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The Headlines: Rent Freezes, the Finnish PM’s Rager, and Was Facebook Hacked?

Hey, do you have a deadline that you’re procrastinating? Do you want to feel like you’re a responsible, informed human being that’s doing the right thing while blowing off work? Well, if that’s the case, then you’ve come to the right joint. Here are today’s biggest headlines:

The Greens Want a Rent Freeze

At the moment, if your landlord wants to try jacking up the price of your rental by $10,000 at the end of your 12-month lease, they’re legally allowed to do so. This is not a joke. Sure, you could dispute this outrageous request, but in Australia, landlords are kings. 

However, the federal Greens want to put an end to such tom-foolery by introducing a national two-year freeze on rental increases. “It’s completely unsustainable to have a situation where someone’s rent can go up by as much as the landlord or real estate agent wants,” argued Greens Spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness, Max Chandler-Mather. According to the ABC, he also said, “We’re not calling for rents to be cut or reduced. We’re just saying there needs to be a bit of a pause.”

The CEO of the NSW Tenants Union, Leo Patterson Ross, has supported this concept being properly explored. He said, “We think this is a really interesting idea, it does need to be worked through because it’s not as simple as the federal government declaring it but we certainly think that rents are currently unaffordable.” 

During a press conference our Prime Minster, Anthony Albanese, was asked about this rent freezing scheme. “It’s not clear to me, short of nationalising property, how that could be achieved,” stated Albanese. He shortly added, “I haven’t seen any proposal, nor have the Greens raised with the government that at all.”

Was Facebook Hacked, or Did It Just Fail?

When Facebookers jumped onto the social media network on August 24, things were a flop. This is because some of these users’ feeds were full of random posts on celebrity pages. Forbes has detailed that this issue has now been resolved. 

Now, some folks had speculated that Facebook was hacked. But that just wasn’t the case. “Earlier today, a configuration change caused some people to have trouble with their Facebook Feed,” a company representative told Forbes. “We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologise for any inconvenience.” 

Related: Doctors Want Social Media to Crack Down on Anti-Vaxxer Harassment

Related: Facebook Insider Says the Platform Is Ruining Our Mental Health and Our Society

Qantas Has Been Impacted By Industrial Action

In an interview with the ABC, a Qantas engineer told this publication that his employer has been an important part of his life. He said, “I’ve always loved aircraft. My father worked at Qantas so Qantas is in my blood.” Another comment he made was, “From day one I’ve thought ‘well, this is bloody awesome’ and I’ve poured blood, sweat, and tears into my job.” 

But this engineer is now striking. This is because they want a pay increase that’ll combat Australia’s cost of living crisis. What’s more, they’re trying to strongly communicate to Qantas that its resources to repair its aircraft need improving. “Everyone does the best that they can, with the utmost professionalism,” they commented. “It’s just that it’s harder and harder to do it because we don’t have the infrastructure and the help we need and Qantas is burning all the goodwill that’s been built up over decades and decades and decades. It’s just so disappointing and it’s depressing.”

Finnish PM Sanna Marin Defends Her Rad Party

The world’s politicians need to be role models. Ergo, they should have awesome ragers instead of starting wars with Ukraine or taking political donations from America’s National Rifle Association. 

This is exactly what Sanna Marin, the Finnish Prime Minister, has been doing. Nevertheless, she has been getting a whack of flak after a picture of two topless women kissing at her residence was posted on TikTok. As per The Guardian, Marin has said that this photo shouldn’t have been taken while also defending her choice to party. 

On August 24, Marin said that she wants to experience “joy, light, and fun amidst the dark clouds.” She additionally noted, “I haven’t missed a single day of work. I want to believe people will look at what we do at work rather than what we do in our spare time.”

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