The Dutch Safety Board released its long-awaited report on October 13 into the downing of flight MH17 at the Gilze-Rijen military airbase. It came 15 months after the disaster that killed 298 people, said the next day.
Board chairperson Tjibbe Joustra criticised the Kiev government for allowing civilian aircraft to fly through a dangerous war zone.
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Immigration department officials seized pregnant Somali refugee Abyan from Villawood detention centre and flew her to the Solomon Islands on October 16, with the plan to fly her from there to Nauru.
Abyan had been flown in from Nauru four days earlier to see doctors regarding the planned termination of a pregnancy that resulted from her being raped while in detention on the island.
Some things are recurring in the Israel-Palestine conflict. One is that the Israeli version of events is generally the direct opposite of reality. Another is that Western politicians and media uncritically accept the Israeli narrative.
A third recurring feature of the conflict is that the most compelling evidence contradicting the Israeli version events is the body count.
Russia鈥檚 current military action in Syria, its first such action outside former Soviet territory, has shocked the world.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdo臒an exclaimed, miserably: 鈥淩ussia has no border with Syria, so why are they so interested in Syria?鈥
Carol Hucker worked in Manus Island Detention Centre as a counsellor for International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) and as a case worker for the Salvation Army from June 2013 to July last year.
She has allowed 91自拍论坛 Weekly to publish her account so that people can become more aware of what is happening on Manus Island.
She said: 鈥淚t is my hope that through this brief account the men on Manus will not be forgotten.鈥
This is the seventh part of a multi-part series and covers her time on Christmas Island in April and May 2014.
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Ten months after trains ceased running into Newcastle station, the New South Wales parliament has passed a controversial bill to close the line at Wickham and rip up the rail line in the CBD.
The NSW Greens, who opposed the legislation along with Labor, the Christian Democrats and the Animal Justice Party, labelled the outcome a 鈥渂etrayal鈥 of the Hunter community and accused the government of selling out to 鈥渄eveloper spivs鈥.
Geelong Trades Hall Council president Jackie Kriz gave the following speech on October 12 at a rally in protest against Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons' sexism. Kriz is also a member of Socialist Alliance.
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We have to ask ourselves 鈥 is what the mayor did really that bad? I mean, he only wore a t-shirt depicting a naked lady with some captions.
We've heard the comments 鈥 it's only a t-shirt, or it's political correctness gone mad. What's the fuss? It's a trivial matter. We hear this rhetoric all the time, but it is not a trivial matter.
The New South Wales government's nominally independent Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) has approved a fourth coal loader for the port of Newcastle.
Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) initially applied to build the loader in 2012 at the height of the resources boom. Since then coal prices have crashed, caused by the fact that renewable energy is now a preferred source of 鈥渘ew build鈥 power plants across the globe and fewer new coal-fired power plants are being built than was forecast.
A rally was held in Geelong on October 12 to protest mayor Darryn Lyons鈥 sexism.
Lyons was photographed at a local Octoberfest event on October 10 wearing a t-shirt featuring an image of a naked Madonna hitchhiking, taken from her 1992 book Sex, paired with the caption 鈥淕as, grass or ass, no one rides for free鈥.
Fellow Geelong councillor Jan Farrell was the first to speak out about the photos. She posted on her Facebook page: 鈥淭his is what passes for leadership at Geelong. As a woman who lives and works in Geelong I am beyond offended at [Lyons鈥橾 ongoing disrespect for women.鈥
Metgasco is upping the ante in its bid to drill for unconventional gas in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales. Activists are even more determined to protect the region鈥檚 land and water.
After Metgasco announced it would be carrying out pre-fracking seismic tests, Lismore council voted 5 to 2 on October 13 to refuse access to the gas company鈥檚 equipment.
Having appointed himself Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, then PM Tony Abbott went about cutting more than $500 million from Aboriginal services funding in the 2014 budget. The cuts formed part of a plan to consolidate existing government-funded Aboriginal affairs programs into its 鈥淚ndigenous Advancement Strategy鈥 (IAS).
In March this year, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion announced that nearly 1000 organisations would receive a share of the $860 million up for grabs in the first round of IAS funding. This money is going to finance 1297 projects.
Labor leader Bill Shorten鈥檚 October 5 鈥渄efence鈥 of penalty rates so totally missed the mark that he was quickly on the receiving end of a backlash from his own party.
Shorten said that the extra income from penalty rates could be the difference between parents being able to send their children to private schools or not. What makes this even more embarrassing for Labor is that this was not a slip up due to an off-the-cuff comment. It was part of a prepared media statement.
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