7 Wednesday news bites (31 August)

Today’s news bites are brought to you by Bec.

1.The Malaysian Solution DOA, ‘unlawful’ says High Court.

The High Court of Australia has just scuttled the Federal Government’s Malaysia Solution which was to begin deporting asylum seekers who arrived by boat to Malaysia in exchange for 1000 ‘genuine’ Malaysian refugees each year for the next four years. The case was brought to the High Court by human rights lawyer David Manne who argued the Federal Government did not have the right to act unilaterally in deciding on the human rights conditions in another country.

The High Court said the Migration Act requires that the country meet certain human rights standards in providing protection and that the Immigration Minister was first and foremost the guardian of asylum seeker children who had arrived in Australia. The court held invalid that Malaysia was a country to which asylum seekers could be taken for processing.

The full bench were 5-2 split in the decision.

2. Six Aussie women on US terror ‘watch’ list: Wikileaks

Wikileaks has revealed that six women living in Australia are among 23 Aussies on a secret ‘terror’ list drawn up by US intelligence agencies.  The women (four Australians, one British, one Filipina – all living in Australia) are suspected of being part of plan to recruit more women to al-Qaeda to perform terrorist attacks.

3. Former PM blasts Gillard but says she’ll last another two years.

Former Prime Minister, John Howard, last night re-entered the political debate appearing on the 7.30 Report  claiming that PM Julia Gillard ‘lacked authority’ and was ‘unpopular’. Howard predicted the Gillard Government would likely last another two years because the independents would fail to withdraw their support.. Australia’s second-longest serving PM also predicted that independent MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott would lose their seats at the next election.

4. Melbourne voted the ‘World’s Most Livable City’.

And the winner is… Melbourne.  Melbourne has finally nudged Vancouver out of the top spot and taken out the title of the World’s Most Livable City  in the famous Economist Intelligence Unit survey.  The survey  ranks 140 countries based on them having the best or worst living conditions. Three other Australian cities made the top 20: Sydney (6th), Adelaide and Perth (joint 8th).

5. Retail tycoon says, “Aussies should be happy as pigs in sh*t”

Australians are scared to spend money despite low unemployment and a resources boom. That’s according to billionaire retail tycoon Gerry Harvey who yesterday said Australians should be “happy as pigs in sh*t.”  Harvey warned Australian retailers that they’re in for the worst Christmas trading period they’ve seen in five years as Australians save money instead of spending.

6. iPhone 5 video goes viral: holographic projection, anyone?

An iPhone 5 ‘concept’ video demonstrating the ‘wish-list’ features users dream of having has gone viral with 5 million hits  with many viewers thinking the laser key-board and holographic effects are on the planning board. You can watch the video here:

7. Dating site for people who don’t want sex

You want the romance or at least the companionship just not the, er, sex.  A new dating website has launched in Britain for those people who are looking for love but either don’t want or can’t have intercourse. 2date4love launched on 1st August and has since had 10,000 hits and 2000 sign ups.