RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
SHE was at the centre of a now infamous pool party incident which led to a police officer resigning amid death threats. Now she is trying capitalise on the publicity in the most peculiar way.
- Texas pool party host wants to launch modelling career off publicity
- Abbott’s tongue slip leaves Turnbull smiling
- Maury Povich wants Rachel Dolezal to take DNA test on the show
- Mystery over a 25-year-old Australian cat
- Zoo keepers around the world imitate Jurassic Park scene
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.
10:00am:
That’s it for this morning’s #RUSHHOUR blog. Stay up to date with the rest of today’s headlines at news.com.au.
9:50am: Ten-year-old boy stole penguin from French zoo
A 10-year-old boy stole a penguin from a French zoo and smuggled it back to Britain in his backpack, the Suffolk Gazette reports.
The boy some how managed to wrap the bird up in a towel and put it in his backpack before catching the ferry back to the UK with his unsuspecting parents.
His mum was reportedly shocked to later find the penguin splashing around in the bath of their home and quickly called the RSPCA.
Officers contacted the zoo to arrange for its return and have agreed not to take further action against the apologetic youngster, who told them he took the penguin to “give it a new home”.
“The boy slipped under a barrier surrounding the penguin enclosure and simply picked up the penguin and wrapped it in his beach towel before putting it in his backpack,” said a police spokesperson.
The bird is apparently fine after his unexpected journey.
9:40am: Don’t blame driver: QLD cafe blast victim’s family
The family of a woman who died from burns suffered in the Ravenshoe cafe explosion say the tragedy was a freak accident and there’s no room for blame.
Nicole Nyholt suffered burns to 80 per cent of her body when an out-of-control ute ploughed into the back of her parents’ far north Queensland cafe, triggering a gas explosion.
In a moving statement on Facebook, her mother Vicki Nyholt says the family has no ill-feelings towards the man driving the ute.
9:30am: Donald Trump paid actors $50 to cheer at presidential announcement
Donald Trump announced his nomination for the Republican party and threw his hat in the presidential race this weekend.
But according to the Hollywood Reporter, the billionaire had to pay actors US$50 a piece in order for them to wave homemade signs (made by Trump’s employees) and cheer for him during the announcement.
New York casting agency Extra Mile sent an email to actors ahead of the event at Trump Towers, inviting them to wear campaign t-shirts, carry signs and help cheer for the real estate and TV mogul.
It can be slim pickings in the acting profession, so you can’t blame them for taking the job.
9:15am: Texas pool party host wants to launch modelling career off publicity
The girl who organised a pool party which ended in a shocking viral video and the highly publicised resignation of a Texas police officer is trying to capitalise on the events in the most peculiar of ways. Tatyana Rhodes is trying to launch a modelling career off the back of the incident which gained international media attention.
To Ms Rhodes, the photos are an opportunity to turn the “negative situation of the unfortunate McKinney pool party events into a positive jump start for her modelling career,” said photographer Tay Brown.
He claims to represent her and took a bunch of rather bizarre photos of her posing at the pool which was the site of all the fuss.
“The truth is she had already become famous,” Brown told the Daily News. “She had been on interview — locally, nationally, everywhere. She was famous, just not in a positive way.”
9:00am: Melbourne man stabbed in chest over phone
A Melbourne man has been stabbed in the chest after he refused to hand his mobile phone to a man who claimed he wanted to borrow it.
The injured 27-year-old Mulgrave man was rushed to the Monash Medical Centre by a friend this morning.
He told police he was approached on Edinburgh Road, Springvale, by a man who asked him to borrow his mobile phone and who then stabbed him when he refused.
8:45am: Zoo keepers around the world imitate Jurassic Park scene
A scene from recently released movie Jurassic World has captivated the imagination of animal lovers and zoo keepers around the world as many have taken to social media to do their best impersonation of a particular scene.
Chris Pratt’s character in the movie develops a special bond with the dinosaurs and becomes somewhat of a raptor whisperer. Not to be outdone, real life animal handlers have sought to prove they have similar abilities.
@GreensboroSC #Jurassiczookeeper Stand down! pic.twitter.com/khbdQ894qm
— Audrey Niemeyer ⚓ (@Niemer11) June 17, 2015Who needs #RaptorSquad when you have Veloci-otters? #OtterSquad #JurassicZoo pic.twitter.com/M0zr7BvI9I
— Georgia Aquarium (@GeorgiaAquarium) June 17, 2015We are recreating Chris Pratt's raptor control from #JurassicWorld - with our Southern White Rhinos! pic.twitter.com/ntnm1UsibJ
— Lion Country Safari (@LionCountry) June 17, 20158:35am: Table tennis player smashes barrier in epic rally
A Belgian table tennis player has put his foot through a barrier surrounding the playing area during an epic rally at the European Games.
As the player tries desperately to stay in the rally, his opponent continues to smash the ball hard into the table top, forcing the player deeper and deeper.
After miraculously retrieving a number of the forceful shots, he can do no more after getting his leg stuck in one of the promotional barriers around the playing area.
8:20am: Abbott’s tongue slip leaves Turnbull smiling
It was a slip of the tongue by Tony Abbott, but at least Malcolm Turnbull knows he is on the prime minister’s mind.
While criticising Labor for its record on asylum seekers, Mr Abbott told question time on Thursday that “they never did a turnback, they never did a single Turnbull.”
“It’s good to know that I am always in his thoughts,” a smiling Mr Turnbull told ABC TV this morning.
Speculation about Mr Turnbull’s ambitions to reclaim the party leadership are never far from the media, and perhaps they’re never far from Mr Abbott’s mind either.
8:10am: Man wearing burqa arrested by police
A man wearing a burqa has been arrested in the English town of Watford following a bomb scare.
Cars and buses were left empty as police forced people to clear the town centre on Thursday as the bomb squad deployed a robot to detonate a suspicious package left outside a Travelodge, reports The Guardian.
Pictures posted to Twitter show the man in the Islamic robes and veil usually worn by women being taken into custody by Watford police after they reportedly tackled him.
No one was injured.
7:55am: Man implants transport card under his skin
A man living in London has apparently been dubbed “the human Oyster card” after he surgically implanted the transport card under his skin. Oyster cards (like Opal cards in Sydney) allow access to London’s underground service known as the tube.
Was it really worth it? Man surgically implants 'Oyster card' into his hand http://t.co/Mpt8EM7jxc pic.twitter.com/zul6KEp6kx
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) June 18, 2015Russian engineer Vlad Zaitsev sliced his hand open and placed the microchip inside before stitching up the wound and says he doesn’t regret a thing.
“It is the perfect solution to not have to worry about losing an expensive season ticket,” he said, according to the Mirror.
“The main thing was that I wanted to know what it felt like to have a chip under the skin, it actually opens up a whole range of possibilities and I think anybody else that tries it will quickly see what I mean.”
7:40am: Mystery over a 25-year-old Australian cat
An Irish cat charity is determined to solve the mystery of a 25-year-old Australian feline which has been living as a stray in the UK.
The charity has posted a photo of the cat which was microchipped in Sydney in 2000 asking for help in discovering the cat’s past.
“Volunteers were shocked when a routine check of his microchip revealed not only that he was registered in Australia, but that he was born in 1989, making him over 25 years old!” the post said.
“If you think you can shed any light on his history, please contact the Armagh branch of Cats Protection,” the post continues.
The charity has set up a web page with all the information it has regarding the cat and is hoping to gather more.
7:25am: Greens senator urges government support for Julian Assange
Three years on from Julian Assange’s entry to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Greens senator Scott Ludlam says his work is more important than ever.
Senator Ludlam condemned the Australian government for refusing to stand up for one of its citizens.
“Despite the extraordinary pressure brought to bear by some of the most powerful institutions on earth, WikiLeaks has continued to publish leaked texts of the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership corporate rights agreement,” Senator Ludlam said this morning.
Mr Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012 after Swedish police issued a warrant for his arrest.
7:15am: MLB player caught flirting on Instagram mid game
A major league baseballer has been caught doing some Instagram flirting mid game. Boston Red Sox’s Pablo Sandoval excused himself from the dugout amid a 5-2 loss in Atlanta on Wednesday and liked multiple pictures of fellow Instagram user @diva_legacy. It was the seventh innings and he was the sixth batter up.
Unfortunately for him, his social media antics didn’t go unnoticed and were reported by Barstool Sports and the Red Sox hitter later admitted to ESPN that he liked the photos while in the bathroom.
Sandoval, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract with Boston in the offseason, apologised to the team after meeting with Red Sox GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell.
He was benched for the following game.
Read more at the New York Post.
7:00am: Sydney man punched baby in face
A young man has been charged with punching a baby girl in the face.
The 28-year-old will appear at Central Local Court today, after he allegedly approached a pram at Central Station on Thursday morning and punched the 16-month old, before running away.
The girl’s father chased him and police found the alleged attacker nearby.
The baby was left with a small laceration to her face.
6:50am: Maury Povich wants Rachel Dolezal to take DNA test on the show
It’s one of the most truly bizarre stories to come along in a while but the tale of Rachel Dolezal could get even crazier. Ms Dolezal has pretended for years to be black and worked as an activist for the NAACP before she was outed by her parents for actually being a white woman.
But then she made the ridiculous step to question her parents claim saying there were “no medical witnesses to my birth”.
“I haven’t had a DNA test. There’s been no biological proof that Larry and Ruthanne (Dolezal) are my biological parents,” she told NBC Nightly News.
Now notorious TV host Maury Povich has offered his services and want Ms Dolezal to appear on his show and take a DNA test.
Mr Povich is renowned for his DNA test episodes where he dramatically announces whether or not the male guest is the father of the female guest’s baby.
6:35am: Prolonged sitting linked to anxiety: Melbourne university
Increased anxiety is the latest condition to be linked to prolonged sitting.
Watching TV, working at a computer or playing electronic games have long been associated with physical health problems such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.
Sedentary behaviour has also been associated with depressive symptoms.
Now, research by Melbourne’s Deakin University has linked sitting time to anxiety, a mental health illness estimated to affect more than 27 million people globally.
The research is published in the journal BMC Public Health.
6:25am: Suspect arrested in church shooting which killed nine people
A mass shooting has again befallen a quiet American town and a 21-year-old suspect has been taken into custody.
The county coroner says the man who fatally shot nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, had joined the group for Bible study, where he was accepted by the group before becoming aggressive and violent.
Officials say the study group believed the shooter wanted to join them in studying the Bible, and he stayed there for nearly an hour before the shooting.
Suspect 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof was arrested Thursday in Shelby, North Carolina. He’s white, and officials say they’re investigating the incident as a potential hate crime.
6:15am: Fred Nile booed on special Q&A event
Reverend Fred Nile left the audience reeling last night on a special episode of Q&A focused on issues related to the LGBT community and hosted by comedian Tom Ballard.
It started as a balanced discussion on whether the marriage equality campaign was distracting from other issues facing the gay and lesbian community. It ended with a comment that left the audience taken aback.
When Reverend Fred Nile tried to claim fellow Christians were being “persecuted by homosexuals” he was booed by the audience and slammed on social media.
So @frednile can list 2 heterosexuals who are victims of persecution. That sure makes the millions of persecuted gay folk look weak. #qanda
— Shinwah Lollyflap (@gilfer) June 18, 20156:00am: German man has extreme reaction to break up
A German man has taken an extreme approach to the break up of a relationship and decided to split all his belongings straight down the middle — quite literally.
In a video posted to YouTube a couple days ago, the man takes a saw to everything he owns so his former partner can have exactly half his stuff.
A chair, a TV, a bed, an iPhone and even a car were sawed in half by the jilted lover.
The video description translates as, “Thank you for 12 “beautiful” years Laura,”.
Perhaps in an effort to recoup some of the financial losses from the breakup, he is now trying to sell his half of the chopped up objects on eBay.
So if you want half a couch, half a bicycle or half a DVD, today is your lucky day.
Inside feud that brought Sydney to a halt
Five months of transport disruptions and chaotic commutes were brought to an abrupt halt this week after a fiery fight between the unions and the government.
Driver charged over meat cleaver incident
A man has been charged after reports a driver allegedly wielded a meat cleaver at other drivers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Commuters warned of further travel chaos
Commuters are being urged to brace for another day of cancellations and delays as the rail union and the NSW government take their fight to court.