THE NEWS WRAP: Facebook’s director of engineering quits to join a startup

Facebook’s director of engineering Lars Rasmussen is leaving the social media giant in order to cofound a music startup with his partner.

Rasmussen told TechCrunch leaving Facebook for Cute Little Apps was an “incredibly difficult” decision.

“Working there has never been more exciting for me, in particular given the incredible momentum behind Facebook at Work, and the ridiculously talented people I work with on that project and at Facebook in general,” he said.

“But over the past year my fiancé, Elomida, has built what I think is a new and exciting way to compose and experience music. And trying to turn that into a successful startup together will be way too much fun to postpone any longer.”

Rasmussen will leave his role at Facebook in June. He is currently on the boards of Australian startups Canva and Posse.

Google tries to woo news outlets in wake of alleged anti-competitive conduct

Google is launching a $205 million digital news fund in order to “stimulate innovation” in European news rooms.

The company has pledged the funds over three years with the aim of increasing revenue, traffic and audience engagement with sites such as the Guardian and Financial Times.

The initiative comes after the European Commission announced it would investigate the tech giant for allegedly stifling competition and promoting its own products and services ahead of rivals during Google searches.

Should Google be found guilty it could face a fine of more than $8 billion.

Kevin Rudd’s website blocked by Parliament

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s website has been unblocked by Federal Parliament’s internet filter after access was restricted for containing references to weapons.

“The Department has manually fixed this and has restored access,” a spokeswoman told Fairfax on Tuesday.

“The department has also asked the [filter] vendor to fix this categorisation error worldwide.”

The blunder is part of a long line of complaints aimed at Parliament House’s internet filter, which in the past has blocked access to a gay and lesbian news websites.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 72.17 points, rising 0.40% to 18,110.14. The Aussie dollar is currently trading at around 80 US cents.

Do you know more on this story or have a tip of your own? Raising capital or launching a startup? Let us know. Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.