A report has revealed what caused this tiger attack at Australia Zoo. Source: Supplied

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.

9.40

BREAKING: Disability advocate and comedian Stella Young has died, according to ABC.

The 32-year-old passed away suddenly on Saturday afternoon.

Stella Young has died at 32. Pic: Josie Hayden Source: News Corp Australia

Ms Young’s family told ABC that she passed away on Saturday, unexpectedly, but with no pain.

Ms Young was editor of ABC’s Ramp Up website, the online space for news, discussion and opinion about disability in Australia.

She was active in the disability community in a variety of roles, including membership of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council, Ministerial Advisory Council for the Department of Victorian communities and Women With Disabilities Victoria.

As a comedian Stella was a two-time state finalist in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Raw Comedy competition; and has hosted eight seasons of Australia’s first disability culture program No Limits, aired on Channel 31 and community stations across the country.

MORE: Stella young dies aged 32

9.30

Police In NSW have resumed their search for missing 84-year-old woman Gaida Coote who has now been missing for five days

It’s believed Mrs Gaida Coote drove to the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden at St Ives about 9am on Wednesday and seem to have mysteriously disappeared.

Gaida Coote was last seen on Wednesday morning. Photo courtesy of NSW Police Source: Supplied

Today’s search involves local police on foot, the Police Dog Unit, Marine Area Command, Police Rescue, Operational Support Group personnel, Police Trail Bike Unit, the police air wing PolAir, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NP & WS), volunteer bushwalkers and local residents.

Mrs Coote is described as being of caucasian appearance with a thin build and short wavy grey hair. It is not known what she was wearing when she went missing.

Anyone with information about Mrs Coote’s whereabouts, or who may have seen her the morning of Wednesday 3 December, is urged to call Crime Stoppers immediately.

9.15

BREAKING: Coca-Cola Amatil is set to axe 260 jobs as it undertakes a $100 million cost cutting campaign.

In other business news this morning, Qantas is expected to announce an underlying net profit of between $300 million and $350 million in the first half of the financial year.

9.00

A group of rocket enthusiasts launched a porta-potty into the sky on Saturday after spending two years workingon the project.

It made an arc and almost landed on a spectator’s pick-up truck, 2,000 feet away from where is was launched in southwest Michigan.

But didn't quite make it to space.(AP Photo/The Herald-Palladium, Don Campbell) Source: AAP

The outdoor toilet was shot from a rocket launcher.(AP Photo/The Herald-Palladium, Don Campbell) Source: AAP

A group of Michiana Rocketry club members planned the project for more than two years. The club is trying to increase awareness of rocketry as a hobby and prove it’s possible to turn a porta-potty into a rocket and launch it successfully.

Rocket enthusiast Bob Bycraft says it was carefully planned. He says it wasn’t “barnyard engineering.”

8.40

Have Sunrise host Sam Armytage and Hollywood star Russell Crowe become Australia’s new it couple?

Woman’s Day says yes, Sam says no way.

“I’m denying, I’m strenuously denying,” Armytage said about the gossip mag’s claims on Sunrise this morning.

The mag claims the pair are “perfect for each other”, saying Sam had told friends he’s “hot” and “very charming”.

It seems the reports of romance may have been inspired by an interview last week where Rusty appeared on set.

8.15

A UK card retailer has been forced to withdraw a card listing 10 reasons Santa “must live on a council estate” from sale after the Christmas clanger provoked outrage among customers.

The card lists stereotypes like Santa Claus’ “serial record for breaking and entering” and the fact that he “drinks alcohol during working hours” among the reasons.

The classist card angered customers and provoked outrage on social media.

MPs joined in campaign which eventually led the retailer, Clintons, to withdraw the card from sale.

The offensive card has been withdrawn from sale. Source: Supplied

The card has been withdrawn from sale and an apology has been posted on the web page where it was listed.

“We apologise but this card has been withdrawn. It is in no way reflective of our views and we apologise without reservation,” the statement reads.

The company says it is “investigating how this card got through our quality control procedures”.

“This was a mistake and we deeply regret the upset that this has clearly caused.”

Read more at the Independent.

8.00

SEAN Abbott is poised to make a brave cricket comeback on Tuesday after confiding in New South Wales teammates that he wants to return to the pitch.

It will be on same SCG ground that he left as a shattered man after the Phillip Hughes tragedy.

Sean Abbott is set to return to the pitch. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

There were initial fears Abbott may never be able to play high-level cricket again after the psychological trauma of delivering the bouncer which felled Hughes.

Read more of this story at the Courier Mail

7.35

Sydney is bracing for more wild weather after storms caused damage and put on an incredible lightshow over the harbour city for the eighth afternoon in a row.

Queenslanders are also on alert for severe thunderstorms.

More than 840 calls were made to the State Emergency Service since Saturday morning, and the clean-up continues after a run of severe thunderstorms, large hailstones and damaging winds that left more than 10,000 homes without power last night.

Storm clouds gathered over Sydney’s northern beaches for the eighth day in a row on Sunday afternoon. Pic: John Grainger Source: News Corp Australia

Flood warnings are in place across NSW and Victoria and storms have been predicted for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin by the Bureau of Meteorology today.

7.25

Bill Shorten is storming ahead of the Tony Abbott as the nation’s preferred leader, eclipsing the Prime Minister in the latest political poll.

In a survey conducted just four weeks ago the two leaders were level pegging on 41 per cent each, but now Mr Shorten is outperforming the Prime Minister by 47 to 39 per cent.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has blitzed PM Tony Abbott in the latest poll. Source: News Corp Australia

On a two-party preferred basis, the Ipsos shows Labor leading the Coalition 53 to 47 per cent — slightly behind the latest Galaxy poll, which put the Opposition ahead of the Government 55 to 45 per cent.

The Government has been battling lately with its image, following the stalling of important Budget measures in the Senate and the Coalition defeat in Victoria after just one term.

MORE: Bill Shorten blitzes Tony Abbott in latest poll

7.00

A US model has launched a lawsuit after a set of seductive snaps were sold and saw her unwittingly become the face of porn magazines overseas.

Ohio model Nicole Forni claims the “Victoria’s Secret style” photos were sold without her consent, the NY Post reports.

Nicole Forni is suing the photographer after a shoot unwittingly made her a “Horny Housewives” cover girl. Pic: Amazon.fr Source: Supplied

Forni’s image has shown up on international escort websites. Pic: superescorts.ch Source: Supplied

She’s since been featured on a dizzying number of porn sites, and has become a cover girl for “Horny Housewives of Dubai” magazine, “Vixen in Vegas”, and “Kinky Anniversary Gift: A Collection of Group Sex Stories”.

Forni’s lawyer said she only learned about it from family and friends who spotted her on Playboy “and eventually the web sites of the other adult-photo companies,” court papers claim.

Read more at the NY Post

6.40

Former Prime Minister John Howard has hit out at Australia actor Cate Blanchett labelling her speech at Gough Whitlam’s funeral “outrageous”.

The Hollywood was invited to speak at Mr Whitlam’s memorial service in Sydney last month, focusing her speech on the introduction of free education and healthcare.

Cate Blanchett said she had Whitlam to thank for her career. Source: Getty Images

“I am the beneficiary of free, tertiary education,” Blanchett said.

“When I went to university, I could explore different courses and engage with the student union in extra-curricular activity. It was through that that I discovered acting.”

Mr Howard told the Herald Sun that while Blanchett was a fine actor, her claim that Whitlam introduced free university education “is wrong”.

John Howard has not held back in criticising Blanchett. Source: Getty Images

“The last three years of my university education were completely free and that was 11 years before Whitlam came to power,” he said.

“This idea that it just arrived (with Whitlam) is complete nonsense and it ought to be called out more frequently,” he said. “In 1989, when it became obvious that we could no longer afford free universities, the Hawke government introduced the HECS system, and we supported that.”

Read more of this story at the Herald Sun

6.25

A Qantas A380 passenger jet has been forced to make an emergency landing at Perth early this morning.

Qantas Flight QF-2 from Dubai in United Arab Emirates to Sydney experienced difficulties about 3am while in the air above the Indian Ocean some 700km northeast of Perth.

It touched-down safely some 90 minutes later after circling off the coast of the city to dump fuel in order to attain a safe landing weight.

Unconfirmed reports suggest there were problems associated with the air ventilation system.

MORE: Qantas A380 in Perth emergency landing

6.05

An Australia Zoo tiger handler who was mauled by a 120kg male cat had deliberately excited the animal to put on a better show, a Workplace Health and Safety investigation has found.

The report also reveals the true extent of experienced keeper Dave Styles’ injuries which “could have resulted in a fatality”, the Courier-Mail reports.

Channel 7 captured the moment the tiger approached. Source: Supplied

Trainer David Styles’ injuries ‘could have resulted in fatality. Pic: Channel 7 Source: Supplied

The tiger, Charlie, was “overly excited”. Pic: Channel 7 Source: Supplied

Mr Styles sustained a crushed carotid artery, nicked jugular, paralysis to the left larynx and nerve damage to the left eye when Charlie, a hybrid Bengal Sumatran tiger, got “over excited” during a routine show.

“Mr Styles admitted that he overly excited Charlie on this occasion which encouraged the tiger to play rougher than usual,” said the report obtained under Right to Information laws.

Read more at the Courier-Mail

6.00

Think you neighbours are bad?

A woman in the US has been sentenced to life in prison for killing, dismembering and cooking her neighbours remains on the stove.

A financial dispute is believed to have led Angela Stoldt, a 42-year-old Florida woman, to feed limo driver James Sheaffer a cocktail of vodka, peach schnapps and muscle relaxants before stabbing him in the eye with an ice pick and strangling him with a cord the Mirror reports.

Angela Stoldt has been sentenced to life in the Volusia County jail. (AP Photo/Volusia County Jail) Source: AAP

In an attempt to cremate the body, Stoldt cooked her neighbours body parts on the stove, but when that failed to do away with the remains, she enlisted the help of her teenage children to help distribute the body parts around town.

Stoldt plead guilty to the 2013 murder and will now serve life in prison.

Read more of this story at the Mirror