RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
AN INDIGENOUS mum from Cairns has weighed into the ‘Book Week’ blackface controversy with an unexpected photo that’s fast gone viral.
- Turnbull plunges to new poll low
- Gene Wilder dies age 83
- New schools added to porn site list
- India tourist minister sparks backlash
Live: Rush Hour
Welcome to Rush Hour! In sad news, Gene Wilder, the iconic star of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has passed away at the age of 83. God damn it, it just feels like someone just ripped out your childhood memories and stamped on them repeatedly. Here are your headlines.
That’s Rush Hour for the day! Check back tomorrow for ongoing news updates.
9.30am
Brock Turner to be released from jail Friday
The former Stanford University student convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman will be released from jail on Friday.
He will have only served half his sentence.
Brock Turner, who was sentenced to only six months of jail time despite being found guilty of sexual assault, began serving the sentence in early June.
Now, after spending three months behind bars, Turner is slated to be released on “good behaviour”, according to jail records.
Turner’s controversial case ignited widespread public outrage, as many felt the jail term was far too lenient for the convicted rapist.
9.00am
Kings Cross sign to be auctioned off
The iconic Coca-Cola sign that has looked over Sydney’s Kings Cross for more than four decades is going on eBay.
Coke has announced it will auction the old pieces of the newly renovated sign, with all proceeds going to local charity the Wayside Chapel, which has been helping people in need for more than 50 years.
Coke will auction the eight letters of the 42-year-old sign individually over five days from Wednesday September 7. Each piece will be auctioned separately but an individual bidder may bid on all of them for a chance to own the set.
— Frank Chung
8.45am
Labor accuses Coalition of lying on savings
Labor is accusing the Turnbull government of being “entirely deceptive” about a budget savings bill it wants the opposition to support.
Manager of opposition business Tony Burke says a draft omnibus bill provided to Labor overnight contains three extra measures, including welfare cuts it rejected in the last parliament.
“Thank heavens we didn’t try and make a public statement on our view of it without seeing it, given the government lied about what was in it,” Mr Burke told ABC radio on Tuesday.
“They are not all measures that Labor had included in its costings.”
8.15am
Apple to unveil new phone
Apple is expected to show off a new iPhone next week when the company holds a product launch event in San Francisco.
The tech giant announced the date for the September 7 launch by sending out invitations to technology journalists and industry analysts on Monday.
Apple didn’t provide any details, in keeping with its usual practice, but it traditionally announces one or two new iPhone models at its annual September event.
8.00am
Indigenous mum weighs into blackface debate
An Indigenous mother from Cairns has weighed into the blackface debate, showing support for the Perth mum who started the uproar.
Describing herself as a “proud Aboriginal Australian black woman”, Breeze Bee (whose real name is Bec) took to Facebook to defend the ‘Book Week’ boy in the centre of a furious backlash over blackface last week.
“The little boy in the centre of last weeks book week did not suffer from racism or discrimination, he idolised a man who has achieved great successes even during pain,” she writes.
“Unfortunately now this little boy who has been shown by the dark skinned community that his admiration for a black man is unacceptable and has learnt racism!”
She goes on to suggest the backlash against the boy’s mother for his costume was an overreaction, saying we should instead “inform and educate politely”.
She then compared it to the movie ‘White Chicks’, which centers on two black men dressing up as white women, and said “We need to stop the double standards”.
She expressed support for the mother, and even included a photo of her daughter painted in white from three years prior, to represent a cartoon character.
The post has been shared more than 8000 times to date, with the majority of comments expressing support for the woman’s words.
7.45am
India’s tourism minister’s ‘safety tip’ sparks backlash
India’s tourism minister Mahesh Sharma is under fire after suggesting foreign women in the country should avoid wearing skirts for their own safety.
“There’s a card in there listing the do’s and don’ts,” he said. “Basic things like, ‘Don’t go out at night alone.’ ‘Don’t wear skirts.’”
The comments drew widespread outrage from Indians and foreigners alike.
Confused- a religious leader may address an assembly in the nude but foreign female visitors shouldn't wear skirts. Ok, makes a lot of sense
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) August 29, 2016
#MaheshSharma go home & make a sandwich. Don't dictate terms to women under garb of "Indian Culture"📷 @YouthKiAwaaz pic.twitter.com/bdieH54YkE
— SheSays (@SheSaysIndia) August 29, 2016
The minister lated claimed he only “spoke out of concern”.
“I was speaking about religious places, like temples. I did not comment on what women should wear or not. I am the father of two daughters, I cannot put a ban on what women wear,” Sharma said.
For what it’s worth, the actual pamphlet Sharma was referring to said nothing about women’s skirts, although it did advise religious areas might have specific dress codes.
This isn’t the first time Sharma has sparked controversy over women’s dress; he’s known for criticising the dress style in western cultures as “skimpy”, and last year, he declared that “girls wanting a night out” is “not part of Indian culture”.
7.30am
US researchers find new superbug bacteria
New Jersey researchers say they’ve identified perhaps the first strain of E. Coli bacteria in the United States with mobile genes that make it resistant to two types of antibiotics now considered last-line defenses against superbugs.
Researchers said on Monday the strain of bacteria was found in a 76-year-old man who was treated in 2014 for a complicated urinary tract infection.
Further analysis in 2016 showed the bacterium carried mcr-1, a gene that creates resistance to the last-ditch antibiotic colistin.
It was also shown to carry blaNDM-5, a gene that blocks effectiveness of carbapenems, which are considered medicine’s most reliable current antibiotics now that bacteria have found ways of outwitting other families of antibiotics.
— Reuters
7.15am
Man dies at scene of M1 crash
A man has died after becoming trapped inside his vehicle following a two-car crash in southeast Queensland last night.
Emergency crews raced to the Beenleigh off ramp of the Pacific Motorway following a car and truck crash which occurred at 9.07pm.
“Initial information indicates the crash occurred around 9.07pm when a vehicle travelling north on the M1 slowed down and stopped in the left-hand lane at Yatala as a result of engine problems,” Queensland Police said in an appeal for witnesses.
“A truck following has slowed and activated its hazard lights before parking behind the broken down vehicle when a van travelling in the same direction has collided with the rear of the truck.
“As a result the van’s driver, a man aged in his late 20s and sole occupant, was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
— via Courier Mail
7.00am
JFK assassination ‘was inside job’
US President John F Kennedy was assassinated in an inside job by a member of his own security team, according to an astonishing “deathbed confession” made to film director Oliver Stone.
The man, who was a member of the president’s protection staff, is said to have contacted Stone after he had finished making his acclaimed 1991 film JFK, reports The Sun.
The man was dying of cancer when he allegedly told the film director “a secret he had only shared with his son” — that JFK was killed when “somebody from his own team … had fired on the president”.
6.45am
New schools added to porn site’s hit list
The porn site maliciously “hunting” schoolgirls is back and even more schools have been added as targets.
Schools in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia are on the list, prompting users to ‘hunt’ for nude images of students there.
University residential colleges have also been targeted including those at Sydney University and the University of Queensland.
6.30am
Labor holds same-sex marriage vote
Labor says Malcolm Turnbull is standing in the way of same-sex marriage becoming a reality in Australia.
But the prime minister has urged the opposition to get behind laws to enable a national vote, which the government wants to hold before parliament makes the change to the Marriage Act.
With the Greens and a number of crossbenchers opposing the plebiscite, it is down to Labor to decide whether the plebiscite goes ahead this term or the issue is shelved.
6.15am
Willy Wonka star Gene Wilder dies aged 83
In tragic news, Gene Wilder has died at age 83.
The Oscar-nominated star died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, his nephew said.
The talented actor starred in hits including Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, but it’s the 1971 film adaptation of Willy Wonker & The Chocolate Factory he’ll be best remembered for.
Rest in peace.
6.00am
Q&A question stumps panellist
A Q&A panellist was stumped when she was asked a critical question about how people were expected to survive on unemployment benefits.
University of Sydney’s Economics Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark was asked by an audience member how a couple with kids is supposed to survive on welfare, on $1200 a fortnight, while forking out 80 per cent of their income on rent.
Those on youth allowance are paid even less.
“I actually don’t know the answer to that question,” she said.
Professor Cobb-Clark came up with an answer and said while welfare payments did not vary much geographically, people in regional areas benefited a lot more because it was a cheaper area to live.
But it was a catch-22 as there are not as many employment opportunities in regional areas as there are in the city.
— Olivia Lambert
5.45am
Turnbull plunges to new polling low
Malcolm Turnbull’s popularity has tumbled to a new low, according to the latest Newspoll results.
Satisfaction with the Prime Minister’s performance has fallen to 34 per cent, down six points since the leasure measure on the night of the July 2 election, The Australian reports.
Meanwhile, the government and Labor are deadlocked at 50-50.
For the first time Mr Turnbull’s net satisfaction rating — now at minus 18 points — is worse than the same measure for Bill Shorten, who scored minus 14 points. The Opposition Leader’s satisfaction rating was 36 per cent while his dissatisfaction rating was 50 per cent, largely unchanged.
Cop charged with street racing in luxury car
A young police officer has been charged with street racing offences after he allegedly crashed his luxury car into a power pole.
‘Wtf’: Commuter chaos hits major city
Urgent trackwork at a major transportation hub threw travel plans for peak hour commuters into chaos.
Father’s final call with 16yo son before crash
A father has revealed his tragic final call with his 16-year-old son before he died in a horrific crash in Buxton that claimed the lives of four other local children.