RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
A MUSLIM couple were picking up their teenage son from a party when a neighbour decided they looked suspicious.
- Muslim couple allegedly held at gunpoint while picking up teenage son
- FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he can’t be blamed for latest controversy
- Powerball winner speaks up
- ‘Cult’ leader accused of raping, beating and starving his 12 children
- Chilling diary entries
have emerged from Dark Knight gunman
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.
9.25am
Aussie fashion designer Jodhi Meares’s diary of an ordinary day has become the butt of jokes and ridicule after being posted online.
Back in February Meares gave Harper’s Bazaar a glimpse into her glamorous life by keeping a diary. Today, 24 Hours with Jodhi Meares is enjoying a second life on the internet as people ridicule her intravenous vitamin C shots, walking meetings, and twice-daily hair washing routine.
9.05am
The moment Rebekah Aversano meets the man who now looks like her dead brother, following a face transplant, has been captured in moving footage.
Aversano asks to touch Richard Norris’s face during their first meeting, which was recorded for a 60 Minutes episode this Sunday.
Her brother Josh died after being hit by a van in Baltimore three years ago and the family agreed to donate his organs and to give his face to a man who had lived the past 15 years of his life as a recluse.
8.50am
Australia is about to discover whether it has done enough to prevent the Great Barrier Reef from being put on UNESCO’S World Heritage endangered list.
The World Heritage Committee is due to release a draft decision on whether to list the reef as “in danger” at a meeting in Paris late Friday night (AEST).
If the reef is included on the endangered list, it would do serious harm to Australia’s economy, as miners, farmers and tourism operators could face tough restrictions on development.
8.45am
A devoted dad and doctor was killed on his way to work when he was run over by a semi-trailer in Sydney yesterday.
Paediatric ophthalmologist Henri Sueke, 36, was riding on New South Head Rd, Rose Bay next to a large tip truck with a trailer when he fell under the wheels at 7.45am.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Sueke was in a small space between the truck and several parked cars in the two-laned road when it is believed he may have hit a parked car forcing him under the truck.
8.30am
A major manhunt is underway in Melbourne after a young woman was shot at an organic market in Northcote this morning.
The woman was shot in the leg and also suffered facial injuries during the attack about 4.30am that took place at the market in Victoria Rd.
8.20am
Another high-profile Hollywood couple’s relationship is reportedly on the rocks.
Ben Affleck and his wife of 10 years Jennifer Garner could be headed for divorce, according to multiple reports. Both OK! Magazine and National Enquirer have reported this week that the pair is headed towards a $US150 million divorce
8.10am
Tony Abbott’s sister believes same-sex marriage will be legal in Australia by the end of the year as politicians from opposing parties agree to join forces on the issue.
Federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch and Labor Graham Perrett have proposed a cross-party private members bill as a circuit breaker to achieve marriage equality.
Mr Abbott’s outspoken sister Christine Forster, who is engaged to a woman and is herself a member of the Liberal party, backed the pair’s move, saying gay marriage was inevitable in the wake of Ireland’s historic ‘Yes’ vote.
8am
Chilling diary entries have emerged from the man who opened fire at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises.
“What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of death?” James Holmes pondered, before walking into a midnight premiere screening of the film and opening fire on 400 unsuspecting moviegoers.
“The obsession to kill since I was a kid with age became more and more realistic,” he wrote in red ink. “Embrace the hatred.”
7.50am
A man who presided over a “cult” located in the woods has been accused of raping, beating and starving the 12 children he fathered there.
Melford Warren, 43, was arrested in Florida after going on the run when police visited the campsite near Ellensburg in Washington State where he lived with his children and their two mothers.
A police officer who went to the site following reports of unattended children described a feeling that there was “some kind of cult activity” going on
7.30am
So it looks like Lindsay Lohan is finally off probation.
The Mean Girls actress has completed 125 hours of volunteer work and was on probation from a 2012 reckless driving case as well as a 2007 run-in with the law for drug possession and driving under the influence.
7.20am
The body of a woman found in the basement car park of Business SA’s headquarters in Adelaide’s inner south is yet to be identified and may have been there for up to a fortnight.
The woman — who suffered “significant and obvious trauma” injuries — was found in a basement storage room just before 3pm on Wednesday by two Business SA workers who spotted a foot protruding from various items piled on top of her body.
Police said the body of the woman was decomposing and could have been in the basement on Greenhill Rd, Unley, for up to two weeks. They were initially unable to identify the sex of the woman.
7am
Sophie Monk has revealed she may have suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after a rapid rise to fame during and after her time in the girl group Bardot.
In a revealing interview, Monk said she has not seen the four other girls — Katie Underwood, Belinda Chapple, Sally Polihronas and Tiffani Wood — since the band broke up in 2002.
The five became overnight celebrities in 2000 thanks to the phenomenally successful Popstars TV show. Monk, 35, said it was constantly like being in a competition between the girls.
“It was worse than high school because the girls were smarter,” she said.
6.50am
Powerball winner Gary Baron has made his first public statement, denying that he ever cheated his workmates.
Mr Baron said that he won the $16.7 million first division prize last October with a $46.45 ticket using numbers he played 23 times since April 3, 2014, in a favourites setting in his Tatts account called My PowerballBall.
“The syndicate games were completely unrelated to my personal favourites game which was the successful ticket. The syndicate games were purchased on different day, through a different medium and using the value of funds the syndicate had to purchase tickets with.”
6.40am
Bianca Rinehart will be put in charge of her family’s billion-dollar trust ending a long-running and bitter dispute among members of Australia’s richest family.
In handing down his judgment yesterday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Paul Brereton said Gina Rinehart’s eldest daughter was “better suited than any of the alternatives” administer the lucrative Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, valued at between $4-$5 billion.
The ruling comes as Gina Rinehart retained her title as the richest Australian, despite her wealth plunging by nearly $6 billion due to the fall in iron ore price.
6.20am
FIFA president Sepp Blatter told the sporting body’s annual congress that he could not be blamed for the latest controversy to hit the body saying he could not “monitor” every official.
“The next few months will not be easy for FIFA. I am sure more bad news will follow but it is necessary to begin to restore trust,” the 79-year-old Swiss official said.
Blatter called the scandals “unprecedented” and that the “actions of individuals bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all”.
There are 14 people accused by US authorities of taking more than $150 million in bribes including two FIFA vice presidents.
6am
A Muslim couple were picking up their teenage son from a party when a neighbour decided they looked suspicious and allegedly pulled a gun.
Majida and Adly Abumayaleh were waiting in a car about 11pm for their son to come out when a neighbour Nancy Kay Knoble walked over and started pounding on their window.
“She said you are suspicious in this neighbourhood. She told me open the window, open the window. We couldn’t do anything. I was frozen,” Mrs Abumayaleh, who wears a headscarf, told KARE-11.
When she didn’t get a response she went over to Mr Abumayaleh’s side of the car.
“She pulled the rifle and said open the window or I’ll shoot you guys,” he said.
Meet Nancy Noble who held my parents at gun point for "looking suspicious" . Who is the one who looks suspicious? pic.twitter.com/vA1u6vVcVz
— Mnar A. Muhawesh (@MnarMuh) May 28, 2015He didn’t want to inflame the situation further so he did as she asked.
“She said get out of car, you need to prove your son is here and I said OK. I got out and she put the gun at my back and said walk to the house.”
Once his son came out, the couple says Knoble hid the gun and backed off but the incident left the couple shaken.
“I thought, I am going to die this night,” Mrs Abumayaleh.
Knoble was later arrested and police found a pellet gun. She was charged with three counts of assault and making terroristic threats.
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.