Free Republic

Google has threatened to remove its search engine from Australia over the nation's attempt to make the tech giant share royalties with news publishers. Australia is introducing a world-first law to make Google, Facebook and potentially other tech companies pay media outlets for their news content. But the US firms have fought back, warning the law would make them withdraw some of their services. Australian PM Scott Morrison said lawmakers would not yield to "threats". Though Australia is far from Google's largest market, the proposed news code is seen as a possible global test case for how governments could seek...

Three samples of locally made ice cream that used milk powder from Ukraine and whey mist from New Zealand — under the Daqiaodao brand, tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday in Tianjin. The city has launched a campaign to close down cold storage houses related to the ice cream since then. The company said it had produced 4,836 boxes, and 1,812 had been sold to various provinces. More from AsiaOne Read the condensed version of this story, and other top stories with NewsLite. So far, a total of 2,089 boxes of the ice cream had been sealed up. Each box...

Griffith University’s Dr Peta-Anne Zimmerman says the Queensland government’s proposal to implement hotel quarantine for international travellers at remote facilities such as mining camps, “would take a lot of strategic planning and risk assessment”. “The human resources required is massive … and equally if we move to mining camps, the human resources implications are massive there as well,” she told Sky News host Chris Smith. Dr Zimmerman said the mining camp communities “would not be able to provide” the people needed for the quarantine efforts and another solution is needed. "The communities from where these mining camps are would not...

Political elites worldwide have criticized big tech companies for banning President Donald Trump from their social media platforms. At present, the president has been banned from Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit, and Instagram. Twitter permanently removed Trump’s account, saying that his recent posts were in violation of the “Glorification of Violence Policy.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Twitter’s ban on Trump “problematic,” and said that freedom of opinion is an essential right of “elementary significance,” her spokesperson, Steffen Siebert, said on Jan 11. “This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined...

"Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack has been slammed for using a controversial phrase on racial injustice, which Labor (the “progressive” Australian Labor Party) has blasted as “beyond disgusting”. Mr McCormack told reporters “all lives matter” on Tuesday, a phrase criticised for detracting from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the fight for racial justice. The Nationals leader, who is filling in for Scott Morrison while he’s on holidays, used the phrase as he rejected criticism for comparing pro-Trump rioters’ attack on Washington’s Capitol to anti-racism demonstrations across the US last year." cf https://freedom-demokrasi-and-civilised-humanity.com/2020/09/06/respecting-the-police-its-a-two-way-street/

Measure is virtually unenforceable.. Authorities in Victoria, Australia have banned kissing and hugging on New Year’s Eve despite the fact that there have been no new cases of COVID-19 in two months. State Premier Dan Andrews said hugging and kissing should not take place during celebrations between anyone but immediate family members. “Just as Christmas was a little different this year, New Year’s Eve will be too,” the Victorian Government said. “Take some hand sanitiser with you, don’t share drinks with others and [new year] kisses and hugs should [only] be shared with those in your immediate family.” Quite how...

MORE ON: CORONAVIRUS As post-holiday infections surge, Lebanon gears for lockdown Cheap hair lice drug may cut risk of COVID-19 death by 80 percent: study UK man is first to get AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine Scotland to enter another national lockdown SYDNEY – Australia’s most populous state New South Wales (NSW) on Monday reported zero local coronavirus cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities urged tens of thousands of people to get tested. NSW daily testing numbers have dropped to around 20,000 in the last two days from a peak of about 70,000...

The Australian national anthem has been changed to reflect the nation's "spirit of unity" and its indigenous population, the country's prime minister has said. The one-word change to Advance Australia Fair, from "For we are young and free" to "For we are one and free" takes effect on Friday.

One hundred and forty-three years after it was first composed and performed, Advance Australia Fair is again being updated for what the Prime Minister says is in the "spirit of unity". From January 1, 2021 the second line of Australia's national anthem will change from, 'For we are young and free' to 'For we are one and free'. Governor-General David Hurley has agreed to the Commonwealth's recommendation to make an amendment to the anthem for the first time since 1984. In a statement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the change was being made for all Australians. "During the past year...

Polling suggests that 80% of those who voted in October’s assisted suicide referendum in New Zealand misunderstood what the law would actually do.In October, the ‘End of Life Choice Act’ became law through a binding referendum where 65.2% of voters supported the Act. However, according to group Euthanasia-Free NZ “Polling during the advance voting period showed that 80% of New Zealand adults were misunderstanding what the End of Life Choice Act would legalise”.“Only 20% of respondents knew that this Act would not make it legal to turn off machines that are keeping people alive”. [emphasis original]Executive Officer of Euthanasia-Free NZ,...

Before the text messages threatening to kill his family, Drew Pavlou gathered a small group of students on a busy walkway at the University of Queensland to protest the Chinese government’s repression of Uighur Muslims and crackdown on Hong Kong. “Hey-hey, ho-ho — Xi Jinping has got to go!” As he denounced the Communist leader, hundreds of counter-demonstrators massed around a colonnade at the campus in Brisbane, Australia. Some were students from China; others appeared older. They yelled pro-Beijing slogans and played the Chinese national anthem over loudspeakers. *** Things quickly turned violent. A man in the crowd rushed at...

Gladys Berejiklian has introduced coronavirus restrictions across greater Sydney as the state records 30 new coronavirus cases, prompting another wave of border restrictions and throwing Christmas plans into disarray. The New South Wales premier said the new restrictions were introduced to prevent the virus from seeding in other areas of Sydney, after the list of exposure sites grew overnight to include a number of restaurants in the eastern suburbs and a cafe in Forster on the mid north coast. Coronavirus live updates: Ireland bringing in restrictions on UK flights and ferries as other European countries suspend travel Read more Of...

China is suffering mass power cuts in the south, prompting cities to dim street lights, suspend factory production and tell office blocks to turn off heating unless the temperature falls below 3C. The electricity crisis appears to have been prompted by a shortage of coal after Beijing banned imports from Australia. China imposed trade bans against Australia after Canberra demanded an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus and criticised Beijing’s treatment of the people of Hong Kong.

Now it is just dangerous. While the world holds its breath over the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, the Chicoms are doing what thugs and bullies do. They have banned the import of a number of Australian commodities: coal, barley, wine, and lobsters. The first reaction of Australia's trade minister to China's ban on Australian coal was "But it will increase China's CO2 emissions!" if China burns Indonesian, Mongolian, or Russian coal instead of the high-quality stuff that Australia produces. The stupidity and naïveté of that reaction was enough to generate a headline on Instapundit: "Australia: Chinese Embargo of...

Coal is among the latest in a growing list of major Australian exports hit by severe restrictions in China, also including commodities like cotton, timber wine, lobster, and barley. While Chinese citizens might be able to forgo luxuries for a while like Aussie wine as well as lobster, coal is quite another thing especially given the country is currently facing a broad coal shortage. Here's how Chinese state media publication Sixth Tone described it:Several cities in at least three provinces in central and southern China are experiencing a power crunch, with some local governments beginning to ration power use during...

'I never dreamt that publicly sharing a Matt Walsh or Babylon Bee article would be career ending' MELBOURNE, Australia, December 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – An Australian doctor of 15 years has had his license suspended indefinitely after a tribunal concluded that his social media posts showed “clear conservative leanings,” with “the potential for individuals to take posts personally that reference members of the LGBQTI+ community.” In 2019, the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) launched an investigation into the Evangelical Christian Dr. Jereth Kok after receiving two anonymous complaints about social media posts he had shared within the last ten years....

Hypersonic cruise missiles which travel five times the speed of sound, are one step closer to being part of Australia’s arsenal. Last week Australia and the United States signed a new agreement to collaborate on developing and testing hypersonic cruise missile prototypes. When completed, the missiles will be able to traverse the distance of Sydney to Melbourne in just seven minutes. The missiles are difficult to stop not only because of their speed, but for their ability to slip past radar systems by gliding along the edge of the atmosphere. Hypersonics can also alter their route mid-flight. The weapons are...

Believe it or not, finding Foster’s beer in Australia – what international drinkers think of as the country’s beer of choice – isn’t easy. In its proverbial homeland, the Southern Cross-spangled cans elude shop shelves and, in 2015, just 10 venues across the entire country poured it on tap. But the brand that promoted Australia’s laidback drinking culture to the world has decided to relaunch locally, upping production in Melbourne by 300% in the coming months. The brewer Carlton and United Breweries, now owned by Japanese behemoth Asahi, will target hip-pocket nerves, going after low-cost competitors. Thirty cans of Foster’s...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - - Joining more than 30 countries, New Zealand on Wednesday took the symbolic step of declaring a climate emergency. Lawmakers voted 76-43 in favor of the motion, in a split that followed party lines. The government also launched a new initiative requiring many public agencies to become carbon neutral by 2025, in part by getting rid of coal boilers and buying electric cars. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government usually declares emergencies only for things like natural disasters, but that if it doesn’t address climate change, such disasters will continue to happen. She said the...

Seventy-eight years to the day since his heroic actions in World War II, Ordinary Seaman Edward 'Teddy' Sheean has become the first Navy crew member to be awarded Australia's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross. In an investiture ceremony in Canberra on Tuesday, Ordinary Seaman Sheean was being honoured for his "remarkable gallantry, sacrifice and the significance of his actions to modern Australia". In December 1942, the 18-year-old defied orders to abandon the rapidly-sinking HMAS Armidale off the coast of East Timor, which was under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft, and instead strapped himself to the ship's anti-aircraft gun and...