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Rupert Murdoch’s son lashes out against his father’s news outlets for climate change coverage

Rupert Murdoch’s son and his wife are lashing out against his father’s sprawling media empire for how it covers the climate crisis, especially in light of the fires raging in the family’s native Australia.

In the past year James Murdoch has stepped away from the family’s business — and its politics. He and his wife Kathryn have made statements that set them apart from the Murdochs’ conservative bent.

In comments first made to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for the couple said “Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known.”

“They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”

Murdoch’s News Corp owns a large chunk of Australia’s media, and has been criticized for coverage that suggested the fires are no worse than they were in the past, or that they are caused by arsonists, not climate change.

Mark Hamill says he quit Facebook because of its political ad policy

Mark Hamill announced he’d quit Facebook after the company said it wouldn’t fact-check political ads before running them on the platform.

“So disappointed that #MarkZuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness that I’ve decided to delete my @Facebook account,” the actor tweeted. “I know this is a big ‘Who cares?’ for the world at large, but I’ll sleep better at night. #PatriotismOverProfits”

The “Star Wars” star, who’s quite active on Twitter and Instagram (the photo platform is owned by Facebook), appeared to delete his verified Facebook page since then.

In the tweet, he linked a New York Times story about Facebook’s decision to continue running targeted political ads and its refusal to fact-check them. Democrats have widely criticized the platform for its role in the 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s win.

Akon created his own city in Senegal called ‘Akon City’

It’s official, Akon has his own city in Senegal.

Known as “Akon City,” the rapper and entrepreneur tweeted Monday that he had finalized the agreement for the new city.

“Looking forward to hosting you there in the future,” his tweet read.

Akon, who is of Senegalese descent, originally announced plans for the futuristic “Crypto city” in 2018 saying that the city would be built on a 2,000-acre land gifted to him by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. The new city would also trade exclusively in his own digital cash currency called AKoin, he said.

The official website for the city said at the time it would be a five-minute drive from the West African state’s new international airport.

—From wire reports

‘I really want to make the biggest impact in Africa’

Akon was born in Senegal before moving to Union City, New Jersey, at 7, according to his website.

Known for songs like “Locked Up,” “Lonely” and “Oh Africa,” the Grammy-nominated rapper is more recognized as a business man than a musician these days.

His most recent venture is Akon Lighting Africa which is providing solar power to African countries.

“I really want to make the biggest impact in Africa for sure,” Akon said during a 2013 interview with CNN. “If I could have my way, Africa would be the United States of Africa.”

Journalist Paul Adepoju contributed to this report.