Welcome to Rush Hour! Reports have emerged that the Orlando shooter’s wife knew about his attack plans and tried to talk him out of it. She may face criminal charges. Meanwhile, Pulse nightclub’s owner has revealed the heartbreaking reason she opened the venue back in 2004. Here are your headlines.

10am

That’s a wrap! Hit up our home page for ongoing news updates.

9.45am

Gold Coast toddler found safe and well

A two-year-old toddler missing from his Mudgeeraba home in Queensland has been found safe and well.

The boy had not been heard from since 4pm yesterday.

Corbyn’s mother Rachael Kiripatea said she will be giving her son plenty of cuddles when he gets home and was relieved that he had been found.

“Police called us...and they are going to take him to hospital to assess him to make sure nothing happened and he will be returned by police,” she said.

“We’re very, very relieved.”

9.30am

Trump says he’s better for LGBT Americans than Clinton

Donald Trump has claimed he’s a better friend to the gay community than his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Giving a national security address in New Hampshire, the Republican frontrunner said: “Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country who suppress women, gays and anyone who doesn’t share their views.

“She can’t claim to be supportive of these communities while trying to increase the number of people coming in who want to oppress them.

“Ask yourself – who is really the friend of women and the LGBT community: Donald Trump with his actions, or Hillary Clinton with her words? Clinton wants to allow radical Islamic terrorists to pour into our country — they enslave women and murder gays. I don’t want them in our country.”

9.15am

Brace yourselves again, East Coasters

Australia’s east coast could be smashed by another severe weather event this week, with forecasts of another dangerous east coast low.

Early forecast models are showing the potential for significant rainfall across large areas of NSW and the southern half of QLD across the weekend and into early next week.

According to Higgings Storm Chasing, a trough is likely to be located across Western and South-West QLD during Saturday, extending into Central and Western NSW.

Rug up and stay safe!

9.00am

Markets panic as Brexit vote looms

Global stock markets have plunged amid fears the UK could vote to leave the European Union in a crucial referendum after polls showed the “Brexit” camp surging ahead.

On Tuesday a poll by YouGov and UK Newspaper The Times showed the leave camp held 46 per cent of the vote compared to 39 per cent of the UK who wanted to remain in the EU.

It’s a three point swing from the previous week and is the strongest indicator yet the country will vote to split ways with the 27 other members of the bloc on June 23. Eleven per cent of voters remain undecided.

Read the full story here.

8.45am

Church of Scientology HQ to open in Sydney

A $57 million Scientology recruitment fortress is opening its doors in Sydney’s north.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the site will open in September, becoming the first Australasian Scientology headquarters where people from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan will be trained.

It is understood 275 Scientologists will be ferried into the private centre in church buses each day, and a recruitment drive will be launched to attract North Sydney residents battling depression and drug addiction.

Read the full story at The Daily Telegraph.

8.30am

Teen charged with terror offence

A Sydney teenager has been charged with preparing a “serious” terror attack.

The 17-year-old was charged with a “terrorism related offence” after police were alerted to a series of social media posts.

The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) arrested the boy at his home at The Oaks in Sydney’s southwest yesterday. He was taken to Camden police station where he was charged with a terrorism-related offence at midnight.

He was charged with planning a terrorist act and using a telecommunications network to commit a serious offence, police said in a statement.

Police said there was “no threat to the community”.

“The matter is unrelated to any previous investigation carried out by the NSW JCTT,” the police statement read.

The boy was refused bail and will appear in a children’s court today.

8.15am

Sydney service for US shooting victims

A public commemorative service for the victims of the Orlando massacre will be held at Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral.

Premier Mike Baird will be joined by NSW Governor David Hurley and the US Consul-General at a 6pm service on Wednesday for the 49 people who were killed at a gay nightclub at the weekend.

“This service is an opportunity for people to gather together to express sympathy and compassion for those who have been affected by the terrible events in Orlando,” the Anglican Dean of Sydney Kanishka Raffel said in a statement.

— AAP

8.00am

‘Unhealthy’ billboards to be banned

London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to ban advertisements promoting “unhealthy or unrealistic” body images.

The advertising watchdog received 378 complaints last year alone about this controversial weight-loss advertisement:

The ad was accused of body-shaming, with signs defaced in Tube stations.

One sign even showed letters crossed out and added so the sign reads ‘YOUR BODY IS NOT A COMMODITY’.

Mr Khan said: “As the father of two teenage girls, I am extremely concerned about this kind of advertising which can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies. It is high time it came to an end.”

7.45am

Finally some good news for Telstra

Telstra has topped the list of Australia’s major mobile service providers in terms of download speeds and network availability.

The company has been plagued with network outages and technical issues in recent months, but the latest data analysing Australia’s mobile networks has given the company reason to smile.

An OpenSignal report found that, when it came to download speeds, Telstra came out in front with a 4G download speed average of 23.6 Mbps. Optus clocked in at 19.1 Mbps and Vodafone at 18.4 Mbps.

Overall Telstra averaged 17.1 Mbps across its 3G and 4G networks compared to Optus’ 12.87 and Vodafone’s 12.79.

7.30am

Orlando shooter’s father addresses gay claims

Omar Mateen’s father has dismissed claims that his son was gay.

Speaking to reporters, Sediqque Mir Mateen said: “I don’t believe that he was... whatever you call it.

In an interview with the Mirror, he insisted his son was “not brought up that way”.

He added: “I will not have it. He was not gay.

“If he was, why kill those he loved? Only God can punish homosexuality. This is not an issue for humans to punish.”

Bizarrely, he then pinned the blame for the tragedy on the club’s security, saying they were at fault for allowing someone with a gun to enter the premises.

“If the club had had adequate security this would not have happened.

“The owners have to look at themselves as to why he was allowed to get in and carry out the act of terrorism.

“Clearly there were failings there. No one carrying guns like that should be allowed in. Why was he not stopped?”

7.15am

Man charged after violent Queensland road rage attack

A man has been charged following a violent road rage attack at Rainbow Beach in Queensland.

The 21-year-old Cooloola Cove woman, who remains in hospital in a critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest, was travelling with a man and two young children on Tuesday when another man produced a knife and started to damage their car, police allege.

A Rainbow Beach man, 22, has been charged with threatening violence and wilful damage and will appear in the Gympie Magistrates Court today.

Police will allege the two men involved are known to each other.

7.00am

Obama slams Trump over massacre rhetoric

President Obama has slammed Donald Trump for peddling a “dangerous” mindset among Americans.

“We hear language that singles out immigrants and suggests entire religious communities are complicit in violence,” Mr Obama said. “Where does this stop?”

“Are we going to start treating all Muslim-Americans differently? Are we going to subject them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating against them because of their faith?”

He also made reference to the fact that he deliberately avoids using the phrase ‘racial Islamic terrorism’, saying it’s “a political talking point, not a strategy”.

“If we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them.”

6.45am

PM confident of a July 2 win

Malcolm Turnbull has declared – not once, but twice – that the Coalition will be victorious over Labor this election.

“We will win on July 2,” he told the party faithful at the West Australian Liberal Party rally.

“Our values are right, our plan is right. This is our time. Let’s go for it.”

The Prime Minister will be campaigning in Perth this morning.

6.30am

KFC launches pulled pork burger

OK, so, everyone is outraged over KFC’s new pulled pork burger.

People on social media reckon a fast food restaurant famous for its chicken shouldn’t be selling pork. PERISH THE THOUGHT.

The company acknowledged it’s a break from their core menu, but said they want to give customers something new to try.

Quick point to make: when you reach Drunk-And-Haven’t-Eaten-In-Six-Hours mode, pork is easily the most superior of all the meats. So at least try it before you knock it.

(To be fair, some people did just that, and they maintain it’s kind of gross.)

6.15am

Perth ex-student reportedly arrested over parents’ murder

A former Perth student has been granted bail after he was charged with the triple axe murders of his parents and brother, and attempted killing of his sister in South Africa.

Henri van Breda, 21, appeared in a Stellenbosch court on Tuesday after he handed himself in to local police the day before.

He reportedly spent one night in custody before he was granted bail on less than $9000 (100,000 South African rand).

6.00am

Tennessee state rep’s insensitive fundraiser giveaway

Tennessee state representative Andy Holt is known for speaking his mind, but people are furious over the door prize giveaway at his upcoming fundraiser.

The West Tennessee lawmaker announced a plan to give away two AR-15 rifles, the same kind of weapon used in Sunday’s Orlando shooting.

A staunch gun rights supporter, Mr Holt said he had offered one rifle before the shootings happened. When he was heavily criticised following the incident, he said he would give away a second one too.

Mr Holt‘s office has received death threats following the announcement.

In a lengthy Facebook post, he defended his position, saying he’s “furious that our government literally refuses to recognise the threat of radical Islam”.

He called on everybody to arm themselves and “learn to shoot with deadly accuracy should the need arise”, adding that it’s people’s “responsibility” to do so.

“It was a bullet that stopped the terrorist,” he said. “Amazing how so many seem to miss that fact.”

Of course, it was also a series of bullets that caused the massacre in the first place, buuuut that somehow didn’t really get a mention.

5.45am

Shooter’s wife ‘knew of attack plan’

Reports have emerged that Omar Mateen’s wife knew of his plan to commit a mass shooting and tried to talk him out of it, to no avail.

NBC reports that authorities are now weighing criminal charges against Noor Salman after she told the FBI that she drove him to Pulse and other sites, including Disney World, “to scope them out.”

She also admitted that she was with him when he bought his ammunition and holster but never reached out to authorities.

5.30am

Homophobic Islamic preacher leaves Australia

Farrokh Sekaleshfar, a senior Muslim scholar who has previously preached for the death of gay people, has left Australia after the government launched an “urgent” review of his visa.

Sekaleshfar yesterday left Sydney, where has been giving a series of lectures for the past week.

He told the ABC he made the decision to leave, and was not asked to do so by the government.

“It’s a decision which IHIC thought was in my best interests and for the best interests of teh community,” he said.

Originally published as RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today