The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its first installment of its fifth assessment report (AR5) on climate change in Stockholm on September 27.
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The logic of terrorism is violent political theatre 鈥 the aim is not just to inflict harm but to be widely noticed inflicting harm.
From this perspective, the Somali militia al Shabaab鈥檚 September 21 seizure of the upmarket Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, and massacre of at least 61 hostages, was a successful act of terrorism.
But while al Shabaab successfully dominated world headlines with their brutal attack, the media has almost entirely ignored the context: the Western-backed occupation of Somalia by Kenya, Uganda and Burundi.
Ecuador鈥檚 foreign ministry announced on September 20 that the US has seemingly denied visas to a delegation set to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, RT.com said the next day. The Ecuadorians were planning to present their case in an ongoing dispute against Chevron-Texaco.
The ministry said the visas for the five Ecuadorian nationals were returned by the US Embassy in Quito 鈥渨ithout any explanation鈥.
During a visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Ecuador鈥檚 foreign minister Ricardo Patino joined independent media outlet Democracy now! on September 23 to discuss his government鈥檚 involvement in two closely watched environmental legal battles.
The infamous front page of Rupert Murdoch's Daily Telegraph on August 5, screaming 鈥淜ICK THIS MOB OUT鈥 in reference to Kevin Rudd's Labor government, reminded many of the role the media play in politics.
Refuge groups are concerned for the welfare and security of seven West Papuan asylum seekers flown overnight from Horn Island to Port Moresby.
The seven who arrived in Boigu Island in the Torres Starit on September 25 are fleeing Indonesian military and police.
One West Papuan accused of promoting West Papuan independence and involvement in an independence ceremony on September 12 has been arrested by Indonesia police, while others are being hunted.
One of the more disturbing images on federal election night was that of Coalition MP-elect Barnaby Joyce welcoming mining magnate Gina Rinehart as the special guest to his election party. Few things could reveal more clearly the strong connection between corporate power and government under Coalition rule.
It is worth noting some of the policies that Rinehart is promoting for the Northern Territory because, let鈥檚 face it, they are likely to happen.
One of her big ideas, which Kevin Rudd adopted before his election defeat, is the creation of a northern Australia tax haven.
Forty-eight hours to send newly arrived refugees back the way they came and a plan to conceal when boats are 鈥渢urned around鈥 at sea, were among immigration minister Scott Morrison's statements at his first weekly briefing under 鈥淥peration Sovereign Borders鈥 on September 23.
Alexa O'Brien has become known as a "one-woman court record system" for her extensive coverage of whistleblower Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning's trial. She has also covered the WikiLeaks release of US State Department Cables, the Guantanamo Files, the global "war on terror" and the Arab Spring.
This is an edited extract from a speech she gave to a public forum called 鈥淒efending Dissent: from Manning to Occupy鈥 in Sydney on September 17. The full forum .
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The third Swan Island Peace Convergence was held in Queenscliff, Victoria from September 22 to 26. About 50 peace activists from around the country converged in Queenscliff with the aim to blockade the top secret Swan Island Military Base.
The military base on Swan Island is used as a training facility for SAS troops, a special operations force of the Australian army. This includes troops involved in counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan.
It is also a communications centre for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.
NSW parliament narrowly voted down a September 17 motion to discipline Liberal MLC Peter Phelps over comments he made in parliament defending General Augusto Pinochet鈥檚 violent military coup against Chile鈥檚 president Salvador Allende in 1973.
Members of the Chilean community have vowed to continue the campaign to hold Phelps to account for his outrageous comments.
On September 11, 40 years to the day of the coup, Phelps praised Pinochet as 鈥渁 reluctant hero, a morally courageous man鈥 and said he supported a military coup that deposed a democratically elected government.
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1. GM FOODS WON鈥橳 SOLVE THE FOOD CRISIS
A 2008 World Bank report concluded that increased biofuel production is the major cause of the rise in food prices. GM giant Monsanto has been at the heart of the lobbying for biofuels (crops grown for fuel rather than food) 鈥 while profiting enormously from the resulting food crisis and using it as a public relations opportunity to promote GM foods.
2. GM CROPS DO NOT INCREASE YIELD POTENTIAL
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