With the focus on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, this is the other news we missed on Friday, July 18

WITH the world’s attention rightly focused on the MH17 tragedy on Friday we’re only just catching up on what else happened. Here’s the big news you might’ve missed.

WHILE the world’s attention was focused on the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 on Friday we’re only just catching up on what else happened. Here’s a little catch-up of what you missed.

MINING TAX

The Abbott Government was unsuccessful in getting rid of the mining tax after the two houses of parliament were unable to come to an agreement.

While the Senate voted to abolish the minerals resource rent tax, it wanted programs funded by its revenue to remain in place.

That wasn’t acceptable to the government which used its numbers in the lower house to reject Senate amendments. It says retaining the schoolkids bonus, low-income superannuation contribution and the income support bonus will cost the budget $9.6 billion over four years.

So for the time being the mining tax stays in place and resources companies will have to pay the next instalment due on Tuesday.

Member of Clive Palmer’s party wanted to keep programs funded by the mining tax. Photo by Stefan Postles/Getty Images

SERIOUSLY?

Outspoken Liberal senator Ian Macdonald caused a kerfuffle in parliament on Thursday when he wore a personalised reflective vest supplied by the Minerals Council of Australia.

All MPs have been issued one of the vests but Mr Macdonald has been the only one to wear it in parliament, attracting criticism even from his fellow MPs.

However, it was Greens Senator Scott Ludlam who perhaps had the cleverest response, holding up a sign behind Mr Macdonald while he was talking, which said “SLSRY”, which is internet shorthand for “seriously?”.

#seemsfair Sen. Ludlum holds up a sign "SRSLY"behind Sen. Macdonald @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/0DAiiYp57d

— Mike Bowers (@mpbowers) July 17, 2014

Coalition colleague Bill Heffernan was a little more blunt: “This is a bloody commercial message”.

“I’ve told the minerals and mining council to shove this and everyone else should, too.

“If that shirt was allowed to be worn in the chamber, what was to stop him rocking up with one labelled “Bill Heffernan — friends of marijuana, friends of Coca-Cola”?

The personalised vest featured Mr Macdonald’s name embroidered above one pocket and australiansforcoal.com.au above the other.

SURVIVOR STORY

An unbelievable story has emerged of one sewing machinist who described sawing off her own arm after a factory collapsed around her last year.

Rojina Begum was trapped for three days beneath the rubble of the garment factory with more than 1000 decomposing bodies in Bangladesh. A doctor eventually found her but was not able to free her because her left arm was partly crushed under a beam.

“The doctor tried to amputate it but couldn’t reach,” the 26-year-old mother told the Mirror.

“I said, ‘No matter how hard it is, amputate my arm’. He said ‘I’m giving you a saw and you can do it yourself.’

“At first I said, ‘I can’t. I have no strength.’ It was the start of the third day.

“He said ‘Give it a try.’ I said, ‘OK, give it to me’ and I cut it.”

MUSIC MILESTONES

Australians Iggy Azalea, Sia and 5 Seconds of Summer have landed multiple nominations for the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.

Azalea, 24, scored a massive seven nominations for her worldwide hit, Fancy, as well as her duet Problem, with Ariana Grande.

Iggy Azalea scores big with her hit song Fancy.

Sydney band 5 Seconds of Summer managed one nomination, while Adelaide singer songwriter Sia Furler also scored two nominations, on the same day that her album debuted at No.1 on the US Billboard album chart on Thursday.

Sia’s album 1000 Forms of Fear topped the charts on the back of her hit single Chandelier. She joins AC/DC, Olivia Newton-John, the Bee Gees and Men at Work who also debuted at No.1.

Topping the charts: Sia Furler’s album has debuted at No.1.

QANTAS

On a day dominated by the MH17 disaster, at least one airline enjoyed some good news.

Foreign ownership limits on Qantas were eased after the government accepted Labor amendments to its legislation.

The government wanted to scrap foreign ownership rules altogether, meaning the airline could be bought out entirely by international investors.

But Labor wouldn’t budge and the compromise maintains 51 per cent of ownership in Australian hands.

The deal keeps the majority of ownership in Australia — only lifting restrictions on single foreign entities and groups of foreign entities.

Qantas foreign ownership laws relaxed.

A NEW DAME

NSW Governor Marie Bashir has met with the Queen to be invested as a Dame of the Order of Australia.

She was the first to receive the honour as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Dame Bashir joins former governor-general Quentin Bryce and current Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, who were named dame and knight on March 25 when the honours system was revived by Tony Abbott.

Dame Marie Bashir met the Queen last week to receive her new title. Picture: Stephen Cooper

AUSTRALIAN SUICIDE BOMBER

An Australian suicide bomber killed at least five people on Thursday by detonating his bomb belt near a Shia mosque in Baghdad in the first case of a local being at the heart of the Iraq jihad.

The man has since been named as Abu Bakr al Australi in a statement by fundamentalist Sunni Muslim group ISIS.

An Iraqi policeman and civilians inspect the site of a bomb attack in Shorja Market in Baghdad AP Photo/Hadi Mizban

GAZA BOMBING RESUMES

A temporary humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza ended on Friday.

Israel ramped up its military offensive with heavy shelling in Gaza bringing the Palestinian death toll to 438 on Sunday. More than a third of those who died were women and children.

Flares fired by the Israeli army illuminate the sky over the northern part of Gaza City, on July 19. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX