ABC NewsMail - Afternoon Edition

NewsMail Afternoon Edition Sat 08 Mar, 2014 Top Stories More Top Stories » Live: Six Australians on board missing Malaysia Airlines plane Six Australians were on board a Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the airline says. Flight MH370 lost contact with air traffic controllers at 2:40am local time, just over two hours into the flight. The plane, a Boeing 777-200, left Kuala Lumpur at 12:41am on Saturday, and had been due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30am local time. The company says the plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members. Follow our live blog for the latest updates. More » Lack of women in Parliament impacts major women's issues: commissioner Russia's president rebuffs warning from Obama over Ukraine crisis Woman set alight in Sydney Labor Party needs new ideas, more than double the members, leader Bill Shorten says Ex-girlfriend says Pistorius shot at traffic light after police encounter Safety breaches found in some Sydney taxis More Analysis » Hardly the wages blowout of an inflexible market Joe Hockey and Eric Abetz must be delighted with the current structure of the industrial relations system and the degree of flexibility in labour market conditions. If the labour market were rigid, inflexible or the industrial relations system were in need of a major overhaul, wages growth would not have slowed to a record low in the wake of the upward trend in the unemployment rate. This suggests the hidden agenda of reform to the labour market slowly but surely being unfurled by the Coalition government is not really about macroeconomic management. More » Long road to recovery for bruised politics Putin's show of power pays off Don't get even, ladies - get mad Why we don't need a reboot of the forest wars Advisers should ditch percentage fees Keeping the peace with a bat and ball ABC circumcision reports were culturally insensitive In defence of sober reporting on a sensitive topic Railing against a 'left' that no longer exists Just In More Just In » Lack of women in Parliament impacts major women's issues: commissioner By Jen King Sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says the lack of women in Parliament has a direct impact on major issues affecting women. More » Live: Six Australians on board missing Malaysia Airlines plane Man charged over alleged gang rape of girl, 14, in Sydney Firefighters tackle blaze at Loganholme storage facility Six Australians on board missing Malaysia Airlines plane Victorian police search for two missing children Tropical fruit tourism 'thriving in NSW' Labor Party needs new ideas, more than double the members, leader Bill Shorten says Cyclone watch: vigilance urged as storms approach coast Woman set alight in Sydney World More World » Six Australians on board missing Malaysia Airlines plane Six Australians were on board a Malaysia Airlines plane that has gone missing between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, the airline says. Flight MH370 lost contact with air traffic controllers at 2:40am local time, just over two hours into the flight. The plane, a Boeing 777-200, left Kuala Lumpur at 12:41am on Saturday and had been due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30am local time. The company says the plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, plus 12 crew members. The airline says it is contacting the next-of-kin of all passengers and crew, which includes people of 14 different nationalities. Reports from China's Xinhua news agency say the plane was lost in airspace controlled by Vietnam and did not enter Chinese airspace or make contact with Chinese controllers. More » Russia's president rebuffs warning from Obama over Ukraine crisis Indian navy officer dies in ship accident Ex-girlfriend says Pistorius shot at traffic light after police encounter China's annual congress quiet on deadly mass stabbing at train station Malaysia's opposition leader jailed after sodomy acquittal overturned Business More Business » Rinehart takes aim at Australia's 'entitlement mentality' By Michael Janda Billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart has attacked Australia's "entitlement mentality" and called on the nation's leaders to emulate former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. In a feature article for the current edition of Australian Resources and Investment, Mrs Rinehart wrote Australia is facing a future of government debt due largely to its $130 billion annual welfare bill. "This 'age of entitlement' and its consequences is creating problems for all of us, our children and our grandchildren. Strong leadership will be the key," she said. Mrs Rinehart's example of strong leadership is the late Thatcher, known as the Iron Lady. More » Stevens says big step up in household debt would be 'asking for trouble' Mining sector drags construction activity lower Widespread gains lifts share market higher Boart Longyear at crisis point as income barely covers debt payments Workplace law review to scrutinise pay, penalties and conditions: report Politics More Politics » Liberal MP tells party to embrace mandatory female quotas By political reporter Andrew Greene The Liberal Party should introduce mandatory quotas for women to help boost the number of females in Parliament, according to Victorian Liberal backbencher Sharman Stone. Dr Stone, a long-serving MP, says the Liberal Party must do more to ensure women are pre-selected in winnable seats. She has suggested her colleagues should look to Labor for ideas about how to get more women into politics, and rejected suggestions from her colleagues that quotas will see "token" women in parliament. "I don't care about that 'tokenism' label; bring it on if you must. But we'll prove that it's not about a woman being simply put there because of her gender - she'll prove her worth," she said. However, Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the number of women in Parliament is a "side issue". More » China's annual congress quiet on deadly mass stabbing at train station Malaysia's opposition leader jailed after sodomy acquittal overturned Rinehart takes aim at Australia's 'entitlement mentality' Sarkozy to take legal action over secret recordings Sport More Sport » Live: Panthers v Knights, Manly v Storm, Cowboys v Raiders Grandstand brings you live updates from the Panthers-Knights, Manly-Storm, Cowboys-Raiders NRL matches. More » Scott falls back in gusty conditions Putin officially opens Sochi Winter Paralympic Games 'Petrified' Barba stars as Broncos beat Bulldogs 18-12 Reds bounce back to winning form Victory scores late 3-1 win over Mariners Science and Technology More Science and Technology » Tropical fruit tourism 'thriving in NSW' By Megan Woodward A family in northern NSW has successfully combined farming and tourism at their productive tropical fruit farm for decades. More » Asteroid to make close pass by Earth Uncrackable phones stymie police efforts to prevent underworld crime Scientists revive 30,000-year-old virus From driving a bus to funding high-risk cancer research: Col's story Environment More Environment » Fact file: How does the Renewable Energy Target affect your power bill? The Federal Government has announced a review into the Renewable Energy Target that aims for 20 per cent of power drawn from renewables - like wind and solar - by 2020. Just how much extra does the RET add to household bills? ABC Fact Check investigates. More » Doubt cast on Government's climate change plan Doubt cast on Government's climate change plan LNP backbencher 'deeply uncomfortable' with WA shark culls WA shark cull: Sea Shepherd's legal challenge fails About this email You received this email because you are subscribed to ABC News email alerts. This message was sent to you at starnewsposting@gmail.com Please add newslists@your.abc.net.au to your email address book to see images by default and stop the email being treated as spam. This email address is not monitored - Please don't reply to this email. Manage your preferences | Unsubscribe | Contact Us   This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. 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