RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
THIS is what a hunter looks like. Kendall Jones is just 19 but has killed lions, zebra, leopard and springbok. WARNING: Photos may be offensive to some.
TODAY
• A teenage hunter has triggered anger on Facebook by posting photos of herself posing with animals she killed in African countries. WARNING: Photos may be offensive to some.
• Entertainer Rolf Harris has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four teenage school girls over an almost 20-year period.
• Psychiatrists say Oscar Pistorius - who is back in court for his murder trial - was not suffering from mental health issues when he shot his wife Reeva Steenkamp.
• The Socialist Alternative is under fire for using a violent image depicting Tony Abbott getting his throat cut.
• Coalition is not making any headway with voters, with the latest Newspoll showing support has shifted to the Greens, Labor and independents.
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.
9.35am
The man behind the infamous Todd Carney photo showing the Sharks playmaker apparently urinating into his own mouth said he lost his phone at the races.
Mick Robinson, described as a “mate” of Carney’s, he forwarded the picture onto his brother, who says he lost the phone at the races before it ended up on social media, Channel Nine reported.
Robinson said: “I’ve gone into the toilet, seen Todd there, asked him if he’d ever heard of a ‘fountain’.
“He’s gone to do it, obviously didn’t know I had my phone there, and I’ve snapped a photo of it.
“The urine never actually went into his mouth.”
9.15am
The co-founder of dating app Tinder is suing the company for sexual harassment saying her fellow colleagues acted like frat boys and called her a whore.
According to TMZ, Whitney Wolfe said she dated one of the co-founders but he began harassing her when it ended, calling her a whore in front of the CEO.
She said other executives also wanted to remove her title because they thought no one would take the site seriously if it was founded by a 24-year-old woman.
@WLWolfe shows us how to be successful on Tinder http://t.co/pkHWD5WI5j pic.twitter.com/nOm1mzGEYV
— Harper's Bazaar UK (@BazaarUK) November 2, 20138.45am
A Gold Coast man who encouraged a mate to shoot him in the butt says he is embarrassed by the stunt which left him with two air rifle pellets lodged three inches into his butt cheeks.
“I didn’t think the bullets would go in that far, sort of thing,” Christopher Silvio said. “I thought they’d have been in just enough to squeeze out. The pellets are still in my ass and I’m embarrassed.”
He has already been fined $2000 for “gross stupidity” but doesn’t believe he should lose his gun licence.
8.25am
The Socialist Alternative is under fire for using a violent image depicting Tony Abbott getting his throat cut with the headline: “One cut we’d like to see” on the front page of its paper RedFlag.
The organisation posted the image on its Facebook page, prompting more than 200 comments, most of them negative.
One user said: “Oh... not cool. I’m no fan of the LNP - policies, parties, associates or leader - but this seems unnecessarily violent.”
Another: “dreadful picture. DO NOT CONDONE violence to anyone. Even Abbott. You LOST me off this page and as a supporter.”
8.05am
Looks like the Coalition is not making any headway with voters, with the latest Newspoll showing support has shifted to the Greens, Labor and independents.
Labor has a 10-point lead in two-party terms to be ahead 55 to 45 per cent, the same result as in the first poll after the May budget.
Voter dissatisfaction with Tony Abbott has reached the highest level since he became Prime Minister, 62 per cent, and is his worst personal result since November 2012.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has also regained a 10-point lead as better prime minister that he took after the budget.
Meanwhile, a student who tried to disrupt a speech by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at a Canberra university was arrested last night.
ACT Policing said the man had been charged with property damage to a glass window outside a hall at the Australian National University.
A group of about 30 protesters tried to drown out Ms Bishop’s address on foreign policy by chanting, whistling and shouting against the federal government’s planned university changes.
8am
An 11-month-old boy died after becoming wedged in the slats on the side of his cot at Nerang on the weekend.
A report is being prepared for the coroner and the child protection unit is investigating, but the matter is not being treated as suspicious.
Kidsafe Queensland CEO Susan Teerds said accidents involving cots were rare.
7.50am
A Brisbane media agency involved in Clive Palmer’s federal election campaign received $2.167 million in Chinese government cash allegedly siphoned from an account controlled by the mining magnate.
According to The Australian, the agency received the payment just five days before the election and $10 million went to another of Mr Palmer’s companies.
Citic Pacific has now asked Mr Palmer and his nephew Clive Mensink to explain why $12.167 million in Chinese money was withdrawn from an account set up to run an iron ore port in Western Australia.
7.35am
US President Barack Obama says he’s sending about 200 more troops to Iraq to protect Americans and the US Embassy in Baghdad.
The announcement will bring to nearly 800 the total number of US forces in and around Iraq to train local forces, secure the embassy and protect American interests.
Obama has ruled out sending combat troops back into Iraq. But he says the additional troops will be equipped for combat. He says their purpose is to protect U.S. citizens and property if needed.
7.20am
Four babies born with HIV were apparently cleared of the infection in a major breakthrough fuelling hopes of a cure for AIDS.
Details of the Canadian cases will be discussed at an AIDS conference in Melbourne this month.
The Canadian infants, born to HIV-positive mothers, were all given high doses of three antiretroviral drugs in the first few hours after birth.
The virus, which had been present in their systems at birth, could not be found later.
6.55am
Psychiatrists say Oscar Pistorius - who is back in court for his murder trial - was not suffering from mental health issues when he shot his wife Reeva Steenkamp.
His murder trial has been told that the Olympian did not have a mental disorder that could have affected his behaviour at the time of Ms Steenkamp’s shooting.
The condition, which could have lessened Pistorius’s criminal responsibility for the shooting, has been ruled out.
6.35am
Entertainer Rolf Harris has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four teenage school girls over an almost 20-year period.
The 84-year-old who was a household name with more than 50 years in the music, art and TV entertainment industries, showed no emotion as the jury forewoman said “guilty” on each count.
Harris has been granted bail and will be sentenced on Friday.
Following the guilty verdict, it was revealed the jury didn’t get to hear from a further nine women who claim Harris harassed them.
6.15am
A teenage hunter has triggered anger on Facebook by posting photos of herself posing with animals she killed in African countries. WARNING: Photos may be offensive to some.
The impressive haul of 19-year-old Texan hunter Kendall Jones has some disgusted with nearly 40,000 people signing a petition to get the social media website to remove the photos.
Jones has she said she has ambitions to host her own TV show next year and appears to have a camera crew with her to record “my adventures in hunting”.
In one Facebook photo, she poses with the body of an antelope, posting: “Another harvest for today ... White springbok, it’s 1 of the 4 colour shades of this animal! And let me tell you it’s one of my favourite kinds of meat so far!”
Jones has previously defended herself, saying her hunts involved a “fair chase” and said animal populations sometimes had to be controlled.
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.
PM dodges $3m super tax question
Anthony Albanese sidestepped a question on whether he’ll be immediately hit with Labor’s proposed tax of super balances above $3m.
Dad’s funeral refusal ‘discrimination’: court
A man has claimed he was subject to religious discrimination after the government refused to pay for his deceased father’s Greek Orthodox funeral when he could not afford it.
Dire warning for Aussie favourite getaway
A major warning has been issued for travellers planning to head to a favourite Aussie tourist getaway – urging them to “exercise a high degree of caution”.