RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
A CRICKETER is in trouble after wearing a uniform that breached the International Cricket Council’s Code of Conduct. But supporters say his work is more humanitarian than hate.
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.
TODAY:
• MEDAL TALLY: GOLD 30 | SILVER 25 | BRONZE 32
• Fascinatingly foul footage shows how stomach processes cheeseburger
• Latest on the violence in Gaza: eight Palestinian children dead
• It’s finally complete: Scott Cam unveils Gold logie stubby opener
• MH17: Unarmed Australian police forced to turn around
• Dummy spits and double false-starts: spare a thought for Australia’s Jake Stein
10:00am
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.
9:50am
In case you missed it:
Former speaker Peter Slipper has been found guilty of three counts of dishonesty for using cab charges to visit wineries.
— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) July 28, 2014Peter Slipper found guilty of dishonesty http://t.co/l2kzaEokxh
— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) July 28, 20149:40am
We finally have an answer for that mysterious photo of British singer Lily Allen in handcuffs at Coolangatta Airport. Turns out it was all a joke.
“It appears the members involved were caught up in the moment and standard protocols were breached,” an Australian Federal Police spokesman told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“At her request, the AFP members involved placed open handcuffs on Ms Allen for a photo opportunity,” the spokesman said.
The picture has since been deleted and the AFP confirmed the issue is “now subject to an internal process”.
9:15am
England has allowed cricketer Moeen Ali to wear a wristband embazoned with “Free Palestine” and “Save Gaza”, despite the International Cricket Council (ICC) banning players from wearing items of clothing with political slogans.
Photographed during the second day of the third cricket test match of the series between England and India at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England, the ICC has launched an investigation into the 27-year-old, in which he could face punishment for breaching its code of conduct.
But England believes Ali is unlikely to face punishment, with both the England and Wales Cricket Board saying “we don't believe he has committed an offence.”
9:00am
Brent Owens will be quitting his job as a bobcat driver after winning this year’s MasterChef Australia, writes News Corp’s Colin Vickery.
24-year-old Owens, from Victoria, staged a come-from-behind victory over teenage student Laura ‘Lottie’ Cassai on the Channel 10 reality cooking show last night.
It’s been a good year for the long-running Network Ten series, which has seen viewers return after a rocky series last year. Will it be back? We think so.
Thank-you for watching, hoped you loved it as much as we did....the ultimate cooking competition....be brave & apply for 2015 @masterchefau
— Gary Mehigan (@crispycrackling) July 28, 2014THANKS so much to all in Oz who watched. Until next time here are the only 2 words missing from this year's @masterchefau finale. THE END !
— Matt Preston (@MattsCravat) July 28, 2014The stars of the show. The hard workers. Thank u. MC 5. GC pic.twitter.com/l3tTZSlyVM
— George Calombaris (@gcalombaris) July 28, 20148:30am
A Palestinian teenager is using social media to give a devastatingly frightening insight into the situation in Gaza.
16-year-old Farah Gazxan is scoring thousands of retweets on Twitter after sharing her private terror as rockets fell through Gaza overnight. “I might die tonight,” she wrote.
This is in my area. I can't stop crying. I might die tonight #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #ICC4Israel #AJAGAZA pic.twitter.com/DdDBIO7Q4B
— Guess what (@Farah_Gazan) July 28, 2014We are sitting in darkness bc th power is off, flares r lightening up th area just like it's midday,we're just hearin bombs,drones,f16s#Gaza
— Guess what (@Farah_Gazan) July 28, 2014This is one of the hundreds bombs that I'm hearing #Gaza YOU MUST LISTEN http://t.co/WoYszAHzDu
— Guess what (@Farah_Gazan) July 28, 2014Whenever my 6 yrs old sis hear the rocket falling she covers her ears and shout while crying in order not to hear the bomb #Gaza #AJAGAZA
— Guess what (@Farah_Gazan) July 28, 20148:00am
If you’re eating breakfast, LOOK AWAY NOW.
Footage has revealed exactly how your stomach processes and digests food - and it’s kinda gross. Scientists from YouTube’s The Periodic Table of Videos dunk a McDonald’s cheeseburger into a vat of concentrated hydrochloric acid, let it sit for a few hours....and voila. Digestion!
Or was that disgusting?
7:55am
Speaking of Jake Stein (see below news piece), turns out he has other issues to take up with Commonwealth Games organisers:
Hey @Glasgow2014 any chance of some nice soft @Kleenex toilet paper in block 191? I think we have been receiving sandpaper....
— Jake Stein (@JakeStein_Dec) July 27, 2014@JakeStein_Dec @Glasgow2014 @Kleenex I second this
— Brandon Starc (@Brandonstarc93) July 27, 20147:30am
While Australia continues to dominate the Commonwealth Games, spare a thought for young Jake Stein, who spent the night with his tail between his legs after a double false-start in the opening event of the decathlon caused a dummy spit that had ‘pain’ plastered all across his face.
Describing the turn of events as “schoolboy error”, the 20-year-old from Sydney blew any chance of getting on the podium just a couple of minutes into the first of 10 events.
“I definitely knew it was me, the guys I’m competing against I don’t think they’re silly enough to go twice,” he told News Corp’s Scott Gullan in Glasgow.
“I knew it was me straight away, I could see I was well ahead of everyone and my start is not that good.
“Obviously there were a few nerves being my first senior comp, I got a bit too excited and went twice.”
After initially contemplating pulling out of the competition, he quickly changed his mind and fronted up for the long jump an hour later.
“For a couple of seconds I was like, ‘Do I really want to be here?’ And then my mind changed pretty quickly,” he said.
If at first you don’t succeed, Stein, dust yourself off and try again.
"Tough times come and go but tough people last forever" Robert Lister
— Jake Stein (@JakeStein_Dec) July 28, 2014
6:45am
Tony Abbott’s perceived strong response to the Malaysia Airlines disaster has seen him achieve a ratings boost.
AAP reports the prime minister’s 12-point jump in voter satisfaction is his best result in three months, according to the latest Newspoll. Published by The Australian, the poll shows voters approve of the performance and leadership shown by both Mr Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in the aftermath of the MH17 tragedy.
The rise in support for the prime minister more than reverses the popularity setback he copped after the delivery of the May budget, and lifts him to equal billing with Mr Shorten as the nation’s preferred leader after 12 weeks on the outer.
The poll shows there has been almost no change in the standing of the parties in the past fortnight, with the Coalition and Labor both recording a primary vote of 36 per cent. The Greens hold 12 per cent and the Palmer United Party and the independents sit at 16 per cent.
In the two-party-preferred stakes, Labor still enjoys a lead of 54 per cent to 46 per cent.
Mr Abbott’s satisfaction rating has risen five points to 36 per cent while dissatisfaction with him has fallen seven points to 53 per cent.
Guess he’s got every reason reason to be happy today.
6:15am
For the second day running Australian and Dutch unarmed police have been forced to turn around before reaching the MH17 crash site due to heavy shelling in eastern Ukraine.
And for the second day running Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has insisted Canberra won’t be deterred by the setback, reports AAP.
“Tomorrow we will attempt to make the journey again because we owe it to the families of the people who were killed in this aircraft crash to retrieve the bodies and remains of their loved ones,” Ms Bishop told reporters in Kiev on Monday.
“We will not put our police in harm’s way, we will not take any unnecessary risks.
“But we will not be deterred in our efforts to get onto that site and retrieve the bodies of Australians who were killed.”
About 300 Australian officials, including 38 specialist disaster victim identification experts, are now on the ground in Europe and working on the MH17 incident, according to News Corp’s Cindy Wockner in Amsterdam.
Authorities estimate only about 200 bodies of the 298 passengers and crew have so far been retrieved
6:00am
Exchanges of fire have killed eight Palestinian children in a Gaza refugee camp and four people in Israel, shattering hopes for an end to three weeks of devastating violence.
AFP reports the missile that slammed into a public playground in the seafront Shati UN refugee camp on Monday also killed at least two other people and wounded another 46, many of them also children, emergency services said.
Soon after, a security source said five Gaza militants were killed in a shootout with troops in southern Israel.
Hamas’s armed wing claimed it killed 10 Israeli soldiers in a raid in the same area, and denied it lost any men.
The latest bloodshed pushed the Palestinian death toll from violence in and around the coastal enclave to more than 1050.
5:40am
The Gold Logie stubby opener is finally complete.
Yes, he’s been talking about it ever since he accepted Australia’s coveted television trophy and now The Block’s Scott Cam has finally unveiled the finished product, overnight posting his completed masterpiece on Twitter.
And we’ve got to admit, it’s pretty impressive.
The gold stubby opener is complete pic.twitter.com/jz1A1fHnxl
— Scotty Cam (@ScottyCam9) July 28, 2014Close up pic.twitter.com/7ZXTE6NX9L
— Scotty Cam (@ScottyCam9) July 28, 2014“I’m pretty sure it might be the first one,” he told News Corp’s Dianne Butler.
“When you’ve got friends over, you can’t actually say ‘come and have a look at my Gold Logie’. That’s a bit pretentious. But if someone’s got a stubby, then I’ll go hang on, let me just go get my gold stubby opener.”
Better than a doorstop, eh?
‘Back on track’: Dutton’s new ad pledge
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has attempted to show off a softer side to his political personality by debuting a new ad where he promises to get Australia “back on track.”
‘Evil forces’: PM’s tough talk on Nazi rally
Anthony Albanese has slammed “evil forces” seeking to divide Australians after 15 men and a teenager were arrested at a neo-Nazi march.
‘Done all we can:’ Albo’s big call on rates
The Prime Minister says his government has “done all it can” to tame inflation to allow the RBA to cut rates and deliver households much needed relief.