Team Assange had a less than totally successful day in court, after Assange’s Swedish lawyer, while giving evidence, informed the court that he had incorrectly reported that the Swedish prosecutors had made no effort to interview Assange while he was in the country in late August/early September last year.
February, 2011
Life on the railroad: caught between state screw-ups and federal follies
More than six months after the ill-fated Brumby government rattled dozens of Footscray residents and business-owners by forgetting to tell them about a plan to bulldoze their properties to make way for the new Regional Rail Link, homeowners here are facing more uncertainty. Local resident Pat McGrath explains.
The Media Monitors' Top 20: Natural disaster keeps Gillard on top
Julia Gillard heads the list on the back of Cyclone Yasi and, significantly, the heartfelt tears she shed for flood victims when parliament resumed yesterday, writes Media Monitors’ John Chalmers.
Any way you look at it, our carbon task just got much harder
The good news: Australia will comfortably meet its Kyoto emission reduction target. But there’s bad news: the task of meeting Australia’s pledge to the Copenhagen Accord has just gotten a lot harder, says Giles Parkinson.
Why China’s overheating economy is leaving the US behind
Interest rates are moving higher in both the United States and China — the big difference of course, is that in China, it’s the central bank that’s raising rates, whereas in the US, inflation worries are writ large in the bond market, writes Karen Maley.
A People’s Parliament or a News Ltd experiment?
Political participation experts fear the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s much-hyped takeover of state parliament will be a media stunt rather than the “revolutionary new force in Australian democracy” promised by the paper.
Hey Tony, funding Indonesian schools works
As Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott fight over foreign aid cuts, Crikey examines why his proposal to cut $400 million from Australia’s aid budget to Indonesia’s schools program is a desperate measure, and one that won’t see the light.
The western companies propping up Mubarak’s Egypt regime
Some Western companies are closely collaborating with Middle Eastern regimes trying to suppress protests. But it’s not all plain sailing, as global outsources will explain.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Rundle on the Assange trial
Crikey readers have their say.
Media briefs: Ratings behemoth Packed to the Rafters returns
Packed to the Rafters returned as strong as it was last year.
Media briefs: Riley’s Wikipedia hack … ABC journo tweet retreat … T
Has Tony Abbot been editing Mark Riley’s Wikipedia page? PM Gillard looks like Pauline Hanson with the Australian flag and talk of Aussie pride, says ABC journo (before he deleted the tweet). Plus other media news of the day.
Political snippets: Playing at being an equal player
Call me old-fashioned or just old if you like; I cannot remember an occasion in my 50 plus years as a journalist when I called a politician by his first name during a public interview.
Video of the Day: The first epidode of ‘RE:VIEW’ with Luke Buckmaster
Announcing the arrival of RE:VIEW, Crikey’s brand-new weekly video program featuring Crikey website editor and film blogger Luke Buckmaster. This week Buckmaster takes aim at the James Cameron-produced Australian 3D movie Sanctum and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Faster.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Nothing personal in News sub-hubs. Yesterday’s story on the shift of News Limited’s Sydney sub-editors to the central sub-hub at Holt Street highlights the problems with call centre subbing. At News’ Southbank headquarters in Melbourne, where the NewsCentral shift is complete, the centralised subs have been told that their dinner breaks will be only 20 minutes. […]
Crikey Says: Crikey says: once more, with feeling
“What we really want to see in our leaders is sincerity and conviction. We want to be able to trust them.”
Lots of gestational carrying on
When Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban announced their daughter had been born via “gestational carrier,” surrogacy suddenly entered the mainstream in Oz. But we also need to examine the potential loss that assisted reproduction brings, argues Zoe Krupka.
Game on: Paul Haggis vs. Scientology
After more than three decades as a member of the Church of Scientology, Oscar winning writer/director Paul Haggis resigned over its stance on gay marriage. This illuminating story by Lawrence Wright chronicles the bitter hullabaloo that ensued.
Forget pillow mints. How about free iPads?
New York’s The Plaza is the first hotel in the world to offer guests a swanky new service: free iPad’s in every room, featuring custom-made apps that allow guests to change the air con, dim the lights and order room service, reports Katie Kindelan.
It’s getting hot in here
A baby Koel bird sat in Anna Rose’s backyard in Sydney, screaming in distress at the current heatwave. Large numbers of people were treated in NSW hospitals this week suffering heat issues. And it’s only going to get worse…
Video 
Winklevoss & Winklevoss on Mark Zuckerberg
The Oscar-nominated “Facebook movie” The Social Network brought the Winklevoss twins to public attention, but what do they think of Mark Zuckerberg these days? All is revealed in a new interview for The Daily.
Fighting tear gas with Coke
As young Egyptians suddenly found themselves involved in violent political riots, they took to social media to share tips on self-defense. One of the most popular? Pouring soft drink on your face to reduce the effects of tear gas. Slate explains how — and if — it works.
Abbott’s “shit happens” controversy a pathetic beat-up
Does anyone seriously think Tony Abbott was suggesting, amongst a group of soldiers in Afghanistan who clearly were not offended by his words, that he was indifferent to their deaths? This “shit happens” story is a monumental beat-up, writes Jeremy Sear.
