Voting across Britain on May 5 resulted in a rejection of changes to the electoral system, but election results in Scotland may herald the end of Britain as we know it.
聽
The referendum on introducing an 鈥淎lternative Vote鈥 voting system (much like the preferential voting system in Australia) to replace the current 鈥淔irst Past The Post鈥 system was decisively defeated. With a turnout of only 42%, 67.87% voted against the change.
聽
879
In the first four days after Osama bin Laden鈥檚 assassination by US forces, the mass reaction in Pakistan is very mixed. In Punjab there is a general sympathy towards bin Laden, but not many are expressing it openly.
The Socialist Alliance calls on the Colombian government to immediately release independent media activist Joaquin Perez Becerra, who is now facing charges of 鈥渢errorism鈥.
鈥淔actories making sought-after Apple iPads and iPhones in China are forcing staff to sign pledges not to commit suicide, an investigation has revealed. 鈥淎t least 14 workers at Foxconn factories in China have killed themselves in the last 16 months as a result of horrendous working conditions.
Her long red nails jabbed and waved in the air like a conductor dramatically tracing an absurdist symphony of propaganda, cajoling, and threats.
Laura鈥檚* mother was in Dara鈥檃 in southern Syria when the military attacked youths who had graffitied anti-government slogans in mid March.
The Iran Solidarity Network (ISN) and Australia-Asia Worker Links held a meeting on May 7 to commemorate Iranian Kurdish activist Farzad Kamangar, who was executed last year.
ISN member Afshin Nikouseresht told the meeting that Kamangar was a teacher, poet, author, human rights activist and unionist. He had campaigned around environmental issues, women's rights and poverty as well as union rights.
He was arrested in 2006 and executed in 2010, accused of being a member of an armed Kurdish group 鈥 an allegation he denied.
Campaign groups Western Downs Alliance and Six Degrees combined with a number of other activists and organisations to bring us the Rock the Gates Festival at Tara showgrounds from April 29 to May 4
Australian born WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, who began publishing thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables last year, received the Sydney Peace Foundation鈥檚 Gold Medal at a special ceremony at the Frontline Club in London on May 10.
The award, which differs from the foundation鈥檚 annual Sydney Peace Prize, is for "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights" and has only been awarded on three previous occasions: to the Dalai Lama in 1998, Nelson Mandela in 2000 and Japanese lay Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda in 2009.
On April 20, 2010, BP鈥檚 Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, triggering a months-long disaster that would end only after at least 4.9 million barrels of oil, and at least 1.9 million gallons of toxic chemical dispersants, had been injected into the Gulf of Mexico.
One year on, the environmental destruction, while huge, is still only in the beginning stages. Experts warn that it will take decades to see the full consequences.
For many Australians, Fairfax Media is a benign alternative to Rupert Murdoch鈥檚 right-wing media empire. Well-meaning people buy Fairfax newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age because they believe they present a fairer picture of the news. But just how fair is Fairfax?
An audience of more than 600 people at a forum debate in Sydney on May 10 voted by a margin of 69% to 23%, that, "All drugs should be legalised."
The forum was sponsored by Intelligence2, a project of the St James Ethics Centre. It heard arguments for and against the proposal and questions and comments from the audience.
Dr Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, and a founder of Australia's first needle exchange, argued: "As a starting point, we must recognise that the 鈥榳ar on drugs鈥 has failed. Legalisation is the only answer.
- Previous page
- Page 2
- Next page