8 Friday news bites + Week in Pics (Sep 2)

1. Gillard blames High Court for rewriting Migration law, says it is ‘missed opportunity’

In her first lengthy press conference on the extraordinary full bench High Court decision which banned the deportation of asylum seekers to Malaysia, saying it was ‘unlawful’, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the vote was a missed opportunity to defeat the ‘people smuggler’s business model’. She also said the Government was relying on the best legal advice and that the High Court had effectively upended the law, meaning all future offshore processing of asylum seekers was ‘practically’ off the table. Other options instead were being considered. There are now talks that the PM’s leadership has been so destroyed that some MPs have begged her to quit. You can take our poll on the asylum seeker solution here.

2. There’s a 911 colouring book

And it doesn’t exactly depict Muslims or Islam in a balanced light. There has been some controversy as each mention of the religion or its adherents is accompanied by an ‘extremist’ or ‘terrorist’ tag. Critics say the book makes no mention of the Muslims who themselves died in the terror attacks.

3. Aussies fake sick days. Surprise!

A global survey of ‘absence’ in the workplace has found that three in five Australians call in sick when they are, in fact, quite well. Anyone else think that figure would be higher? China and India were the most prolific at bunging a sickie while the US, UK, Mexico and France were much lower.

4. Beauty pageant girl, 4, gets fake bum and boobs for contest

Right, so the pageants were hardly bastions of normality to begin with but now a mum in the United States has been forced to defend her decision to give her four-year-old fake boobs and a bum implant (not surgical) to make her look like Dolly Parton while performing. She said it was really just an ‘extra bonus’ for the performance.

5. Ikea to trial MÄNLAND, the man hideaway for four days

You have to hand it to Ikea, they know PR. But this is a fun concept nonetheless, particularly if the man in your life hates being dragged to the shops. Oy. Ikea has built the grown-up male version of a playpen at their Homebush (Sydney) store with games and distractions where men can seek refuge while their partner shops. They are given a buzzer to remind them to collect their partner after 30 minutes. It’s being ‘trialled’ until the weekend.

6. Sarah Jessica Parker heading to Melbourne for the Spring Racing Carnival

The Sex and the City star will be in Melbourne promoting her new film ‘I don’t know how she does it’ and has been invited to Oaks Day as a guest of Crown in their exclusive marquee. It’s all locked and loaded.

7. Final resting place of bushranger Ned Kelly confirmed

It’s official: DNA testing has confirmed that remains found on the site of the former Melbourne prison at Pentridge were those of the infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly, who was hanged after being captured in a showdown with police at Glenrowan in 1880. Researchers, with the help of a clinic that specialises in ancient DNA tests in Argentina, took DNA swabs from a Melbourne school teacher who is the great grandson of Ned’s sister to confirm the match.

8. Is a ‘W’ with an anchor beside it offensive?

The Advertising Standards Bureau has ruled that a safe driving commercial in South Australia is not offensive because kids wouldn’t understand what it means. The ad tells drivers not to drive like a wanker, with a picture of an anchor appearing next to the letter W. The Bureau also received complaints about an ad that referred to scientists as nerds and another (from NAB) that featured cartoon violence of a group of asterisk people being flattened in its ‘kill the asterisk’ campaign. Are we all a bit too PC or are these valid complaints?

And without further ado, here are the pictures that have grabbed our attention this past week: