Anti-vaccination protesters chant 'my body, my choice' at rallies ahead of coronavirus jab rollout. Several thousand people have joined anti-vaccination protests across Australia, ahead of the country rolling out its coronavirus inoculation program next week.
Key points: Thousands of people join anti-vaccination protests in capital cities around AustraliaPolice arrest several people in MelbourneAustralia's COVID-19 vaccination rollout is set to begin on Monday The protests, organised by Australian vs The Agenda, were largely peaceful but police made several arrests in Melbourne. The coordinated rallies were held only two days out from Australia beginning its COVID-19 vaccination program. The Pfizer vaccine has arrived in the country and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has recently given the Oxford University-AstraZeneca jab the tick of approval. The group claims to represent "everyday Aussies who have been oppressed, arrested and charged by a tyrannical Australian Government".
The Melbourne event attracted about 500 people at Fawkner Park in South Yarra. Meet the Russian patriots making their presence felt in Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Frank Zappa documentary explores the man inside the myth and the demons that drove him. It's 1991 and controversial American musician Frank Zappa is standing in front of a capacity crowd in Prague's Sports Hall.
In the wake of the Cold War ending and Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, he's been invited to the Czech Republic to play a concert. Before a note is played, standing front of stage he offers this advice to his audience and the country. "I'm sure you already know it but this is just the beginning of your new future… and as you confront the changes your country will face, please try and keep your country unique.
China bans Clubhouse app as thousands share stories about Xinjiang and Tiananmen Square. It was an incredible moment: a Chinese woman delivering an emotional public apology to a woman from the country's oppressed Uyghur minority.
I was one of more than 1,000 people there to witness it. Key points: Invite-only app Clubhouse hosted conversations on sensitive topics in ChinaOne Uyghur user of the app said he was "shocked" and "moved" by conversations with netizens from mainland ChinaThe app was censored in China this week after thousands discussed Xinjiang and the Tiananmen Square massacre. Canberra doctor returns OAM in protest against Margaret Court 2021 Australia Day honour. A Canberra doctor has handed back her Order of Australia Medal in protest against the awarding of the nation's highest honour to tennis great Margaret Court.
Clara Tuck Meng Soo was awarded an OAM in 2016She is returning her award in protest against Margaret Court's honourDr Soo says Ms Court's statements and actions promote discrimination. Thai court gives record 43-year sentence for insulting king under lese majeste law. A court in Thailand has sentenced a former civil servant to a record prison term of 43 years and six months for breaching the country's strict law on insulting or defaming the monarchy.
The woman who was sentenced has only been identified by her first name, Anchan, and is in her 60sViolating Thailand's lese majeste law — known widely as Article 112 — is punishable by three to 15 years' imprisonment per count Anchan was initially sentenced to 87 years, but the punishment was reduced by half because she pleaded guilty The Bangkok Criminal Court found the woman guilty on 29 counts of violating the country's lese majeste law for posting audio clips to Facebook and YouTube with comments deemed critical of the monarchy, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said. The sentence, which comes amid an ongoing protest movement that has seen unprecedented public criticism of the monarchy, was swiftly condemned by rights groups.
As a student, 'west coaster' Rick Snell took a different path from his peers — now he's back home. Rick Snell is the first to admit he is far from a typical "west coaster", despite growing up in the Tasmanian mining town of Queenstown.
"I loved to read, and that kind of stood me out from nearly everyone else … most of my contemporaries had either never read a book or prided themselves on not reading," he laughs. "Growing up with your mates, it's all about drinking, swearing, rough play, so it wasn't about sensitivity or emotions … I probably wouldn't have ever confessed to anyone that I was emotionally moved by a poem. "You could listen to AC/DC or dance to American Pie, that was fine. Expressing the poetry that was associated with that would have been a whole different ball game. " While he loved school, Rick says by the time he was finished, he was caught between two worlds — feeling homesick for his west coast life, but simultaneously finding he was becoming increasingly different from his community.
Working up the legal ladder "But it was all very accidental. " US Capitol riot: the myths behind the tattoos worn by 'QAnon shaman' Jake Angeli. The defining image of the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 was undoubtedly that of a bare-chested man posing resplendent in a horned fur hat and face paint.
Images of him in his weird costume have been shared across the globe — he seems to perfectly encapsulate the absurdity of the mob takeover of America's sacred seat of power. The individual in question has since been identified in the media as a far-right activist from Arizona by the name of Jacob Chansley (also known as Jake Angeli). Julian Assange's extradition to the US rejected by UK court over mental health fears.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face charges including espionage, a London court has ruled.
Key points: NT CLP senator Sam McMahon says national anthem change will achieve 'absolutely nothing' A change to the lyrics of Australia's national anthem has incensed some members of the Federal Government, according to a Coalition senator staunchly opposed to the move.
Key points: The wording of the national anthem has changed for the first time since 1984NT CLP senator Sam McMahon says the change panders to the "perpetually offended"She says some members of the National Party share her view. Saudi Arabia sentences women's rights activits Loujain al-Hathloul to prison. A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced prominent women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul to five years and eight months in prison in a trial that has drawn international condemnation.
Loujain al-Hathloul was charged with seeking to change the Saudi political system and harming national securityThe verdict poses an early challenge to Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's relationship with US president-elect Joe BidenThe detentions of women activists occurred shortly before and after the country lifted a ban on women driving. China jails citizen journalist Zhang Zhan to four years over coronavirus reporting in Wuhan. A Chinese court has handed a four-year jail term to a citizen journalist who reported from the central city of Wuhan at the peak of last year's coronavirus outbreak. Key points: Zhang says she believes she's being persecuted for exercising her freedom of speechHer YouTube videos include interviews and footage of the Wuhan Institute of VirologyState media have credited success in reining in the virus to President Xi One of her lawyers, Ren Quanniu, said it was on grounds of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble.
" Zhang Zhan, 37, the first such person known to have been tried, was among a handful of people whose firsthand accounts from crowded hospitals and empty streets painted a more dire picture of the pandemic epicentre than the official narrative. China's Communist Party accused of influencing Australia's Chinese-language media - ABC News. Australia's media has faced "persistent efforts" by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to influence and censor content, according to a new report from an Australian think tank. Key points: Chinese social media platform WeChat has accelerated CCP influence and censorship in Australia, the report foundIt found a number of Chinese-language media organisations in Australia had direct links to Chinese state mediaThe report urges the Federal Government to better protect news media from foreign influence In an analysis of 24 privately-owned Australian media organisations that produced news media in Chinese, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) found four had evidence of CCP ownership or financial support — including the Australia Pacific Media Group which has been previously criticised for being a propaganda arm for the CCP through its publication Pacific Time.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Government agrees to recommendations to strengthen press freedom but union says more changes needed - ABC News. Search warrants against journalists and whistleblowers will have to be signed off by senior judges, under changes the Federal Government argues will strengthen press freedom in Australia. Key points: Senate unanimously passes motion calling on NT Government to reverse ban on media publication - ABC News. A motion calling on the Northern Territory Government to reverse its media ban on a local news publication has passed unanimously in the Senate. Key points: Federal Labor is now at odds with the NT Labor Government over its handling of press freedomsMedia freedom advocate Peter Greste has re-extended his offer to the Government to mediate the dispute The NT Government says its position has not changed following the Senate motion The NT Independent, a news site that covers Northern Territory current affairs and politics, has been locked out of NT Government press conferences since April.
Government departments and bureaucrats also do not respond to the publication's questions. The Senate motion, backed by all parties and the crossbench, has set in place a schism between the NT Labor Government and its federal Labor counterparts on the issue. "As a federal Labor senator, former Northern Territory Government Minister and a former journalist, I take issues of press freedoms seriously," she said.
Did this coronavirus flyer get dropped in your letterbox? Here's why you shouldn't trust it - ABC News. CoronaCheck is RMIT ABC Fact Check's weekly email newsletter dedicated to fighting the misinformation infodemic surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. You can read the latest edition below, and subscribe to have the next newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. CoronaCheck #51 While most of the coronavirus misinformation covered in this newsletter has been shared online, COVID conspiracies can also proliferate offline. This week, we've taken a look at a flyer distributed to letterboxes in federal Labor MP Chris Bowen's community.
We've also covered a new report that looks into the most prolific COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and bring you a dispatch from India. NT Government's 'dangerous' ban on press outlet should be reversed, Peter Greste says - ABC News. It can be hard to hear your mum thinks the Earth is flat. But saving a loved one from conspiracy theories is possible - ABC News. Doctored image of Australian soldier described as China's attempt to win over conspiracy theorists, other Beijing bureaucrats - ABC News.
A controversial and graphic social media post by a senior Chinese official is being described as an attempt to win over conspiracy theorists and Beijing bureaucrats. Key points: The doctored image showed an Australian soldier holding a knife to an Afghan child's throatScott Morrison described the post as "repugnant"Experts say Chinese diplomats on Twitter spend a lot of their time bickering with Western officials. Australian businesses stop exporting to China due to risk as trade tensions hit home - ABC News. Amid ongoing trade tensions between Canberra and Beijing, some Australian exporters are now so scared of having their products rejected at customs they have stopped shipping to China.
Scott Morrison cops backlash after interrupting Anne Ruston when she was asked about being a woman in Parliament - ABC News. Scott Morrison has made international headlines and copped a backlash on social media after stepping in to talk over a female colleague who had been asked to reflect on the culture towards women in the Federal Government. But Anne Ruston, the Minister for Families and Social Services, said she thought Mr Morrison's interruption of her was "an entirely appropriate intervention". How the Broken Hill community and an unlikely champion brought century-old Barrier Truth newspaper back from the brink - ABC News. In the still, pre-dawn hours — before sunrise flames across a desert horizon — small soft projectiles sail through the air in Broken Hill.
They fly high over fences and shrubs, landing with a polite thud at every house. BHP, Origin suspend Queensland Resources Council membership over anti-Greens ad campaign - ABC News. Mining giant BHP and energy provider Origin have decided to pull out of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) after the lobby group released an advertising campaign urging people to put the Greens last in the upcoming state election. The QRC's Facebook ads urged Queenslanders not to vote for the Greens, arguing the party "want to stop jobs in fishing, forestry, tourism, mining & gas, farming & small business". BHP released a statement on Tuesday explaining it had "expressed to the QRC on several occasions its opposition to this advertising approach and had formally requested that it be withdrawn".
Belarus police arrest hundreds of women in Minsk 'Sparkly March' protest - ABC News. Government powers mean Attorney-General will decide if ABC journalist will be prosecuted - ABC News. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro backs bill to overturn nuclear power ban. Updated 32 minutes agoWed 4 Mar 2020, 9:25am. Alinta Energy accused of putting customers' sensitive information at risk. By Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett Updated about 3 hours agoSun 1 Mar 2020, 10:08pm. It was banned by the Nazis, Stalin and the Vatican. This is the surprising history of the saxophone. Posted about 4 hours agoMon 24 Feb 2020, 9:00pm. Julian Assange intends to seek asylum in France, lawyers say. Andrew Wilkie and George Christensen in London to visit Julian Assange, as Jeremy Corbyn says UK view on extradition is shifting. Andrei Davydov knew the risks of painting Jesus in the USSR. He did it anyway. Sammy J's rise from 'class clown' to ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast host.
Why the 'golden age' of political cartooning might be drawing to an end. Fires misinformation being spread through social media. Behind the Lines exhibits the year's best political cartoons, which even the politicians love. Peter Dutton orders AFP to consider importance of press freedom before investigating reporters. French reporter Hugo Clement questions 'unfair' arrest, says it will feature in documentary. The alt-right has been under the media spotlight — but should we be concerned about the 'alt-left'? Hong Kong to suspend controversial extradition bill after widespread protests. Married to the alt-right. Euthanasia support strengthens to nearly 90pc, Vote Compass data shows - Australia Votes - Federal Election 2019 - Politics. Tasmanian sex crime survivors seek right to be publicly identified. What the fear of 'getting Yassmin-ed' says about free speech and racism in Australia - RN.
Facebook and Instagram ban Alex Jones, Louis Farrakhan and right-wing extremists for violating 'hate and violence' ban. Alt-right to release 'avalanche' of election campaign propaganda to help Fraser Anning - Australia Votes - Federal Election 2019 - Politics. Animal activists say members chained to equipment at Yangan abattoir, outside of Brisbane. China pressured Sydney council into banning media company critical of Communist Party. Facebook to ban white nationalism and white separatism following New Zealand terror attack.
Teenager who egged Fraser Anning won't be making police complaints. The egging that sparked change in Australia 100 years ago. Michael Daley apologises over comments about foreigners taking jobs ahead of NSW election. As the Christchurch attacks unfolded, I knew I had to quit my job at Sky News. Fraser Anning's attacker speaks of being 'tackled by 30 bogans' after egging senator. Fraser Anning punches teen after being egged while speaking to media in Melbourne. Milo Yiannopoulos banned from entering Australia following Christchurch shooting comments. Could a senator like Fraser Anning be expelled from Parliament for offensive statements? Could a senator like Fraser Anning be expelled from Parliament for offensive statements? Free speech or troll-bait? Why university campus provocateurs lean to the right - RN.