RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

CHINESE actress Zhang Ziyi is engaged after an unusual marriage proposal.

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.

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.

9.50am

A survey of residents in Tony Abbott’s Sydney electorate has revealed less than 40 per cent of voters still back him.

The Manly Daily took to the electorate to poll voters in the northern beaches on their support for Mr Abbott during the leadership crisis yesterday. Of the 50 people polled, 38 per cent said he should remain as prime minister.

A further 36 per cent said Mr Abbott should step down.

The remaining 26 per cent said they did not care.

The results were hardly a vote of confidence from his own electorate, where Mr Abbott won in 2013 with 65.35 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

Tony Abbott stands with fellow lifesavers ready to take part in a proficiency swim at the Queenscliff Surf Club in Sydney.

9.40am

If you are single and want to start a family, stop waiting for your perfect match and settle for the second best.

Well, at least that is the advice published by researchers from Michigan State who determined settling for Mr Right Now is a better evolutionary strategy than waiting for Mr Right.

MSU professor of microbiology and molecular genetics Chris Adami said it is human nature to take the safe bet when stakes are high — such as the odds of producing offspring.

“An individual might hold out to find the perfect mate but run the risk of coming up empty and leaving no progeny,” Adami said.

Settling for Mr or Mrs Right Now is a better evolutionary strategy.

9.30am

In another interview this morning, Julie Bishop has urged Tony Abbott to respond to concerns from within his party about his “powerful” chief of staff Peta Credlin.

Ms Bishop, who is known to have butted heads with Ms Credlin, stopped short of saying the Prime Minister should replace his chief of staff but said that the concerns from his own MPs about her level of control needed to be heeded.

“The Prime Minister must respond to their concerns if they are valid concerns,” Ms Bishop told ABC Radio.

“Peta Credlin is a very powerful figure in the sense that she is strong, she has a lot of opinions and is very protective of the Prime Minister.”

PM Tony Abbott's Chief of Staff Peta Credlin in the House of Representatives.

9.25am

Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has not revealed how he voted in the leadership spill motion yesterday but said the PM clearly had the support of his cabinet and ministry.

In an interview with 2GB, Mr Morrison said the worst day under the Abbott Government was still better than the best day under the Shorten Government.

He said yesterday was a difficult and brutal day but “what the party room said yesterday was that they want Tony and they want Joe”.

Scott Morrison and Arthur Sinodinis head to the Liberal party room to vote on a motion to spill the leadership.

9.10am

A Chinese mining billionaire said to have links with disgraced former security tsar Zhou Yongkang and who once launched a bid for Australia’s Sundance Resources has been executed for multiple murder.

Liu Han, his younger brother Liu Wei and three accomplices were condemned to death in May for “organising and leading a mafia-style group”, murder and other crimes.

Their appeals were unsuccessful and all five were put to death on Monday, the Xianning Intermediate court in the central province of Hubei said on its verified account on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

Former mining tycoon Liu Han sits in a Chinese court in central China's Hubei Province on May 23, 2014. Picture: CCTV

9am

For the first time, armed guards will be protecting politicians at the federal Parliament.

The increased security presence is part of the second tranche of security changes put in place by Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Senate President Stephen Parry.

According to Fairfax, starting on Monday, several guards with guns are now stationed on the ground level of both houses of parliament.

Armed guards will protect politicians at Parliament House, Canberra.

8.40am

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Zhang Ziyi has reportedly accepted a marriage proposal delivered by drone.

The Chinese actor was celebrating her birthday on Saturday with her boyfriend Wang Feng, a Chinese rock singer and composer, when the drone landed nearby.

Feng retrieved an engagement ring from inside the unmanned aircraft before getting down on one knee. Zhang said “yes” and the couple kissed while the night sky lit up with fireworks.

Zhang Ziyi is engaged after accepting a marriage proposal delivered by drone. Picture: AP Photo/Wally Santana

8.20am

The taxman is probing Swiss banks accounts of 261 Australians as new details emerge of the banking industry’s biggest ever leak of account data.

According to the Herald Sun, the Australian Taxation Office recovered an extra $30 million in tax from Australians linked to some of the accounts. High-profile Aussies including Elle Macpherson and the late billionaire media baron Kerry Packer have been named in connection with the leak of a cache of files from HSBC’s Swiss banking arm. It is not suggested any of those named broke any law.

The account data was turned over to French authorities by former HSBC employee Herve Falciani in 2008.

Elle Macpherson’s Swiss bank account details may have been leaked.

8am

Kanye West has attacked Beck for winning album of the year at the Grammys over Beyonce in a repeat performance of his infamous Taylor Swift moment.

Luckily, Beck handled the moment with humility and grace.

West appeared on E!’s after show to explain in detail how he felt about the Recording Academy’s decision to award Beck.

“I don’t know what he said, all I know is if the Grammys want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us,” Kanye said. “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé, and at this point, we tired of it.”

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West at the Grammy Awards. Picture: Jen Lowery / Splash News Splash

Beck, 44, who walked away with the Album of the Year Grammy, beating out Beyoncé, Pharrell, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, told Us Weekly said: “He (Kanye) deserves to be onstage as much as anybody. How many great records has he put out in the last five years, right?”

Beck (right) has brushed off Kanye’s attack. Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

7.30am

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Joe Hockey was continuing as the Treasurer and has been asked by the PM to prepare the next Budget.

When asked whether Ms Hockey’s position as Treasurer was safe, Ms Bishop said it was the Prime Minister’s call.

“The Prime Minister as leader of the party is elected by the party room. I, as deputy, are separately elected by the party room ... other than that the appointments are made by the Prime Minister so that is a matter for the Prime Minister and yesterday the Prime Minister and Joe Hockey were talking about the preparations of the Budget,” Ms Bishop said in an interview on Today.

Ms Bishop said there had been “very frank” and “very strong” discussions during a cabinet meeting last night but there had been no recriminations following the spill motion vote.

“People shook hands, some people hugged,” she said.

She said that a report that six ministers voted against Tony Abbott in yesterday’s spill motion were “pure speculation”.

Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull during Question Time yesterday.

Ms Bishop said that the spill motion was a secret ballot and that many people were holding their cards close to their chests.

“I’m not going to state on national television how I voted because that will put unfair pressure on everybody else,” Ms Bishop said.

“What’s the point of a secret ballot then.”

7am

A woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a man with a pair of scissors in Sydney overnight.

About 11pm on Monday the woman went to a unit on Erith St, Blacktown and got into an argument with a man. She allegedly stabbed the man several times before running away.

The man is at Westmead Hospital with non life threatening injuries.

Police are urging anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/

Police have established a crime scene on Eltham Street, Blacktown after a man was stabbed. Picture: Bill Hearne

6.50am

Tim Robards, the original Bachelor, and his chosen lady from that show, Anna Heinrich, have been lobbed into the South African bush as the first two intruders on television show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.

Their arrival in camp was a mostly awkward moment, with the originals slow to jump up and greet them.

Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich have joined I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

6.30am

A manhunt is underway this morning in Queensland after a man was allegedly stabbed to death in Logan.

Police were called to Golden Street shortly before 4am following reports of a disturbance.

A man, aged in his 20s, who was located at the scene with injuries has passed away.

According to Nine News, a manhunt is underway for the killer who reportedly stabbed the victim to death.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

6.20am

At least half a dozen ministers broke ranks and voted against Tony Abbott for a spill yesterday in what colleagues have described as a gross act of disloyalty.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that by Sunday night the Prime Minister had received 70 pledges of support from MPs promising to vote against a party room motion to spill his leadership.

A minister close to the PM said he was shocked when the count confirmed only 61 votes.

“Nine people lied to him,” he said.

Leadership in question: Nine people may have lied to Tony Abbott after spill motion vote.

6am

A gynaecologist who helped two women find their G-spots in the US has been stripped of his medical licence.

The State Medical Board of Ohio last month voted to sanction Dr Kurt Froehlich, 48, and permanently revoke his licence, with one board member describing the case as the “most crude” he had seen in 40 years.

According to The Smoking Gun, Froehlich stimulated two female patients to orgasm while working at Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati. One of the women asked him a question about arousal and to show her the location of the G-spot. During a subsequent meeting he stimulated the woman to orgasm and also had sex with her a week later.

The doctor, who saw about 30 patients a day, would usually show women the location of the G-spot on a diagram. He later stimulated another woman to orgasm but did not have sex with her.

He was also accused of groping the breast of a medical assistant and trying to shove his hand down her pants.

In handing down the tough decision members of the board said Dr Froehlich felt “so powerful that he performed stimulation in a hospital room” and had tried to make excuses for his behaviour.