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RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

RIVAL street gangs are promoting a sickening competition on social media with the hashtag #100Days100Nights.

NICK WHIGHAM and WIRES
9 min read
July 29, 2015 - 5:42AM

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 this morning’s #RUSHHOUR blog. Stay up to date with the rest of today’s headlines at news.com.au.

9:50am:

A sickening competition is being promoted on social media with Los Angeles gang members reportedly vying to see who can be the first to kill 100 people.

Under the hashtag #100Days100Nights, Instagram and Twitter users are warning that no one will be safe between Western and Normandie avenues in South LA in a 100-day window that began last week, law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast.

Users on social media have tagged images and videos while brandishing guns with the hashtag expressing support for the movement.

One of the first victims of this depraved game was a 4-year-old boy who was killed late last week, according to the report.

But LAPD say they don’t believe the Twitter game is genuine and have called for calm.

Read more at the New York Post.

9:30am:

A dispatcher in New Mexico has been removed from duty after telling a panicked 911 caller who was trying to save the life of a shooting victim to “deal with it yourself.”

Matthew Sanchez was reassigned after officials became aware of the call, officials said.

“An internal investigation has been initiated,” Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey said in a statement this week. “I am taking the allegation very seriously.”

The call was made after Jaydon Chavez-Silver, 17, was shot in June as he watched other teens play cards at a friend’s house in Albuquerque. He later died.

-AP

9:20am:

Australia will be bitterly disappointed if Russia blocks efforts to prosecute those behind the downing of MH17, Julie Bishop says.

The foreign minister is in New York shoring up support in the United Nations for an international criminal tribunal to investigate the disaster that killed 298 people, including 39 Australian citizens and residents a year ago.

She has the backing of a majority of UN Security Council members except Russia, which has indicated it will veto the move.

“I don’t believe a veto should be used to deny justice to the families of those aboard MH17,” Ms Bishop said.

9:10am:

Fans of controversial rapper Tyler the Creator have attacked the head of an Australian feminist group after he mistakenly tweeted that they had succeeded in lobbying the Immigration Department to deny him a visa to Australia.

Coralie Alison is the director of group Collective Shout who want the rapper barred from entering the country due to his misogynistic and violent lyrics. The group is behind other similar campaigns such as banning the Zoo magazine from Aussie shelves.

Despite its erroneous nature, since the tweet Ms Alison has been inundated with online death threats and trolling from some of Tyler’s 2.4 million followers.

Tyler the Creator, centre, presents the best hip hop video award at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Tyler the Creator, centre, presents the best hip hop video award at the MTV Video Music Awards.

A spokesperson from the Australian Immigration Department said in a statement, “The Department can confirm that Mr Okonma (Tyler) has a current visa application with the Department, and that no decision has yet been made.”

9am:

An 8-year-old boy who lost his limbs to a serious infection has become the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant, surgeons said Tuesday.

Zion Harvey’s forearms were heavily bandaged but his hands were visible as he flashed some big smiles Tuesday at a hospital news conference, where he thanked everyone for helping him along a “bumpy road.”

Double-hand transplant recipient eight-year-old Zion Harvey smiles during a news conference Tuesday, July 28, 2015. Pic: Matt Rourke
Double-hand transplant recipient eight-year-old Zion Harvey smiles during a news conference Tuesday, July 28, 2015. Pic: Matt Rourke

The boy from the suburban Baltimore community of Owings Mills received the transplant earlier this month at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, though doctors did not publicly disclose the 11-hour operation until this week.

A 40-person medical team used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones. Surgeons then delicately reconnected arteries, veins, muscles, tendons and nerves.

-AP

8:45am:

Outspoken Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is preparing to face off with Labor Senator Penny Wong over same-sex marriage.

Penny Wong.
Penny Wong.
Senator Cory Bernardi.
Senator Cory Bernardi.

The South Australian pair will meet today at the National Press Club to go head to head over whether Australia should legalise gay marriage.

Senator Bernardi caused outrage when he linked same-sex legalisation to the acceptance of bestiality.

Senator Wong has decried the extreme language used by marriage equality opponents.

The debate comes after it was revealed some coalition MPs were pushing for same-sex marriage to be put to a national vote.

-AAP

8:30am:

A Chinese man has suffered a seriously bad mosquito bite which has left him struggling to see out his puffy eyes.

A factory worker known only as Mr Zhang was at work when the insect landed on his face and bit just above his left eye.

Following the mosquito’s efforts, his face began to swell with the bite even beginning to ooze puss. Shortly after that he began having trouble opening his eyes, reports the Mirror.

“I remember very clearly. I was working the night shift and the mosquito bit me at around 2am,” Mr Zhang recalled.

He reportedly went to a number of hospitals but was turned away as they were unable to determine what was wrong with him.

The aftermath.
The aftermath.

8:15am:

CCTV footage has been released of a man who was caught trying to film in the changerooms of a swim centre in Melbourne.

The man was seen to be acting suspiciously around the male and female changerooms in Eltham last month and when staff approached him he ran and dropped a shopping bag.

Police say the contents of the bag were set up to enable covert recording of video and they have released CCTV images of the man they believe is responsible.

8am:

A Miami judge is making headlines again after another serendipitous encounter in the courtroom.

Earlier in the month an emotional video surfaced of the judge recognising a defendant named Arthur Booth from middle school class.

This time round, judge Glazer realises she was on the same cruise as a man brought before her on fraud charges and the two have a lovely impromptu chat about their time on the Caribbean cruise ship.

7:50am:

A 16-year-old girl has been stabbed in the chest during a break-in at her home north of Brisbane.

Police believe the teenager may know her attacker, who turned on her during a 3am break-in at the girl’s Warner home.

The victim has been taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and a crime scene has been established.

A police spokesman said the alleged attacker was a female juvenile although they couldn’t say whether any arrests had been made.

Read more at the Courier Mail.

7:40am:

It’s undeniable how much we use our smartphones and now consumers around the world have admitted just how much.

Many people sleep with their smartphone, take it in the shower, and would rescue the device from a fire before saving the family cat. Those are among the findings of a seven-country survey of more than 7,000 people about smartphone habits released by Motorola, the newly acquired division of Chinese electronics giant Lenovo.

Some even admitted to taking the device in the shower.
Some even admitted to taking the device in the shower.

Sixty per cent of those surveyed said they slept holding their handsets with the highest percentages in India (74 per cent) and China (70 per cent). And 57 per cent said they took the device into the toilet, with the highest totals from China and Brazil.

One in six smartphone users said they used their phones while showering, and 54 per cent said they would reach for the smartphone before saving their cat in the event of a fire.

United States, Britain, Brazil, China, Spain, Mexico and India were involved in the survey.

-With AFP

7:30am:

Pictures demonstrating the safe way to take the escalator have reportedly gone viral in China following the death of a woman who fell into the machinery at the top of an escalator while at a shopping mall.

The online trend has proved to be a light hearted response to an unspeakable tragedy.

The photos show young Chinese spread, with their hands and feet planted on the hand rails as they ascend on the escalator by avoiding planting their feet on the ground below.

7:20am:

Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes is reportedly considering an early retirement amid the booing scandal that has engulfed the sport and divided fans.

The indigenous veteran is taking a couple of days off for the first time since the whole affair started the day he identified a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter who called him an ape, reports the Daily Telegraph.

He’s not sure if he’ll play in Saturday’s match against the Adelaide Crows at the SCG, as his mother, coach John Longmire, AFL officials, and teammates rally around him.

7:10am:

Prosecutors in Germany have charged a doctor with negligent bodily harm for declaring a 92-year-old woman dead, only for her to awaken again in a refrigerated room at a funeral home.

Essen prosecutor Birgit Juergens said Tuesday the 53-year-old doctor, whose name wasn’t released in line with privacy regulations, could face anything from a fine to prison time if convicted.

The doctor is alleged to have pronounced the seriously ill woman dead in March after a caregiver found her without a pulse and not breathing at a retirement home.

That evening, a worker at the funeral home where she’d been taken heard a scream from the refrigeration room and discovered the woman alive.

-AP

7am:

US police have arrested a man for an IS inspired terror plot which involved detonating a nail-filled backpack bomb on a Florida beach.

Described by the FBI as an Islamic State sympathiser, 23-year-old Harlem Suarez was charged on Tuesday with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in the U.S.

Harlem Suarez.
Harlem Suarez.

Authorities say Suarez came to the FBI’s attention through his Facebook posts praising the Islamic State group and containing extremist rhetoric.

Mr Suarez told an FBI informant he wanted to make a timer bomb, bury it on a Key West beach and detonate it remotely. Suarez was arrested Monday after taking possession of an inert explosive device provided by an FBI informant.

-With AP

6:50am:

Entries for the 2016 World Surf League Big Wave Awards have opened and the wipeout of the year category is not for the faint hearted.

One of the leading entries was uploaded to the company’s YouTube channel this week and the vision is absolutely insane.

The entry, which was recorded on July 22 shows Niccolo Porcella drop into the face of a monster wave before it swallows him up. The surfer falls off his board and is picked up by the wave, churned in its barrel, and crashed down on top of his own board.

Probably a good chance of taking out the category.

6:40am:

A federal government regulation to make divorce more expensive could be overturned with an urgent Federal Court hearing against the so-called “divorce tax”.

The hearing in Brisbane today will seek to stop the regulation by Attorney-General George Brandis to increase the fees to file a divorce.

Maurice Blackburn Principal Rod Hodgson said the case would challenge the “fundamentally unfair” fees and test the legality of them.

-AAP

6:30am:

It’s possibly the coolest job there is, and if you’re good at it, a very lucrative one.

Treasure hunters have found booty worth an estimated $US1 million ($A1.38 million) from an 18th century Spanish shipwreck off Florida.

The find includes 51 gold coins, 12 meters of ornate gold chain and a single coin called a Royal that was made for then King Felipe V.

The booty was from the sinking of a fleet of Spanish ships in a hurricane off Florida in late July, 1715. The vessels were sailing from Cuba to Spain.

After the fleet went down, Spain recovered much of the sunken treasure but hundreds of thousands of coins remain on the sea bed. Estimates place their collective value at $US550 million.

-With AFP

6:15am:

Outrage has been levelled at a wealthy American dentist who has been accused of shooting and beheading Cecil the lion at a Zimbabwe national park.

Authorities in Zimbabwe have been trying to track down the killer and it’s now alleged that Walter James Palmer from Minnesota paid $68,000 to kill the much-loved animal.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force charity said Palmer and professional Zimbabwean hunter Theo Bronkhorst went out at night with a spotlight and tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil into range.

“Palmer shot Cecil with a bow and arrow but this shot didn’t kill him. They tracked him down and found him 40 hours later when they shot him with a gun,” the charity alleged.

It added that the hunters unsuccessfully tried to hide the dead lion’s tracking collar, which was part of a University of Cambridge research program.

“Cecil was skinned and beheaded. We don’t know the whereabouts of the head,” the charity alleged.

Read more here.

6am:

A reporter in the US was about to do a live cross to talk about drive by shootings when she witnessed a drive by shooting.

There has been a spike of shooting incidents in Mount Vernon, in Washington State so KOMO reporter Kara Kostanich was sent out to do a field report on the alarming trend.

As she prepared in front of the camera by reading some notes from her phone, a car whizzed past at hight speed and then moments later, a number of shots were fired.

As the shots rung out, a steely looks ran across her face and she quickly ran out of the view of the camera.

Oh no!
Oh no!

“Of course my immediate reaction was just to get down. ... I ran around the front of the Explorer, got in the passenger seat and ducked under the dashboard,” she told AOL.

Ms Kostanich later tweeted that the incident had happened “steps” away from her and her camera man, and that they were trying to get a police escort out of the area.

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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/9c33ff3a4d700081c5d43ade5b7fbf4b