THE NEWS WRAP: Rinehart sells a portion of Fairfax shares, citing insurance issues

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has sold part of her stake in Fairfax Media, although she remains the group’s largest shareholder with around 15% of the company.

 

Yesterday, Rinehart sold a tranche of 86.5 million shares, or 3.7% of her stake, for 58 cents a share. Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart’s company, said the move was primarily aimed at avoiding problems around directors’ insurance.

 

Woolworths to fight EGM call

 

Woolworths and activist group GetUp are to face off in court today following the supermarket giant’s delaying of an extraordinary general meeting over its ownership of poker machines.

 

GetUp and 250 Woolworths shareholders want the EGM to hold a vote on preventing Woolworths owning or operating poker machines with more than a $1 maximum bet.

 

However, Woolworths wants to delay the EGM until its annual general meeting on November 22.

 

Android platform “infected by botnet”

 

Google’s Android platform has been infected by an illegal botnet, resulting in a deluge of spam sent to smartphone users, according to Microsoft researcher.

 

Terry Zink said there was evidence of the botnet hijacking Yahoo mail servers on Android and flooding users with spam.

 

Overnight

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 47.15 points, or 0.36%, to 12,896.67. The Australian dollar was up to US102.89 cents.

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