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Morning fog, then partly cloudy, with a top of 15.
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No reported delays this morning.
Some of Melbourne’s most drab and dysfunctional suburban railway stations have been reimagined as vibrant public transport hubs serviced by London-style elevated train lines, in a new exhibition that posits a future transport network designed to cope with the city's relentless population boom.
The exhibition, Dream Stations, is an attempt to breathe new life into nine stations around Melbourne that have been nominated by local councils as unattractive places disconnected from the local community.
Central to reviving the stations and their often-derelict surrounds is a proposal to elevate Melbourne’s rail lines, as an efficient way to remove level crossings and create spaces below for shops and community crossing points. Elevated rail lines already run through inner parts of Melbourne, including Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn.
Project leader Ian Woodcock, research fellow in urban design at the University of Melbourne, said most Melbourne railway stations ''are difficult to find and difficult to get into'', while newer stations mostly have soulless designs focused on safety and vandal-proofing.
Australia's elite SAS soldiers are ready to swoop into Baghdad to rescue diplomats if the bloody fighting in Iraq's north reaches the capital, Fairfax Media has been told.
It is also understood Australia could fly surveillance plane missions as part of a broader US-led effort to beat back the jihadist forces that have established bases in the Iraqi city of Mosul and north-eastern Syria, though Washington had made no request as of Monday night.
Fairfax Media understands the SAS would be deployed only if security in Baghdad deteriorated to the extent that staff could not be removed safely without the protection of the special forces. But the SAS has been used this way before, notably to evacuate diplomats from East Timor in 1999.
BARRY Purtell, who lost his life after a gas explosion in Rochester on Sunday, wouldn't have wanted the attention on him.
"He wouldn't have wanted anyone focusing on the pain - just the hope," close friend Ashley Conway said.
"He would have wanted us all to rally behind Dave (Lobb, who was critically injured as a result of the blast).
"He would have said, come on, stop crying and be there for Dave."
Mr Purtell, 34, of Rochester, was helping a friend - as he so often did - at the Rochester Hotel when the flash fire erupted in the cellar about 1.30pm on Sunday.
1665 - Spanish are defeated by Portuguese and British at Montes Claros, and further victory at Villa Viciosa secures Portuguese independence.
1867 - Joseph Lister performs the first surgical operation under antiseptic conditions on his sister Isabella, at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary.
1950 - The first kidney transplant is performed by Dr Richard Lawler of the Little Company of Mary Hospital, in Chicago, Illinois.
1991 - South Africa's parliament abolishes the last major apartheid law.
2001 - The 15-member European Union announces it will open its doors to new members from the formerly communist east by 2004.
2005 - Troops with truncheons and tear gas beat back protesters in Bishkek who stormed government headquarters, because their candidate was denied registration for upcoming elections, in the biggest unrest in Kyrgyzstan since its longtime president was ousted in March.
2010 - The UN says an estimated 400,000 people - nearly one-12th the population - have fled their homes to escape Kyrgyzstan's ethnic violence as throngs of refugees huddle in grim camps along the Uzbekistan border without adequate food or water.
If today is your big day, Happy Birthday! You share a birthday with Charles XII, soldier-king of Sweden (1682-1718); John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (1703-1791); Henry Lawson, Australian poet (1867-1922); Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (1882-1971); Beryl Reid, British actress (1920-1996); Brian Statham, English cricketer (1930-2000); Ken Loach, Venus Williams, US tennis player (1980-); Shane Watson, Australian cricketer (1981-); Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player (1985-); Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player (1988-); Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer (1988-).
What is faster Hot or cold? Hot, because you can catch a cold.
Have a great day,
Hannah