese hackers have a copy of the floor plans and a government source said the ACT government refused to certify the project because it failed to meet building standards. There have been problems with windows falling off, fireproofing not meeting standards and airconditioning and hot water systems requiring serious rectifying.
7.45am
Indonesia’s electoral commission has announced Joko Widodo as the winner of the presidential election with 53 per cent — or more than 70 million votes — in the hard-fought July 9 poll.
Hours before the declaration, rival candidate Prabowo Subianto rejected the “legally tainted” poll.
“We withdraw ourselves from the ongoing process,” he said.
7.30am
Former US President Bill Clinton reportedly has a buxom blonde mistress.
The mistress visits so often that the former president’s Secret Service detail have given her an unofficial code name: Energiser.
She visits when Mr Clinton’s wife Hillary Clinton, who may be considering another run for the White House, isn’t home.
In a new book, one Secret Service agent describes his interaction with Energiser: “It was a warm day, and she was wearing a low-cut tank top, and as she leaned over, her breasts were very exposed. They appeared to be very perky and very new and full … There was no doubt in my mind they were enhanced.”
7.10am
Major US, European and Canadian airlines have cancelled flights to and from Israel after a rocket fired from Gaza struck near its main international airport in Tel Aviv.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Israel and Hamas to put an end to the fighting that has killed more than 620 Palestinians, but neither side has appeared willing to do so.
6.50am
International investigators have discovered that the Malaysian Airlines plane has been inexplicably sawn in half, while an Australian expert in Russian foreign policy and security says justice for the victims of MH17 may prove elusive. Check out other updates here.
6.30am
Controversial Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has apologised over sexist comments on live radio that sparked widespread condemnation yesterday.
When asked what she would be looking for in a man, she said: “They must have heaps of cash and they have got to have a package between their legs. Let’s be honest.”
Too bad, the 22-year-old single Tasmanian who rang up to ask Senator Lambie out on a date, told news.com.au he was still keen.
6.15am
Kendall Jones, 19, has spoken out about how it feels to be described as having a “menacing smile” and to get death threats over her pro-hunting photos.
“I think it’s very hurtful and it pains me just as much as anybody to be called those names. It’s rather concerning to see people condemn the taken life of an animal and in the next breath wish to see me dead,” she told First for Hunters.
The cheerleader said it was also odd that only women had been targeted by animal rights groups including the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
“Why would these huge, powerful organisations go after me, a woman, a minority in the hunting community and attack me with their anti-hunting rhetoric? I am not the first to go on African safaris yet these groups attack me nonetheless.”
Jones explains how she can be both a conservationist and hunter.
“As hunters, we have a deep appreciation for the game we hunt but also understand that hunting contributes to the prolonged existence of game species. Modern conservation is about reducing population risks, maintaining habitat and ensuring that species are sustainable for the future. Hunting does that.
“I believe in hunting and I believe in conservation, the death threats and cruel people won’t sway me.”
“I love hunting and believe in it and would love if more people were engaged in it. Apart from that I like it because it is a useful tool. I’m a huge fan of The Walking Dead. If that ever happened in real life, I’d feel confident in my abilities to survive!”
6am
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.
Infamous Aussie outback pub up for sale
An infamous Aussie pub at the centre of an eight-year-old mystery that was retold in a hit Netflix true crime series has been put on the market.
Infamous Aussie outback pub up for sale
An infamous Aussie pub at the centre of an eight-year-old mystery that was retold in a hit Netflix true crime series has been put on the market.
Unlikely backer of state’s hunting plan
A controversial plan to open up land to hunters and which could pave the way for bounty killings of feral animals has received support from an unlikely source.