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In the midst of a Federal Election and with the major party leaders equivocating on climate change and a price on carbon, the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan will be launched at a free public forum in Sydney Town Hall on Thursday 12 August at 6.00 pm. Hosted by the journalist and broadcaster, Quentin Dempster, the speakers will include: 路 Malcolm Turnbull, MP for Wentworth 路 Bob Carr, former NSW State Premier 路 Scott Ludlam, Greens Senator for WA 路 Matthew Wright, Executive Director, Beyond Zero Emissions 路 Allan Jones, Sustainability Expert, City of Sydney

Sam Watson, Socialist Alliance Senate candidate for Queensland. Longstanding leader of the Aboriginal community of Brisbane, campaigner against Black deaths in custody and for Indigenous rights.

For 10 years, the former Tip Top bakery site in Brunswick East has attracted ambitious property players who later saw financial ruin. These include disgraced property spruiker Henry Kaye followed by Norm Carey鈥檚 property group Westpoint. Thanks to the new owner, Toll Holding鈥檚 CEO Paul Little, the heritage buildings of the site are sitting exposed to elements and vandals. In April, Little demolished all buildings other than the Harry Norris frontage.
On July 29, the leaders of the 12 countries belonging to the Union of the Southern Nations (Unasur) held an emergency meeting in Quito, Ecuador, to discuss the crisis between Venezuela and Colombia.
路 Indigenous juveniles aged 10-17 were 28 times as likely as non-Indigenous juveniles to have been detained. Adults are 13 times more likely. 路 The infant mortality rate for Indigenous Australians is 9.7 per 1000 live births compared with 4.4 per 1000 live births for non-Indigenous Australians. 路 The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectancy: 11.5 years for males and 9.7 years for females. 路 The Indigenous unemployment rate is 16% compared with 5% of non-Indigenous Australians.
Vestas workers occupation, 2009.

One year after workers occupied the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight in protest at the company鈥檚 decision to cease production, a new organisation, Sureblades set up by former Vestas employees has risen from the ashes. It is due to start making blades within two months just yards from the closed factory.

The launch of the Nuclear Freeways Campaign took place outside federal resources minister Martin Ferguson鈥檚 office on July 30. The launch was a send-off for a group of activists from Friends of the Earth who will travel the likely route nuclear waste will be transported from Sydney to a proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty station in the Northern Territory.
鈥淚t is not just posturing towards Iran, the US has massively increased its presence in Latin America鈥, Nelson Davila, Venezuelan ambassador to Australia told a July 14 forum. The gathering was part of the 鈥淯nderground Talk鈥 series at the New International Bookshop at Melbourne Trades Hall.
Barbara Shaw, a well-known Indigenous activist and leader of the Intervention Rollback Action Group in Alice Springs, said on July 27 that she would stand as a candidate in the Northern Territory seat of Lingiari in the August 21 federal election. Shaw will stand for the Greens against Labor鈥檚 Warren Snowdon, who holds the seat and is federal Indigenous health minister.
US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Why are the British and US governments saying the leak of military documents about Afghanistan has "put our soldiers at risk"? It's us who have been kept hidden from this information, not the Taliban. For example, many of the revelations are previously hidden details of civilian casualties, but Afghans in those areas probably already knew about those deaths.

鈥淵es, the notable features with iPhone 4 鈥 both the device and the iOS4 鈥 are mostly tweaks鈥, said a June 22 review on the popular site BoingBoing.net. 鈥淏ut what tweaks they are.鈥 In the interests of full disclosure, I鈥檒l admit I have no idea what 鈥渋OS4鈥 means. But my eye was caught by the admission that the iPhone 4, launched in Australia on July 29, was almost the same as the iPhone 3. Corporations use 鈥渋nbuilt obsolescence鈥 as part of artificially creating markets. This means the products they sell are deliberately made to break down 鈥 so we have to keep buying more.
The judge entrusted by Colombia鈥檚 Constitutional Court to investigate the legality of an agreement to hand over seven military bases to the US military has deemed the pact unconstitutional because it was not approved by Congress. The report was handed down by Judge Jorge Ivan Palacio on July 23, a day after Colombia unleashed its slanderous attacks that Venezuela was 鈥渉arbouring narco-terrorists鈥. Palacio鈥檚 report on the agreement will be reviewed by the nine-judge panel of the Constitutional Court, which has to deliver a ruling by August 17.