RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
WHEN a female orca became trapped on the rocks, it took a team of volunteers to launch a frantic and dramatic rescue attempt.
- Jihadi John on the run from IS
- Dad’s hilarious threat to teenage kids
- Labor reach deal on gay marriage
- Orangutan stuns crowd after escaping enclosure at Perth zoo
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:
If you ever harboured a secret fear of being swallowed up at the end of an escalator when you were a child, your fears have just been vindicated.
A woman in China has reportedly died after a faulty escalator gave way beneath her feet and she fell into the machinery.
A 15-second video posted online today claims to show the fatal incident at the Jingzhou Shashi Anliang department store.
The mother was carrying a young child who she manages to push to safety, but staff were reportedly unable to help her as the final step disappeared underneath her.
Rescue crews later recovered the woman’s body from inside the escalator.
9:35am:
Liberal frontbencher Kevin Andrews has defended his political integrity after allegations he was influenced by donations from a gambling lobby.
The Defence Minister insists any assertion his decision to water down problem gambling changes was influenced by political donations is “wrong and offensive”.
Poker machine lobby Clubs NSW donated $20,000 in 2013 and another $10,000 last year to the Victorian-based Menzies 200 Club that supports Mr Andrews, the local federal member for Menzies, according to Australian Electoral Commission records.
“Assertions made by Fairfax media today, that suggest my decision making was influenced by donations, is wrong and offensive,” he said in a statement.
The statement from Mr Andrews came after the Greens called for reforms to be made to the political donation system following the allegations.
“The current regime certainly undermines public confidence in our democratic institutions,” Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said.
-With AAP
9:25am:
Videos of a painstaking, six hour rescue mission to help a female orca stranded on rocks have been uploaded to YouTube.
Canadian man George Fisher posted the clips over the weekend after the whale became trapped in rock pools in British Columbia, Canada last week.
According to a Facebook post it took a team of volunteers and researchers six hours working to help the killer whale before finally freeing the animal and releasing it.
While a separate video shows the whale successfully re-entering the water, the footage below shows the rescuers keeping the orca hydrated.
9:15am:
Police have arrested 11 villagers over the murder of a 10-year-old boy in south-western Nepal, in what authorities are calling a case of human sacrifice.
Local media reports said the father of a sick teenager had last Tuesday lured away Jeevan Kohar with a packet of biscuits and the promise of 50 rupees ($1.07).
The suspect then reportedly slit the child’s throat on the advice of a shaman, who said his own son’s health would improve if he committed the crime.
10-year-old boy ‘sacrificed’ to cure local youth in Nawalparasi - http://t.co/ONDgIhfzsF pic.twitter.com/1DLPnlbqXg
— The Himalayan Times (@thehimalayan) July 25, 2015One of the suspects reportedly told police that his son had a health problem and demanded that he had to be “pacified with human flesh.”
“We have arrested 11 people, including four women, for murdering a ten-year-old boy,” said Nal Prasad Upadhyaya, police superintendent of Nawalparasi district said on Sunday.
9am:
Treasurer Joe Hockey is happy to look at the concept of a “Warren Buffett rule” but has warned the right formula is needed to prevent an exodus of high income earners overseas.
The ALP national conference agreed to consider an Australian version of the rule — named after by US billionaire Warren Buffett — which proposes imposing a minimum 30 per cent rate on people earning more that $US1 million a year.
Mr Hockey told ABC radio that 10 per cent of the working population contributes 50 per cent of the income tax paid in Australia and if the right formula wasn’t struck then those high income earners could move overseas.
He said it was a balancing act to ensure the tax system was fair but at the same time ensure Australia is competitive with other countries.
“I’m happy to look at it,” Mr Hockey said referring to the government’s review of Australia’s tax system through the tax white paper.
-AAP
8:50am:
A wedding in India went from a joyous affair to a deadly one after a group of drunk men were reportedly denied their choice of Bollywood songs.
The wedding took place in Haridwar district over the weekend when a group of young men ordered the wedding DJ to keep playing music for them to dance to, reports the Times of India. The father of the groom, Vishwas Ram, intervened and ordered the music to stop so certain rituals could take place.
“Since it was past midnight, Ram told them that it was very late and the marriage rituals should be started,” a witness said.
Matters took an ugly turn when he asked the youths to leave the venue immediately. Feeling somewhat besmirched, one of the youths allegedly shot the groom’s father.
Police arrived at the wedding and rushed him to hospital where he was declared dead.
According to the Times, the unruly men never got their wish to keep dancing as they were subsequently “thrashed” by the wedding guests before being handed over the police.
8:40am:
The former caddie of controversial golfer Robert Allenby has hit out at the Australian saying he doesn’t believe he was bashed and kidnapped in Hawaii earlier this year.
Longtime caddie Mick Middlemo spoke out against his former boss after the pair’s now famous falling out after an on-course spat at the Canadian Open tournament last week.
Speaking with News Corp Australia from Atlanta, Middlemo dubbed the PGA golfer the “Bernard Tomic” of Australian golf, and disputed the kidnapping story that caused international controversy in January.
Allenby maintained he had been drugged, kidnapped, beaten and robbed after drinking at a wine bar in Honolulu.
8:30am:
A 12-year-old girl suicide bomber has killed 20 people in an attack on a bar in Cameroon, while in a crowded market in neighbouring Nigeria a “mentally handicapped” female attacker killed 14.
The child bomber blew herself up among Saturday night revellers in the popular bar, injuring at least 79 others, Cameroonian state TV reported on Sunday.
Early Sunday in the northeastern Nigerian town of Damaturu, a woman described by locals as “mentally unstable” detonated herself at the entrance of a market, trader Garba Abdullahi told AFP.
Suspected 12-year-old girl suicide bomber kills 20 in Cameroon, Nigeria http://t.co/2AWnAXewYt pic.twitter.com/bKAGBLdxFD
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) July 26, 2015There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either bombing, but Nigeria and increasingly Cameroon have suffered repeated attacks by Boko Haram extremists, including a recent string of suicide attacks by women and girls.
-AFP
8:15am:
A father has carried out the perfect threat to ensure his teenage children do the dishes.
Clearly a fan of the Taken movie franchise, this fed up dad channelled Liam Neeson’s badass, assassin character from the films in his rather inventive threat.
Taping a typed ultimatum above the sink, he attacked the weak spot of all teenagers — their internet and phone connection.
“My teenagers refuse to put their dishes in the dishwasher. So I put this above the sink,” he wrote with the photo which he uploaded to reddit.
The note has since become a bit of an internet hit as the dad’s desperate actions quickly circulated the internet.
8am:
Six passengers were seriously injured early Sunday in a spectacular accident in northern France when the top of a bus was shorn off while trying to pass under a low bridge.
Frederic Fevre, the public prosecutor in the northern city of Lille, said six people were in grave condition after the bus from Spain carrying 58 passengers attempted to drive under a bridge prohibited to vehicles exceeding 2.6 metres in height.
“Most people were sleeping ... (and) nobody understood what was happening,” said a passenger from Spain’s Basque region identifying herself as Carlota.
“All of a sudden, the roof of the tunnel was right there,” she said gesturing with her hand just above her head.
According to witnesses, the most severely injured passengers were located at the rear of the bus, towards which the debris of the roof was thrust as the vehicle ploughed into the bridge.
Fevre said the 59-year old driver of the bus when the accident occurred had a good record, and assured authorities he had followed instructions provided by his GPS.
-AFP
7:50am:
Police in America arrived to an unspeakably gruesome scene on the weekend.
Arizona police discovered a woman’s decapitated body in a Phoenix home, where they say the suspect also cut off his own arm and was found missing an eye, Fox 10 reported.
Two decapitated dogs also were found in the residence.
The horrific scene was discovered by a neighbour who routinely checks up on the residents of the house. “It looked like a massacre in her kitchen ... ” George Loney told Fox 10 Phoenix. “Like every other day, I go check on them,” said Loney. “They are mentally ill. [I] went to go check on him … he answered the door; he was naked and there was blood everywhere, so I called the cops.”
When police arrived, the 43-year-old suspect had cut off his own arm and was missing an eye.
The suspect told officers he killed three family members. It is unclear whether he was referring to the woman and the two dogs, so officers are checking on other relatives.
Read more at The New York Post.
7:40am:
A curious orangutan managed to escape its enclosure in front of dozens of startled onlookers at a Perth zoo yesterday.
Reilly Lovegrove, 12, was visiting the zoo with his older sister when he witnessed the spectacle.
“We saw an orangutan on the dividing wall of the enclosure and then it started coming towards us,” he told The West Australian.
“Then a little girl with blonde hair started walking towards it — she pat it on the head,” he said.
The orangutan, named Teliti, climbed up onto the railing at the top of the enclosure and flipped itself up onto a path where zoo-goers began crowding around.
The animal did not lash out at any visitors and was described as being “scared” and “alert” as people tried to touch it.
It is the second time in as many weeks that an orangutan has escaped its enclosure after an 11-year-old animal escaped a Melbourne zoo earlier in the month.
7:25am:
An alleged carjacker has been stopped in his tracks after an epic 160km bid to outrun police in central Queensland.
Officers used tyre spikes to stop the man in a car he had allegedly stolen from another man in Emerald on Sunday.
The car hit a guard rail before coming to a stop near Duaringa, about 160km from where he took off.
The 28-year-old will face the Rockhampton Magistrates Court today charged with armed robbery, assault, breaching his bail conditions and dangerous driving.
-AAP
7:15am:
Hot air balloon enthusiasts from over 40 countries have soared into the record books as 433 balloons took off at the same time from an air base in eastern France.
The balloons, including some spectacular designs such as a French chateau and rotund cartoon character Obelix, took off from Chambley-Bussieres air base on Sunday to beat the previous record for simultaneous hot air balloon flights.
The previous record was set at the same spot in 2013 when 391 balloons went up.
“A new page in ballooning history has been written,” said organiser Philippe Buron-Pilatre.
The biggest dangers for the balloons, which were arrayed in parallel lines 6km long for the takeoff, was that two of them might collide causing tears in their fabric, something that has happened twice since 1989, he added.
-With AFP
7am:
It may not come as a surprise that notorious rapper Snoop Dogg was taken in by police on suspicion of drug use, but the 43-year-old rapper has reacted with indignation after being arrested by Swedish police, vowing never to return to the country.
Police carrying out roadside controls noticed that Snoop Dogg (whose car was pulled over) seemed to be under the influence of narcotics. He was arrested and taken to the police station to take a urine test,” Daniel Nilsson, a police spokesman for the central Uppsala region said.
While the incident only lasted several minutes, Snoop clearly wasn’t happy about it.
2 all my sweden fans U can blame YA police dept for never seeing me again in your beautiful country… https://t.co/B9bMVP1R1i
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) July 26, 2015Snoop Dogg’s song lyrics often display his fondness for marijuana and he has previously had run-ins with police elsewhere over the drug. The rapper has previously had immense difficulty entering Australia.
6:45am:
A duckling has had a lucky escape from a cruel fate on a factory farm and found an unlikely mother to care for it.
An Imgur user with the name EnterShikari has shared the story of a very lucky duckling now living on his girlfriend’s property. She discovered the little guy who had escaped into the parking lot and decided to take it home and introduce it to a family chicken that had never been able to lay fertile eggs.
It didn’t take too long for the pair to bond and the wannabe mother hen is now busy showing the little duckling how to live … like a chicken.
According to the post, the mother hen is fiercely protective her new duckling and teaches it how to “roam and eat insects”.
“Now the chicken fully recognises the duckling as hers and the duckling follows her everywhere,” it reads.
6:30am:
Labor says the parliament has the numbers to legalise same-sex marriage and wants Prime Minister Tony Abbott to allow his MPs a free vote on the issue.
Labor’s divided factions reached a compromise on marriage equality at the weekend as leader Bill Shorten pledged to act within 100 days should the ALP win the 2016 federal election.
Mr Shorten and senior Labor figures called on Mr Abbott to let Liberal MPs stand up in the parliament for what they believe in. “We lay down the challenge to Mr Abbott and his Liberals: Please give your members of parliament a free vote so we can make marriage equality a reality now,” Mr Shorten told the ALP national conference.
Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek hoped Australia would have marriage equality by Christmas.
“The current parliament has the numbers to pass marriage equality and should be allowed to,” she told delegates.
Under Labor’s compromise resolution, its federal MPs will be bound to vote for same-sex marriage, but not until after the next two elections.
-AAP
6:15am:
French police are searching for the driver of a car that smashed through a security barrier in central Paris near the finish line of cycling’s Tour de France.
Police opened fire on the car, failing to stop it from speeding away after the incident in the Place de la Concorde at the foot of the famous Champs Elysees.
The car was later found abandoned nearby.
A police source said witnesses saw two men and two women leaving the bullet-ridden car.
The world’s greatest cycling race was to finish later Sunday at the Arc de Triomphe, at the other end of the Champs Elysees, after the cyclists perform several laps up and down the famous avenue.
But interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told AFP: “There is no clear link for the time being between this incident and the Tour de France finish.”
No one is believed to have been hit as the police shot at the car, and police stressed that no shots were fired from the car.
6am:
He's the masked man who appears in a number of the Islamic State’s graphic beheading videos, but according to reports, the infamous Jihadi John is on the run from the terrorist group.
Born in Kuwait and raised in Britain, Mohammed Emwazi (dubbed Jihadi John) is believed to have left IS a number of weeks ago and is fleeing to North Africa.
While he has routinely appeared in execution videos peering through a black wrap that covers his face, it is believed Jihadi John now fears for his life.
ISIS would drop him “like a stone or worse if they feel he is no longer of any use to them,” a source told the Daily Express. “So it is possible he will end up suffering the same fate as his victims.”
He reportedly fears that his unmasking and subsequent notoriety has diminished his value to the militant group.
The Express also claims the 26-year-old computer science graduate harbours a fear that jealous members of IS might be plotting against him.
Emwazi is wanted by a US led coalition for the sickening killings of journalists and aid workers Stephen Sotloff, James Foley, David Haines, Alan Henning and Peter Kassig.
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.