Highlights from the week that was.

By MAMAMIA ROGUE

Keeping track of all the news in the week that was is almost as hard as keeping focused on a Friday afternoon. So we decided to try and solve both those problems for you, with a Friday arvo highlight reel of all the bits you need to know.

You’re welcome.

Australia:

1. The ACT Legislative Assembly has introduced legislation to make gay marriage legal for the first time in Australia:

The ACT’s Marriage Equality Bill will now be debated and is expected to be passed in October.

The Bill received a standing ovation from the public gallery when it was tabled.

2. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced his new cabinet.

It is as follows:

Warren Truss, Deputy Prime Minister
Matthias Cormann, Finance Minister
Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party)
George Brandis, Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts
Joe Hockey, Treasurer
Barnaby Joyce, Minister for Agriculture
Eric Abetz, Minister for Employment and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Public Service
David Johnston, Defence Minister
Christopher Pyne, Minister for Education.
Nigel Scullion, Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Communications
Peter Dutton, Minister for Health and Minister for Sport
Andrew Robb, Minister for Trade and Defence
Greg Hunt, Minister for the Environment
Scott Morrison, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
Kevin Andrews, Minister for Social Services
Phillip Ruddock, Chief Government Whip

Here’s some complex political analysis of the composition of the cabinet:

PM Abbott also announced that he would be taking on the role of Minister for Women. The general reaction to his appointment is best described as this:

3. Former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has broken her silence since being ousted from the Prime Ministership in June.

1. After a 19-hour salvage operation, the Costa Concordia has been re-floated. Workers used jacks and cables to bring the 114,000 tonne ton ship upright, 18 months after it capsized off the coast of Italy and killed 32 people. The salvage operation reportedly cost $859 million, which makes it the most expensive of its kind.

Here’s an epic time lapse video of the whole event:

2. Sweden has reportedly offered permanent residency to every Syrian refugee who has already applied for asylum in the Scandinavian country, which is around 8000 people.

The civil war in Syria has forced more than one million people to flee Syria in the last couple of years.

3. Russian MP Irina Rodnina has been accused of racism after she tweeted an image of Barack and Michelle Obama gazing at a banana, that has since gone viral:

The image depicts the Obamas staring at a banana that has been placed in the foreground of the image. Ms. Rodnina has since taken the image down after the post caused extreme backlash. Most of which (rightly) looked like this:

The best of the interwebs:

1. This week Buzzfeed taught us all about the conflict in Syria, with the help of the cast of The Hills. Here’s a glimpse:

Check the rest out here.

2. Miley Cyrus released the music video for her new single, Wrecking Ball. The clip quickly became the most watched clip on Vevo, a title previous held by Miley’s last video, We Can’t Stop.

Here is the (NSFW) video:

Oh, and here is a much better version of the video, featuring Nick Cage:

3. And, for your Friday night jam, here’s a hilarious ABC2 promo by the Bondi Hipsters:

HAPPY WEEKEND!

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