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RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

IT WAS a romantic moment for young couple while celebrating at a restaurant. But there’s just one thing wrong with this photo, and it’s got the internet in stitches.

NICK WHIGHAM and WIRES
9 min read
July 28, 2015 - 5:33AM

GOOD morning, and welcome to our headlines-in-a-hurry news coverage. We bring you the morning’s biggest stories 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.

9:50am:

NSW Premier Mike Baird is expected to announce an audit of prayer groups across the state’s school system, following allegations a 17-year-old has been preaching extremist ideology at a Sydney high school.

The audit will be announced today, The Australian reports, and will cover programs of all religions, with concerns Islamic State-inspired ideology has found its way into religious education.

“Our schools should be, and are, havens of tolerance, places where students can explore the reaches of imagination and knowledge,” Mr Baird said.

“We will never allow them to become the setting for extremist ideologies.”

The move comes after police confirmed they were investigating a year 12 student from Epping Boys High School, in Sydney’s northwest for preaching radical Islam in the playground.

9:40am:

A Victorian man has been arrested and charged after being intercepted trying to travel to Iraq to fight the Islamic State.

Police allege the 28-year-old Epping man undertook preparations and attempted to depart Australia in December last year to join Kurdish forces fighting the terrorist organisation.

Police say they found military-style equipment in his luggage.

He was formally arrested last night and will face court today.

9:30am:

A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake has struck the Indonesian province of Papua.

The quake struck at 8:38am this morning, almost 250 kilometres west of the provincial capital Jayapura.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of any tsunami waves from the quake, which occurred inland underneath the Irian Jaya jungle.

The Earthquake-Report monitoring website said the area has “steep mountain ranges and its vegetation is rainforest, which means that the chance on dangerous landslides is real”.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

-AFP

9:15am:

It’s being touted as the most anticipated reddit AMA of all time and users are making sure to get their questions in early.

Esteemed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking will take part in the Q&A style forum on the social media site this week and questions have begun flooding in.

Mr Hawking will be fielding questions on the topic of “making the future of technology more human.”

Reddit is going crazy with excitement over the upcoming AMA.
Reddit is going crazy with excitement over the upcoming AMA.

Many of the questions submitted thus far centre around the discovery of alien life forms, artificial intelligence and, of course, black holes.

Reddit users will get a chance to vote on the questions before they are selected for Mr Hawking to answer.

8:55am:

UPDATE: Three people confirmed dead in blast

There has been an explosion in an Mt Isa caravan that has left three people unaccounted for, and feared dead.

The gas blast and fire happened at a property in Deighton Street, Mornington, shortly after 7am and has left fire fighters dealing with the caravan which is reportedly still ablaze.

Police have declared a public emergency and cordoned off the site.

Unconfirmed reports indicate a man and two children are unaccounted for.

Read more at the Courier Mail.

8:40am:

For the past fifteen years, owning a PlayStation or Xbox in China was illegal, until now.

The ban was first instituted in 2000 out of fear that such devices would negatively impact on Chinese youth.

However this week the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced it was removing the ban on the manufacture and sale of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo systems, reports Rolling Stone.

The move has been welcomed by video game companies eager to enter the market, however while the hardware is now permitted, games will be subject to censorship.

8:30am:

A miniature horse and its foal have allegedly been stolen from a Victorian pound.

The horses were seized by the RSPCA due to mistreatment and taken to the Daylesford Council pound, where they were then stolen in the early hours of Sunday morning, Daylesford Sergeant Barry Hills told AAP.

Police believe the fence to the pound has been tampered with and the owner of the horses is being interviewed by police

-AAP

8:15am:

A petition for the full legalisation of marijuana in the UK has gained over 160,000 signatures in just over five days, meaning law makers must officially respond to the request or consider it for debate in parliament.

“Legalising cannabis could bring in £900m ($1,900m) in taxes every year, save £400m ($850m) on policing cannabis and create over 10,000 new jobs,” reads the petition.

Marijuana is classified as a Class B drug in the U.K., which means the drug comes with prison sentences as long as 14 years for sale and production and five years for possession, reports the International Business Times.

While recreational marijuana has been legalised in four US states, the success of the British petition comes at the same time as Australian senators give the green light for the legalisation of medical cannabis.

8am:

A bashing of a Victorian man by five men in front of 100 witnesses who stood by is being investigated by police.

A 42-year-old man was walking to a hotel in Mulgrave just after midnight on Saturday, said Oakleigh police.

He was then attacked and bashed by five men, one of whom went to a nearby white Ford AU utility where an item was collected and then used to further assault the victim.

Police have criticised the lack of action by about 100 people who were present, none of whom intervened to help the victim even after the offenders fled in unknown cars.

Read more at the Herald Sun.

7:50am:

The British media is clinging to hope that the remains of a young girl found in a suitcase could be that of Madeline McCann.

Despite Australian police saying it was highly unlikely a Scotland Yard spokesman said “We cannot rule it out.”

Madeline McCann.
Madeline McCann.

The young girl was splashed across papers for weeks in the UK and Europe after she disappeared in Portugal in 2007.

“There is absolutely no evidence at this point in time to suggest that the child concerned is Madeleine McCann,” SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told reporters.

“We’re looking at all opportunities to establish the identity of the child, but at this point in time that is pure speculation.”

-With AAP

7:35am:

It was the lovely moment a couple displayed their affection for each other as restaurant-goers looked on.

But for those with a grubbier sense of humour, there was just one problem with the photo snapped of the amorous pair.

Spelled out in fried rice, the unfortunate arrangement of the couple’s initials, AN and AL respectively, has caused the internet to have a bit of a chuckle at their expense.

The photo was originally posted to reddit and has since been doing the rounds.

7:25am:

Brad Haddin won’t be picked for the third Ashes Test and his illustrious career is effectively over, however that doesn’t mean there’s a retirement on the horizon any time soon.

It was only a couple of months ago that Haddin agreed to a new lucrative contract with Cricket Australia that will be his last.

That deal would not be paid out in full if he was to retire so early into its terms and rather an agreement would have to be negotiated between the two parties.

It’s understood Ryan Harris got a sweetener from CA just recently when injury prematurely ended his career, and Haddin’s experience in the game may entitle him to a golden handshake as well.

The third test begins tomorrow night.

Read more here.

7:10am:

Two machete wielding men are on the run after allegedly robbing an Asian grocery store in Sydney’s west, while armed with the intimidating weapons.

The pair entered the store in Bonnyrigg on Monday afternoon, police said.

A female worker was behind the counter at the time, but managed to run out the back door to safety.

The men took cash from the till before fleeing the scene.

-AAP

7am:

This year’s US presidential race has offered up a motley crew of candidates and Obama has lashed out at a number of Republican nominees calling them “sad” and “ridiculous”.

Speaking at a press conference in Ethiopia, Obama rebuked comments by Mike Huckabee that the recent Iran deal would lead to another Holocaust. He also offered a broader scolding of GOP leaders — including Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz — who have sullied the “decorum and honesty” of American politics.

US President Barack Obama during his visit to Ethiopia, July 27, 2015.
US President Barack Obama during his visit to Ethiopia, July 27, 2015.

“The American people deserve better,” said Obama, making some of his most substantive comments on the presidential race during a visit to Ethiopia.

“Certainly, presidential debates deserve better. In 18 months, I’m turning over the keys — I want to make sure I’m turning over the keys to somebody who is serious about the serious problems the country faces and the world faces,” he chided.

Read more at The New York Post.

6:50am:

It’s unlikely to ever catch on in Australia, but beachgoers in China are embracing the “facekini” with increasing gusto.

The item is effectively a waterproof balaclava to be worn at the beach to protect the user from the sun and the threat of a tan.

Women clad in facekinis cool off.
Women clad in facekinis cool off.
Photo showing the 'facekini'.
Photo showing the 'facekini'.

Pale white skin is highly-valued in China, where a darker complexion is associated more with poor rural women, who often labour for long hours in the sun.

The nylon accessory has tiny holes for the mouth and nose, offering those who couple it with a full body suit complete protection from not only ultraviolet rays, but also jellyfish and mosquitoes.

— With AFP

6:40am:

A man who jumped over a zoo barrier to pet two adult cougars admits he made a “bad decision”.

Mr Newell, 35, jumped over a barrier at Columbus Zoo in Ohio in order to give some love to the animals and filmed the experience with a GoPro. However uploading the video to YouTube might not have been the best idea as the zoo is now using the footage to press charges against him.

“I was thinking I’m an animal lover. The cats were looking like they wanted some love and just jumped over and petted them,” Mr Newell told NBC.

“If I had to do it over I definitely would have stayed within the barrier boundaries.”

6:25am:

A NSW police officer accused of assaulting a drunk driver has been charged.

The constable allegedly assaulted a 56-year-old man at Miranda police station, in Sydney’s south, last December after he was arrested for high-range drink driving, police say.

The male officer was on Monday charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and is due to face Sutherland Local Court in September.

-AAP

6:15am:

Australian actor Maggie Kirkpatrick has denied allegations she sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in a child abuse case dating back to the 1980s.

In the latest string of child abuse cases surfacing after decades of silence, the 74-year-old star was charged with two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under the age of 16 by Victoria Police’s Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team.

Kirkpatrick, best known for her villainous role as The Freak on acclaimed series The Prisoner, told the Herald Sun, “I need to go to court to have this ridiculous situation quashed. Allegations have been levelled at me, yes. Are they true? Absolutely not.”

A number of people have taken to social media to offer their support for Ms Kirkpatrick.

6am:

A Florida model was in the middle of shooting a video on Miami Beach when some unexpected visitors turned up in the background and “ruined” the shoot.

Looking good ... hang on!
Looking good ... hang on!

Ekaterina Juskowski was operating the camera as her model friend strolled down the beach, looking as smouldering as she possibly could. All of a sudden, a small boat appears at the shoreline and about nine men jump out, wade through the shallow water and scatter into the city, leaving the now empty boat bobbling in the water.

“That’s a testament to how confident these organisations are — what we call transnational criminal organisations — who smuggle criminals and narcotics right onto the beach,” U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Frank Miller told The New Times.

Dash for freedom.
Dash for freedom.

Ms Juskowski first thought the vessel was a scuba boat and turned off the camera but when she saw the men jump out, she began filming again.

She uploaded the video to YouTube earlier in the month, with the caption: “Arrive in style, arrive on time. Illegal immigration to America.”

The footage serves to highlight the brazen nature of how many migrants are entering the US from the Florida coastline.

Welcome to Miami.
Welcome to Miami.
More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/rush-hour/rush-hour-the-stories-you-need-to-know-today/news-story/f67d1bf27254425c73c324109ddfd1b1