RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
HE MAY have a reputation for being ‘sleazy’ but another conquest on Lindsay Lohan’s infamous sex list has denied a liaison with the actor.
TODAY:
• The latest Newspoll shows both Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten are more unpopular than before the Budget.
• Evidence has been gathered implicating Essendon and Cronulla sports scientist Stephen Dank in wide-scale Medicare fraud and forgery.
• Blues captain Paul Gallen has opened up about the mental anguish of ASADA’s supplements investigation.
• Another celebrity named on Lindsay Lohan’s sex list has denied a liaison with the actor.
10am
That’s it for our Tuesday morning 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
A young woman is lucky to be alive after her ute was stranded in a crocodile infested river in Kakadu National Park.
The woman, who was trapped in a ute in window-deep water in the rushing river, was rescued by a tour boat operator who just happened to be passing by.
“There was a poor girl stuck in there, the water was too deep for her to get out,” Witness Bev Turner told the Northern Territory News. “She was quite calm in the car but in the boat she was dry-retching, vomiting, she was in shock.”
9.45am
Emergency crews have freed a man, believed to be a cyclist, who was trapped under a garbage truck in Surry Hills.
The man was hit on Foveaux St outside the Excelsior Hotel, at 8.45am but luckily his injuries appear to be minor.
Foveaux St is closed to traffic at the moment.
9.40am
P-platers in Victoria are about to win back the right to legally drive some V8s, turbocharged and supercharged vehicles.
The Victoria Transport Minister is expected to announce the changes, effective on July 1.
“These changes are not about allowing P-platers open slather to drive fast cars ... (it is) recognising that some smaller cars have turbo as standard now,” he told the Herald Sun.
Instead of blanket bans, restricted vehicles will be based on power-to-weight ratio.
9.25am
The Tamil asylum seeker who set himself on fire will be buried in Geelong this week without any of his family being allowed to attend.
According to ABC, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison offered to send Leo Seemanpillai’s body back to Sri Lanka or India but the family feared they would be targeted if they held a funeral in either country.
A visa request from Mr Seemanpillai’s brother to enter Australia for the funeral has been denied as the Immigration Department doubts he “genuinely” intends to stay temporarily.
9.15am
About 275 US military personnel are being deployed to Iraq to help American personnel and protect the embassy in Baghdad, President Barack Obama has said in a letter to Congressional leaders.
The force, which began deploying on Sunday, has been sent “for the purpose of protecting US citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat,” Obama wrote. “This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.”
9am
The world is celebrating the news of Formula One champion Michael Schumacher’s stunning improvement in his condition — but medical experts have expressed doubts over his long-term prognosis.
“We’re told, with what appears to be a bit of a triumphal air, that Michael is no longer in a coma. As stated above, THIS IS NOT NEWS,” former F1 doctor Gary Harstein wrote in his blog.
“I cannot but think that if Michael had emerged AT ALL from the minimally conscious state that Sabine so accurately described in April, we’d be told that Michael is leaving for rehab, that he is having problems expressing himself and will work hard to get better. Or that he’s having to learn to walk, read, write, etc all over again. But no, we’re told what we already know, and pretty much told to not ever expect further updates.”
8.55am
Seniors are now apparently cooking up meth in retirement villages. A 65-year-old California man was allegedly found with meth in his car and later police reportedly found meth, heroin and materials for a meth lab at his apartment.
8.50am
Apparently you are not supposed to wash raw chicken before you cook it.
8.45am
Twin tornadoes have reportedly hit Nebraska in the US, possibly wiping out an entire town.
TWO TORNADOES!!!! Near Wisner, Nebraska!! #newx pic.twitter.com/mdBbubm5Er
— Matt Coker (@StormCoker) June 16, 2014 Sub-type: comment CAPTION: TWO TORNADOES!!!! Near Wisner, Nebraska!! #newx pic.twitter.com/mdBbubm5Er— Matt Coker (@StormCoker) June 16, 2014
8.30am
An American man was arrested on the weekend after he allegedly hid drugs in his stomach rolls. Police stopped the man and his friend for not wearing a seatbelt while driving in a car.
After the two appeared to act nervously, WFTV 9 reported that “the deputy found cocaine, 23 grams of marijuana hidden underneath Mitchell’s stomach fat, a handgun, and more than $7,000 cash stuffed into a tube sock.”
8.20am
A woman has died after becoming trapped under a car while helping to move it out of a shed in Adelaide.
8.15am
Still buzzing over last night’s Game of Thrones finale? Read our recap of the episode, WARNING, the article contains spoilers.
8am
The amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde is on its way to the Persian Gulf as concern grows over fighting in Iraq.
According to Sky News, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby says the Mesa Verde has already moved into the Gulf, joining the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and other U.S. naval ships.
The State Department is reinforcing security at the US Embassy in Baghdad and is evacuating some personnel as the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has taken over several cities.
7.45am
Catch up on all the World Cup action on our live blog. Today: Germany v Portugal, Iran v Nigeria and Ghana v USA.
7.20am
Looks like another celebrity named on Lindsay Lohan’s sex list has denied a liaison with the actor.
Controversial photographer Terry Richardson, who directed Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball video, says he never slept with Lohan: “Somehow she said we spent a romantic night making love at the Chateau Marmont,” Richardson told New York Magazine. “Which never happened. Then, on the internet, people are like, ‘He did this and that.’ But it’s totally untrue.”
Actor James Franco has also denied he had sex with Lohan, despite being included on her 36-person list of sexual conquests published by US magazine In Touch in January. Other names on the list included Justin Timberlake, Adam Levine, Zac Efron and Ashton Kutcher.
7am
NSW Blues Origin captain Paul Gallen has opened up about the mental anguish ASADA’s supplements investigation has taken on him and Cronulla.
“Put it this way, I would have had another kid by now if this wasn’t going on. So it’s been horrendous, it’s been disgraceful,” Gallen told The Daily Telegraph.
“It has impacted lives. I know we have had players medicated, we have had staff and officials who have been hospitalised. It’s terrible, it’s terrible. I don’t think any of the players aren’t worried about it. I didn’t watch The Footy Show last week but I think a couple of guys got on there and spoke about some mental health issues.”
6.45am
It seems neither Tony Abbott or Bill Shorten have won over the hearts of voters with the latest Newspoll showing both are more unpopular today than they were before the Budget.
Support has tumbled since the release of the Budget and seems to have transferred into support for independents and micro-parties, which has climbed to a record high of 17 per cent.
Liberal trails Labor in two-party terms by 47 per cent to 53 per cent and Mr Abbott has recorded his worst dissatisfaction rating of 61 per cent since becoming PM, his equal second-worst in four and a half years.
But while the Opposition Leader benefited from a seven-point surge in his satisfaction rating post-Budget surge, this has since dropped eight points to 34 per cent.
6.30am
Evidence has been gathered implicating Essendon and Cronulla sports scientist Stephen Dank in wide-scale Medicare fraud and forgery.
According to a Fairfax report, Victoria Police detectives and Medicare investigators have documentary evidence and witness testimony that allegedly shows Dank forged and photocopied doctor’s signatures so that he could refer patients to pathology clinics.
If proved, it could see Dank face criminal charges and a possible jail term.
6.15am
A pig-hunting bull-rider has denied kissing a Goondiwindi woman hours before her death despite reports from boxing champion Daniel Rowsell.
Robert Trebeck, 33, has been declared a person of interest in Alexis Jeffery’s murder investigation.
He was allegedly seen by Mr Rowsell kissing the mother-of-three in a park but has denied this. “He’s full of sh--”, the farm labourer said of Mr Rowsell.
6am
Good morning, and welcome to our “headlines in a hurry” morning news coverage. We will be bringing you the best of what’s happening this morning, so you can get across the news quickly.
‘Ridiculous’: Mum’s fury at reaction to attack
A Sydney mum was almost killed by her ex husband. What happened next made it infinitely worse. WARNING: Confronting
Alleged sexual assault captured on CCTV
Police operators allegedly saw an unconscious woman being sexually assaulted outside a shopping centre on CCTV.
Twist after desperate search for toddler
Police mounted a desperate search in Perth’s eastern suburbs for a two-year-old who was inside a car, reported to be stolen.