Myanmar Cuts Off Aid to Devastated Rohingya Populations
As of last week, a humanitarian crisis began unfolding in Myanmar’s north eastern Rakhine state, as aid agencies, such as the International Rescue Committee and the International Organisation for Migration, have been blocked from entering the townships of Rathidaung and...
Inside the World’s Largest Refugee Camp: Conversations With Rohingya Refugees
Kutupalong refugee camp is the largest such camp on the planet. It’s situated in Cox’s Bazar district in southern Bangladesh. There are over 600,000 mainly Muslim Rohingya refugees living there, after having fled persecution in their homeland of Myanmar. The...
Waves of Anti-Government Protests Are Sweeping the Planet
As 2019 was drawing to a close, many turned to look to the factors that shaped the social landscape over the last 12 months. And two themes kept recurring: grassroots protest movements and concerns over changing climate. While just two...
Consider the Garment Worker Behind the Price Tag: An Interview With BCWS’ Kalpona Akter
Increasingly, over the last decade, the labels on the cheap clothes at Australian fashion outlets read, “Made in Bangladesh”. And despite rising prices and inflation, the clothing coming out of the South Asian garment manufacturing powerhouse only seems to get...
The Offence of Sexual Assault
Former Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein has been charged in Los Angeles with felony offences including forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint. Charges were laid just hours after Mr Weinstein appeared...
Global War, Anyone? Trump’s Got One Brewing With Iran
The US killed Iran’s most powerful and respected military official last Friday, in a move that has the potential to escalate the Trump-provoked tensions that have been mounting between the two nations into a full-scale war. Major general Qassem Soleimani...
The Law, Defences and Penalties for Making a False Accusation in NSW
It has been reported that a 19-year old British student is facing up to 12 months in prison after being convicted of ‘public mischief’ for falsely claiming that 12 Israeli men gang-raped her in Ayia Napa, a resort town on...
Century-Old Anti-War Warning About the 1 Percent Still Rings True Today
A racket is a way of profiteering from an operation in a dishonest manner. According to Smedley D Butler, “only a small ‘inside’ group knows what” a racket’s about. It usually involves making money for the few at the expense...
Indonesia Pressures Foreign Teachers to Take ‘Gay Test’
The Indonesian government is putting pressure on foreign teachers to take a test which it says can determine whether a person has ‘abnormal’ sexual desires. Reports suggest that the exam ask questions such as “agree or disagree: I would feel...
Donate to the Black Ops Firefighters: Unofficial Grassroots Defenders
Kicking in extremely early, this year’s fire season has been unprecedented in its intensity. In NSW and Queensland alone, over 3 million hectares have been destroyed. While last Friday saw over 200 bushfires raging across five states. And the ferocity...
