Gina Rinehart Named in Time Magazines Most Influential List

Time magazine has named Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart as one of the world’s most influential people. Ms Rinehart is dubbed the “Iron Woman” in the magazine’s annual list of the world’s top 100 power players.

“The spectre of Rinehart looms above the Australian landscape: an improbably wealthy, concrete-minded, broad-shouldered woman who spent more than a decade in legal and personal battles with her stepmother and four children and insists nothing will come before the company she calls the House of Hancock,” the article says. ”Mining, she says, will save resource-rich, prosperous Australia from ruin.”

Time’s article lists Ms Rinehart as a ‘Titan’, and also makes note of her comments that the poor should drink less and work harder. Ms Rinehart is the only Australian to be featured in the Time list of global leaders, artists, pioneers and icons. Also included on the list are American rapper Jay-Z, SpaceX founder Elron Musk, and Pakistani teenager Malala Yousufzai, who made world headlines after being shot in the head by the Taliban.

“Beauty,” says Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, “is an iron mine.”

READ! Time’s Full Article »»»»

Fairfax Wins Confidential Source Case

The Victorian Court of Appeal has ruled two Fairfax journalists will not be ordered to reveal their sources. Last year a magistrate summoned The Age journalists Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker to appear in the committal hearing of eight former directors of the Reserve Bank subsidiaries, Securency and Note Printing Australia.

The former executives are accused of bribing foreign officials in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam to gain contracts to print banknotes between 1999 and 2004.

The journalists’ reports on the scandal triggered a police investigation into the allegations. Subpoenas were issued for Mr McKenzie and Mr Baker after a newspaper article in December 2012 reported an allegedly corrupt businessman was prepared to testify against the former directors in exchange for a leniency :: Read the full article »»»»

North Korea ATTACKS Japan? South Korea on VITAL THREAT Alert WATCHCON 4!

Seems emergency response workers in the Japanese city of Yokohama are a little trigger happy after mistakenly announcing the launch of a North Korean missile to 40,000 followers on Twitter.. The city, south of Tokyo, prematurely fired its tweet just before noon (local time), announcing “North Korea has launched a missile” with blank spaces to indicate the exact time.

Apparently a worker at the Yokohama Crisis Management Centre had prepared a draft Tweet that was to be released IF North Korea launched a missile attack on the city. geez… who hasn’t hit the publish button to early, and mistakenly sent something live. The city retracted the tweet about 20 minutes later and apologised to followers of @yokohama_saigai, the official said. Japan is on full alert ahead of an expected mid-range missile launch by North Korea, with Patriot missiles stationed in its capital to protect the 30 million people who live there.

TENSIONS RISE! South Korean and US forces have raised their alert status to “vital threat” before an expected North Korean missile test, with tensions high in the run-up to a key anniversary. Any launch could coincide with visits by US secretary of state John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in South Korea this Friday.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation of a launch between Wednesday and April 15 birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung. On Tuesday the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for “thermo-nuclear” war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

South Korean foreign minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place “any time” and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions. There is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome that he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama :: Read the full article »»»»

RELATED! For a blow-by-blow on the escalating stand-off check: www.indeepmedia.com.au

Australia’s FIRST National Space Program Gets Government Funding

The Australian Federal Government has launched Australia’s first national space policy at Canberra’s Mount Stromlo Observatory. The launch showcased 14 Australian space research projects, funded by a $40 million Federal Government investment to support space-related research and education. Melbourne’s RMIT is one six universities in Australia to receive the funding boost, our favourite University scored almost $3M in funding :: Read the full article »»»»

Derryn Hinch to Face Contempt Charge Over Jill Meagher

My old buddy and former talkback radio host Derryn Hinch is to be charged with contempt of court for a third time. Supreme Court justice Geoffrey Nettle has ordered that Mr Hinch be charged with contempt for the publication of an article on his blog - The Human Headline - over Jill Meagher’s killer Adrian Bayley.

The judge ruled the blog breached strict non-publication orders put in place last week, after Bayley pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Meagher. Derryn Hinch used Twitter to announce that he would not appear in court. 41 year old Adrian Bayley has pleaded guilty to last Septembers rape and murder of 29 year old ABC staffer Jill Meagher in Melbourne, initially he had entered a plea of Not Guilty.

In 2011, Hinch was ordered to serve five months home detention for contempt. In 1985 he served 12 days in jail for the same offence.

“Justice Nettle orders I be charged with contempt of court over editorial on Jill Meagher case. Methinks I’ll be the media whipping boy.” Mr Hinch said via Twitter.

bayley had been due to stand trial on September 30 for the ABC employee’s murder before dramatically changing his plea. The father of four was remanded to appear on June 11. Justice Nettle had suppressed all details of Bailey’s last appearance, including his interview with police. The only exception the judge allowed was that media could report the mans guilty plea.

For a full rundown on Mr Hinch’s latest antics check: www.theage.com.au For a complete/local rundown of Ms Meagher’s tragic story check: www.theage.com.au/jill_meagher

CORRECTION! 24 April 2013: My Old Buddy – Derryn Hinch was my boss, not my buddy, apologies.

Googles Ghost-town Tours

Internet behemoth Google has launched a virtual tour through the nuclear wasteland surrounding Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Virtual tourists can now take an eery tour through the deserted streets of Namie, one of the towns abandoned after the Fukushima meltdowns spewed radioactive fallout across a large area.

The site reveals streets overgrown with weeds, and time appears to have stood still since Namie’s entire population of 21,000 people was evacuated two years ago.

Fifty percent of the town on the Pacific coast sits within the 20-kilometre evacuation zone around the nuclear plant, which was crippled by Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami :: Read the full article »»»»