Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard鈥檚 high-handed attempts to impose a 鈥渞egional asylum seeker processing centre鈥 on East Timor have angered Timorese politicians and activists.
Despite Gillard鈥檚 talk about finding a regional solution to a regional problem, the 鈥減roblem鈥 of 鈥渦nauthorised boat arrivals鈥 in Australia is one of perception.
The Liberal-National opposition and the Murdoch tabloids have devoted considerable energy to creating anxiety in 91自拍论坛 of the Australian community about the country being swamped by 鈥渂oat people鈥.
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Defence minister Senator John Faulkner has joined the list of cabinet members who, since Julia Gillard became prime minister, have said they will resign from the front bench after the upcoming elections.
He dismissed suggestions that this was because he had doubts about the unpopular war in Afghanistan, which he has the task of promoting.
Anti-war activists took to the streets on July 15 outside Labor MP Tanya Plibersek's office to collect support for a giant 鈥渢roops out鈥 petition that will be presented to the new pro-war PM Julia Gillard.
With a federal election looming, and at least 61% of Australians opposed to Australia having troops in Afghanistan, Stop the War Coalition is organising to increase the pressure for a withdrawal.
The people of Honduras are continuing their struggle for democracy more than one year after the June 28 military coup that overthrew elected President Manuel Zelaya.
The dictatorship tried to legitimise itself with fraudulent elections that brought President Profiro Lobo Sosa to power. The United States government, which was complicit in the coup, recognised the results despite almost no other government doing so. The US has since fully restored military assistance.
A jury voted on July 8 to convict a transit police officer who killed an unarmed 22-year-old African American man, Oscar Grant III, on an Oakland station platform 18 months ago. But the officer was convicted of the least serious possible manslaughter charge.
The verdict left Grant鈥檚 family and their supporters 鈥 and the community that Grant called home 鈥 bitter and angry.
On July 17, unionists and residents from Forrest, a small town in the Victorian Otways region, converged on the shire office at Colac to protest against an Optus communications tower being placed in the middle of their town.
The community picket line was established on the site for the new tower two weeks earlier. The community sought support from the construction unions, which it has received from the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union and the Electrical Trade Union.
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett announced on June 22 that he 鈥渁ccepted the [state] Planning Commission鈥檚 recommendation鈥 to reject the Lauderdale Quays canal estate proposal at Ralphs Bay. 鈥淚t found the proposal was unsustainable, and not consistent with the objectives of the planning system or the state coastal policy鈥, Bartlett said.
Argentina鈥檚 Senate narrowly approved a measure on July 15 legalising same-sex marriage, the New York Times said that day. The NYT said Argentina is the first Latin American nation to allow gay couples to wed.
The bill, which was sponsored by the government of President Cristinia Fernandez, was passed by 33-27. On July 15, Prensa Latina said Fernandez congratulated the Senate, saying the bill will allow for the protection of the rights of a minority.
About 650 people packed into a Melbourne university lecture theatre to see the launch of the Zero Carbon Australia 2020 Stationary Energy Plan on July 14.
Held jointly between Beyond Zero Emissions and the Melbourne University Energy Institute, the event heard from a number of speakers about how renewable energy could power Australia.
Months out from the September national elections, the eyes of football-crazy Brazil have been focused on the World Cup.
Discussions have centred on the performance (or lack thereof) of the men in the national football team. But it is three women who have been making the biggest impact on politics 鈥 especially on the left.
On July 7, members of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) started receiving letters from the university that said they had been stood down without pay for imposing a ban on the recording and transmission of student results to the university.
I鈥檓 a climate change activist and have lived in Hobart for five years. During that time, I鈥檝e been involved in the campaign against the Gunns鈥 pulp mill, through the group Students Against the Pulp mill. More recently I鈥檝e been a member of Climate Action Hobart.
I鈥檓 running as a candidate for the Socialist Alliance for the seat of Denison in the August 21 federal election.
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