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Australia/New Zealand (News/Activism)

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  • Minneapolis Officer Charged With Murder in Australian Woman’s Death

    03/20/2018 2:19:58 PM PDT · by SpeedyInTexas · 39 replies
    NYTIMES ^ | 03/20/2018 | MITCH SMITH
    The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman last summer, an incident that led to protests and the ouster of the city’s police chief, was booked into jail Tuesday on charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The shooting of the woman, Justine Damond, by Officer Mohamed Noor on July 15 renewed questions about police conduct and training in a region that has seen a series of police shootings in recent years.
  • Officer who fatally shot Justine Damond charged with murder, turns himself in

    03/20/2018 11:00:51 AM PDT · by NohSpinZone · 85 replies
    Fox News ^ | 3/20/18 | Fox News Staff
    The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an Australian woman in July was charged with murder Tuesday after he turned himself in when a warrant was issued for his arrest. Officer Mohamed Noor turned himself in on Tuesday in connection to the 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. his attorney confirmed. Jail records show he has been booked on charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
  • Trump’s Losing Trade Gambit: The president had to back off new tariffs on Mexico and Canada

    03/19/2018 6:12:39 AM PDT · by reaganaut1 · 22 replies
    Wall Street Journal ^ | March 18, 2018 | Mary Anastasia O’Grady
    President Trump’s practice of staking out extreme positions on trade as a negotiating tactic is a sign of his brilliance. Or so we’re told. But that theory took on water last week, when Mr. Trump had to backtrack on a promise to hit Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum, without any concessions from either Mexico City or Ottawa. To understand the change of heart, take the list of products slated for a new Trump tariff on steel and total the value of those same products exported by U.S. producers. You will...
  • South Africa criticises Australian plan to fast-track white farmer visas

    03/16/2018 10:41:43 AM PDT · by detective · 188 replies
    The Guardian ^ | 3/14/3018 | Simon Allison
    South Africa has criticized Australian home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s offer to fast-track the visas of its white African farmers, saying his comments on the supposed threat to their lives and land were “sad” and “regrettable”. A spokesperson for international relations minister Lindiwe Sisulu, said: “There is no need to fear … we want to say to the world that we are engaged in a process of land redistribution which is very important to address the imbalances of the past. But it is going to be done legally, and with due consideration of the economic impact and impact on individuals.”
  • Matt Damon moving family to Australia because of Trump

    03/16/2018 9:40:26 AM PDT · by Ennis85 · 91 replies
    Page six ^ | March 15th 2018 | Emily Smith and Ian Mohr
    Matt Damon is moving his family to Australia — in part because the liberal star’s fed up with President Trump. Damon, 47, reportedly has purchased a property in Byron Bay, New South Wales, according to Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. The home’s next door to a place owned by Chris Hemsworth — with whom Damon recently appeared in “Thor: Ragnarok.” A source exclusively tells Page Six: “Matt’s telling friends and colleagues in Hollywood that he’s moving the family to Australia” because the activist actor disagrees with Trump’s policies. The president’s frequently butted heads with liberal Hollywood A-listers including Meryl Streep. The source...
  • Australia considers visas for white South African farmers

    03/15/2018 4:43:40 PM PDT · by marktwain · 28 replies
    BBC ^ | 14 March, 2018 | BBC
    South Africa has dismissed allegations its white farmers are "persecuted" after an Australian minister said they needed help from a "civilised" country.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said he was exploring giving South Africa's white farmers access to fast-track visas on humanitarian grounds. The suggestion was made amid calls to transfer land ownership from white to black farmers in South Africa, and fears over the number of farm killings.But South Africa says it is ridiculous.Government spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya told the BBC there was no reason for any country in the world to suspect a section of the South African population was...
  • Matt Damon moving family to Australia because of Trump

    03/15/2018 9:21:59 AM PDT · by Magnatron · 136 replies
    Page Six ^ | 15 March 2018 | Emily Smith and Ian Mohr
    Matt Damon is moving his family to Australia — in part because the liberal star’s fed up with President Trump.
  • $2.3 billion goof: New commuter trains too wide for tunnels

    03/15/2018 9:22:54 AM PDT · by rktman · 44 replies
    wnd.com ^ | 3/14/2018 | Unknow
    No one disputes this Australian state’s need to upgrade its rail-transit fleet after 40 years of service. The New South Wales regional train system in and around Sydney operates with a variety of trains, the oldest rolling stock – called V-sets – and newer XPT longer-distance carriers. After four decades, purchasing 512 new carriages at a cost of $2.3 billion had become a necessity. And with the purchase, commuters can look forward to mobile-phone charging stations, accessible toilets and more space for bike racks and luggage. All good … except for one rather major problem. The new trains are too...
  • Jordan Peterson on corporate virtue signalling

    03/15/2018 4:39:34 AM PDT · by servo1969 · 21 replies
    Herald Sun ^ | 3-14-2018 | Rita Panahi
    Clinical psychologist, author, professor and easy-on-the-eye cultural critic, Jordan B. Peterson, took a break from his sold out speaking tour to chat with Miranda Devine. He had some sage words of advice for the likes of Qantas, Telstra, PWC, KPMG et al: “People who are doing this at the corporate level will rapidly get their comeuppance … If you’re operating within a capitalist environment like let’s say the executives and management of Qantas, who are being paid disproportionately well, you don’t also get to be a social radical. And you don’t get to salve your conscience for receiving a pay...
  • NSW’s $2 billion new trains are too wide to get through tunnels ( Australia )

    03/14/2018 5:14:54 PM PDT · by george76 · 60 replies
    News Limited ^ | March 6, 2018 | Benedict Brook
    THE NSW Government has an embarrassing problem with $2 billion worth of new trains that are on order — they’re too wide to go through the tunnels. Whereas the current trains are 2.9m wide, the new models being built in South Korea are 20cm wider. That small difference could have a big impact. It means the new trains could collide with the tunnel walls on their way up to the world famous Blue Mountains. But Transport for NSW (TfNSW), the Government body that manages the state’s rail system, has come up with a cunning plan. It has proposed simply relaxing...
  • Bolt-action rifle ordered turned in by Australian officials as it’s too ‘assaulty’

    03/14/2018 9:55:09 AM PDT · by Simon Green · 31 replies
    Guns.com ^ | 03/14/18 | Chris Eger
    Bolt-action rifle ordered turned in by Australian officials as it’s too ‘assaulty’ (VIDEO) The Australian Border Force is giving owners of Riverman rifles 30 days to turn in their operator-assisted firearms as they look too much like banned weapons. The Riverman Gun Works’ OAF series rifles are made in Idaho and about 100 or so (numbers vary) have been imported into Australia. Now, as reported by News 7 Brisbane, although a straight-pull bolt action, the gun is now outlawed and officials want them turned over to Border Force. The “bungled buyback” could cost tax payers down under as much...
  • A restaurant is charging white customers more to highlight racial wealth inequality

    03/11/2018 2:10:01 PM PDT · by C19fan · 167 replies
    Indy100.com ^ | March 11, 2018 | Greg Evans
    SAARTJ is a pop-up restaurant in the Louisiana city run by local Nigerian chef Tunde Wey who will be charging white customers $18 (£13) extra for their meal. Much like the cafe in Melbourne, Australia which charged a 'man-tax' due to the gender pay gap, SAARTJ is charging an increase to highlight the racial pay gap in New Orleans. In 2013, a study found that the average household income of an African-American in the city was 54 per cent lower than that of a white person.
  • FBI’s Aussie Trump-Russia Tipster Linked to Firm U.S. Intel Chiefs Have Distrusted for Years

    03/07/2018 2:00:36 PM PST · by detective · 8 replies
    Lifezette ^ | 06 Mar 2018
    Alexander Downer — the Australian diplomat whose tip to the FBI about a London pub conversation led to the massive probe of allegations of collusions between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia — is himself closely tied to a Chinese firm experts say is deeply involved in espionage against America. Just last month, all six top U.S. intelligence bosses warned Americans against using digital telecommunications equipment produced by Chinese smartphone producer Huawei.
  • USS Lexington: Lost WW2 aircraft carrier found after 76 years

    03/06/2018 6:11:05 AM PST · by George - the Other · 58 replies
    BBC News ^ | March 6, 2018 | BBC News
    The wreck of a US aircraft carrier that was sunk during World War Two has been found off the coast of Australia. The USS Lexington was found 3km (2 miles) underwater in the Coral Sea, about 800km off Australia's east coast. The ship was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea, fought with Japan from 4-8 May 1942. More than 200 crew members died in the fighting. The US Navy confirmed the ship had been discovered by a search team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
  • Australian diplomat whose tip prompted FBI’s Russia-probe has tie to Clintons

    03/05/2018 4:21:11 PM PST · by SpeedyInTexas · 27 replies
    The Hill ^ | 03/05/2018 | John Solomon and Alison Spann
    The Australian diplomat whose tip in 2016 prompted the Russia-Trump investigation previously arranged one of the largest foreign donations to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s charitable efforts, documents show. Former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer’s role in securing $25 million in aid from his country to help the Clinton Foundation fight AIDS is chronicled in decade-old government memos archived on the Australian foreign ministry’s website.
  • Oil rig worker says he saw missing plane go down: report

    03/12/2014 12:33:06 PM PDT · by Fitzy_888 · 167 replies
    The Washington Times ^ | 3/12/14 | By Jessica Chasmar
    <p>ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff has obtained a letter that an oil rig worker in Vietnam wrote to his employer claiming he saw Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 go down in flames.</p> <p>Mr. Woodruff tweeted an image of the letter saying, “Oil rig worker claims in employer confirmed letter-he saw the plane go down. Vietnamese say they found nothing.”</p>
  • Hong Kong pilot spots debris in Vietnamese waters

    03/11/2014 3:51:38 PM PDT · by tcrlaf · 243 replies
    CCTV English ^ | 03-11-2014 0617 bjt | James
    The Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong has received a pilot’s report that a large amount of debris was spotted in Vietnamese waters. The pilot, flying a Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur plane, says the debris is located about 60 kilometres southeast of Vietnamese city Vung Tau, some 500 kilometers from where the Malaysian jetliner lost contact with air traffic controllers. The department has submitted the message to the relevant authorities.
  • MH370: new photo debunks 'planted debris' conspiracy theory

    05/29/2016 1:59:28 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 9 replies
    The Week (UK) ^ | May 20, 2016
    Jeff Wise, a private pilot and freelance writer, who has written a book on MH370, was among those to suggest the parts were planted. "There is only one reasonable conclusion to draw from the condition of these pieces. Since natural means could not have delivered them to the locations where they were discovered, they must have been put there deliberately. They were planted," he wrote last month. Photo: Dr Schalk Lückhoff
  • Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Massive New Search Begins Using Drones

    01/23/2018 12:22:17 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 15 replies
    Daily Star ^ | 23rd January 2018 | Paul Harper
    A MASSIVE new search for the doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 using underwater drones has begun today.The aircraft vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries. The southeast Asian nation has now agreed to pay US firm Ocean Infinity up to $70 million if it finds the plane within 90 days. Its search vessel, the Seabed Constructor, today reached the remote spot in the Indian Ocean where Australian scientists believe the plane went down. Eight drone-like underwater vehicles will now scour the ocean floor for wreckage in an area...
  • Missing MH370 jet: Tanzania flap debris was from Malaysia plane

    09/15/2016 6:17:00 PM PDT · by ConservativeStatement · 3 replies
    Sky News ^ | September 15, 2016
    A large piece of aircraft debris found on the island of Pemba off Tanzania in June was from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370, it has been confirmed. The debris, an outboard flap, will be examined further to see if it can provide any clues about the Boeing 777's disappearance. It went missing in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board soon after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing.