Last week I had a dream that my house in the western part of Tokyo was shaking violently around me. Then I woke up and discovered it wasn鈥檛 a dream at all. It was a 5.3 magnitude earthquake with its epicentre in nearby Saitama.
It was the second earthquake I had felt in less than a week following the March 11 anniversary of Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster. It was a frightening and potent reminder of exactly why it is so important to rid Japan of nuclear power plants.
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Preliminary court-martial proceedings against United States soldier Bradley Manning have shown the US government's strong desire to make an example of him.
Manning is the military analyst accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables and US military reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
Rather than seek to investigate the serious war crimes revealed in the leaks 鈥 and prosecute those responsible 鈥 the US government has persecuted Manning.
The massacre of 16 people in the Panjwai District of Kandahar province in Afghanistan on March 11 re-ignited widespread calls, inside and outside Afghanistan, for Western forces to leave.
US army spin has not quelled anger or questions over how the massacre took place, who was involved and how to deal with those responsible.
Witnesses say US army staff sergeant Robert Bales, along with 15-20 others, went on a rampage 鈥 sexually assaulting, then massacring and burning mainly women and children from the remote farming villages of Najeeban and Alkozai.
Malalai Joya, a former MP and one of Afghanistan鈥檚 best-known democratic leaders, recently survived the sixth attempt on her life. Taliban gunmen attacked her office at 3 am on March 10, wounding two of her guards. In an exclusive interview, she told 91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 Pip Hinman that 鈥渟uch terrorist acts will never stop my fight for freedom, democracy and justice鈥.
The United Nations Committee Against Torture said in 2007 that 鈥淭ASER electronic
stun guns are a form of torture that can kill鈥.
These deadly 鈥渇orms of torture鈥, which are now part of policing in every Australian state, killed again on March 18.
Twenty-one year old Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti died after six police officers chased him down a Sydney street, capsicum-sprayed him, and then tasered him in the back.
Police say Curti, who was unarmed, 鈥渕ay鈥 have been involved in a robbery of 鈥渁 packet
Six Zimbabwean socialist activists were convicted on March 19 for 鈥渃onspiracy to commit public violence鈥. Their 鈥渃rime鈥 was to watch a video in February last year about the anti-dictatorship uprising in Egypt.
But the activists won a partial victory two days later when they were given suspended jail sentences of two years. The six were also ordered to each do 420 hours of community service and pay a fine of US$500 (A$478).
The six had faced up to 10 years鈥 in jail, a sentence demanded by the state prosecutor, Edmore Nyazamba.
LIVE BLOG Sunday March 25
91自拍论坛 Weekly is reporting live from the on March 25.
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The planned expansion of coalmining in Victoria has led the member for Bass, Liberal MP Ken Smith, to oppose his own party on the issue.
, and to gas extraction associated with coal (unconventional gas), within the shire,鈥 in a resolution on March 21.
The motion asked the government to exempt land within the shire from coal and unconventional gas exploration or mining licences.
The New South Wales Liberal government said on March 11 that it planned to force schools to bear the responsibility for its latest funding cuts.
The government did not consult the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) before releasing the 鈥淟ocal Schools, Local Decisions鈥 and 鈥淓mpowering Local Schools鈥 initiatives, which it claimed would deliver 鈥渁utonomy鈥 to local public schools.
In reality, the move is a smokescreen that forces public school principals to implement the government cuts of $250 million a year.
Of all the people infuriated by billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer鈥檚 March 20 claim that the Greens are funded by the CIA, it is not hard to imagine the angriest were heads of the Murdoch media.
Having declared in an Australian editorial in 2010 its intention to 鈥渄estroy the Greens鈥, the Murdoch press has worked hard to relentlessly spin a tale of the political party as far left lunatics 鈥 old-style commies in green T-shirts.
Healesville-based group, MyEnvironment, has lost a court case it mounted against government body VicForests over the logging of Victoria鈥檚 central highlands areas that include habitat for the endangered Leadbeater鈥檚 Possum.
Justice Robert Osborn handed down his decision in the Supreme Court on March 14. He refused to order a stop to logging in three forest coupes at Toolangi, including in late 2011.
Mental health workers voted to escalate industrial action in two weeks unless Ted Baillieu's Coalition government begins to seriously negotiate with their union.
The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) covers psychiatric nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists and support staff. The Australian Nursing Federation covers some mental health nurses as well.
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