RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
“LIKE the duchess who smelled a turd”. Newsreader Chris Bath has given a frank account of her time in front of the camera.
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 36 | SILVER 36 | BRONZE 41
• Channel Seven’s Chris Bath reveals the truth behind TV career
• Which Bachelor contestant won the nation’s respect last night?
• Farewell signature, hello PIN. Credit card changes happen TODAY
• Australian and Dutch experts finally reach MH17 crash site
• Multiple gas explosions have left at least 15 people dead in Taiwan
• Israel vows to keep troops in Gaza until the destruction of cross-border tunnels
• Sign of the supernatural? Mysterious crop circles appear out of nowhere
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. Happy weekend!
9:40am
South Korea certainly has an interesting way of retalliating.
Around 200 activists released 50 large helium balloons carrying 350 kilograms of snacks across the North Korean border, including 10,000 Choco Pies from a park in the border city of Paju, organisers of the event said.
The humble Choco Pie -- a saliva-sapping confection of chocolate-coated cake and marshmallow -- has become an oft-referenced footnote in the volatile history of inter-Korean ties, reports AFP.
Offered as perks to North Koreans working in South Korean factories in the Kaesong joint industrial zone, Choco Pies spawned their own black market and were traded on at sharply inflated prices.
According to domestic media reports in Seoul, the emergence of a South Korean snack as an unofficial currency became too much for the authorities in Pyongyang who in May ordered the factory owners to stop handing them out.
“Embarrassed by the growing popularity of Choco Pie, North Korea banned it as a symbol of capitalism,” said Choo Sun-Hee, one of the organisers of Wednesday’s balloon launch.
“We will continue to send Choco Pie by balloons because it is still one of the most popular foodstuffs especially among hungry North Koreans,” Choo told AFP.
9:20am
Here’s a nice update on a story we covered earlier this week.
Commonwealth Games athlete Jake Stein complained of a lack of ...ahem..comfortable toiletries...at the athlete’s village in Glasgow, and after seeing our story, Quilton decided to take control. We’re told the athletes are “eagerly awaiting” the arrival of three nine packs. Loves your bum!
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 we can't have Aussies using sandpaper on their bits. DM your @Glasgow2014 addy & we'll send you some #Quilton! #LovesYourBum
— Quilton (@Lovesyourbum) July 29, 2014.@JakeStein_Dec @Brandonstarc93 @J_Geddes Keep your eyes on the post boys! #Glasgow2014 #MakingUsProud #LovesYourBum pic.twitter.com/r3g2xFujOV
— Quilton (@Lovesyourbum) July 30, 2014Absolutely unreal! Thanks heaps @Lovesyourbum can't wait to get rid of the sandpaper https://t.co/XXL6pAK2ht
— Jake Stein (@JakeStein_Dec) July 30, 2014You can thank me later, Jake.
9:05am
Romy and Michelle’s High School reunion - the reunion? Yes please!
9:00am
This is what an Israeli airstrike on a building in Gaza looks like. http://t.co/oHO4osCf1O Look at this bomb falling! pic.twitter.com/Gc2KQ1OFo0
— Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) July 31, 2014Young boy in #Gaza pretending to be a journalist with his home made flak jacket, had to lend him my helmet. pic.twitter.com/CnlUShdixI
— JoMa Sommarstrom (@ekmathia) July 31, 20148:50am
Yikes. Sally Pearson has returned to form in a big way, roaring through her heat in the 100m hurdles and winning by a huge margin, almost breaking the Commonwealth Games record in the process. She finished with a time of 12.69 seconds, writes news.com.au’s Sam Clench.
Pearson briefly addressed her spat with controversial coach Eric Hollingsworth, saying it had been a huge distraction. She also justified her decision to compete in London before the Games, instead of attending a team camp.
“It’s been a huge distraction for me in the past week,” she said. “I’m in a really good headspace now, I want to keep going.
“You saw how I ran tonight, and that showed how important preparation is for an athlete.”
8:30am
Channel Seven news anchor Chris Bath has given a frank account of what it’s like to be a woman in the television industry, and this time, she hasn’t held back.
During an appearance at a Women in Media event on Wednesday night, Bath likened previous news directors as “complete bloody psychopaths” and described the moment an unnamed executive told her she “read news like the duchess who smelled a turd”, reports The Guardian.
She noted the difficulties in maintaining a “televisually appealing” look after returning to work from maternity leave at the age of 34.
“There was nothing like a confidence killer as having leaking breasts, pumping before I went on air, sometimes having them explode. Gross, I know, but true story.
“Because TV is so hooked into your appearance, I found it really difficult after I had a baby to be televisually appealing.
“I felt pressure to lose weight. I felt pressured to conform to the televisual norm.”
Bath is currently the weekend news presenter and the host of Seven’s Sunday Night program.
8:00am
Is this a sign of the supernatural?
Thousands of people are trekking to a Bavarian farmer’s field to check out a mysterious set of crop circles that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.
The ornate design was discovered by a balloonist last week and news of the find quickly spread online.
Farmer Christoph Huttner, who owns the wheat field near Weilheim, told the dpa news agency he didn’t create the circle himself.
He suggests students on summer holiday may have cut the image with a 75-meter diameter (246 feet) into his field. Talk about effort.
The news agency says thousands of visitors have come to sing, dance and even swing pendulums in the giant image.
Huttner says he’s not yet sure whether he will leave the circle in his field.
7:40am
Israel has vowed to keep its troops in Gaza until they finish destroying a network of cross-border tunnels, despite sharp UN and US criticism over the Palestinian death toll.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not accept any ceasefire that did not allow troops to continue destroying tunnels used by militants to attack Israel, reports AFP.
“Until now, we have destroyed dozens of terror tunnels and we are determined to finish this mission -- with or without a ceasefire,” he said at the start of the meeting.
“So I will not accept any (truce) proposal that does not allow the (military) to complete this work for the security of Israel’s citizens.” His remarks came after the army confirmed mobilising another 16,000 reservists, hiking the total number called up to 86,000. Israel does not say how many troops are currently fighting inside the Gaza Strip.
7:15am
Multiple gas explosions have left at least 15 people dead and 228 injured in the Taiwan city of Kaohsiung.
The National Fire Agency said that the cause of the blasts was not immediately clear.
The death toll includes at least one firefighter, Premier Jiang Yi-huah told reporters.
Video from Taiwanese broadcaster ETTV showed a large fire burning the middle of a street, with smoke rising into the night sky.
6:40am
The international probe into the downing of flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine has inched forward, as Australian and Dutch experts risked attack to reach the crash site for the first time in nearly a week after Kiev announced a halt to its military offensive.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told journalists in Kiev there are no plans for officials to take armed forces to the site, for fear of becoming entangled in a murky conflict that has claimed over 1100 lives in more than three months of bitter fighting, reports AFP.
What must be shrapnel holes in the cockpit fuselage of MH17. Eerily abandoned in sunflower fields. pic.twitter.com/XWjAg4JsFl
— MH17 News & Photo (@Planesonearth) July 31, 2014A small team of experts, accompanied by international monitors, accessed the vast site of the doomed Malaysia Airlines jet after days of fierce fighting between government forces and rebels had stopped them reaching the area.
The Dutch justice ministry said the team was so far only a “reconnaissance” mission, but would hopefully pave the way for more experts to visit soon.
6:25am
From today, Australians will no longer be able to pay for their credit card purchases through the traditional method of signing.
That leaves millions of cardholders who are yet to ditch the pen for a four-digit PIN with the prospect of being unable to pay for goods and services, writes News Corp’s Sonja Koremans.
Major retailers such as Woolworths, Coles, David Jones and Myer are likely to make the software transition first, followed by smaller operators.
“The process of getting a PIN can take a matter of seconds, or for some issuers it can be days because a PIN will need to be posted to the customer in the mail,” said the payment industry’s PINwise campaign spokeswoman, Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon.
6:00am
She’s been painted as a villain in just two episodes, but turns out one Bachelor star is smarter than the average Bachelorette.
While The Bachelor Blake Garvey was busy pashing Sydney accounting student Jessica (the whole scene was cringworthy, BTW), 30-year-old Melbourne model Laurina was making frenemies with her frozen features.
Laurina is patiently waiting.....#TheBachelorAU pic.twitter.com/Mxl0NThOaD
— Ian Williams (@Dropbear67) July 31, 2014
But it was what happened after the rose ceremony, where Laurina just scraped through, that sparked a social media storm.
After expressing her sadness at her “best friend” Tiarna leaving the show, Laurina expressed her feelings towards Hunky Harvey, claiming she hadn’t felt an initial attraction.
“I don’t even know the guy. I don’t really care,” she said.
“He’s dating like 20 other women so it’s not like I’m emotionally invested.”
And that’s how Laurina earned the respect of the country.
Wow. Laurina dropping some logic bombs. She is TOO REAL FOR THIS SHOW, guys. #TheBachelorAu
— Cameron Boon (@BakedBoons) July 31, 2014I have to say it - Laurina may come across as a BEEAARCH but she actually makes total sense. #TheBachelorAU #listentothegirl
— Terri p (@Terrip01) July 31, 2014Pretty sure Laurina is actually talking sense...which is refreshing on this show #TheBachelorAU
— Alice-Ginevra (@AliGMich) July 31, 2014Am I the only one who actually likes Laurina ? Haha #TheBachelorAU
— Daisy Posnakidis (@DaisyPos11) July 31, 2014"He's dating 20 other women. I'm not that emotionally invested" Laurina is the realest person who's ever been on reality tv #TheBachelorAU
— Rudi B (@rudi_bee) July 31, 2014Wasn't expecting to side with Laurina but she has a point. #TheBachelorAU
— Lizzie Lou (@Elizru) July 31, 2014
Kayaker drowns in Boxing Day tragedy
A man’s body has been pulled out of the water by members of the public at a picturesque nature reserve.
Mayor’s vow after ‘insane’ Xmas beach bash
Residents of a stunning seaside suburb were left furious after 15,000 people flocked to a tiny beach to celebrate Christmas Day with an ‘insane’ party.
Millions warned of deadly bushfire threat
Residents in parts of Victoria have been told to leave their homes immediately or take shelter as hot and windy conditions increase the threat of bushfires.