Pope Benedict XVI has told a German journalist that condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS.
News of the Pope鈥檚 historic new stance was first posted online on November 20 in L鈥橭sservatore Romano, the Vatican鈥檚 newspaper.
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Despite pledges at the recent Millennium Development Goals (MDG) summit to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, there has been a constant battle across the global South for access to vital antiretroviral HIV/AIDS treatments and antibiotics for malaria and tuberculosis (TB).
One of the greatest challenges in accessing high-quality and affordable medicines is the collusion between rich governments and pharmaceutical giants.
National rallies on November 20 and 27 were held in support of equal marriage rights for lesbian, gay, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) couples.
November 20 was also Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day started in 1999 to remember those who were killed by anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.
Across the country, trans activists addressed equal marriage rights. A minute's silence was held to remember those killed by transphobic violence.
Irish socialist republican party eirigi chairperson Brian Leeson has labelled the Dublin government鈥檚 four-year fiscal adjustment plan 鈥渁 criminal charter for the wrecking of working class communities鈥.
Among the measures contained within the plan are:
鈥 A 鈧2.8 billion cut in the social welfare budget.
鈥 The gradual increase of the pension age to 68 by 2028 and the reduction of the pension rate for retired public sector workers.
鈥 The reduction of the minimum wage to 鈧7.65 an hour.
鈥 The raising of university registration fees to 鈧2000.
Portugal's working class brought the country to a standstill on November 24 to press the Socialist Party government to scrap its regressive cuts program.
The general strike against European Union-mandated austerity, the first to be organised jointly by Portugal's two main unions since 1988, is the country's largest ever stoppage.
Trains and buses did not run, planes were grounded and banking services halted.
Representatives of 76 indigenous peoples said they reject market-based mechanisms as a false solution to the climate crisis at a recent international conference.
They said UN-backed carbon trading schemes such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), 鈥渁re offered as solutions but have negative impacts and cause divisions among indigenous peoples, whose access and control of forest resources are eroded鈥.
"You can't come in鈥, Friends of the Earth (FOE) organiser Drew Hutton told mining companies on behalf of a coalition of farming groups from South-West Queensland, outside State Parliament on November 22.
The farmers launched the campaign in opposition to mining companies鈥 plans for up to 40,000 coal seam gas wells and massive new coal mines on the farming land of the Darling Downs.
"All the laws are weighted in favour of the mining interests and against farmers鈥, Hutton said.
The debate around the Murray Darling Basin crisis has brought to public attention the need to rethink agriculture in Australia.
Today, sustainable food production is relegated to niche status 鈥 squeezed out by methods of farming that are seen to be more efficient. However, the efficiency of the dominant mode of agriculture relies heavily on chemical inputs for fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.
This agriculture degrades soils, pollutes waterways and contributes heavily to climate change.
The Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) refugee centre in Broadmeadows has beds for 50 people. It housed 46 unaccompanied refugee teenagers until the government expanded the facility to detain more refugees.
The centre now detains 132 boys, all aged under 17. The youngest is 13 or 14. Most of the boys are unclear about their own ages, and many don鈥檛 carry any form of ID, passports or birth certificates.
After the arrival of 98 new people, there was a 鈥渞iot鈥 on November 13. Forty were injured and seven hospitalised.
The gas industry is rapidly increasing its scope in the Australian energy market as, state and federal government approve drilling sites across the nation with little community consultation and relaxed environmental safeguards.
Natural gas will account for 33% of Australia's primary energy consumption by 2030, compared with 8% from renewables, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE).
The Israeli government agreed 鈥渋n principle鈥 on November 17 to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar, a village in the occupied Golan Heights. The village was conquered by Israel in 1967, during the six-day war.
In 2000, Ghajar was split in two. The northern part was to be controlled by Lebanon, the southern part by Israel. The southern part of Ghajar was deemed by the United Nations (UN) to be a part of the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
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