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Feminists finally claim Amber Heard, Beckham's Qatar flip, $5 Vegemite

All the news that's fit to mint.

Jenna ClarkeEditorial Director
5 min read
7:49PMNovember 17, 2022.
Updated 9:24AMNovember 18, 2022
The Oz
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All the news that's fit to mint.

What's happening in (The) Oz:

🇺🇸 The Republicans have had a win 

🚓 A detained Aussie has been released from hell in Myanmar

🙇🏻‍♀️ We are hustling hard according to the stats

⚽️ David Beckham debuts new role as Hypocrite Spice in Qatar

🤑 Medibank bosses lost our data, gain their bonuses

💵 Vegemite for the $5?

♀ Amber Heard lost in court, wins the feminist argument (eventually)

📺 Neighbours can stop packing up Ramsay St

We made it, 

So did Joe Biden through the G20 Summit, which wrapped up in Bali on Thursday.

It's been a good week for older blokes.

Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov - probably better known to plebs like me as Aleksandr 'The Hot Russian' Petrovsky from Sex and The City - has been award the Royal Academy of Dance's best in show by Queen Consort Camilla.

Speaking of old things...

The GOP - the Republican Party -  have won control of the House of Representatives. The party reached the critical 218 seat threshold for a majority. Better late than never - the result was made official on Thursday, more than a week after Midterm elections, in which Democrats performed far better than expected.

Biden congratulated his opposition on their win.

“I will work with anyone – Republican or Democrat – willing to work with me to deliver results for them,” Biden said in a statement and urged both parties to move on from “political warfare”.

Fifty Republican senators voted to re-electe Mitch McConnell, who is 80, as their Senate leader, a day after Republicans in the lower house elected Kevin McCarthy, 57, to lead them and potentially become speaker - taking over from Democrat Nancy Pelosi - once the new Congress - complete with its first Gen Z politician Maxwell Frost - reconvenes the new year.

Break through, break out

An Australian economist who was jailed by the Myanmar military has reportedly been freed, along with hundreds of other prisoners.

Sean Turnell was serving as an economic adviser to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi when Myanmar‘s military seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021.

Since then Myanmar has spiralled into civil war and seen a subsequent crackdown on civilian dissent which has led to the deaths of more than 2,400 people and the displacement of at least 1 million more.  

Some 12,000 remain in detention, including Suu Kyi herself, despite Thursday’s mass release to mark the Myanmar National Day. Where prisoners will not be cleared of "crimes" but released on amnesty.   

"The ongoing strife in Myanmar dominated discussions at last weekend’s Cambodia-hosted ASEAN summit, at which US president Joe Biden urged the southeast Asian grouping to do more to resolve the conflict . The US, UK, Canada and EU have all imposed multiple sanctions on the junta and junta-linked businesses. But Professor Turnell’s continued incarceration was believed to be a prime reason for the Australian government’s reluctance to also do so," The Australian's South East Asia correspondence Amanda Hodge reported. 

 The government is pleased with Turnell's release but is not making further comment.

All we want for Christmas is work

According to latest employment figures released on Thursday.

Unemployment has dropped to 3.4% in October, from 3.5% in September, after employment lifted by a stronger-than-expected 32,000 in the month.

Underemployment – which measures people with jobs but who would like to work more hours but are unable to find them – held at 6%, as did the labour force participation rate, at 66.6%, the seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed.

Bend morality like Beckham

David Beckham is under fire for being at the World Cup, but the former English captain isn't just spectating, he's there courtesy of the host nation - Qatar.

The 47-year-old is one of the faces of the FIFA World Cup, working as an ambassador for the Arab nation in one of the many ways it’s trying to use this tournament as a vehicle to rebrand the country - the country where homosexuality is illegal and thousands of people died building the stadiums in which the likes of Harry Kane are now playing.

Beckham has been part of Qatar’s simultaneous tourism campaign for months, attempting to convince the world this slice of the Arab peninsula is worth visiting for its "clean" (yet manufactured) luxury.

He is estimated to be pocketing about $264 million over 10 years for the ambassadorial gig.

Beckham rarely posts about this project to his 75 million Instagram followers, instead relying on official Qatari channels to get the message out.

Medibank can't hold data or read a room

Well the bosses certainly can't - that was one take out from the health insurer's AGM this week.

While its customers are still reeling from having data accessed by Russian hackers, we learned the executives will still receive their bonuses this year.

Chief executive David Koczkar and other executives will pocket more than $7.3 million in bonuses, despite the sensitive data of almost 10 million customers – including the Prime Minister – having been breached.

At the meeting on Wednesday, chairman Mike Wilkins defended the group’s handling of the major data breach, which wiped almost $2 billion off Medibank’s market value and said any adjustment to remuneration would be considered next year, after an external review of the heist.

Dollarmite

Vegemite is getting its time in the sun with a commemorative coin.

While coin nerds scramble to collect as many coins as possible that still feature Queen Elizabeth II, expect a mad rush for the Vegemite effigy.

The Royal Australian Mintlaunched its annual coin set on Thursday with a special tribute to everyone's favourite hangover cure.

The set’s $1 coin features a slice of white toast slathered in Vegemite to commemorate the iconic spread’s 100-year-anniversary.

The set also includes a 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c and $2 coin, but only the $1 coin carries the special edition Vegemite graphic.

Feminists come out in support of Amber Heard

Finally.

More than 130 big names in the advocacy and women's movement spaces, including writer Gloria Steinem and notable women’s rights organisations, have published an open letter in support of Amber Heard, who lost her defamation claim against Johnny Depp, her former husband, in June this year.

In the letter, first shared with NBC News on Thursday, feminist groups including the National Organisation for Women in the US and Women’s March expressed support for Heard and condemned harassment she has faced during and since the trial.

Groups that address sexual assault awareness and domestic violence also signed the letter.

The letter denounces the “rising misuse” of defamation lawsuits to silence people who report domestic and sexual abuse.

It is one of the biggest public shows of support for Heard after months of radio silence from many progressive groups after the verdict.

Ramsay Street can cancel the removalists

Neighbours may have wrapped filming in Australia but it's now going global (even beyond UK TV).

While it will remain on Network 10 for free to air audiences, the producers have signed up to have the series streamed on Amazon Freevee in the US and UK as Prime Video will be their international partner. Aussie fans can watch via Prime Video - the kicker? It'll be ad free.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/the-oz/news/feminists-finally-claim-amber-heard-david-beckham-loves-qatar-vegemite-money/news-story/b2c2e7a7e8995a45c984be6d89a96635