News you can use - Gina Rinehart now Fairfax's biggest shareholder

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Hooray! Gina Rinehart is now Fairfax's largest shareholder, having taken 12.8% of the company for her own. I for one welcome my new mining overlord and look forward to many years of productive toil in the coal mines below the Fairfax offices. Viva la Rinehart!

The journalists are circling over the still breathing body of Julia Gillard, with the papers today chock full of stories about what individual ministers and Opposition figures said about her. Not a single one of which provides any insight into the matter of her leadership, but does give the impression that something is afoot because WOAH, like everyone is talking about it. Well, they are because you asked them. They'd probably prefer to answer questions about their legislative programs. Which sometimes I forget our Government even has. Anyway, no link here because I'm not entirely convinced there's a story in amidst it all.

2000 people have been evacuated in northern NSW as that stretch of the world enjoys its annual pummeling by the summer rains. Rivers are starting to break their banks in Queensland too, which all feels a little too soon to be honest.

This should get the broader public riled up: Qantas/Jetstar are leading Australia's carriers by pre-emptively announcing a carbon tax surcharge. THIS IS THE HUMAN FACE OF THE CARBON TAX JU-LIAR! [Related: since its grounding, Tiger is now the most punctual airway in the skies].

About 240 people have been rescued from a ferry in Papua New Guinea after it began to sink yesterday. The ship's owner is adamant there were only 248 people on board, but everyone else seems to think it might have been closer to 350. Hint that I might be hanging out with news a little too much: I felt a flash of disappointment, ever so brief, when I realised that 240 people had been rescued rather than vice versa. What is happening to my moral compass?!

The Times is the latest newspaper of the Murdoch empire to have been implicated in the phonehacking scandal. If things seem to be moving a little faster over there, it's because News International's current policy is basically to conduct Stalin-esque purges of all its papers with the hope of rehabilitating its image through brutal staff betrayals. If it was good enough for Stalin, it's good enough for Rupert Murdoch.

Ah, so this is why the Syrian observer mission failed: its members thought they were taking a pleasure trip around the country. Because nothing says cheery holiday destination like the slaughter of over 5000 civilians.

So, Facebook is finally about to do its long-awaited public share launch. Which is widely expected to value the company at somewhere between $75 and $100 billion dollars. Fine print: you will not be able to afford to buy shares in Facebook.

The fallout from the deadly soccer riots in Egypt is getting increasingly grim, with suspicions now being raised that the army may have facilitated the violence in order to show how indispensable they are. After all, despite being ever present, they strangely vanished when a stadium's worth of humans started stabbing one another... But every member of the Egypt football association has now been fired, so that's good.

Features

Tim Dunlop asks the question: has journalism in Australia been permanently outflanked by PR?

Twitter recently announced that it would allow certain countries to demand the censoring of offensive tweets. Cue uproar. Here's an extensive appraisal of the dangers involved.

Oddities/Curiosities

Mourning North Korea-style - you better put that game of Words With Friends on hold, because the country has just declared using a mobile phone a "war crime" during the 100 day mourning period for Kim Jong-"I told you I was"-il. [Related: Kim Jong-un looking at things]

Only in Oklahoma!... Or something. A state legislator has just introduced a bill banning the use of aborted human fetuses in food. While he doesn't think it's happening right now, he thinks that some companies might be thinking about it and, you know, better safe than eating aborted human fetus.

And this:



Video

So, there you are, the Mayor of East Haven, Connecticut, fending off accusations that your police officers are racially profiling the local Latino community. You get asked a simple question about what you're doing for the Latino community and...



PR Delite. Side note, activists subsequently sent 500 tacos to his office. That's some goooooood eating.