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8.30am That's it from us this morning. Have a fabulous Wednesday. Stay dry!
8.18am Good news! Today is national Chocolate Cake day.
8.16am MUSIC NEWS: Days after winning big at the County Music Association awards in Tamworth, singer-songwriter Luke O'Shea has been arrested while demonstrating against the controversial Whitehaven coal mine at Maules Creek.
8.14am LOCAL SPORT: Veteran hooker Heath L’Estrange has been added to the Dragons Auckland Nines squad after the club granted utility Adam Quinlan an immediate release to join Parramatta on Tuesday.
8.12am Let's play "anywhere but here". I pick Santorini!
8.10am HEALTH: Junk food branding is being shown thousands of times during cricket broadcasts, a study has shown, prompting calls for Cricket Australia to phase out sponsorships with unhealthy brands. A study by Wollongong University found junk food branding was shown more than 3000 times during cricket broadcasts last summer.
8.08am The guys over at Humber are brewing up your morning coffee. Have you checked it out yet? Looks pretty cool!
8.06am Have you made Valentine's Day plans yet? It's not too far away. Gents, note in diary - it's February 14.
8.04am CELEB GOSS ALERT: Kanye West has explained why he never smiles in photos. "I think, not smiling makes me smile … When you see paintings in an old castle, people are not smiling 'cause it just wouldn't look as cool." Riiiiiight.
8.02am LOCAL NEWS: The Illawarra can expect warmer temperatures and more intense rain events, but the climate change jury is still out on what could happen with average rainfall in coming years.
*Reporter Andrew Pearson has the story.
8am Hugh Jackman has posted a pic of himself on Instagram engaged in a pretty wicked snowball fight. Nice!
7.58am Good morning! Welcome if you're just tuning in. We're set for another cloudy day with a top of 21 degrees. There's still a few dramas on the roads at Bulli - traffic is slow on the pass. All good on the trains though!
7.56am McDonald's french fries - is there a better chip? Surely, it should just be oil, potatoes & salt needed to make them? Um no, here's the full list of ingredients. And it's quite worrying!
7.52am STRANGE BUT TRUE: Someone has stumbled across a brain in a jar while bush walking near Sydney. A BRAIN IN A JAR. Ewwwwwwwww.
7.50am MUSIC NEWS: A teenage girl was indecently assaulted at an Australia Day concert featuring US rappers YG and Ty Dolla Sign at the Enmore Theatre, police say. Read more.
7.48am I am obsessed with pugs. Like SCARY obsessed. Look at this little girl, awwwww.
7.46am LOCAL NEWS: An Illawarra man accused of strangling his wife to death had once caused her to pass out while demonstrating a choking hold he used in his work as a bouncer, a court has heard.
*Court reporter Shannon Tonkin has the story.
7.44am SYDNEY: A Sydney woman accused of providing support to the terror group Islamic State has been ordered to face a committal hearing next week, with a magistrate rejecting her request for more time to brief new lawyers.
7.42am Check out this breakfast at Bostons Espresso. DELICIOUS!
7.40am I'm still here Rushers, I haven't forgotten about you. I've just been busy posting about the Bulli Tops crash! Sorry!
7.15am We'll have updates from the search effort for the reported missing plane at Bulli Tops this morning.
7.10am A "yeti" has been spotted in Boston after the blizzard. Twitter blew up.
7.08am TRAFFIC ALERT: BULLI PASS - all northbound lanes now open on the Princes Highway. Expect lengthy delays though!
7.06am It's back to school day for kids across NSW today. Bit wet!
7.04am CELEB NEWS: A documentary about Scientology has claimed the church tapped Nicole Kidman's phone to collect evidence against her as part of an effort to force her to divorce Tom Cruise, according to the New York Times.
7.02am WORLD NEWS: At least nine people have been killed by ISIL-linked terrorists in Libya.
7am Awww look at this little kitty. Too cute!
6.58am Good morning! Welcome if you're just tuning in. We're set for another cloudy day with a top of 21 degrees. There's a few dramas on the roads at Bulli - motorists travelling northbound on Bulli Pass are experiencing significant delays due to a rock fall and accident. Alternating stop/slow traffic conditions are in place. All good on the trains though!
6.56am CELEB GOSS ALERT: Kim Kardashian has poked fun at herself & her love of "selfies" in an ad to be screened during the Super Bowl.
6.54am NSW: Opposition leader Luke Foley has put himself at odds with the union representing NSW electricity workers by backing deep cuts to state-owned power company revenues over the next four years which could mean the loss of up to 4600 jobs. Read more.
6.52am Anybody else think we should have a "rain day" in solidarity with the US? If they can have a "snow day" we can have a rain day, right!?
6.50am STRANGE BUT TRUE: A French couple have tried to register the baby name Nutella. A judge saw sense and vetoed the name. Seriously!?
6.48am Did you make it onto the "front page" of the Mercury on Australia Day? Check out our gallery of front page stars here.
6.46am Our reporters are up at Sublime Point this morning as police resume their search after reports of a plane crash at Bulli Tops last night.
6.44am MUSIC NEWS: Remember Blink-182? Well, I don't think there's much chance they'll be holding a reunion tour - they've just released a statement announcing founding member Tom DeLonge is out of the band.
6.42am SPORT: Kyrgios lost to Andy Murray last night in the Australian Open.
6.40am CELEB GOSS ALERT: Taylor Swift's Twitter & Instagram accounts have been hacked. The pesky hackers are now threatening to post nude photos of her online. You leave Tay Tay alone!
6.38am Struggle to get out of bed to work out in the morning? Well, this might be an incentive - research has shown that we might just reap more rewards by exercising early. Read more.
6.36am LOCAL NEWS: A Bulli drink-driver caught travelling the wrong way along a truck-laden Mount Ousley Road feared she was going to die as oncoming cars careened towards her, a court has heard.
*We've got the full report here.
6.34am BREAKING: Robert Allenby has spoken out about THAT night out. He says he doesn't remember going to a strip club but is sticking to his story.
6.32am Love beaches? The SMH has looked into the world's best. Luckily, Australia has quite a few - hello Whitehaven!
6.30am SPORT: The Allan Border medal was on last night. Steve Smith took out the big prize but let's talk about the most important thing - the fashion. Nearly all the WAGs wore red.
6.28am TRAFFIC ALERT - Bulli: northbound traffic on the Princes Highway is being affected by a rock fall on Lawrence Hargrave Drive. Be careful! There's also a car accident on Bulli Pass.
6.26am Yesterday was a dark day - for 52 minutes, Facebook, Instagram & Twitter were down. It's okay, we all made it!
6.24am Need some inspiration for the kids' lunch boxes this week? Try these ideas if they're really over Vegemite sandwiches.
6.22am TV NEWS: Perennial joker Karl Stefanovic has been given a dose of his own medicine by German model Heidi Klum, who coaxed the Today show presenter into yodeling during an interview, only to break the news to him she was nothing but an amateur. Ha, nice one! Read more.
6.20am CBD parking is set to get a whole lot messier this weekend - the temporary Dwyers car-park shuts up shop as of midnight on Friday.
6.18am Don't forget the Kiama Farmers' Markets are on this afternoon.
6.16am How nuts is this weather in the US? Our reporter on the ground Josh Butler has given us a first-hand account of "snowmageddon" in New York.
6.14am SPORT: The Socceroos beat the UAE 2-0 last night, sending them into the final of the Asian Cup against South Korea on Saturday night. On ya' boys!
6.12am Check out the animals at Symbio showing off their Australia Day spirit. A bit belated, I know, but I couldn't resist!
6.10am WORLD NEWS: An online message purportedly from the Islamic State group warned on Tuesday that a Japanese hostage and Jordanian pilot the extremists hold have less than "24 hours left to live."
6.08am Have you been to Kembla St bar The Throsby yet? They're doing wine tasting tonight from 6.30pm. Drop in to try a wet weather white.
6.06am And in national news, via the SMH:
*A controversial anti-vaccination group is encouraging people to sign up to a fake church because it may help them bypass Australia's emerging "no jab, no play" childcare laws.
*A man accused of raping a teenager in Hyde Park allegedly told her "I'm not going to kill you if you go with it", a court has heard.
*Tony Abbott is moving to rebuild bruised relationships with his backbench in the wake of the Prince Philip knighthood controversy, which has left most of his partyroom alienated and seen senior ministers refuse to publicly endorse the appointment.
6.04am Here's what's making news in your Mercury today:
*A massive air and ground search initiated on Tuesday night will resume at first light amid fears that a small aircraft has crashed in bushland at Bulli Tops.
*Illegal fishers hoping to fool Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) fisheries officers got a nasty surprise when they were apprehended for illegally spearing a blue groper on the NSW Far South Coast.
*A Wollongong cop who was filmed getting stuck into a game of Australia Day cricket – thigh holster and all – has become an internet sensation. Read more.
6.02am Let's kick off the morning with the latest weather etc.
WEATHER We're set for another cloudy day with a top of 21 degrees. There is a 90 per cent chance of showers, becoming less likely this afternoon.
TRAFFIC All 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! Happy hump day. It's the middle of the working week, we're on the steady slide into the weekend. Hope you're staying dry in this wet weather.