RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

Google has just undergone a ‘major’ revamp but if you can’t tell the difference, you’re not the only one.

TODAY

• Google has just undergone a ‘major’ revamp but if you can’t tell the difference, you’re not the only one.

10am

That’s it for our Wednesday morning live #RUSHHOUR news blog.

You can get across the stories you need to know today below, in the meantime all the latest headlines are right here on news.com.au. See you bright and early tomorrow morning.

9.45am

Young Aussies on the dole who live in high unemployment areas including outer western Sydney, Byron Bay, Geelong and Logan, are on notice.

They are the first targets of Tony Abbott’s revamped work for the dole scheme.

The federal government will today unveil the initial 18 locations across the country where people under 30 will be forced to start working for the dole.

9.30am

Physical inactivity has become the greatest health risk factor for women aged over 30 – posing more of a threat than smoking, obesity and high blood pressure.

Research to be released today by the University of Queensland will show that women who don’t exercise are at the greatest risk of heart disease, Australia’s biggest killer.

9.20am

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis is reportedly preparing to water down his controversial plan to change racial discrimination laws.

Fairfax Media says the change of heart follows ‘an avalanche of submissions’ citing concerns over the Abbott government’s proposal to reform section 18 of the Racial Discrimination Act on the basis that it unreasonably restricts freedom of speech.

9.10am

Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo has met with people close to Boko Haram in an attempt to broker the release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls, sources say.

Reports of the talks emerged on Tuesday as Boko Haram was blamed for fresh attacks targeting the security forces, public buildings and a school in its north-eastern stronghold.

Cameroon also said it had begun deploying 3000 extra troops to buttress its border with Nigeria against the threat posed by marauding militants.

8.55am

A multi-million dollar mansion near Newcastle is on the brink of being swallowed by a sinkhole.

It is the second sinkhole to open up in Swansea in the Lake Macquarie area, caused by a major mine subsidence.

8.45am

A search is continuing for a Sydney couple in their 60s missing in the NSW Kosciuszko National Park, with the weather taking a turn for the worse.

A 62-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man left Thredbo Village on Tuesday morning to go hiking.

But just before 3pm, the woman contacted emergency services stating they were lost, police say.

8.30am

Entertainer Rolf Harris has accused one of his alleged indecent assault victims of instigating a sexual relationship with him when she was 18 with her “flirtatious and coquettish” invitations.

“She seemed to be welcoming the whole business and enjoying it,” Harris said of the affair yesterday, while on the witness stand at Southwark Crown Court.

8.15am

Notorious British prisoner Charles Bronson says he “lost it” and coated himself in butter before attacking 12 prison guards after Arsenal won the FA Cup.

Bronson, who is a Tottenham Hotspur fan, wrote in a letter to the Kate Kray, ex-wife of gangster Ronnie Kray, that he had “had another rumble” at Full Sutton prison in York after archrivals Arsenal beat Hull to win the FA Cup, The Mirror UK reports.

8am

A pregnant woman was stoned to death by her own family in front of a Pakistani high court on Tuesday for marrying the man she loved.

Nearly 20 members of the woman’s family, including her father and brothers, attacked her and her husband with batons and bricks in broad daylight before a crowd of onlookers in front of the high court of Lahore, police investigator Rana Mujahid said.

7.45am

Google has just undergone a major revamp but if you can’t tell the difference, you’re not the only one.

To say the change is slight is an understatement.

7.25am

The three flatmates stabbed by California killer Elliot Rodger planned to move out of the apartment they shared with the 22-year-old within two weeks.

The parents of Weihan ‘David’ Wang told NBC Bay Area their son was very close to two of his flatmates but didn’t have much “interaction” with Rodger.

Wang told his parents that Rodger played his music too loud in the middle of the night and wasn’t very social.

The three flatmates had already found another apartment and planned to move next semester.

7.15am

Police are searching for a man who slashed the throat of the driver of a car in Brisbane overnight.

The passenger allegedly slashed the throat of the driver before getting out of the car and running away. The victim was taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

7am

The first official photos of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding have been released.

The couple nicknamed ‘Kimye’ married last weekend in Florence, Italy and E!News managed to score the exclusive pics.

6.45am

The United States says it will reduce its troop presence in Afghanistan to 9800 this year and bring its military intervention to an end by the end of 2016.

“We will only sustain a military presence after 2014 if the Afghan government signs the Bilateral Security Agreement,” a senior administration official told reporters.

“By the end of 2016, we will draw down to a normal embassy presence with a security assistance office in Kabul, as we have done in Iraq.”

6.30am

The Abbott government will not scale back its major budget reforms, with Joe Hockey insisting yesterday he would “not flinch” on the budget cuts.

The Treasurer urged his ­Coalition colleagues to rally behind the budget and vowed to confront Labor over $40 billion in savings to be stymied in the Senate.

Labor hardened its stance against the cuts and will reject ­another savings measure, a $2.6bn cut to family tax benefits.

6.15am

Former police officer Roger Rogerson was the ‘consummate storyteller’ with an incredible ability to drink and never shy of answering questions about his favourite crooks.

“I have seen him walk into a pub and within 20 minutes total strangers were sitting next to him buying him a beer mesmerised,” the Daily Telegraph reports.

Seems like he might one more story to tell - Rogerson was arrested and charged yesterday for the murder of student Jamie Gao.

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.