Acting Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has argued that bullets, explosives and other munitions no longer constitute 鈥渓ethal military hardware鈥 as long as they are to be used for 鈥渢raining and other related works鈥.
MK Nepal was seeking to justify the decision to allow India to resume arms supplies to Nepal. He has never been elected and came to power after the Maoist-led government was brought down by a soft military coup in 2009.
865
A six week-long battle at Swift Australia Meatworks in Brooklyn, Melbourne, has ended with 140 National Union of Workers (NUW) members keeping conditions that were lost by the plant鈥檚 500 other employees two years ago.
Swift Australia locked out the picketers in early December after they took protected industrial action in the course of their enterprise bargaining negotiations. The strikers are mostly of migrant backgrounds, from all corners of the globe. Some are recently arrived refugees.
鈥淲ikiLeaks has had more scoops in three years than the Washington Post has had in 30.鈥 鈥 Clay Shirky
It is for this reason that Wikileaks has become an incredibly important news source, with its commitment to provide the public with information that is deliberately withheld by governments and corporations, and to expose corruption.
Its recent release of classified diplomatic cables revealing what our governments are really talking about behind closed doors has created a great divide in public opinion about just how much we, the people, really have a right to know.
Time magazine chose to crown Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg as its Person of the Year for 2010. But for so many people, it was Julian Assange, who won the popular vote, who was more definitive of the year that was.
The flood disaster that struck three-quarters of Queensland over the past month and then spread to Victoria and Tasmania is the worst overall flood catastrophe in recorded Australian history. It has also inspired a massive outpouring of public sympathy and solidarity.
The disaster has shown in practice the huge potential for ordinary people to mobilise in support of fellow human beings in need of help.
Tens of thousands of Brisbane residents volunteered to help people whose homes had been flooded by the raging Brisbane River, especially over the weekend of January 15-16.
The message below from ABC broadcaster and journalist Phillip Adams was read out at the January 15 Defend Wikileaks rally in Sydney.
* * *
First right-wing bloggers called for Julian Assange's assasination. Now voices in Washington want 鈥渢he death penalty on the table鈥 if they can get him into a US court. I'm proposing we put him up for sainthood 鈥 but after Wikileaks鈥 leaks on the Vatican that may be out of the question.
Testimony to the NSW upper house inquiry into the sale of NSW鈥檚 electricity assets has alleged that only a fraction of the $5.3 billion price tag will reach the public purse. Billions will be eaten up by 鈥渁ssociated costs鈥.
These costs include about $1.5 billion in government funds to buy a new coal mine north-east of Lithgow to ensure a cheap coal supply for the new private owners. A further $1 billion in coal price subsidies is guaranteed to the private energy companies over the life of the mine.
The popular revolution that has overthrown US- and French-backed Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (in power since 1987) continues to shake the country despite repression. It has sent shockwaves through the regime, raising prospects of inspiring the democracy movements in other Arab nations. Jordan has been hit by protests against price rises.
Over 7500 signatures on a petition calling for no new coal in WA were presented to the WA government at a climate rally on December 11.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spoke to reporters outside a London court following his bail release from prison, where he has been held since Dec. 7th.
Video:聽Refugee Rights at the Christmas Pageant.聽.
Organised by Refugee Rights Action Network. 5 December 2010 Perth, Australia.
- Previous page
- Page 5