What’s making news this afternoon?

We’re glad you asked — because we’ve rounded up some of the most important stories for you to catch up on in just a couple of minutes.

1. Father pens his own beautiful obituary.

A father in the US has penned his own touching obituary, in which he humorously takes credit for being Spiderman.

Aaron Purmort, whose battle with cancer was documented by his wife Nora McInerny in the blog myhusbandstumor.com, passed away peacefully at home on 25 November.

His obituary, which was published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today, facetiously claims he died “after complications from a radioactive spider bite that led to years of crimefighting and a years long battle with a nefarious criminal named cancer”.

“Civilians will recognise him best as Spider-man,” the obituary reads. “Aaron was known for his long, entertaining stories, which he loved to repeat often.”

McInerny and Purmort met in 2006, got together in 2010, and married in 2011.

Their baby boy, Ralphie, was born in January 2013.

McInerny wrote on her blog: “Before purmort died, we had time to sit down and write his obituary. I’ve never laughed and cried more in one sitting, but I’m so glad we got to do this.

“I love this man so damn much.”

2. Rupert Murdoch in a Twitter spat over Egypt.

Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch has found himself in the middle of a Twitter feud with some of his 535,000 followers over remarks deemed “racist” by some critics.

The Age reports the 83-year-old media baron tweeted in defence of his latest box-office flick, Exodus: Gods and Kings, after critics slammed it for trying to “redefine history.”

Tarid Nasheed is among those campaigning against the film, claiming too many white actors have been cast as main characters.

“The storyline takes place in ancient Africa, but all the African Kings and Gods are portrayed by white actors and all the slaves, thieves and ‘lower class’ Egyptians are played by black actors,” Nasheed wrote on Facebook.

It appears Mr Murdoch disagrees: He took to Twitter in defense of the film, which was made by his company 21st Century Fox, tweeting: “Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are.”

His Twitter feed subsequently exploded with more than 2300 re-tweets –sparking a flood of responses. Murdoch has since tweeted asking everyone to “calm down!”

3. Mark Webber in horrifying crash.

Webber’s Porsche slammed heavily into the concrete wall on the side of the track.

Webber — who gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was stretchered away from his car  — will stay overnight in a Brazilian hospital for observation, a statement on his Facebook page confirmed.

“Mark has been taken to a local hospital in Sao Paulo and will stay overnight for precautionary checks,” the statement said. “He is in a satisfactory condition and his team mates Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley have gone to see him.

“Thanks to everyone for your messages!”

4. Abbott admits it’s been a “ragged week”.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described it as a “ragged week” for the Liberal party.

His statement comes after a 46-minute media conference this morning, held to announce a partial breakdown of the meager pay off to Defence Personnel.

When asked by a backbencher to stop with the “verbal gymnastics,” Prime Minister Abbott admitted he broke his promise not to cut the ABC’s funding, Fairfax Media reports.

He also apologised for the chaotic way his office has handled whether the $7 GP fee will be dumped or not.

Mr Abbott conceded that he was “at odds” prior to the election and that the changes have come as “sensible governments are not only entitled but, indeed, expected to change when the circumstances change.”

5. India’s gay pride parade.

By ABC NEWS

Hundreds of gays and lesbians have marched through the streets of New Delhi in the first such parade in the Indian capital since the supreme court reinstated a colonial-era ban on gay sex.

Wearing rainbow wigs and waving colourful flags and posters with messages such as “All love is equal”, members of the community and their supporters marched to celebrate their sexual freedom and to ask others to understand.

One of the organisers, Shiv Sahu, said there was anger about the supreme court ruling, which marchers branded a violation of equality.

“There is a lot of frustration, but we are not going back to the closet,” Mr Sahu, 37, said.

He said several members of the gay community had filed petitions to the top court asking for a review of the order criminalising gay sex.

Gay pride marches have also been held in Bangalore and Mumbai since the court’s ruling in December last year.

The supreme court struck down a 2009 ruling by a lower court that decriminalised gay sex.

A version of this post originally appeared on the ABC website and has been republished with full permission.

Catch up on more news in this 90-second update from ABC News:

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