8.30am That's it from us this morning. Have a fantastic Monday. See you tomorrow.

8.16am NATIONAL: Tony Abbott has urged Indonesian president Joko Widodo to show mercy to Myuran Sukumaran, who faces death by firing squad after his appeal for clemency was rejected by the Indonesian leader.

8.12am If you're looking for an interesting read, check out this piece on Eddie Izzard - a fascinating man. He now wants to run for mayor of London.

8.10am In another strange-but-true story this morning, a dog has ridden the bus to the dog park alone after his owner stayed home to smoke. WHA!?!

8.08am STRANGE BUT TRUE: Virgin has opened the doors to its first property, Virgin Hotels Chicago. The hotel is located in the heart of Chicago's Loop district, in a historic 26-storey art deco building. Plans to open a second hotel in Nashville in 2016 and a third property in New York in 2017 are afoot.

8.06am LOCAL NEWS: Roads and Maritime Services is spending almost half a million dollars on measures to stop trucks damaging the University Avenue bridge at Gwynneville.

*Reporter Glen Humphries has the story.

8.04am These fun kid photos recreated YEARS later are just hilarious. What a great gift idea!

8.02am NATIONAL: A heavily pregnant woman and a new mother who had recently started maternity leave were pitted against each other to fight for their jobs in the ABC's controversial redundancy process.

8am Anybody else remember this? Warrawong Pizza Hut, circa 1980s.

7.58am Good morning! Welcome if you're just tuning in. We're in for a cloudy day with a medium chance of showers and a top of just 20 degrees. All good on the roads & rail.

7.56am Think you've got some embarrassing school formal pics? These will make you feel better - some of these celeb prom pics are AWFUL.

7.54am NSW: Friends of Leila Alavi say the 26-year-old hopelessly tried to support her troubled and abusive husband right up until he allegedly murdered her with a pair of scissors. Her body was found in her car on Saturday morning at the Auburn shopping complex where she worked as a hairdresser.

7.52am Good news for book lovers! Australians bought 55.4 million print books last year, up 2.2 per cent on the previous year – the first year of positive growth since 2009.

7.50am Anybody else feeling like this? Monday mornings are the WORST.

7.48am MUSIC NEWS: Following a grassroots effort to lob Taylor Swift's Shake it Off to the top of the Triple J Hottest 100, a counter-campaign is underway to disallow the song from the annual countdown. All this drama over a bloody song!

7.46am Did you get along to Kiama Rotary's annual antiques fair over the weekend? We've got pics here.

7.44am Thoughts on this one? A campaign for everyone to sing the national anthem at midday on Australia Day. What do you think?

7.42am SPORT - cricket: South African A.B. de Villiers took 31 balls to smash the fastest century in one-day internationals yesterday.

7.40am NATIONAL: More than 12,000 general duties police officers will undergo enhanced weapons training to deal with "active shooter" situations like the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the Martin Place siege. (SMH)

7.38am Has anyone checked out Fifty 5 Parrots in Fairy Meadow yet? This new homewares store looks to have some really cool stuff.

7.34am WORLD NEWS: Shots were fired from a car near US Vice-President Joe Biden's residence in Delaware on Saturday night, but the vice-president was not at home, the US Secret Service said yesterday. (SMH)

7.32am Don't forget the kiddies go back to school next Tuesday.

7.28am Got a spare $122 million? Great - you could pick up this fabulous apartment in New York! The penthouse in the One57 building sold for more than US $100 million, making it the most expensive sale in NYC.

7.26am LOCAL NEWS: A new bus route that will travel between Dapto and the University of Wollongong will hit the road next week.

*Reporter Glen Humphries has the story.

7.24am It's the worst bit about shopping for clothes online: making a gamble on the fit and clicking "buy", only to receive new clothes that are too baggy or too tight. But a Sydney start-up says it has the solution with its 3D body scanning technology. Read more.

7.22am Looking for something to do with the kids today? Head to the Wollongong Botanic Gardens for the Alice in Wonderland garden show.

7.20am LOCAL NEWS: It's back - the annual Wonderwalls festival where Wollongong buildings get a make-over. Can you think of any CBD walls in need of some TLC?

7.18am Looking for a good read? Grab a cuppa & check out this piece from yesterday's Sunday Life magazine on growing up with a hoarding mother.

7.16am CELEB GOSS ALERT: If you missed this one over the weekend, British actor Stephen Fry announced on Saturday that he had married his boyfriend, posting the couple's photo on Twitter to his nearly 8.5 million followers and saying: "Amazing." Awww.

7.14am OMG, how good does this mini peach Melba tart look!? Get in my mouth immediately!

7.12am NSW: Australia's first "koala national park" would be established on the NSW north coast by a state Labor government in a bid to protect the endangered local population and open up tourism possibilities. Read more.

7.10am Don't forget Our Neighbourhood: A Play with Songs is on at Wollongong Workshop Theatre this weekend.

7.08am Warilla's Billy O'Brien is one of the butterfly children, so named because his skin is as delicate as the wings of a butterfly. Family and friends have set up a fund-raiser to help with his continuing medical costs.

7.06am WORLD NEWS: If you missed this one yesterday, Australian golfer Robert Allenby was kidnapped, beaten and robbed in Hawaii, before being dumped, unconscious, 10 kilometres from where he was taken.

7.04am STRANGE BUT TRUE (AND YUMMY): A bacon festival is coming to Sydney. I repeat, a bacon festival.

7.02am BREAKING: a shark sighting at Wanda Beach in Sydney's south has forced the suspension of a surfing competition.

7am Did you get along to see X-Factor crooner Dean Ray in the Crown St Mall on Saturday? Looks like there was quite a crowd.

6.58am Good morning! Welcome if you're just tuning in. We're in for a cloudy day with a medium chance of showers and a top of just 20 degrees. All good on the roads & rail.

6.56am TV NEWS: Looking for a new TV show to get into? Here's some not-to-be-missed series for 2015.

6.54am SYDNEY: A 13-month-old baby girl has been flown to hospital after being crushed by a four-wheel-drive in the driveway of a home in Sydney's south. The car is believed to have been driven by the girl's father, who had just finished washing it and was moving it back into the garage when the accident took place. (SMH)

6.52am LOCAL NEWS: Design changes to Warrigal’s $60million retirement village at Shell Cove should be given the go-ahead, Shellharbour City Council staff have said.

*Council reporter Kate McIlwain has the story.

6.50am Check out these HILARIOUS book covers - "mummy drinks because you're bad". Sounds like a page turner!

6.48am EDUCATION: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten should adopt a less negative stance and try to cut a deal with the Abbott government on higher education policy, according to former Labor MP Maxine McKew.

6.46am Have you been following our Between the Flags series? We've been profiling local surf life saving clubs - here's the latest offering.

6.44am MUSIC NEWS: Did you get along to Triple J's Beat the Drum concert over the weekend? The stage was FULL of Aussie rockers including Gotye, Cat Empire & the Preatures. Here's a review.

6.42am CELEB GOSS ALERT: Kim Kardashian & Kanye West have enjoyed a double date with Beyonce & Jay Z. Talk about a star-studded line-up!

6.40am Have you been snapped out & about? Check out our gallery of social pics here - you never know who you might spot!

6.38am WORLD NEWS: Pope Francis wrapped up a five-day visit to Asia's most Catholic nation on Sunday, drawing 6 million devotees to a Manila waterfront park, the largest ever crowd for a papal event. Read more.

6.36am Have you made your Australia Day plans yet? It's only a week away! There are heaps of venues across the Illawarra hosting events - including TBH, which is having its annual pie-eating competition.

6.34am LOCAL SPORT: Forget about avoiding last place - the greatest challenge for the Wollongong Hawks is simply to win another game. The Hawks crashed to a 83-78 road loss to the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday.

6.32am SYDNEY: The investigation into the bashing of a gay man by police in Surry Hills in 1989 has been erased from internal records. Read more.

6.30am Have you booked your tickets to see Little Shop of Horrors yet? It's on at the IPAC this weekend. Don't miss out, it's getting rave reviews.

6.28am CELEB GOSS ALERT: Well, I'm using the term "celebrity" fairly loosely here but ... the romance between Geoffrey Edelsten and his young fiancée Gabi Grecko is over, just two months after the 71-year-old got down on bended knee in front of a media scrum at the Melbourne Cup. Shock horror.

6.26am LOCAL NEWS: Many Illawarra children have no option but to travel to Sydney for routine surgery after the region's health district lost its only paediatric surgeon.

*Health reporter Lisa Wachsmuth has the full story.

6.24am Symbio Zoo has some new additions - welcome Lily & Zoe to the fold. The joeys were rescued and raised at the zoo. Awww.

6.22am Love dessert? Then you'll love these summer sweets - there are some DELISH recipes in here. Think key lime pie, chocolate tarts and jelly. Yum.

6.20am NSW: A puppy farm in northern NSW has been investigated by RSPCA NSW after animal activists claimed that they had found evidence of dogs living in "appalling conditions." Read the full story.

6.18am A little animal funny for your Monday morning...

6.16am Did you get to the Illawarra Folk Festival over the weekend? A record 11,500 people attended. Wow! Check out all the action here.

6.14am CELEB GOSS ALERT: Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo is single again after a break-up with Russian model Irina Shayk. They were together for five years. *cue excited screams from single women everywhere*.

6.12am WORLD NEWS: There are reports this morning that Boko Haram fighters have kidnapped at least 60 people in Cameroon.

6.10am I know the weekend has just passed but it's never too early to start planning next weekend! If you're looking for something to do, head along to the sunset cinema at the Botanic Gardens. The Grease sing-along is on Friday night - "you're the one that I want, ooo ooo ooooooo".

6.08am Here's a little funny to kick off your Monday morning - perhaps a reminder of why you should go to work!?

6.06am And in national news, via the SMH:

*Chinese spies stole key design information about Australia's new Joint Strike Fighter, according to top secret documents disclosed by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

*The NSW parliament's first openly gay MP, Paul O'Grady, has died aged 54.

*As many as 700 detainees on Manus Island have joined a hunger strike that doctors say the detention centre will be ill-equipped to manage amid fears that lives could be lost. 

6.04am Here's what's making news in your Mercury today:

*A former police officer who was photographed by an insurance company investigator "appearing to smile" at his son's football game has revealed his identity and spoken publicly about the torment he is suffering at the hands of private investigators.

*A man is dead after a fight in Wollongong. Police were called to break up an altercation between a 40-year-old man and a 22-year-old man at a home on New Dapto Road at 5.15am on Saturday.

*The government has just four years to build the Albion Park Rail bypass before sections of the Princes Highway resemble a parking lot in the afternoons.

6.02am Let's kick things off with the latest weather & traffic.

WEATHER Thankfully, things have cooled down! We're in for a cloudy day with a medium chance of showers and a top of just 20 degrees.

TRAFFIC All looks good on our roads & for the drive to Sydney or south.

TRAINS There is a good service on the South Coast line.

6am Good morning! We're back! It's the first Morning Rush for 2015 - so excited to be back! Stay with your host, Emma Spillett, for all the latest news etc.