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RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

AMAZING photos of a rare phenomenon have been captured as an Indonesian volcano erupts with vibrant blue lava.

NICK WHIGHAM and WIRES
10 min read
September 15, 2015 - 5:31AM

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.

9:50am:

Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten has ridiculed Malcolm Turnbull’s elevation to prime minister.

“This country needs no more showmen, it actually just needs substance,” the opposition leader told the Labor caucus in Canberra this morning.

“Australians understand that the thing about Malcolm is it’s always about Malcolm,” he said.

9:40am:

Amazing photos have been captured at a volcano in Indonesia and show the surreal scenes of bright blue lava spilling out of the crater.

The rare phenomenon can be found at the Kawah Ijen crater, on the island of Java, Indonesia, and was recently captured by British photographer Reuben Wu.

Amazing images of molten lava photographed by Reuben Wu. Reuben Wu/Caters News
Amazing images of molten lava photographed by Reuben Wu. Reuben Wu/Caters News

The vibrant blue effect is caused by sulfuric gas that works its way to the surface, where it is heated by the lava flow. Temperatures inside the crater reach more than 500 degrees causing the gas to ignite.

Earlier in the year, news.com.au published an article about the arduous task carried out by workers at the volcano to extract the sulphur.

It’s a dangerous and backbreaking job, but the sulphur provides a living for many men in the poor rural community. And once in a while, it also provides these amazing images.

Amazing images of molten lava photographed by Reuben Wu. Reuben Wu/Caters News
Amazing images of molten lava photographed by Reuben Wu. Reuben Wu/Caters News

9:20am:

Australian boxer Davey Browne Jr. has died of injuries suffered in Friday’s IBF super-featherweight regional title bout against Carlo Magali of the Philippines.

Browne, a 28-year-old father of two, was knocked out 30 seconds from the end of the final round of the 12-round bout. He regained consciousness but later collapsed and was rushed to Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital in critical condition, suffering from a brain injury.

Police confirmed Davey’s death on Monday and said a post-mortem would be conducted.

“It’s 30-odd years since we’ve had a fatality or a serious injury,” Australian Boxing Federation president John McDougall said. “It’s tragic, tragic news.

-AP

9:10am:

Workers and customers at a pizza restaurant in Colorado got a shock Monday when the kitchen was invaded by a startled bear cub.

Wildlife officers were called to Louie’s Pizza in downtown Colorado Springs after the bear ran through an open door and took shelter under some shelving units, reports KKTV.

Officials tranquillised before removing the bear which had a broken foot and is thought to have been hit by a car.

The bear sought the pizza shop for refuge. KKTV Facebook.
The bear sought the pizza shop for refuge. KKTV Facebook.

9am:

Julie Bishop has defended her decision to turn on her former boss Tony Abbott, ousting him from the prime ministership after a leadership challenge by Malcolm Turnbull.

“I did what a deputy (leader) has to do and that is to reflect the views of the party,” Ms Bishop told the TodayShow.

“Tony asked for six months to turn it around and unfortunately that hadn’t happened.

“It became obvious to me that the majority of the party had lost confidence in Tony (and) I informed him as is my duty as deputy.”

Asked how Mr Abbott had taken the news, the normally stoic Ms Bishop struggled to contain her emotions.

“He was calm, he was obviously very hurt. I feel for Tony, I feel for (his wife) Margie and his daughters, and I know what stresses and strains the leadership were under.

“I think there were tears shed,” she said, her voice breaking.

Read more here.

8:45am:

When police in the US rescued a pig walking on the side of the highway they could already hear the jokes that would be made at their expense.

If you can’t beat them, join them, they figured.

Omaha Police decided to get the first shot in and posted a self deprecating and adorable post with the piglet to Facebook.

In the first 11 hours of the post, it has been shared over 200 times and received nearly 3,000 likes.

This is waaay to easy for you all to poke fun at us so we figured we will take the first shot by posting this. Our...

Posted by Omaha Police Department on Monday, 14 September 2015

8:35am:

Taliban insurgents in military uniform stormed an Afghan prison Monday, freeing hundreds of inmates after detonating a car bomb and killing four policemen in the country’s largest jailbreak in years.

The brazen raid in the eastern city of Ghazni comes as the Taliban ramp up attacks on government and foreign targets despite being embroiled in a bitter leadership transition.

It was the Taliban’s third mass prison break since 2008 and a major blow to Afghan forces facing their first fighting season without full NATO support.

“Around 2:30am six Taliban insurgents wearing military uniforms attacked Ghazni prison. First they detonated a car bomb in front of the gate, fired an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) and then raided the prison,” deputy provincial governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said.

-AFP

8:25am:

The world’s longest chain of continental volcanoes has been discovered stretching over 2,000 kilometres along Australia’s eastern plains.

The volcanic chain stretches from Cape Hillsborough on the central Queensland coast, southwest through central New South Wales to Cosgrove in Victoria, report the ABC.

“This volcanic chain was created over the past 33 million years, as Australia moved north-northeast over a mantle plume hotspot which we believe is now located in Bass Strait,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Rhodri Davies of the Australian National University.

“This track, which we’ve named the Cosgrove hotspot track [after an extinct Victorian volcano in the chain], is nearly three times as long as the famous Yellowstone hotspot tracks on the North American continent.”

8:15am:

Donald Trump who was fired from his reality TV show, The Celebrity Apprentice, has been replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

NBC announced on Monday that the movie star and two-term governor is the new host of the competition show, which will return to the network for the 2016 television season.

“I’m back,” the champion bodybuilder wrote on Twitter following the announcement, in reference to his famous line from the Terminator.

Trump has been staunchly anti-migration during his Presidential campaign and Twitter users have had a lot of fun pointing out the sweet sweet irony of his replacement.

8am:

A father has been arrested after his son was stabbed during a domestic dispute on the NSW mid north coast. A 33-year-old man was found with a stab wound to his neck and at a home in Nambucca Heads last night before being taken to Coffs Harbour Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition.

The 58-year-old father was arrested at the home and is assisting detectives with inquiries.

7:45am:

If someone is a touch skittish, it’s not uncommon for them to be describes as being scared of their own shadow. But for this little girl, it’s a reality.

If you’re prone to getting the heebe geebees, spare a thought for Kiya.

Mike Jacobs’ thought it was so amusing watching his daughter get spooked by her own shadow that he filmed it and put it on the internet.

The young tyke is enjoying a stroll in a sunny carpark but can’t manage to shake her pesky shadow, much to her distress.

7:35am:

The San Francisco 49ers will soon reveal if Jarryd Hayne will play in their NFL regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

The game, at the 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, is scheduled to begin at 12.20pm Tuesday (AEST).

The 49ers must reveal their 46-man squad 90 minutes before kick-off. 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula has played mind games in the lead up to keep the Vikings in the dark, refusing to say if Hayne will play or sit on the bench.

Hayne said on the weekend he still didn’t know if he would play or not.

“You understand why?” Tomsula, speaking to reporters last week, asked. “I’m not trying to be coy. “We don’t need to give bulletin boards where people can study everybody’s every movement. ”

-AAP

7:25am:

With the dust settling on the leadership spill, speculation is turning to the expected reshuffle of the Liberal Party’s frontbench.

Ministers in the firing line include Treasurer Joe Hockey, Employment Minister Eric Abetz and Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, who are likely to abdicate their portfolios.

Scott Morrison is expected to be a good chance of becoming treasurer while Christopher Pyne, who backed Turnbull in the spill is reportedly going to swap his education portfolio for defence.

The new prime minister faces his first question time at 2pm this afternoon and has indicated he will unveil his new cabinet and ministry at the end of the sitting week.

7:10am:

An American history professor has been killed in his office at a University in Mississippi, with the campus in lockdown as the shooter remains at large.

Authorities said Ethan Schmidt, 39, was killed inside an office in Jobe Hall. It’s unclear whether anyone else was wounded.

The shooter has been identified as Delta State University instructor Shannon Lamb, 45, who is also the suspect in the fatal shooting of a woman at her home on Monday.

As police sought to apprehend on the shooter, the university took to Twitter to warn those on campus.

Read more here.

7am:

With her big nose and little feet, a newborn rhino has charmed the khakis off zookeepers in South Australia.

A female southern white rhino calf was born over the weekend at the open-range Monarto Zoo, south-east of Adelaide.

Large mammal keeper Haidee Kinter says the bub and mum Umqali are doing well and the birth has thrilled zoo staff.

“With their prehistoric build, abnormally small feet in comparison to their body size and docile nature, its hard ... not to fall in love with these amazing animals,” she said.

“It’s especially exciting for zookeepers to see the animals they care for healthy, happy and breeding.” Ms Kinter says the poaching of endangered southern white rhinos is on the rise in their natural habitat in South Africa, with more than 1200 killed in the region in the past year.

-AAP

6:50am:

It took five friends a couple months of planning to record the perfect GoPro shot. And it took them two years to get the footage back.

In June 2013, a group of friends launched a weather balloon with a GoPro camera attached in the US state of Arizona. The expedition was designed to capture breathtaking aerial views of the Grand Canyon and its surrounding areas. However not everything went according to plan as their tracking technology failed and they ended up losing the camera.

But two years on, the footage was found by an Arizona hiker and has since been posted to YouTube.

Mission complete.

6:40am:

The son of slain AFL coach Phil Walsh is due in court charged with murdering his father.

Cy Walsh, 26, is expected to appear before the Adelaide Magistrates Court today via a video link from a psychiatric hospital.

Phil Walsh was stabbed to death on July 3.
Phil Walsh was stabbed to death on July 3.

He allegedly stabbed his 55-year-old father to death at the family’s Adelaide home on July 3 this year.

Walsh has been detained at a psychiatric hospital since the killing of the Adelaide Crows coach.

He didn’t enter a plea at a hospital bedside court hearing on July 4, a day after the killing which stunned Australia’s sporting fraternity.

6:30am:

EU member Hungary is on the front line of Europe’s migrant crisis and police have now closed off the main crossing point for migrants entering from Serbia.

AFP journalists on Monday saw around 20 police fence off a 40-metre gap in a razor-wire barrier along the border by a railway line as other officers blocked the track.

A growing group of several dozen migrants including many children, some in pushchairs, were stuck on the Serbian side of the border, with several women crying.

Almost 200,000 people travelling up from Greece through the western Balkans have entered the country this year, most of them seeking to go to northern Europe.

On Sunday, police said a record 5,809 people had entered, smashing the previous day’s record of 4,330, despite coils of razor wire being unrolled along the Serbian border.

By around midday local time on Monday, another 5,353 people had been intercepted, police said.

The sharp increase came ahead of tough laws coming into force on Tuesday under which people entering Hungary illegally can be jailed for up to three years.

-AFP

6:15am:

As news of the leadership spill broke yesterday afternoon many were caught off guard.

Twitter and other social media platforms exploded with activity as Australians watched the spill unfold with bemusement, horror and excitement.

From about 4pm until the announcement just before 10pm last night that Turnbull’s coup had been successful, netizens from around the country shared their thoughts on the matter with the tongue-in-cheek hashtag #PutYourOnionsOut catching on — a satirical show of support for the incumbent PM.

Here are some of the best memes and tweets from yesterday’s spill:

6am:

For the fourth time in just over two years and two months, Australia has a new Prime Minister.

Malcolm Turnbull surprised many last night by orchestrating a challenge for the Liberal Party leadership and becoming the 29th prime minister of Australia.

Speaking to the media on Monday night after his 54-44 win in the partyroom, Mr Turnbull pledged to be a more consultative leader who would take voters with him when explaining policy.

He said he would lead a traditional Cabinet process, pointing to criticism of Mr Abbott’s many disastrous “captain’s calls”.

“We will be making decisions in a thoughtful and considered manner,” the former communications minister told reporters.

He said he wanted a “thoroughly Liberal government” that was committed to giving “freedom to individuals”.

He went on to say that in order for Australia to compete on the world stage it had to be “agile, innovative and creative” and pledged to drive the country in that direction.

“There has never been a more exciting time to be alive today and to be in Australia,” he said.

Read more here.

Prime Minister designate Malcolm Turnbull and his deputy Julie Bishop.
Prime Minister designate Malcolm Turnbull and his deputy Julie Bishop.

5:45am:

The Syrian refugee who was intentionally tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman while he tried to flee with his young son in his arms says he can’t forgive her.

Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab and his son Zaid.
Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab and his son Zaid.

The incident was caught on camera and sparked international outrage with Hungary announcing that a criminal investigation will be launched into the woman’s actions.

Osama Abdel-Muhsen Alghadab was holding his seven-year-old son, Zaid, in his arms when he was tripped up by Petra Laslo as they tried to break away from a group being overseen by police.

“There were thousands of people and they were holding us there until a coach came to take us to the border. It was a very small area with a huge crowd,” the father told The Daily Mail.

“People started to lose patience and wanted to walk the 10km to the border — the police were standing there to stop people going.”

Mr Alghadab, who is now in Germany has since seen the footage of the incident and another clip of Ms Laszlo kicking a young girl, and said; “How can I forgive her?”.

The scenes that sparked outrage.
The scenes that sparked outrage.
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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/rush-hour/rush-hour-the-stories-you-need-to-know-today/news-story/4729a3f50745453abc9203ebf69ebc6c