Don't swear at me, Greg Hunt tells BBC, when asked about Abbott's climate 'crap' comment | The Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt uses Wikipedia research to dispute the relationship between climate change and bushfires. Courtesy: BBC Radio Featured Video More videos available at the The Australian video hub At the Australian Reptile Park, rescuers manage to remove a tin can stuck on a Red-bellied black snake's head. The Royal Australian Air Force is visiting WA communities before taking part in the National Balloon Championships at Northam. A Briton and three Americans have been awarded the Legion of Honor after they foiled a terrorist attack on a passenger train to Paris. Shanghai stocks plunge 8.5 percent, leading losses across Asia. A royal commission has heard Pope Francis is yet to show leadership on child sexual abuse. On The Project, Roseanne Beckett talks of her time in jail and being awarded $2.3m for malicious prosecution after spending 10 years behind bars. What do you do when you come out of the shops and find someone's parked this close to your car?
Map Builder Beta | MapQuest.com Features Ready to make some custom maps for your website or blog? Here are a few tutorials and samples to get you going! Adding locations to the map Adding locations in MapQuest Map Builder beta is simple. Drop pins directly on the map: Right-click (or alternate click) on the map and Map Builder will drop a pin on the exact location, which will be added to “your locations” under the map. Choosing Map Pins and Linking to Custom Map Pins Each pin on your map can be customized. To change the pin design, click the “Change Me” icon for the desired location in the list under your map. To use your own image, click the “Import an Icon” link under the pin gallery. Drawing Lines and Shapes on the Map To draw shapes on the map, click on one of the drawing tools in the toolbar located in the top left corner of the map. Line tool – Easily draw lines by clicking the map to drop individual points that will form a continuous line. Saving, Editing and Embedding Custom Maps Once you complete your map, click “Save.”
Welcome to WWF's global network New Sources Of Cohesion | WWF(世界自然基金会) Gleydson Carvalho, Brazilian radio host killed live on air Gleydson Carvalho was shot dead during his live show. Source: Twitter A RADIO host who was openly critical of his nation’s government has been assassinated during a live broadcast. Gleydson Carvalho, from the north Brazilian state of Ceará, was an outspoken personality who frequently railed against official corruption on Rádio Liberdade FM. During his most recent show on Thursday afternoon, he was killed in his chair by two gunmen who forced their way into the radio station. According to local media, the assassins overpowered a receptionist before forcing their way into Carvalho’s recording studio, where they shot him three times, once in the head and twice in the chest. Mr Carvalho was playing music at the time of the shooting. “Today they silenced one of the most important voices of our region, in a tragic and unnecessary way,” said a statement posted online by the city of Camocim, from where Mr Carvalho broadcast his show.
Secret TPP Propels in Congress Without Public Knowledge Corporate lobbyists who want to force genetically modified food on the world through secretive and unconstitutional, behind-closed-doors deals have just moved their agenda forward by cutting a deal with the President to move the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) through a fast-track approval in Congress. This agreement would lodge corporate power in place, undermining democracy. Our democratic rights are being ignored in order to make GMO labeling in the US illegal, giving corporations like Monsanto the ability to import their globally-grown genetically modified foods, while other unsafe foods come in through the back door of our nation. Thanks to U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) this secret trade deal is being pushed through Congress at record speed – before anyone even knows what the TPP contains! Read: 1+ Million Oppose Bill That Would Make Monsanto Bulletproof Tell Congress to Vote NO on the Fast Track approval for the TPP!
Brandis' changes to environmental laws will defang the watchdogs Federal Attorney-General George Brandis yesterday announced plans to change the national environmental legislation to stop green groups seeking judicial review of environmental approvals. Brandis argues that this significant change in the scope of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) is necessary to protect Australian jobs from “radical activists” who bring “vigilante litigation” against the government. He is seeking to repeal section 487 of the EPBC Act, arguing that it “provides a red carpet for radical activists wanting to use aggressive litigation tactics to disrupt and sabotage important projects”. But what does section 487 of the EPBC Act really do, and how will its removal affect the operation and effect of our national environment legislation? Standing order Section 487 (2) of the Act says: Giving green groups the right to act Robust environmental review by focused, engaged, representative organisations has never been more important.
Email your MP | Protect your right to speak out This is extraordinary. Rattled by the Federal Court overturning approval of the Carmichael Coal Mine, the government plans to rush a bill through Parliament tomorrow to rip out the laws that allow Australians to challenge dangerous projects – like new coal mines – in court. Our national nature protection laws were introduced by the Howard government to provide sensible checks and balances. Yet the Prime Minister is calling the Mackay Conservation Group’s legitimate legal challenge to the Carmichael Coal Mine sabotage. And Attorney-General George Brandis is calling environment groups vigilantes. Will you contact your local Member of Parliament and tell them ... Will you contact your local Member of Parliament and tell them to protect your right to speak out for nature? If Liberal backbenchers question the government's plan to strip people of their legal rights to question bad decisions, government decision makers may begin to feel they’ve gone too far.
Joint Press Conference, Parliament House, Canberra | Prime Minister of Australia Thanks, everyone, for being here. As you know, the focus of this Government is always on growth and jobs, jobs and growth – that's been our focus all along and I'm very pleased that, over the period since the election, our economy has created more than 330,000 jobs which means that we are on track to achieve our targets of a million jobs within five years and two million jobs within a decade. Also I'm delighted that, thanks to our Government’s plan, our economy is growing at amongst the fastest rates in the developed world. Obviously, it is very important that everything we do is done with this in mind: how do we promote jobs and growth, how do we promote growth and jobs, and climate change policy is no different. We have got to be environmentally responsible but we have got to be economically responsible too. We have come to the position as a Government that our 2030 emissions reduction target will be in the range of 26 to 28 per cent. Thank you, Prime Minister. So, things have changed.
Bernie Fraser quits as chairman of Climate Change Authority | Environment Bernie Fraser has quit as chairman of the independent Climate Change Authority, a body the government has previously sought to abolish. The authority issued a brief statement late on Tuesday saying it “regrets to announce” the resignation of Fraser, who is a former Reserve Bank governor. “The authority members thank Mr Fraser for his enormously valuable contribution to the authority’s work in providing independent expert advice to the Australian government and parliament on climate change policy,” the statement said. “Arrangements have been made to ensure the authority’s work will continue uninterrupted.” The government has previously attempted but failed to abolish the authority, which is a statutory body that provides independent advice on climate policy including emission reduction targets. Fraser was recently involved in a public dispute with the environment minister, Greg Hunt, over the government’s assertion that “Labor’s climate policy” would impose a “$600bn carbon bill”.
Target Tokyo (on 2015-07-31) Press Release Today, Friday 31 July 2015, 9am CEST, WikiLeaks publishes "Target Tokyo", 35 Top Secret NSA targets in Japan including the Japanese cabinet and Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, together with intercepts relating to US-Japan relations, trade negotiations and sensitive climate change strategy. The list indicates that NSA spying on Japanese conglomerates, government officials, ministries and senior advisers extends back at least as far as the first administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which lasted from September 2006 until September 2007. Today's publication also contains NSA reports from intercepts of senior Japanese government officials. The reports demonstrate the depth of US surveillance of the Japanese government, indicating that intelligence was gathered and processed from numerous Japanese government ministries and offices. Japan has been a close historical ally of the United States since the end of World War II.
Tony Abbott defends 2030 emissions target criticised as 'pathetically' low | Australia news Tony Abbott says his new emission reduction goal is in line with comparable countries and will cost the economy around $4bn in 2030, but climate groups say it is “pathetically inadequate” and far less than Australia’s share of the cuts needed to stop global warming at 2C. Abbott said the new target – to reduce emissions by 26% to 28% of 2005 levels by 2030 – was “foursquare in the middle” of the pledges comparable economies will take to the United Nations meeting in Paris in December. “It’s better than Japan. It’s almost the same as New Zealand. It’s a whisker below Canada. But conservationists said the target left Australia looking like a laggard – because measured on like-for-like basis, the US had promised cuts of around 41% by 2030, the European Union by around 34% based on 2005 levels, Canada of 30% and Japan – struggling with the impact of the Fukushima disaster on its nuclear industry – 25% on 2005 levels. But the Business Council of Australia said the target would be a challenge.