6 Thursday news bites (August 25)

Thursday has arrived in blistering pace, so we’ve pulled together the news you might need to know about (and some that’s just plain interesting) to get you on your way today. Rick has brought these bites to you today.

1. Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple.

Jobs, who has been on medical leave due to an undisclosed medical condition since January 17, has resigned as CEO of Apple arguing he can no longer meet his duties and expectations.

He named Tim Cook as his successor in a letter to the Apple board of directors and community.

2. Tony Abbott refuses to allow Lib, Labor MPs to go to funeral of Margaret Olley

Last week in Parliament the Leader of the Opposition spoke about the importance of honouring the life of painter and artist Margaret Olley, but this week his insistence on all members being present prevented Malcolm Turnbull and Labor Arts Minister Simon Crean from attending her memorial service in Sydney. Due to the delicate balance of votes in the minority parliament, Mr Abbott has snubbed the longstanding tradition of allowing ‘vote pairs’ for members. This usually means if someone needs to be away from votes for legitimate business, an opposite member will pair with them to maintain the ratio of votes on either side of the House. About 500 guests were at the Art Gallery of NSW for the memorial service which recognised the artist as ‘unmistakeably Australian’.

3. David Hicks says he will donate $15,000 prize money for book if it wins QLD award

David Hicks, the Australian man held for years as a suspected terrorist in a Guantanamo Bay prison, says he will donate the $15,000 prize money if he takes out the top prize in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Prize. His memoir Guantanamo: My Journey has been nominated in the non-fiction category. Hicks says he will give the money, should he win, to victims of torture and added that he was not a terrorist and only signed a confession to get out of Guantanamo. He has not broken Australian law.

4. Closing the Gap report highlights extreme Indigenous disadvantage

The figures are taken not too long after the then Rudd Government announced the Closing the Gap Strategy in 2009 but they are still shocking. The first report since the policy was announced shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are 14 times more likely to be in jail than other Australians, the rate for youth was 23 times higher than for other Aussie youth. Mortality rates appear to be falling, though unclear data makes assessment difficult.

5. Facebook lets you see your profile through the eyes of your boss

For those who are constantly confused about who can see what on their profiles, Facebook brings you the ‘view profile as’ button. It lets you put whatever friend you want into the box and see what your profile looks to them. Of course that friend can be your boss, too. Handy. There’s also a few privacy tweaks along the Google+ route which lets users place their ‘friends’ into different privacy settings. All friends are equal, it sees, just some moreso than others. Does this make Facebook more enticing?

6. Mum pours hot sauce into child’s mouth to get on Dr Phil

Seriously, what the? The mother has been charged with child abuse after she poured hot sauce into her adopted Russian son’s mouth, while he cried. The woman had previously tried to make it on to the show with an audition tape but was told by producers that they needed to see her punishing her son. She now faces jail time.