RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
BEACHGOERS were shocked to find a great white stranded on the beach after chasing a seagull onto the sand. And they weren’t quite sure what to do.
- Great white shark beaches itself by chasing a seagull
- Underage binge drinking has declined in Australia, study finds
- British soldier sentenced to nine years for raping a six-year-old
- Video of Texas cops dancing with kids goes viral
- QLD woman dies after trying to stop a pub fight
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.
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.
9:45am:
A woman is in a coma after her buttocks implants exploded while doing squats at the gym.
Serena Beuford, 27, was working out for an Instagram video when she heard a loud pop. Soon after, she fell to the floor screaming in agony... saying that her butt was gone, reports News 4.
She was rushed to the hospital where she went into a coma possibly due to the trauma, doctors said. She reportedly remains in a stable condition.
According to her sister, Jackie, Ms has visited an unlicensed clinic to obtain the implants and hoped to become “famous on Instagram”.
The growing trend of the operation has health experts worried.
9:30am:
The current generation is the most educated in history, yet getting a job in an increasingly tough job market isn’t a given, no matter how many credentials you’ve got.
In an effort to help those graduates unable to find a job, a US law school said it will give unemployed former students some of their money back.
Brooklyn Law School said this week that it will refund graduates 15 per cent of the total they paid in tuition if they are still searching for a job nine months after receiving their degree.
“Rather than continue to march over the cliff when a new direction is appropriate, we pay attention to what students want and need. The conventional legal education was passive and standardised. We’ve adopted a student-centric approach.,” the law school president told CNN.
Much has been made about in Australia about the difficult job market for recent graduates, and perhaps this could be a viable solution in the short term.
9:20am:
A pair of hungry male lions wrestled a kudu to the ground before killing it in front of stunned motorists at Kruger National Park in South Africa.
The two big cats were pacing a tarmac road through South Africa’s Kruger National Park, when their hapless prey emerged from the bushes. Drivers on the busy route stopped to watch the brutal killing, as the kudu slipped on the surface and one of the lions pounced on its back.
The second lion then went straight for the animal’s throat, resulting in its quick demise.
Twenty-three year-old Carolyn Dunford, from Romsey in the UK, took the incredible photos while working as a wildlife researcher in South Africa.
The kill took place on July 10 and the stunning photos have since been seen all over the world.
9:05am:
It might not be long until Facebook users have an online assistant which they’ll be able to ask to perform tasks in the digital world.
The social media giant is apparently working on a virtual assistant that will be able to connect users with people and business to order products or book services.
Known internally as “Moneypenny” the virtual helper would work inside the company’s Messenger app and connect users to real people who could then tend to all their virtual needs, reports Time magazine.
8:50am:
Labor says it won’t reintroduce a carbon tax and says reports stating it wants to are misleading and wrong.
Media reports on Wednesday claimed the party had drafted plans for two new carbon taxes, separating schemes for industry and households, plus vehicle emission standards, new laws to govern power plants and energy efficiency targets for the family home.
Opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler says the document referred to in the reports was a briefing paper, not a fully fledged policy, and full details of what a Labor government would do will be released “well before the election”.
Treasurer Joe Hockey said Labor would be crazy to revive a tax which brought down two of its leaders, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Australia was already meeting its emissions reductions target without a carbon tax, he said.
“It would be madness for Bill Shorten to follow that path, but obviously someone wants to kill Bill at the moment,” Mr Hockey told ABC TV.
-AAP
8:35am:
Shane Watson’s international career appears over with selectors set to axe the battling all-rounder for the second Test at Lord’s starting on Thursday.
Young star Mitchell Marsh is set to make his way back into the team after being left out for the first match of the series and selectors are determined not to turn back.
Marsh made back-to-back hundreds in Australia’s two tour matches and selectors have decided to back the form of one of their next generation of stars.
Marsh has played four Tests previously but his re-entry into the side marks a significant moment in Australian cricket.
The selector’s decision comes amid growing calls for the all-rounder to be dropped from the team. Read more here.
8:25am:
A woman who tried to break up a fight outside a pub in a small Queensland town has died in hospital.
Police say the 55-year-old woman was seriously injured when she tried to intervene in a fight between two men at the Aramac Hotel in Aramac, a tiny outback town near Longreach, on Saturday night.
The woman, a bystander, received head injuries and was flown from Barcaldine Hospital to Townsville later that night.
This morning she died in Townsville as a result of her injuries.
Read more at The Courier Mail.
8:15am:
With all the bad press Texas police have received in recent weeks, it’s about time a positive video was shared around with similar enthusiasm. And now it’s happened.
A a very cute video of a Texas police officer happening upon a group of young kids doing a dance called the “nae nae” was uploaded to Facebook earlier this month and has since been shared over 4,300 times and viewed nearly 300,000 times.
The cop stops, checks it out, and decides to get involved with an impromptu jig while the onlookers who filmed the video roar with laughter.
“I guess all EPD ain’t bad look at officer Eddings out with the kids doing the nae nae,” read the caption with the video.
8am:
A French tourist has been gored to death at a festival in eastern Spain, local authorities say.
“At about 1.00am (9am, Tuesday) he was gored by a bull which caused him very serious injuries. The only thing medical staff could do was to certify his death.” a statement said.
The organisers immediately cancelled all the bull runs scheduled until Wednesday “as an act of mourning” for the man, whom it did not name.
It was the third death from a goring in festivals in recent weeks around Spain.
Ten people, including four Americans, were gored in this year’s festival in Pamplona, the country’s most celebrated such event, but no one was killed.
Fifteen people have died from gorings in the Pamplona festival since 1924.
— With AP
7:50am:
A South Australian man will face court today after he was involved in two police pursuits in two days.
The 48-year-old Salisbury man was pursued by police at 7.15pm last night when he refused to pull over, but was arrested a short time later.
He was charged with two counts of engaging in a police pursuit, carrying an offensive weapon and resisting arrest and will appear in the Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court today.
-AAP
7:40am:
A British soldier has been sentenced to nine years in prison for raping a six-year-old girl in Austria.
Craig Stormey, 30, was arrested in November last year while on an army training camp in the Austrian town of Neustift.
The soldier admitted to entering the girl’s family home while drunk and raping her, reports the BBC.
British soldier jailed for raping six-year-old girl after breaking into her bedroom http://t.co/L0pPw0rqRk pic.twitter.com/nZmUxOts7I
— Daily Star (@Daily_Star) July 14, 2015According to prosecutors, the Mr Stormey was found in the girl’s bedroom after her father woke up due to the noise.
“We can confirm that a British soldier has been convicted in Austria of the rape of a minor and assault of a state authority and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment,” the Ministry of Defence spokesman said.
7:25am:
An Australian woman jailed in Abu Dhabi for “writing bad words on social media” has been deported from the United Arab Emirates.
Jodi Magi, 39, was sentenced for a cyber crimes offence after reportedly posting a photo on Facebook of a car parked across two disabled spots outside her Abu Dhabi apartment.
Before being deported on Tuesday, Ms Magi told the ABC that during her two days in jail she was shackled at the ankles, stripsearched and made to sleep on a concrete floor.
“After 53 hours in custody, having been shackled at the ankles, stripsearched, blood tested, forced to sleep on a concrete floor without a mattress or pillow and having no access to toilet paper or eating utensils, I can happily say I AM SAFE & OUT OF JAIL AND ABU DHABI!” she wrote on her Facebook page.
She also lamented the poor treatment of women in the country in the Facebook post.
Ms Magi is currently in Laos where she wants to “decompress”.
7:15am:
A hilarious and satirical clip from Funny or Die spoofing the idea of a pizza farm is doing the rounds of the internet and it’s definitely worth a watch.
The Funny or Die clip features Nick Offerman, most known for his roll on Parks & Rec, and fans will appreciate seeing him in his typical dry fashion.
Farm workers can be “mistakenly” seen stapling pizza slices to vines while Offerman declares the farm to be a place where taquitos and sloppy joes are grown “straight from mother Earth.” The video is intended to raise awareness about school nutrition standards “in answer to the ongoing debate in Congress on healthy school meals,” according to the video description.
7am:
The world’s major powers have struck a long-awaited nuclear deal with Iran after more than two weeks of intense talks in Vienna.
World leaders have hailed the Iran nuclear deal, with Barack Obama seeing a “new direction” and Vladimir Putin voicing a global “sigh of relief” — though Israel criticised it as a “historic mistake”.
Major international powers who thrashed out the agreement with Tehran said on Tuesday they hoped Iran would build on the opportunity to come in from the cold.
“We have stopped the spread of nuclear weapons with the Iran deal,” said President Obama.
“Every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off,” the President said in an address to the nation, with his deputy Joe Biden by his side.
“This deal demonstrates that American diplomacy can bring about real and meaningful change, change that makes our country safer and more secure.”
Iranians have poured onto the streets of Tehran after the Ramadan fast ended at sundown to celebrate the historic nuclear deal.
“If you look at the street tonight it’s because we are happy,” 42-year-old Giti said.
“Maybe the economy is going to change, especially for the young people. I was thinking about leaving, but now I will stay to see what happens.”
Ppl gathering in Tehran celebrating the nuclear deal #IranDeal in small and big groups. so much enthusiasm #IranTalks pic.twitter.com/xgrGIfZMDB
— Omid Memarian (@Omid_M) July 14, 20156:45am:
A drink driver in the UK has been accused in court of killing his girlfriend while having sex with her at the wheel during an alcohol-fuelled joy ride.
Minesh Parbat, 36, lost control of his BMW Z3 hitting a concrete island and throwing his girlfriend, Lisa Watling, from the car.
A witness said they found the driver with his trousers and belt round his ankles and “backside on show” while Lisa was also half naked, reports the Metro.
Mr Parbat told the Sussex Court that he was not driving dangerously or having sex at the time, but was unable to give an explanation as to why his pants were off.
6:35am:
NASA spacecraft has whizzed by Pluto, making its closest approach in the climax of a decade-long journey to explore the dwarf planet for the first time, the US space agency says.
Moving faster than any spacecraft ever built at a speed of about 50,000km/h, the nuclear-powered New Horizons — about the size of a baby grand piano — snapped pictures of Pluto as it hurtled by overnight.
The photos will reveal details of Pluto never seen before in the history of space travel.
“The New Horizons spacecraft passes its closest approach mark at Pluto after a three-billion-mile journey,” a NASA commentator said.
“I have to pinch myself. Look what we accomplished,” mission operations manager Alice Bowman said.
“It is truly amazing that humankind can go out and explore these worlds. And to see Pluto be revealed just before our eyes — it is just fantastic.” New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern described “a moment of celebration,” with the promise of a “16-month data waterfall” ahead that will help scientists write whole new textbooks about Pluto.
“We explore because we are human,” said Stephen Hawking of the mission.
— With AFP
6:25am:
wicketkeeper Brad Haddin missed Australia’s training session on Tuesday and will miss the second Test at Lord’s due to personal reasons.
It means 29-year-old NSW wicketkeeper Peter Nevill is set to make his Test debut against England at the home of cricket.
Haddin was at Lord’s on Tuesday and was seen in conversation on the Lord’s balcony with Australian coach Darren Lehmann and with team psychologist Michael Lloyd.
It’s not the end of Haddin’s career and he hasn’t been dropped, but will not play this match.
Nevill has played 55 first-class matches and he now has a golden opportunity to prove he is the man to be Australia’s long-term wicketkeeper in a match that is crucial to the tourists keeping the Ashes alive after going 1-0 down in Cardiff.
6:15am:
Underage binge drinking has declined in Australia, while the age when many have their first drink has increased.
But Australians aged over 40 have shown signs of increasingly problematic drinking and heavy drinking rates remain stable among young adults, a new study shows.
Understanding recent trends in Australian alcohol consumption was funded by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and carried out by the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research.
Data was used from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Drug Strategy Household Survey (2001 to 2013) involving more than 120,000 respondents.
The 2013 data shows 5.1 per cent of 14-17 year olds reported drinking 20 or more standard drinks in a session at least once in the past 12 months, down from 10 per cent in 2001.
Those who had consumed five or more standard drinks on an occasion has also halved, from 41.8 per cent to 19.8 per cent over the same period.
“Young people have sharply reduced their drinking over the last decade. In particular Australian teenagers are drinking less alcohol, and in less risky quantities,” report author Dr Michael Livingston said.
-AAP
6am:
Beachgoers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts were stunned to find a great white shark become stranded on the sand, and for a moment, they weren’t quite sure what to do.
The shark, a 7-foot juvenile male, beached itself trying to get a seagull near the barrier breach, a witness told WCVB.
“There was no way for the shark to get to where it could swim, so it just kept flapping and moving over,” witness Kelly Skanell said.
As residents stood around taking photos and splashing water on the shark, wildlife officials eventually devised a plan to get the young male back in the water.
“Last year we know that sharks were in that area, and that it got shallow and it was hard for them to get out,” Cynthia Wigren, of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy said. “It was hard for them to get out, but for a shark to be beached, is a big deal.”
It reportedly took rescuers about an hour to successfully tow the shark back into the water via boat.
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.