Alex Linboom died after drinking too much soft drink. 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.

9.45

Cricket captain Michael Clarke has joined fellow Australians Sir Don Bradman and Matthew Hayden as the only men in history to achieve the amazing feat of scoring more Test centuries than 50s (with a minimum of 25 hundreds).

That tells you Michael Clarke is a man who knows how to go on with the job once he gets a start.

Michael Clarke celebrates his century on the second day of the first Test against India. Source: AFP

The 33-year-old donned a back brace while batting on day two and his short-term future is still uncertain due to the three degenerative discs in his lower back.

Play gets underway for day three at 10.30am AEDT.

Follow our live coverage of the first Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval here.

9.30

An infant hit by a forklift driven by his father remains in a critical condition has died in hospital.

The nine-month-old boy was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital about 8pm on Saturday after his father accidentally ran into him at his motor workshop in Moolap.

Police at the scene where the boy was hit. Picture: Glenn Ferguson Source: News Corp Australia

The family is believed to have been living in the workshop. Picture: Eugene Hyland Source: News Corp Australia

The boy had emergency surgery as the Victorian WorkCover Authority and Victoria Police investigated the circumstances surrounding the tragic accident.

The family with four young children is believed to have been temporarily living at the Blackley Automotive workshop in Geelong’s southeast, where the baby was struck.

9.15

A US woman has been convicted of being part of a family sex ring that abused children for years, AP reports.

Wendy Wood Holland was among 11 people arrested following the disappearance of her 19-year-old niece Brittney Wood in 2012.

A sordid family sex ring was uncovered after Brittney went missing. Source: Facebook

Brittney was last seen with Holland’s husband Donnie — who was under investigation for horrific sex crimes at the time — before she went missing.

The investigation that followed unravelled what authorities described as a dark, twisted tale of perversion in the working-class neighbourhoods of coastal Alabama.

Brittney’s aunt was one of 11 people arrested following the disappearance.

Wendy Wood Holland appeared in court yesterday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Source: AAP

One Wednesday a jury found her guilty of sodomy, sexual abuse, sexual torture and child endangerment.

The two-day trial showed the teen was part of a group sex encounter that included her aunt, but witnesses in the trial didn’t provide any evidence of what might have happened to the teenager.

8.55

The Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday posted photographs appearing to show jihadists throw a man off a building for allegedly being gay.

“The Islamic court in Wilayet al-Furat decided that a man who has practised sodomy must be thrown off the highest point in the city, and then stoned to death,” read a statement accompanying the images.

A man was reportedly thrown to his death off a building. Source: Supplied

Wilayet al-Furat refers to an area stretching across the Syrian-Iraqi frontier, where the Euphrates flows from Syria into Iraq at the Albu Kamal-Qaim border crossing.

One image shows a man whom the jihadists claimed was gay being hurled off a building at an unspecified location in Syria or Iraq. The next shows the man lying on the ground.

The Islamic State in November stoned two men to death in Syria, claiming they were gay.

The group first emerged in Syria’s conflict in spring 2013. It has since taken over swathes of Syria and Iraq, imposing a rule of terror.

8.35

Happy news for Monaco’s royal couple today with Princess Charlene giving birth to twins.

The Princess and Prince Albert II welcomes babies Gabriella and Jacques into the world overnight, the palace announced, adding both babies and their mother ar “doing well”.

Royal babies for Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

The twins are the first children for the couple who wed in 2011. (AP Photo/Jean Paul Pelissier, Pool, File) Source: AP

The first children of the glamorous South African Princess Charlene replace Albert’s sister Caroline as the next in line to the Monaco throne.

8.25

Australia’s tough biosecurity laws are threatening to delay production of the big budget Pirates of the Caribbean 5 movie due to start shooting on Queensland’s Gold Coast in February.

One of the key characters — a capuchin monkey called Jack — could be tied up in quarantine for over a month unless the producers can convince Australian authorities to relax the rules.

Monkey Jack could hold up filming of the new Pirates movie Source: Supplied

Described as the “meanest, most rotten-tempered Simian in the Caribbean”, Jack has appeared in the four previous Pirates’ films and is usually played by at least two monkeys trained for the role.

But quarantine laws are looming as a major hurdle for producers who agreed to film much of the $250 million production in Queensland following incentives from the State and Federal Governments.

MORE: Monkey business threatens film

8.10

Meet Dusty — the pussycat in a pram who loves to roll around Sydney’s northern beaches in his custom ride.

Dusty’s owner, Manly’s Valerie Nguyen, 28, gets a laugh every time she takes him along The Corso to the beach, the park or to do the shopping.

Valerie Nguyen of Manly with her moggy Dusty, taking a stroll along Manly Beach. Picture: Troy Snook Source: News Corp Australia

She’s even set up a Facebook page and YouTube channel for Dusty, under the name “Dusty Pattie”, where you can see him roll around in his custom-fitted cat pram, bought from eBay for “about $280”.

Valerie Nguyen and Dusty roll by the beach. Picture: Troy Snook Source: News Corp Australia

“I thought it would be nice to take him out breathing fresh air, cruising in the open,” she said. “It’s funny because people can be stressed out at the shops but, when I come in, it all of a sudden stops.”

Read more at The Manly Daily

8.00

Why was great-grandmother Helen Dawson executed at home?

Grieving relatives are still desperately searching for answers to last month’s shooting of a lawn bowls-loving 75-year-old in Sydney’s west.

Toongabbie grandmother Helen Dawson. Photo Jeremy Piper Source: News Corp Australia

Helen Dawson was finally farewelled at a funeral in Rouse Hill yesterday — exactly three weeks after she was executed at point-blank range when she answered a knock at her front door.

The brutal, gangland-style killing has left family, friends and police baffled as to why someone would target the “caring and compassionate” Toongabbie woman.

Friends and family attend the funeral Helen Dawson. Photo Jeremy Piper Source: News Corp Australia

Investigators made a public appeal for help last month, saying they were yet to find a motive for the cold-blooded killing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

Read more at The Daily Telegraph

7.50

A man was shot once in the leg and stabbed several times in the head before being found bleeding by a doctor on the roadside in Bankstown overnight, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Police arrest a 30-year-old man where another man was found injured in Bankstown. Pic: Chris McKeen Source: News Corp Australia

Officers establish a crime scene in Bankstown after an injured man found in the street later died. Pic: Chris McKeen Source: News Corp Australia

The 29-year-old murder victim was found about 12.15am Thursday on Claribel St, less than 50m from Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital.

Police sources believe the man may have been dumped at the hospital by friends or associates unwilling to identify themselves.

A police ballistics dog sniffs around the area the man was found. Photos: Chris McKeen Source: News Corp Australia

Read more at The Daily Telegraph

7.30

Oscar Pistorius again faces the possibility of a murder conviction after a South African judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors can appeal against the double-amputee Olympian’s conviction on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

In October Judge Thokozile Masipa found the Paralympic champion guilty of culpable homicide and gave him a five-year prison term. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Source: AP

Judge Thokozile Masipa has also ordered the State to pay defence costs for the sentence appeal.

Masipa announced the ruling in a Pretoria court, saying she was satisfied that chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel had raised “questions of law” that should be reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Barry and June Steenkamp (pictured) just want to move on with their lives their lawyer said. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko) Source: AP

Pistorius, 28, said he shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, believing she was an intruder.

Prosecutors argued that he deliberately killed the 29-year-old law graduate after an argument, and were furious that he could spend less than a year behind bars if granted home leave.

7.15

A young child died and four fell seriously ill after drinking contaminated raw cow’s milk — which authorities are unable to recall or ban.

Several brands of unpasteurised milk being sold in Victorian health food stores have triggered a dangerous gastroenteritis outbreak.

Un-pasteurised and un-homogenised milk is being sold For Cosmetic Use Only, but some parents are feeding it to their children. Picture- Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia

This is despite laws banning the sale of untreated cow’s milk for human consumption, owing to its high risk of contamination.

An investigation linked all the cases to raw milk. The Health Department will today issue a major health warning about the products.

However, the department is unable to recall the milk products, because they are categorised as “cosmetic” products rather than food.

Un-pasteurised and un-homogenised milk is being sold For Cosmetic Use Only, but some parents are feeding it to their children. Picture- Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia

Authorities are unable to ban the milk. Picture- Nicole Cleary Source: News Corp Australia

Labels on the milk brands, available statewide, carry a disclaimer that they are sold for “cosmetic use only”. But the packaging is very similar to regular milk and they are often sold in fridges next to drinks.

Read more of this story at The Herald Sun

6.55

The father of accused drug smuggler Kalynda Davis has opened up about his daughter’s treatment in a Chinese jail where she was shackled and forced to cut her long blonde hair.

Larry Davis revealed details of his “nightmare” month as his 22-year-old daughter faced life in prison or a firing squad execution while a top secret diplomatic mission overseen by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop fought for her freedom.

Larry Davis has opened up about his daughter Kalynda Davis’ prison nightmare. Source: Supplied

Speaking to the Western Weekender, the Penrith man said he “never once thought she had done anything wrong”.

“I knew she was so innocent. I prayed every night that the truth would come out, I prayed for the authorities, that it was dealt with in the way that it was dealt with, and our prayers were answered,” he said.

Mr Davis said while Chinese authorities treated and respected her daughter, her time in jail was “like any detention centre”, where Kalynda was given just a small area to sleep in and locked up in shackles.

Kalynda Davis Source: Supplied

Kalynda Davis Source: News Corp Australia

He said the family was left mostly in the dark throughout the month-long ordeal, which was particularly difficult around Kalynda’s birthday which also falls on her parents’ wedding anniversary.

“I don’t know what I have been feeling this past month, it is like I have been brain dead. Think of a parent’s worst nightmare and multiply it by 10, that’s what we went through. I know my daughter, I know my daughter — it was just my worst nightmare.”

Ms Davis was covertly flown back to Sydney early in Tuesday following a diplomatic appeal to Beijing, but it’s believed she has been taken away from her western Sydney home to escape public attention.

Kalynda Davis has returned to her Glenmore Park home. Pic: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia

She was arrested with her travel companion, Peter Gardner, on November 5 when 75kg of the drug ice was allegedly found in their luggage, to be smuggled into Australia.

The pair are believed to have met on dating app Tinder only weeks before they travelled together to China.

Mr Gardner, who is a New Zealand citizen, remains in China and could still face execution.

6.40

A surprise choice has knocked off the likes of Taylor Swift and Apple’s Tim Cook to be named Time magazine’s Person of the Year 2014.

TIME magazine has named the medics who have treated patients struck with the killer Ebola virus as its “Person of the Year 2014”, paying tribute to their courage and mercy.

The Ebola fighters ... Time’s Person of the Year 2014. Picture: Time Source: Supplied

The year saw the Ebola outbreak turn into an epidemic in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and there have been scattered cases in Nigeria, Mali, Spain, Germany and the United States.

“Ebola is a war, and a warning. The global health system is nowhere close to strong enough to keep us safe from infectious disease,” wrote Time editor Nancy Gibbs, announcing the prestigious annual title on Wednesday.

“The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight.”

The magazine short-listed the Ferguson protesters, Taylor Swift, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Missed out: Taylor Swift was on the shortlist. Source: Supplied

Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t make it either. Source: DailyTelegraph

Vladimir Putin was on the shortlist too. Tony Abbott wasn’t on the list. Source: AFP

6.25

Close to 1000 people gathered in a Perth park last night for an emotional candlelight vigil for tragic two-year-old Sam Trott last night.

The toddler’s body was found by police divers in the Snake Swamp, about 800 metres from his home at Landsdale.

Sam Trott’s disappearance prompted a huge search. Source: Supplied

Mourners laid flowers, toys, and lit candles to honour Sam’s life and show their support for the family struggling to come to terms with the loss of their “happy, affectionate, loving child”.

Sam Trott walked out of the family home on Walbrook Mews in Landsdale about 10.30am on Tuesday after tradesmen left the front door open.

His body was retrieved from a lake close to his home. Source: News Corp Australia

Hundreds gathered at Warradale Park for a candlelight vigil for Sam Trott. Source: News Corp Australia

A full-scale land/air search ensued and almost 24 hours after the toddler went missing, he was found by police divers in the Snake Swamp area in Warradale Park, about 800 hundred metres from his home.

Read more of this story at Perth Now

6.15

A father and stepmother of a 5-year-old girl who died after being forced to drink large amounts of grape soda and water as a form of punishment have been sentenced to 35 years in prison, authorities said.

US couple Randall Vaughn, 42, and Mary Vaughn, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child neglect and were sentenced Monday in Rogersville, Tennessee, District Attorney General Dan Armstrong said Tuesday.

Randall Lee Vaughn (left) and Mary Lavonne Vaughn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child neglect. Pic: Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office Source: Supplied

The New York Post reports the Vaughns forced the girl, Alexa Linboom, to drink more than two litres of grape soda and water over two hours in January 2012 after they found she had consumed a soda or two that they had told her were reserved for the adults, Armstrong said.

Armstrong said the consumption of the large amount of liquid caused the girl’s brain to swell.

She was taken to a hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she died two days later, authorities said. Rogersville is about 210 miles east of Nashville.

Alex Linboom died after drinking too much soda. Source: Supplied

Her four siblings, who are now seven to 16 years old, provided key details that led to the indictment of the Vaughns in February and would have had to testify at trial if not for their guilty pleas, Armstrong said.

He said the offer of a plea deal was made to ensure that the Vaughns would spend the rest of their lives in prison and to protect the girl’s siblings from having to take part in a potentially high-profile trial.

Her siblings are in foster care, authorities said.