Does your dog need a date? Source: Twitter

10:00am:

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.

9:55am: Shorten defends lie following ABC’s The Killing Season

The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. Source: News Corp Australia

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has defended lying about a meeting with Kevin Rudd in 2013, saying he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire of Labor’s leadership woes. Mr Shorten denied meeting with Mr Rudd before the dumping of Gillard as leader and called the lie a “mistake”.

“The Labor Party was bitterly divided and certainly I didn’t want to put any more fuel on that fire,” he told reporters in Canberra this morning.

Mr Shorten said he could guarantee he would not give those sorts of answers if asked about internal party matters in future.

“You can rest assured, I am kicking myself in hindsight,” he said.

“If people ask about internal party matters, there are far better answers to give than the one I gave and we have learned that lesson.”

9:45am: Fish believed to eat testicles appears in New Jersey

It’s a relative of the piranhas that hails from South America and is believed to have a penchant for the testicular flesh of man.

And it’s been discovered in a New Jersey lake sparking fears about the spread of the invasive species which has human-like teeth.

The species is called Pacu and for some reason people believe it shares the flesh eating tendencies of its cousin. However, as National Geographic reports, that is nothing more than a myth as the fish feeds primarily on plants.

However that hasn’t stopped people online and numerous news articles reporting on the fish that supposedly “bite’s off men’s balls.”

9:35am: US rapper Rick Ross arrested for kidnapping

Booking photo obtained from the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. Source: AFP

Rapper Rick Ross has been denied bail after he was arrested on kidnapping charges in Georgia on Wednesday.

The Hustlin’ hit maker was taken into custody and faces charges of kidnap, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.

According to the arrest warrant, obtained by Billboard.com, Ross allegedly assaulted Jonathan Zamudio with a handgun and forced him to stay in his guesthouse.

The warrant reads, “Subject did assault the victim, Jonathan Zamudio, (twice), with a handgun... and in doing so caused two chipped teeth, jaw injury, neck injury, and multiple scratches and contusions. The victim lost the use of his jaw and is restricted to soft foods and liquid diet only as result of not being able to chew food.”

9:25am: Man plunged to death at Karijini National Park

A 19 year-old man has died after falling from a cliff at a gorge in the Karijini National Park in Western Australia’s Pilbara.

It is understood emergency services received a call for help late yesterday afternoon. Police said a group of six people was swimming at Hancock Gorge, when a man climbed up a seven-metre rock face to sit on a ledge, reports the ABC.

The ledge collapsed, killing the man. A woman also received minor injuries.

It reportedly took rescuers quite a long time to retrieve the young man’s body.

9:15am: Wild goat has unlikely friendship with kangaroo mob

Wild goat and Kangaroos at Seaford Meadows. Source: Supplied

He may be suffering an identity crisis, but a wild goat who believes he’s a kangaroo is providing an unlikely tourist attraction for South Australian residents in Seaford Meadows.

Nestled comfortably alongside the boomer, or dominant male of the mob, the horned goat has been spotted living among the community of about 60 kangaroos in a large paddock, reports the Advertiser.

After years of believing the mystery resident was a donkey, Real Estate agent Naomi Will this week captured a photo of the goat and his best mate.

The photo had been viewed by almost 9,000 people in the past two days, Ms Will said.

“I’m gobsmacked, I couldn’t believe it ... it just went crazy on Facebook and so I thought other people might be interested,” she said.

9:05am: Flushed gold fish are turning up the size of dinner plates

Campaign wants people to stop flushing goldfish. Source: Supplied

Officials in Canada are launching a campaign to urge people not to flush their pet goldfish down the toilet because they’re surviving and multiplying at an alarming rate

Environmental officers in Alberta say they’ve found goldfish the size of dinner plates in the region’s storm ponds. At least forty of the fish were pulled from a single pond earlier this year, reports the CBC.

“It’s quite surprise how large we’re finding them and the sheer number,” said Kate Wilson, aquatic invasive species co-ordinator at Alberta Environment and Parks.

“That’s really scary because it means they’re reproducing in the wild, they are getting quite large and they are surviving the winters,” she said.

8:55am: Review of renting laws could help Victorian renters

As housing affordability continues to be a problem for first home buyers, a government review of Victoria’s rental laws could make things easier for renters.

Long-term rental agreements that ensure housing security could soon be allowed. The viability of five to 10 year leases, protections for older people and relationships between tenants and landlords will all be examined as part of the review, which is due to be completed by 2018.

Consumer Affairs Minister Jane Garrett says the growing number of Victorian renters have a right to safe, affordable and secure housing.

8:45am: Drunk, naked woman tries to kick in Kim Kardashian’s door

Kim Kardashian poses for photographers. Source: AP

A drunken naked woman scared pregnant Kim Kardashian by trying to kick in the star’s hotel room door in the South of France.

The reality star and businesswoman, appearing at Cannes Lions festival on Wednesday, said she’d had no sleep: “There was a woman knocking on a hormonal pregnant woman’s door, namely me, at 4 in the morning — not knocking but banging and kicking, and I couldn’t go back to sleep afterwards, and she was naked,” Kim said.

She added, “So I screamed profanities at her and told her to put some clothes on and get off my door, but she kept using her Amex as the key. She had no idea it was my room.”

Read more here.

8:35am: George W. Bush, pro wrestlers most controversial Wikipedia pages

Wikipedia comes in fourth. Source: Supplied

A software company in Germany has collated a list of Wikipedia’s most frequently edited pages with George W Bush and WWE wrestlers taking out the top spots.

Funnily enough, Wikipedia itself came in as the fourth busiest page on the site.

The site keeps the list of its most active pages updated itself, in part so it knows which pages need to be vigilantly watched and the company took the data to find out what entries are also tampered with most often by the public.

Michael Jackson also edged out Jesus in terms of Wikipedia contestation.

8:20am: Dodgy petrol blamed for mass breakdowns in Sydney

Up to 20 cars have broken down on Sydney’s M4 motorway after drivers filled up at a service station at Eastern Creek.

The cars are in the citybound breakdown lane and it’s believed dodgy E10 fuel is to blame.

This morning’s peak-hour traffic has not been affected, a spokesman from Transport Management Centre said, but the Caltex twin-service centre on the M4 has been contacted and asked to stop selling the fuel.

A Caltex spokesman said the E10 petrol pumps have been shut down and no other products have been affected.

“The problem is isolated to the E10 product,” Caltex spokesman Sam Collyer told 2GB Radio.

-AAP

8:10am: It’s actually urine not chlorine in pools making your eyes red

Might start wearing goggles then. Source: Flickr

So it turns out that the reason why our eyes turn red when swimming in a pool is a little more sinister and a little more gross than most people think.

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the US has confirmed the redness in people’s eyes is actually caused by urine and sweat.

“Chlorine binds with all the things it’s trying to kill from your bodies, and it forms these chemical irritants. That’s what’s stinging your eyes. It’s the chlorine binding to the urine and sweat,” said Dr Michael Beach, associate director of the CDC’s healthy water program.

Might wear my goggles next time.

7:55am: Motorbike rider films head-on collision with fire truck

A crazy video of showing a first person view of a head-on collision between a motorbike and a truck has been posted to YouTube.

The driver of the motorbike, Jesse Lopez had a GoPro mounted on the front of her helmet, filming her ride through Los Angeles when she drove head first into the oncoming fire truck.

“I don’t remember what happened due to memory loss, but I might have panicked when I saw the truck,” Lopez told NBC News. “So I applied the front brake, which straightened me out and I went straight toward the truck, which was also moving probably about 35mph (56 kms).”

Ms Lopez survived, suffering a broken femur, tibia, fibula, ulna and humerus at the elbow.

7:45am: Parking inspectors gave tickets while dead man sat in car

I don’t think the council will be getting their payment. Source: Getty Images

Parking inspectors in New York twice gave a ticket to a car while the driver lay dead inside.

Mamadou Barry’s lifeless body was found in the seat of his vehicle on Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn. The 47 year old had two tickets attached to his car, the earliest dated June 16, reports the New York Daily News.

The vehicle was parked illegally but apparently neither of the parking inspectors thought to peep inside.

Witnesses say a warden even ticketed vehicles in front of and behind the dead man’s car at a later date but did not give a third ticket to Mr Barry’s car.

Police said they are investigating why they skipped his vehicle or if they noticed Barry was still alive.

7:35am: Defence Minister vows to boycott ABC over Q&A episode

Kevin Andrews doesn’t want to play with the ABC anymore. Source: ABC

Defence Minister Kevin Andrews has vowed to boycott the ABC’s Q&A program after it allowed an Australian man charged in 2003 under counter terrorism laws to appear on live television.

He’s the first Abbott government minister to officially blackball the show, and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same, The Australian reports.

The ABC has admitted it was an error of judgment to allow Zaky Mallah, jailed for threatening federal government officials in 2003, to participate in the broadcast.

-AAP

7:20am: Chinese gangs busted selling 40-year-old meat

China is not without its controversy when it comes to its food supply. From Gutter oil to milk which caused the death of infants from an added chemical intended to increase the protein, the country has had to shore up its regulations around dodgy food.

But that latest food scandal to emerge in the country has seen criminal gangs arrested trying to sell 40-year-old frozen meat.

More than 100,000 tonnes of chicken wings, beef and pork worth up to three billion yuan ($A624 million) were seized in the nationwide crackdown.

“It was smelly, and I nearly threw up when I opened the door,” said an official from Hunan province, where 800 tonnes were seized.

Gangs caught selling 40 year old meat. Source: Twitter

Officials from Guangxi, a southern region bordering Vietnam, found some of the meat was “more than 40 years old”, the newspaper said.

Yang Bo, deputy director of the anti-smuggling bureau in the Hunanese capital Changsha, said they would often transport the goods in ordinary vehicles, rather than refrigerated ones, to save costs.

“So the meat has often thawed out several times before reaching customers,” he added.

7:05am: Fake guns found in roof of Melbourne cop shop

Corruption investigators have been called in after the shock discovery of imitation guns in the roof space of a Melbourne police station.

The two fake pistols were found stashed in the ceiling of the St Kilda police complex on Monday, prompting an internal investigation, reports the Herald Sun.

Private building contractors stumbled across the guns during work at the Chapel St station, one of Melbourne’s busiest. It is expected that the weapons will be tested to see if they bear any fingerprints that match those of serving police officers held on file.

One police source said: “God, and whoever put them there, only knows what they’d be doing up there. “It’s not exactly in line with property-handling procedures.”

Possession of imitation firearms is regarded as a serious offence under Victorian law, and is punishable by a jail term.

Read more at the Herald Sun.

6:50am: Two killed in cafe shooting

Two people are dead and two others are seriously injured after a gunman randomly opened fire at a cafe north of Toronto, Canada.

“The information that we have is that a man arrived here and began shooting,” York Regional Police Constable Andy Pattenden said on Wednesday.

The victims have been identified as Christopher Desimone, 24, and Maria Voci, 47.

Officers are looking for witnesses and video surveillance of the shooting.

6:40am: Calls for Obama to apologise for slavery criticised

A rather ridiculous notion. Source: Supplied

Television network in the US, CNN has received heated criticism after a segment which posed the question of whether President Obama should apologise for slavery.

New York Times columnist Timothy Egan said President Obama should issue a formal apology in an opinion piece published last week.

He was forced to defend the idea against radio host and activist Joe Madison.

“This is not an institution that was created by an African-American,” Madison said. “I mean, if you want to talk about being heartfelt, then it should come from those individuals whose heritage benefited from this.”

He added, “This is absolutely the most absurd thing that I have ever heard. And let me say this: it’s not gonna happen.”

Many on social media agreed and questioned the sanity of CNN for posing the idea in the on-screen banner.

6:30am: Heatwave kills 800 in Pakistan

A Pakistani resident helps a heatstroke victim at a market area during a heatwave. Source: AFP

A cool wind from the sea and pre-monsoon rains have brought the first signs of respite to southern Pakistan as the death toll from a scorching heatwave climbed to 838.

Temperatures in hard-hit Karachi, the country’s largest city and its commercial hub, dropped to a bearable 34 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, meteorologist Abdur Rasheed said.

The port city has been in the epicentre of the heatwave, dubbed the worst in at least a decade, with temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius. Power outages, little running water and the majority of people fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan had worsened the situation.

-AFP

6:15am: Boston Bomber say he’s sorry before being sentenced to death

Victims of the Boston Marathon bombing have slammed convicted terrorist and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for an “Oscar”-type speech, describing his first public words in two years as “ingenuine”.

For the first time since his capture in 2013, Tsarnaev broke his silence and addressed the court before being officially sentenced to death. He spoke quietly and faced forward as he thanked Allah and his attorneys before admitting to his crimes

Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev breaks silence saying, I am sorry for the lives I have taken, as he is formally sentenced to death. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

“I thank the jury for their service, and those who came to testify on my behalf.

“I would like to now apologise to the victims and to the survivors.

“I am guilty of the bombing, let there be no lingering question about that.

“After the bombing, I learned victims’ names and saw their faces. I was listening as all these people testified.

“I also wish more people had the chance to testify. I am sorry for the lives that I’ve taken, for the suffering that I’ve caused you, for the damage that I’ve done, irreparable damage.

Read more here.

6:00am: Tinder for dogs is now a thing

What dogs have been waiting for. Source: Facebook

Totes swipe right. Source: Twitter

Is your dog lonely? Do you think your pup is unlucky in love?

Well finally there is a solution for your tech savvy canines. There is now a version of beloved hook-up app Tinder, for dogs.

The app looks and functions exactly like its human predecessor allowing dog owners to swipe through a bevy of local pooches.

Along with the dominant picture of the dog, owners can also put in a photo of themselves — presumably to make the meeting at the local dog park a little smoother.

It may seem strange but who are we to deny the chance for some true doggie romance?

The app has just launched in the US and some people are clearly quite excited, and if the ‘matches’ start rolling in, their dogs will be too.