RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
THIS man’s decision not to take the bus may have saved him a few bucks. But more importantly, it likely saved his life.
9:50am:
Roosters player Shaun Kenny-Dowall has pleaded not guilty in a Sydney court to several assault charges relating to alleged domestic violence.
The 27-year-old was charged in July with 10 offences over the common assault and stalking of his former partner Jessica Peris, which allegedly occurred between October and June.
He didn’t attend his first court matter after being charged as he had been admitted to a Sydney hospital, but appeared at Waverley Local Court this morning.
-AAP
BREAKING: Sydney Roosters player Shaun Kenny-Dowall pleads not guilty to 10 domestic violence charges. More to come.
9:40am:
A West Australian man has come off second best after he allegedly attacked a police dog with a hammer.
Police and their dog Slam, attended the South Guildford home after a domestic disturbance was reported last night.
A man allegedly tried to attack police dog Slam with a hammer. It didn't go well for him. http://t.co/huMVBudACT pic.twitter.com/gcCvLCl1mf
According to the West Australian, it’s alleged a man at the house tried to steal a police vehicle as he struggled with the handler of the dog.
When Slam came to his handler’s defence and pulled the man out of the car by his leg, the man took a hammer from his clothing and hit the dog on the head.
Officers then tasered the man who was apprehended and is now in hospital. Meanwhile, Slam reportedly didn’t sustain any serious injuries.
9:25am:
A London man’s decision not to take the bus may have saved him a few bucks. But more importantly, it could’ve saved his life or limbs.
CCTV footage show the man reading the bus times while standing on the side of the road. He elects not to use the service and wanders out of sight. It turns out to be a very lucky decision because moments later the camera captures an out of control vehicle smash into the sign in the very spot the man was standing.
It certainly would’ve been a difficult thing to avoid.
9:10am:
Expense claims from Treasurer Joe Hockey and a Greens senator Sarah Hansen-Young have emerged amid calls for a political truce over the parliamentary entitlements controversy.
Mr Hockey charged taxpayers $11,300 for a charter flight to meet with outspoken senator Jacqui Lambie after delivering his first budget in 2014, while Ms Hanson-Young spent $2,700 in travel costs in Sydney for the 2013 Mardi Gras, to which she received free tickets.
The revelations come after allegations Labor MP Tony Burke flew his family on a taxpayer-funded holiday to Uluru in 2012.
Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos has called for an end to “tit-for-tat” scrutiny over individual cases.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott will reportedly appoint a businessman and two former federal politicians to help expedite a review of entitlements by former finance department head David Tune and the Remuneration Tribunal chief, John Conde.
The newly expanded panel will explicitly consider whether MPs should be made to fly economy for all travel within Australia, the Courier Mail reports.
8:55am:
A family in the US has been brutally murdered in what police are now describing as a “ritualistic killing” possibly connected to the recent blue moon.
Voncile Smith, 77, and her sons Richard Smith, 49, and John Smith, 47, were found dead in their Pensacola, Florida, home on July 28.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said a person of interest, known to practice “witchcraft”, has been identified in the triple homicide investigation.
“Initial research had led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing,” Morgan said.
“The method of the murder — blunt force trauma ... positioning of the bodies — and our person of interest has some ties to a faith or religion that is indicative of that. The time of death on Tuesday also coincides with what’s referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years.”
8:45am:
Egypt’s affiliate of the Islamic State group has threatened to execute a Croatian kidnapped in Cairo last month within 48 hours if Muslim women jailed in Egypt are not freed.
The man is the first foreigner to be abducted and threatened with death by militants in Egypt since an Islamist insurgency erupted two years ago.
#Hrvatska #isis #is RT @p_vanostaeyen: IS in Sinai threatens to kill a Croatian within 48 hours pic.twitter.com/jj1U2cCKyV
In a video posted online Wednesday by the jihadists, the Croatian identifies himself as Tomislav Salopek working for French geoscience company CGG, and appears kneeling at the feet of a hooded man holding a knife.
Reading from a sheet of paper, he says he will be executed within 48 hours if Egypt’s government fails to release Muslim women held in prisons.
CGG confirmed that the man in the video was one of its “sub-contracted staff working on a land acquisition seismic crew” and that he had been “kidnapped on July 22nd while in transit in Cairo”.
-AFP
8:30am:
A determined cyclist has become an unwitting star on the internet after he went headfirst over the handle bars and face-planted on live TV.
The fall was captured during an ABC Action News’ broadcast about the floods in Florida. The cyclist appeared to be fine but the short clip has subsequently been made into countless gifs and vine videos as internet users had a good laugh.
8:20am:
A Victorian man has shot himself in the leg with a homemade pen pistol.
The 38-year-old from Melton was taken to hospital early this morning with a gunshot wound to the leg, police said.
As you might expect, his injuries are not life threatening.
8:10am:
The public backlash shows no signs of relenting.
The American dentist who killed Cecil the lion may have stopped trading at his dentist practice in Minnesota and gone into hiding, but he can’t seem to escape the angry mob.
Angry vandals spray painted the words “lion killer” on the garage door of the Florida vacation home of Mr Palmer, said police.
The vandals also left at least seven pickled pigs’ feet on the driveway of Walter Palmer’s US$1.1 million home.
The public backlash from animal activists enraged by the killing has become so bad Mr Palmer has hired a public relations company to help him through the media storm. He’s also enlisted a security company to protect his property and a private investigator.
8am:
A US woman managed to talk her way past a security guard and sneak into the cockpit of a private plane at an Illinois airport before she was caught and taken to a hospital for psychiatric observation, authorities said.
Police and the FBI are investigating the incident to determine whether to bring charges of trespassing or burglary.
Police Chief Patrick Delaney told local media that the woman had packed her luggage for a short vacation. She expressed an interest in flying to both New York and China but was not a trained pilot, he said.
-AP
7:45am:
A photo posted by an Aussie twitter user purporting to show an orphaned wallaby hugging a teddy bear has gone viral and is probably the cutest thing you’ll see today.
The image was posted by Tim Beshara from Tasmania with the caption: “My mum (a wildlife-carer) sent me this. Showing the value of a good hug, especially for an orphaned wallaby. #wildoz”.
The photo was posted yesterday morning and at the time of writing has been shared nearly 1000 times.
7:30am:
For the first time in 20 years, the United States has beaten China in a world math championship.
But far from being distressed, many in China are breathing a sigh of relief over the defeat and are hopeful it will ease the pressure on high school students who participate in the competition.
The surprise victory came at the prestigious annual International Mathematical Olympiad — an event which Chinese high school students have won 18 time since 1990, reports CNN.
According to US news agency, some in China took to social media hoping the loss will have a positive effect.
“This is just wonderful that China finally lost the contest,” one Weibo user wrote. “Hopefully the Math Olympiad won’t scourge our children anymore! It has shattered so many kids’ dreams!”
“I can’t care less whoever got the golden cup, as long as math Olympiad is not popularised in China and my child won’t be forced to study it,” wrote another.
7:20am:
A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite has captured a unique view of the moon as it passed between the earth and the sun last month.
NASA has just releases the series of images which show the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth.
Seen for the first time in 1959, the lunar far side lacks the large, dark, basaltic plains, or maria, that are so prominent on the Earth-facing side.
“It is surprising how much brighter Earth is than the moon,” said Adam Szabo, DSCOVR project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Our planet is a truly brilliant object in dark space compared to the lunar surface.”
7:10am:
Former prime minister Julia Gillard has apologised to independent senator Nick Xenophon over a claim she made in her autobiography.
The apology relates to a mention of a ballot irregularity during student elections at the University of Adelaide in the 1970s, Ms Gillard said in a statement this morning.
“I am happy to apologise because I accept my recollection of the full details of this event was flawed,” she said, adding Senator Xenophon’s defamation claim against her had been resolved.
-AAP
7am:
Holy toledo!
Billionaire James Packer has sold his sprawling Vaucluse mansion for more than $60 million, the highest price ever paid for a property in Australia.
The six-storey compound on Wentworth Road sold to an Australian buyer through exclusive property agents Christie’s International, the Daily Telegraph reports.
While details of the sale remain confidential, sources confirmed contracts had been exchanged, and said that based on property valuations, the sale price may emerge as closer to $80 million.
6:45am:
In a sad case of déjà vu, a gunman has been shot and killed after attacking moviegoers at a US cinema.
A suspect wielding a hatchet and a gun inside a Nashville-area movie theatre died after exchanging gunshots with a police team that stormed the theatre, police said Wednesday.
One person may have suffered a hatchet wound, said Don Aaron, a spokesman for Metro Nashville police.
Fire department spokesman Brian Haas said three people were treated for exposure to pepper spray, and one of those people had a superficial wound that could have been caused by a hatchet.
Mr Aaron said an officer came into the theatre and was fired upon by the suspect. The officer shot back, then backed off. After that, a specially trained police team came in, and there was another exchange of gunfire. The suspect was then found dead.
6:35am:
Most people try and do whatever they can to get out of jury duty. But not George W. Bush.
Understanding the value of performing his civic duties, the former US president reported for jury duty in his home state of Texas yesterday morning.
Unsurprisingly, his presence caused quite a stir among his fellow jurors and a photo of him at the courthouse was quickly shared around on social media.
“They made it seem like it was an anonymous juror that never showed up and then they brought him in,” Sheri Coleman told The Dallas Morning News.
“He was very personable, very friendly, just ‘hey I’m here to serve,’ he asked questions and was very nice,” she said. “I loved it.”
Despite sitting through the jury selection panel, the former president was not picked to serve as a juror, which is strange because surely a retiree is the perfect candidate.
Look who I just met doing Jury Duty! #POTUS pic.twitter.com/wpUaRuZ7gO
Former U.S. president George W. Bush reported to a Dallas courthouse for jury duty today, according to a friend of mine.
6:25am:
A window cleaner has suffered head and spinal injuries after falling three-storeys from a Sydney Apple store.
A man has been taken to St Vincent’s Hospital after emergency services attended the George Street store about 8.30pm on Wednesday.
A safety harness, shattered glass, buckets and ropes remained scattered across the footpath overnight as police investigate the incident.
-AAP
6:15am:
It has been confirmed.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister says the flaperon that washed up on Reunion Island is from missing plane MH370.
Najib Razak said in a televised statement that experts in Toulouse, France, had been able to confirm within a matter of hours that the plane debris was part of the missing Boeing 777.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris ... is indeed MH370,” Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters.
“We now have physical evidence that, as I announced on 24th March last year, flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
#BREAKING Australian authorities say 'confident looking in right area' and #MH370 will be found
6am:
It’s supposed to be the honeymoon period, but a newlywed couple in Algeria didn’t get off to the best start.
The groom is reportedly suing his new partner after he was shocked to see her without makeup for the first time the day after their wedding, reports Emirates 247.
The man told an Algerian court when he woke up the following day, his wife looked so different that he didn’t recognise her and mistook her for a thief.
Local papers quoted a court source saying: “He said he was deceived by her as she used to fill up her face with make up before their marriage.”
“He said she looked very beautiful and attractive before marriage, but when he woke up in the morning and found that she had washed the make-up off her face, he was frightened as he thought she was a thief.”
The groom is reportedly seeking US$20,000 in damages for psychological suffering.
Presumably the wife will also need some compensation for psychological suffering following the lawsuit.
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.