RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
WITH these latest remarks, Donald Trump sounds a bit like that loud uncle you avoid at the family Christmas party.
- Accused ANZAC terror teen part of deradicalisation program
- Woolworths is facing hefty fines
- Man’s sickening fast food find
- Elite school students caught in drug scandal
Live: rush hour
Ahh, there’s nothing like that sad, sad Tuesday morning after a long weekend. If it helps, warm temperatures of mid-to-high 20s are forecast for most capital cities this week, with Darwin set to swelter through highs of 35. Maybe Australia just decided autumn won’t be a thing this year. Here are your headlines.
10am
That’s Rush Hour for the day! Check back to our home page throughout the day for ongoing news coverage.
9.45am
Treasurer suggests public service spending is on the cutting board
Treasurer Scott Morrison apparently hasn’t ruled out cutting public sector spending to pay for income tax relief.
Speaking to the media today, Mr Morrison hinted the public sector would be required to rein in spending.
“Out there in the economy today businesses are being told that they need to produce the same quality of a product to be competitive in the market and they need to do it for less,” he said.
“That is what they’re being told and they are responding to that challenge and they are ensuring that their products and the quality of their services keeping up to the market and indeed exceeding the mark and that is why they’re succeeding.
“Now, government should not be given a leave pass from having to drive the sort of innovation in its own operations to deliver the same sorts of things that businesses and employees around the country are being asked to do and is has been a key driving thought and principle.
“A practical principle that is driving our thoughts and our preparation of this Budget.”
9.30am
Gold Coast school fire was lit deliberately, police say
Police believe a fire that caused extensive damage to a Gold Coast private school building was deliberately lit.
Firefighters were called to St Andrew’s Lutheran College at Tallebudgera late last night, after a theatre building was engulfed in flames.
It took several hours to get the blaze under control.
Police have declared the area a crime scene, and the blaze is being treated as suspicious.
9.20am
Announcement on Australia’s new submarines expected
The winning bid for Australia’s next fleet of submarines is expected to be announced today.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will reportedly make a surprise visit to Adelaide to name the winning designer of the 12 new subs and where they will be built, The Australian reports.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull has declined to comment.
Treasurer Scott Morrison was also asked about the announcement on ABC Radio National, but would only say: “It would be highly inappropriate for me to speculate on these matters.”
This will be Australia’s biggest and most complex defence procurement, costing as much as $150 billion over the life of the project.
The submarine contract is expected to be worth about $50 billion.
— AAP
9.10am
Woman’s amazing response to ‘upskirt shooter’
A woman was furious after she realised a man was subtly aiming a camera up her skirt, but she wasn’t about to idly stand by.
The woman, from Nanjing, China, was standing on a packed subway when she noticed where the camera was pointed, despite the fact that it was hidden in a garment bag.
But rather than keep quiet, she went straight up to the man, furiously confronted him in front of onlookers... and then made him eat the SD card.
Yep. She filmed the whole thing – including him biting down on it – and put it on Youtube.
In the footage posted, she is seen confronting him, announcing to fellow commuters what he has done, and then making him chew the SD card to prove it’s really been destroyed.
When the train stops, he gets off immediately and running down the platform.
Huge round of applause to this girl!
9.00am
Did Ellen Pompeo take a jab at Patrick Dempsey?
Ellen Pompeo may have just thrown a subtle jab at her former “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star/on-screen husband Patrick Dempsey.
On Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, DeGeneres asked Pompeo how things have been on Grey’s in the wake of Dempsey’s departure towards the end of last season.
According to Pompeo, the answer is better than ever. “It’s amazing how much you get done without a penis,” Pompeo responded.
To be fair, she did later soften the blow, adding: “We miss him dearly. But, yeah, the show is doing very well.”
— Fox News
8.50am
‘How handsome am I?’ asks Donald Trump
He admits he may not have acted very presidential in the GOP primary, but at least old mate Donald Trump knows it’s what’s on the outside that matters.
“Do I look like a president?” he asked a West Chester crowd. “How handsome am I, right? How handsome?”
It’s the sort of thing your drunk Uncle Jeff would boom into your face after his fourth scotch at the Christmas family dinner.
It’s all part of his team’s latest efforts to make him look more presidential, and less ... well ... insulting.
That said, he did then reference Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s appearance, saying: “And I’m looking at this stage of people -- my competitors. Does Hillary look presidential?”
He made similar comments during a speech on Sunday in Hagerstown, Maryland, when he said: “I think I look real good. I mean, I think I look like a president. You mean, you mean Kasich looks better than Trump? I think a lot of people would disagree with that. Cruz? Cruz? You think lyin’ Ted is better?”
8.35am
Man finds full chicken head in basket of chicken wings
If you need incentive to stop eating fast food, just read this the next time you’re craving some KFC.
A man in France discovered a full chicken head in the basket of fried chicken wings he ordered from Quick, a French fast food restaurant.
He posted a video of it to Youtube and Facebook, saying he was feeling ‘nauseous’.
He told local media he “thought it was a bone” at first, and was about to take a bite before he realised what it was.
Aaaaaaand on that note, the salad option is looking pretty good now.
8.20am
Canadian hostage beheaded in Philippines
A Canadian hostage has been beheaded in the Philippines by the militant Islamic group Abu Sayyaf.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “outraged” by the killing of John Ridsdel of Calgary, Alberta, after Filipino authorities said they had found the head of a foreign man on the remote island of Jolo.
“This was an act of cold-blooded murder and responsibility rests with the terrorist group who took him hostage,” said Mr Trudeau.
The men had been forced to beg for their lives on camera, and similar videos posted over several months showed the hostages looking increasingly frail.
In the most recent video, Mr Ridsdel said his captors would kill him on April 25 if a ransom of $6.4 million were not paid.
— AFP
8.15am
Police still trying to identify Snapper Point murder victim
Police are still trying to identify a young woman who was stabbed in the neck before her naked body was thrown into a blowhole at Snapper Point north of Sydney.
She was aged from 25 to 30, and police believe she had been in the water for more than 48 hours, The Daily Telegraph reports.
There was no sign of her clothing in the immediate area near the blowhole and police believe she was stripped before being dumped.
The woman is of Asian appearance with shoulder-length hair, of medium build and around 170cm tall. Police believe whoever dumped the body is likely to have a good knowledge of the area, which is popular with fisherman.
8.05am
The biggest winners of the Coalition’s negative gearing ‘policy’
The Grattan Institute has concluded that surgeons, finance managers, lawyers and anaesthetists will benefit most from the Coalition’s policy on not touching negative gearing.
Teachers, nurses, hairdressers and sales assistants are set to benefit the least.
The data found that the top 10 per cent of earners collected almost 50 per cent of negative gearing tax deducions, and almost 75 per cent of concessionally-taxed capital gains.
7.55am
Tamir Rice’s family to get $6 million
The US city of Cleveland has reached a $6 million settlement with the family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American fatally shot by police while holding a toy gun.
Under the terms of the settlement, Cleveland acknowledges no wrongdoing, according to details of the accord announced Monday by a US District Court in Ohio.
Rice’s November 2014 death at the hands of a white officer was one of a series of high-profile incidents involving police violence against African Americans that fueled protests across the country.
The Rice family’s lawyers said “no amount of money can adequately compensate” the relatives for their loss.
“In a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back,” they added in a statement.
“His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled.”
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson spoke of a “difficult time” for his city. “There is no price that you can put on the life lost of a 12 year old child,” he told reporters.
“That should not have happened in the city of Cleveland.”
— AFP
7.45am
Meet the man who tried running across the ocean in a giant bubble
Just FYI, if you try to run across the ocean in a giant bubble, you may not get very far.
Like, just in case you had a hankering for that sort of thing.
An ultra-marathoner’s attempt to “run” from Florida to Bermuda in a giant bubble was sadly cut short after the Coast Guard towed him back to land.
#BreakingNews: HydroPod voyage from Miami to Bermuda had recently been determined to be manifestly unsafe.
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 24, 2016
Reza Baluchi, 44, was accused of flouting safety orders when he got into the giant - er - vessel.
He had intended to remain at sea for five months, and according to his website was attempting to “raise money for children in need”.
Mr. Baluchi had set a goal of running across more than 190 recognised nations.
But the Coast Guard noted that the taxpayers bear the expense of his rescues.
7.35am
Teen gunman bullied over hygiene
The US teenager who opened fire outside of his high school during the formal over the weekend was reeling from a recent breakup with a student there.
18-year-old Jakob Wagner unleashed a hail of bullets outside Antigo High School in Wisconsin on Saturday night, wounding two students before being fatally shot by a police officer in the parking lot.
Another former classmate said that Wagner “was bullied a lot” at school and was teased about his poor hygiene, among other things.
“Ever since we were younger, he was one of the kids you kind of watched out for,” 19-year-old Emily Fisher told the Wausau Daily Herald.
“If someone was going to shoot the school, we thought it was going to be him.”
Fellow student confirms this is Jakob Wagner, the 18-year-old who shot 2 at an Antigo prom. https://t.co/DGnrezuS70 pic.twitter.com/eoMPxZcs24
— Journal Sentinel (@journalsentinel) April 24, 2016
7.25am
LGBT editor hacked to death in Bangladeshi capital
A senior editor for Bangladesh’s only LGBT magazine has been hacked to death along with a second person in the capital Dhaka, police said, the latest in a series of attacks on minorities in the Muslim-majority nation.
“Unidentified attackers entered an apartment at Kalabagan and hacked two people to death. Another person was injured,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder told AFP.
Xulhaz Mannan was an editor at LGBT magazine Roopbaan and a US embassy worker.
The Roopbaan editor and some of his friends launched the magazine two years ago and were behind an annual Rainbow Rally which since 2014 has been held on April 14, Bengali New Year.
Ahead of the banned event, they said they had received threats from Islamists.
— AFP
6.55am
Bystanders praised for saving woman from alleged attempted rape
This story is both horrific and a reminder that there are some very decent people in the world.
A group of Good Samaritans have been praised by police after they saved a woman from an alleged sexual assault in Melbourne’s inner north.
Fairfax Media report the attack occurred just 300 metres from where Jill Meagher was raped and killed in September 2012.
The man said he was riding home around 10.30pm on Sunday near Anstey train station, when he heard a woman allegedly screaming that a man was trying to rape her.
The Good Samaritan chased the attacker as he fled, and was eventually joined by two other strangers who helped hold him down.
Police arrived after 15 minutes, handcuffed the man and took him away.
6.45am
Students in elite school drug scandal avoid criminal charges
Three students at the centre of a drug scandal at Melbourne Girls Grammar School have avoided criminal charges.
The students, aged 17 and 18, were let off after they were busted with drugs including ecstasy and cannabis at their Year 12 formal, The Herald Sun reports.
The girls received formal cautions but will not have formal criminal records.
Formal cautions are usually handed out for people with no prior convictions.
6.30am
Woolworths facing huge fines
Woolies is facing hefty fines after breaching Anzac Day’s trading restrictions in NSW.
In a news.com.au exclusive, it was reported yesterday that the supermarket giant got a sneaky head start that could cost them $2.5 million in fines.
Stores across the state allowed staff in as early as 9.00am on Monday to receive deliveries, cook chickens, prepare seafood and bake bread.
Under NSW law, large retailers are not permitted to open before 1.00pm.
... on the plus side, perhaps they now finally have something to replace their disastrous #FreshInOurMemories campaign last year.
6.15am
Waleed Aly shuts down Port Arthur movie writer
The Project host Waleed Aly shut down Paul Moder, the writer of a controversial movie about the Port Arthur massacre, in a heated debate last night.
During the conversation, Aly asked Moder to elaborate on a post he made on Facebook that said “Bryant allegedly committed the crime”.
“What is that meant to mean? I mean he’s convicted, there’s no allegedly about it,” Aly said.
Moder tried to explained that there was no evidence linking Bryant to the scene.
But as Aly pointed out, Bryant had confessed to the whole thing.
“There’s nothing to be made of the fact that this evidence hasn’t been presented publicly, of course it hasn’t been presented publicly, that’s the way the system works,” he explained.
“If there was a defensible case, in this case, it would have run at trial. That’s what would have happened and those discrepancies, if they even exist, would be discussed and judges would rule on them.”
Boom!
6.00am
Is this a bizarre case of bad Photoshopping?
The President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, has been accused of having himself Photoshopped into pictures he shared of his team in the city of Coatzacoalcos.
Last week, a petrochemical plant in the city exploded, with at least 28 people reportedly killed by the blast.
But did he really get up close and personal with the aftermath?
The President uploaded a series of photos of himself supposedly inspecting the damage, but according to many of his Facebook followers, something just... doesn’t seem right.
Shoddy Photoshop job? Shoddy camera? Shoddy eyesight on our part? Look closely. The lighting, the eerily sharp outline, the colouring-that’s-slightly-off-from-its-surroundings... what do you reckon?
The president’s Facebook followers have left comments like “Lol would have invested well in Photoshop” and “Am I the only one who thinks these pictures are fake?”
5.45am
Navy officer bashed on Sydney train
A Navy officer has been left bloodied following an Anzac Day assault on train in Sydney’s southwest.
The 24-year-old, who was in full uniform, was returning home from the Anzac Day Memorial Service at around 2.45pm when he approach a group of men who were drinking alcohol and harassing commuters.
After approaching the group and asking that they stop drinking and curb their behaviour, the officer was punched in the nose by one of the men as he left the train at Glenfield.
A police investigation is underway.
— AAP
5.30am
Teen accused of Anzac terror plot part of deradicalisation program
The Sydney teenager accused of planning an Anzac Day terror attack yesterday was part of a government-funded deradicalisation program when he was arrested, The Australian has revealed.
Police had reportedly been working with the boy for almost a year before he allegedly attempted to obtain a firearm for an attack.
It’s reported that he was in contact with senior Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash, the 24-year-old jihadist believed to have played an integral part in the recruitment process of young Australians.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested near his home in Auburn, and charged with planning an act of terrorism for what police believe would have been an Anzac Day massacre.
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.