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RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

WHAT’S wrong with this outfit? Administrators at Stephanie Hughes’s high school didn’t think it was appropriate and sent her home. But her mum is spitting chips.

NICK WHIGHAM and WIRES
8 min read
August 19, 2015 - 5:34AM

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:

The mother of a Kentucky teenager has expressed dismay after her daughter was sent home from school for wearing an outfit that exposed her collarbone.

The photo below shows the problematic attire which was deemed “too revealing” by school administrators.

Too revealing?
Too revealing?

Stephanie Hughes’s mother had to collect her from Woodford County High School in Kentucky and she wasn’t happy about it.

“This is ridiculous! Parents are being called away from their important jobs and students are missing important class time because they are showing their collarbones! Something needs to change! PLEASE SHARE MY POST! Something needs to change!” she wrote on Facebook with the above photo.

Since then there has been an outpouring of support for the Kentucky mother. But in a number of subsequent posts she’s lamented the lack of change to the official dress code despite the controversy surrounding her daughter provoking a meeting with the school board over the issue.

According to Cosmopolitan, the policy is under fire from the community and a petition was circulating calling on the school to make changes to the dress code.

9:30am:

An emu is on the lam from police in the English countryside after it did a runner.

Thames Valley Police released a mugshot of the bird on Twitter, with instructions to the public to call police if they see the Australian flightless fugitive.

The bird has gone missing from a property about five miles east of Oxford, police said and are urging residents to be on the lookout.

According to Sky News, it is not the first time an emu has made a dash for freedom in the UK after an escaped bird was caught running through Devon traffic in 2012.

9:15am:

The White House has hired its first openly transgender official, a move which supporters said underscored the administration’s drive against inequality.

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan in Washington.
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan in Washington.

Officials said former activist Raffi Freedman-Gurspan began work on Tuesday in a team that recruits personnel to serve the president.

“Her commitment to bettering the lives of transgender Americans, particularly transgender people of colour and those in poverty, reflects the values of this administration,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama.

Freedman-Gurspan will act as outreach and recruitment director in the White House personnel office.

-AFP

9:05am:

A five-year-old girl named Hailey Dawson has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game — and she did so with her new 3D printed robotic arm.

Hailey was born with Poland syndrome, a disease which left her with an improperly formed hand.

Soon after her mum read about 3D printed prosthetics in a magazine, engineering students at the University of Nevada produced the robotic arm she used to throw the pitch.

And behind the plate was her favourite player, Manny Machado.

8:55am:

A removalist has been accidentally shot in the hand after he stumbled across a handgun in a Melbourne home. The man aged in his 20s was moving furniture in the Essendon home yesterday when he found the gun, picked it up and it discharged, hitting him in the hand.

He was taken to hospital for treatment and police are investigating.

-AAP

8:40am:

Model Heidi Klum has hit back at Donald Trump after the Presidential hopeful said the model is no longer a “10”.

Ms Klum responded in perfect style with a 12-second-clip she posted to her social media accounts.

The video on Twitter has been shared over 4,000 times and favourites over 5,000 times.

8:30am:

Disgraced ex-Subway spokesman Jared Fogle is set to plead guilty to possession of child-porn charges.

The US Attorney’s office is expected to announce Wednesday afternoon that Mr Fogle has copped a plea deal, reports Fox 58.

Jared Fogle is expected to plead guilty.
Jared Fogle is expected to plead guilty.

The report comes six weeks after authorities seized electronics and other items from Fogle’s home in Zionsville, an affluent Indianapolis suburb.

The 37-year-old Fogle became a Subway pitchman more than 15 years ago after shedding more than 200 pounds as a college student, in part by eating the chain’s sandwiches.

-With AFP

8:15am:

You couldn’t make this stuff up.

The parents of the Duggar family, Jim Bob and Michelle, want a new TV series.

The family shot to fame in the US with a reality TV show about their large family called 19 Kids and Counting before being embroiled in scandal after it was revealed their son Josh had molested five young girls, including tow of his sisters.

The Duggar family.
The Duggar family.

Unbelievably, the parents have reportedly pitched a new show idea to the TLC Network about providing Christian counselling to victims of childhood sexual abuse.

A source close to the family said they are desperate to keep the revenue from the TV network coming in, to support their huge family.

Many on social media have expressed outrage at the idea.

8:05am:

An exhausted donkey has been rescued after it was trapped in a seven-foot storm drain in Cambridge for over five hours.

During the painstaking rescue operation, firefighters pumped out the drain, using shovels and a mechanical excavator to clear an area around the donkey. It is unclear how the animal managed to get stuck in the storm drain.

The fire service has since shared a photo of the donkey recovering in a barn and have named him Noah.

7:50am:

This guy has made a strong case for bloke of the year.

Liam Murphy from Cork, Ireland, paid for his taxi driver to join him in an amusement park in the UAE after learning he couldn’t afford to attend.

Typically tourists take a taxi to the Ferrari World theme park Abu Dhabi and leave the driver waiting outside. But Mr Murphy had other ideas.

After chatting to his driver and learning that he’d never been inside despite taking people to the park for 14 years, he bought an extra $85 ticket for his new friend.

Mr Murphy posted a number of photos to his Facebook page of the two riding roller coasters and generally having a wonderful day.

Good times.
Good times.

“Got a taxi from Dubai to Abu Dhabi today. Indian taxi driver living here 14 yrs yet was never in Ferrari World. He was going to wait in the car for 4 hrs. Today I made his dreams come true for the laugh ... ‘I will pray God for you sir’ ...” Mr Murphy wrote on Facebook.

7:40am:

An Ohio man has admitted to attacking his wife’s lover and biting off part of the man’s ear after finding the pair in bed together.

Virgil Bates III told a judge this week that he came home to find his wife had lied about breaking off an affair.

The 40-year-old Bates says he found them in bed and put his wife’s lover in a headlock. He told the judge the man bit his arm and that’s when he bit back. The prosecutor said the top part of the victim’s ear couldn’t be repaired

-With AP

7:25am:

George Zimmerman seems to be on a mission to offend everyone.

The neighbourhood watch volunteer acquitted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin has once again found himself the subject of unflattering headlines.

He’s raffling off a painting he made of a Confederate flag to raise money for a Florida gunship owner who declared his store a Muslim-free zone.

Read more at the New York Times.

7:10am:

A foursome of prominent indigenous leaders have been summoned to Canberra for talks with Prime Minister Tony Abbott on constitutional recognition.

Noel Pearson, Patrick Dodson, Megan Davis and Kirstie Parker will meet with Mr Abbott tomorrow.

Indigenous leaders and panel members Noel Pearson, Professor Marcia Langton and Professor Patrick Dodson, at their last meeting on constitutional indigenous recognition in Canberra.
Indigenous leaders and panel members Noel Pearson, Professor Marcia Langton and Professor Patrick Dodson, at their last meeting on constitutional indigenous recognition in Canberra.

They want the federal government to fund special indigenous consultations on how to recognise Aboriginal people in Australia’s founding document but Mr Abbott has so far denied that request.

-AAP

7am:

An overzealous groom in the UK hired a $450,000 Ferrari for his wedding but never managed to return it in one piece.

The day before it was due back, the unnamed man crashed it into a house. Amazingly no one was physically hurt but while the driver lost his $1,000 deposit and the $1,800 a day he was charged for the vehicle, the real owners of the car are gutted.

“When I saw what had happened I was absolutely devastated,” co-owner Jamie Ford told the Daily Mail.

Whoops.
Whoops.

6:50am:

The Venezuelan currency is becoming so worthless as hyperinflation begins to grip the failing economy, that people are using banks notes as napkins.

At least that’s what one Reddit user is doing who posted a picture of him using a two bolivar note to hold an empanada.

The post aimed to highlight the growing troubles of the country’s citizens but according to Venezuela’s official bolivar-dollar exchange rate, the man was using the note as a napkin was wasting A$0.40.

However the reality on the black market is dramatically different with the 676.88 bolivars fetching around one US dollar, meaning the napkin was less than one third of one US cent, reports the Business Insider.

6:35am:

A convicted armed robber who escaped from a maximum-security Goulburn Jail yesterday is back behind bars following a police chase on NSW’s Hume Highway.

Stephen Jamieson allegedly used bedsheets and a pillow to escape from the prison, sparking a massive manhunt involving helicopters and dogs.

At about 10.50pm last night, police tried to pull over an allegedly stolen ute at Narellan, but it refused to stop. A pursuit ensued before the ute was halted by road spikes at Pheasant’s Nest.

Mr Jamieson has been refused bail and will appear at Goulburn Local this morning to face charges over the escape and pursuit. A review of security has been launched at Goulburn Jail.

Read more here.

6:25am:

The Australian Boomers led by their three NBA stars have booked a spot at the Rio Olympics with an 89-79 win over New Zealand last night.

Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova of the Boomers hold the Al Ramsay Shield.
Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova of the Boomers hold the Al Ramsay Shield.

The Golden State Warriors’ star Andrew Bogut finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double while Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova finished with a team high team-high 14 points.

“Delly is the epitome of energy,” coach Andrej Lemanis said when referring to the defensive efforts of his guard.

The 11 players Lemanis used through the contest all scored and had substantial moments but none were more inspirational than Bogut who just 48 hours before the game was expected to be unable to play due to a back injury.

The Haka from the New Zealand team before the game was also pretty great. Check it out below.

Read more here.

6:15am:

Thai authorities continue to hunt a man shown on security footage strolling into a packed religious shrine wearing a bright yellow T-shirt and leaving a backpack before an explosion killed at least 20 people yesterday.

Released by Royal Thai Police.
Released by Royal Thai Police.

Police released images showing the man, who appeared young, slightly built and wearing a yellow T-shirt and dark shorts, walking into the shrine with a backpack.

Despite rumours that an Australian model and actor was the man in the yellow shirt who likely carried out the bombing, police are still searching for the real suspect.

CCTV footage show him as he sits down and places the backpack underneath a bench, then walks away from the shrine clutching a blue plastic bag while reading what appears to be a smartphone.

“It is quite clear that he is the perpetrator in this case,” Prawut told local television station Channel 3.

-With AFP

Read more here.

6am:

A seal has made a lucky escape and managed to avoid the jaws of a white shark off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The seal more than holds its own.
The seal more than holds its own.

Rare footage of an aerial game of cat-and-mouse was captured by US researchers as the seal made a death-defying leap into the air in order the evade the predator. The seal appears to twist itself in the air and strike at the shark with its tail.

“White Shark 0: Seal 1 — Cape Cod,” reads the caption of the video which was uploaded to the YouTube account of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy this week.

The video described the scene as a “failed predation attempt”.

“The escape was incredible to witness. We’ve seen three predations over the last two years and this was a first — to watch a white shark leap from the water in an attempt to grab a grey seal,” Cynthia Wigren, president of the conservancy, said in a statement.

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