Live: Rush Hour
Another dreary Monday morning is upon us. Drink all the coffee you can get your hands on. In news this morning, 911 caller has warned of further attacks after a dumpster blast wounded 29 people in New York over the weekend. Elsewhere, there’s now speculation over whether David Bowie’s death was actually doctor-assisted suicide.
That’s Rush Hour for the day! Check back to our home page for ongoing coverage.
9.45am
Sarah Hyland provides biggest Emmys fashion shock
It’s full steam ahead on the Emmys red carpet right now, and so far Sarah Hyland seems to have provided the biggest surprise of all.
The 25-year-old sitcom star went for party on top, business on the bottom, donning a strapless, embroidered top with twin floor-length trains.
For her bottom half? Black, ankle-length pants.
A lot of people didn’t really get it, and I don’t really get it, but it’s Sarah Hyland, and she’s amazing, so she can do whatever the hell she wants. *shrugs*
9.30am
Beer ‘shakes off sex shyness’
Beer appears to make people less shy about sex — especially women, a psychological study has shown.
Scientists found that beer drinking made it easier for volunteers to view explicit sexual images, and the effect was greater for women than for men. However, no change was seen in levels of sexual arousal.
Another effect was a boost in positive behaviour. After downing half a litre of beer, study participants were more attracted to happy faces and social situations.
The findings go some way towards providing an explanation for “beer goggles”, a slang term used to describe how the influence of alcohol can make an unattractive person appear beautiful.
— AAP
9.15am
iPhone 7 making ‘hissing’ sounds
Those lucky enough to get their hands on a new iPhone 7 have been reporting a strange defect with the device.
When the handset is pushed to its processing limits it has a hissy fit, according to users. Basically, if the phone is working overtime by, for example, running lots of applications at once, it begins to make a faint hissing sound.
The noise was first pointed out by Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels and was quickly followed by other users reporting the same thing.
Apple customers and technologists have been debating the exact cause of the curious hissing sound, with one user even suggesting ‘it’s just Siri farting’.
— Nick Whigham
9.00am
Kathy Jackson to face court
Former Health Services Union boss Kathy Jackson is due to face a Victorian court over allegations she misappropriated union funds.
Jackson is listed to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today charged with 70 theft and deception offences.
The Wollongong resident was charged in August by Taskforce Heracles, which is investigating matters arising from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Corruption and Governance.
Officers raided her Wombarra home in October 2015.
Jackson declared bankruptcy last year and owes the HSU about $2.4 million following Federal Court action.
8.45am
Is this the dumbest criminal ever?
Police are on the lookout for a thief who, judging by what he stole, may well be the dumbest criminal they’ve ever seen.
Police in California are on the hunt for a man who broke into a YMCA Child Development Centre to steal cash from a register.
Security footage showed the man kicking through the duct work in the ceiling of the building to get through, KESQ-TV reports.
He triumphantly drops to the floor to break into a cash register, steals all the money inside and then escapes through the door.
The only trouble? Uh... neither the money nor the cash register were real.
The cash register was a children’s play toy, filled with fake plastic money about as useful in the real world as a wad of Monopoly notes.
Give this bloke a round of applause.
8.30am
‘I’m the NY Bomber.’
Police are ‘vetting’ a Tumblr account that surfaced early Sunday taking credit for the bombing that rocked New York
“I’m the NY Bomber,” the disturbing entry said. “This is will be my manifesto.”
The posting is one of several that is being “looked at” by investigators, a police source told The New York Post.
It was taken down early Sunday afternoon.
The unconfirmed account - which unfolds under a billowing rainbow flag and a profile picture of a similar LGBT pride flag emblazoned with the words “What’s wrong with homosexuality?” - has only two entries, both of which read as calls to violence.
8.15am
Three men arrested over Eiffel Tower gang-rape
French officials say three men have been charged and jailed after a woman was allegedly lured on Facebook by one of them and then gang-raped near the Eiffel Tower.
A police official said Friday that three Algerian men were arrested earlier this week in a Paris hotel under suspicion of taking part in the rape of the French woman in the Champ-de-Mars garden, close to the famous tower.
The official says one of the men is suspected of chatting with the woman on Facebook before the alleged rape and then arranging a date with her in Paris.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that three men have been given preliminary charges in the case and jailed. It wouldn’t elaborate.
— AP
8.00am
More rain on the way for flooded Vic towns
Residents in the Victorian flood-affected town of Charlton will meet on Monday to discuss the threat of more rain, just as water levels are receding. The Avoca river peaked at 7.55m on Saturday afternoon, and has been receding ever since.
The river will likely fall below the moderate flood level of 5m by Monday morning, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
But a rainband developing late on Monday and throughout Tuesday in the northwest of Victoria could bring with it at least 10-20mm of rain.
More than 20 people have had to be rescued across the state, and a man has died in the floods across the state over ten days.
Severe structural damage from landslides and heavy rain last week has sections of the Great Ocean Road closed.
Apollo Bay and the 12 Apostles can be accessed via Colac and Camperdown.
— AAP
7.45am
Sound Of Music star dies
Charmian Carr, the actress who played the eldest von Trapp daughter Liesl in The Sound Of Music, has passed away at age 73.
According to her representative, Carr died in Los Angeles following complications from a rare form of dementia.
Carr is survived by her two daughters; two sisters and two brothers; four grandchildren and a niece.
7.30am
France bans all plastic cups and plates
Now this is going to make kids’ birthday parties super interesting.
France has become the first country to ban all plastic cups, plates and silverware.
The legislation was passed last month, but businesses will have until 2020 to fully comply, which is when it will take full effect.
All disposable dishes will instead have to be made from biologically sourced materials.
7.15am
Mass arrests at Sydney festival
Almost 100 revellers have been arrested at a western Sydney dance music festival for drug and alcohol related offences.
Police targeted anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol offences and public safety at the Defqon festival, with about 25,000 partygoers in attendance, on Saturday.
The annual event was held at the Sydney International Rowing Centre in Penrith.
77 people were arrested for drug related offences after being searched by police as part of a special operation.
Six people were charged with supplying a prohibited drug while more than 200 received medical treatment for drug and heat-related illnesses with six of those taken to Nepean Hospital for further treatment.
7.00am
Cafe stabbing in Sydney’s west
A brutal knife attack at a cafe in Sydney’s west sent lunchtime diners and shoppers fleeing in terror as one man stabbed another multiple times in the chest.
Dramatic video footage emerged last night of the horrifying moment Reza Hosseini, 27, allegedly stabbed Mehdi Rahimi, 36, repeatedly at the Khresto Cafe in Merrylands.
Police say the two men knew each other, but did not release details of what caused the fight.
It is believed it was sparked by a “domestic” incident.
— via The Daily Telegraph
6.45am
Julie Bishop meets with Amal Clooney
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has met with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney overnight.
The pair are currently in New York, and are using their positions to help refugee women in the Middle East.
Ms Bishop and Ms Clooney will meet with world leaders in the US this week.
6.30am
Trump threatens to sue New York Times
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is threatening to sue The New York Times for its “really disgusting” behaviour but is declining to provide details about his latest dispute with the press.
He didn’t say why he was upset with the paper but has accused it on numerous occasions of favouring Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
6.15am
Turnbull addresses New York blast attack
Malcolm Turnbull says people should defy terrorists by going about their lives following Saturday night attacks in Chelsea.
“We don’t know what the motivations were,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Central Park.
“But it was clearly a deliberate explosion.”
He said it was important to learn from the attacks but also to not be intimidated.
“You see today New Yorkers are going about their lives,” he said, noting how packed the subway was.
“The one thing we can’t do is let people who seek to do us harm, whatever their motivations may be, to coward us. We defy them by going about our lives in the normal way.”
He said the Minnesota attack, reportedly claimed by Islamic State, was an example of a lone act attack, as seen in Australia.
“The key to prevention there is good intelligence,” he said.
5.45am
Governor says New York blast was ‘act of terrorism’
A 911 caller warned of further explosions after the dumpster blast that hit New York, wounding 29 people, as the governor declared the attack an act of terrorism.
Law enforcement sources told The New York Post an unidentified man called police, claiming to be standing at 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue in the aftermath of the blast.
“I’m looking at the explosion down the block. There will be more,” he reportedly said.
The news comes as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the Chelsea explosion “an act of terrorism”, but said there was “no evidence” of ties to an international group.
The bombing is one of three “terror attacks” on US soil in one day, including a mass stabbing at a Minnesota shopping centre claimed by Islamic State and a pipe bomb explosion in New Jersey ahead of a charity race.
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