What you clicked on this week

Things that matter to you: Carbon tax, famine in Africa, Britain's phone hacking saga and female orgasms. Not necessarily in that order.

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Things that matter to you: Carbon tax, famine in Africa, Britain's phone hacking saga and female orgasms. Not necessarily in that order.

In a week of high drama in London as media baron Rupert Murdoch fronted a hearing on the phone hacking scandal, it's reassuring to know that the one of the most important issues of our time also got plenty of attention: what to do (or not do) about climate change.
(Hold fire: the wacky stuff is coming)

CARBON TAX & FAMINE

While our politicians, business leaders, environmentalists and other interest groups get bogged down in the carbon tax debate, a quick glance at what other countries are doing can provide some clarity. Check our number one feature: Factbox on carbon taxes around the world.

We've shown a series of reports over the last couple of weeks from our broadcast partners, like the BBC, on the shocking famine in East Africa, particularly Somalia. The UN has declared it East Africa's worst famine in a generation. Our factsheet How you can help is a fantastic resource if you want to donate.

On the subject of brilliant global journalism, the World Press Photo Exhibition is doing a national, and global, tour. If you've missed it, check out some of the highlights here. Be warned, some photos are very confronting. (The photos look even more impressive on an iPad, if you have our free iPad app, go to the multimedia section).

HACKGATE

As anticipation built ahead of Rupert Murdoch's appearance in front of MPs in London, speculation swirled about the fate of the mighty Murdoch empire. Many predicted its demise. Not helping, those pesky hackers at Lulzsec gave the website of News Corp daily The Sun a little makeover with the headline: Murdoch is dead The Sun was forced to shut down its website until the attack was thwarted.

Many eyes were fixed on television screens as Rupert and James Murdoch and former News International executive Rebekah Brooks spoke at the phone hacking hearing. The climax came when a protester hit Murdoch senior with a foam pie and his wife, Wendi Deng stepped in to defend him. Not surprisingly that little drama went viral on the internet and #hackgate turned into #piegate on Twitter.

Many people were simply captivated by the theatre of the event. Were the Murdochs sincere, or simply well-coached in spin? A body language analyst told us it was a highly-scripted affair, even down to Wendi Deng's choice of clothing.

All the details of the hacking scandal, the key players and the events are wrapped up in our interactive timeline

WACKY STORIES

OK. Carbon tax, check. Hackgate, check. Famine in Africa, check. Here's the wacky stuff:

A very close second in terms of clicks, was our story on New Zealand cracking down on wacky baby names. Yes, the country that brought us bungee jumping and zorbing now says no to naming your baby things like 'Fish and Chips' 'Megatron' and 'Number 16 Bus Shelter'. Perhaps 'Fush and Chups' would be more acceptable.

So, babies. Rewind a few months, to the act of pro-creation. Did you know that women are more likely to orgasm with a handsome partner? Yes, we were equally surprised. Science tells us that this could be linked to an evolutionary urge to produce 'quality' offspring.

And lastly, while the Tour de France continues to captiveate, the other big story in sport this week was the spectacular defeat of Danny Green at the hands of 42-year-old Antonio Tarver. Sports presenter Rob Grasso, who's followed Danny Green's career closely over the last decade, asks: is it time for him to hang up his gloves?

Judging by the comments, that seems to be a resounding 'yes'




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