The Cannabis Climate in Australia: An Interview With SA Cannabis Council’s Matthew Rowland
Attitudes to the cannabis plant are rapidly changing around the globe. Recreational cannabis is now legal in nine US states, while Canada is set to legalise it nationwide. And medicinal cannabis is now readily available in 31 jurisdictions throughout the US. The...
Pope Defrocks Priest who Sexually Abused Children
In an exceptionally rare but welcomed move, Pope Francis (pictured) has defrocked a Chilean priest convicted of sexually assaulting children. It’s the toughest penalty available to the Pope - with the exception of ex-communication, and a sign the Church may...
Legalising Personal Cannabis Use: An Interview With ACT Labor MP Michael Pettersson
ACT Labor MLA Michael Pettersson introduced a draft of a private member’s bill into the territory’s Legislative Assembly on 19 September that would effectively legalise the personal use and possession of cannabis. The Drugs of Dependence (Personal Cannabis Use) Amendment Bill...
China to Rate Citizens and Regulate All Aspects of Their Lives
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is aiming to roll out its social credit system nationally by 2020. This is a mass surveillance system that relies on big data analysis the scope of which is so vast and invasive that it...
Britain May Ban Secret Facebook Groups
British Labour Party MP, Lucy Powell, has introduced a bill into parliament which seeks to outlaw ‘secret’ online social media groups. The proposal The basis of the proposal is that these hidden groups are fertile ground for unchecked hate speech,...
Australian Journalist Imprisoned in Cambodia Seeks Royal Pardon
A three-judge panel of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Australian journalist and documentary film-maker James Ricketson guilty of espionage on 31 August. And to the disbelief of those gathered there to support the 69-year-old, the court sentenced him to six...
Democracy Is in Tatters Across the Globe
Democracy suffered “its most crucial crisis in decades” last year, according to a leading annual report on global freedom. And this continued a twelve year trend, which has seen a gradual decline in fair elections, minority rights, press freedoms and...
US Inmates Hold Mass Strikes Against Unfair Exploitation
Prison inmates across the United States are holding a two-week strike against unfair labour exploitation, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Participants are also calling for the appropriate classification of inmates, highlighting that many non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offences, have...
Canada Accepts First Australian Refugee
In what’s believed to be a world first, an Australian citizen has been given asylum in a foreign country. As revealed by the ABC last week, Canadian authorities granted refugee status to a former Australian police informant who infiltrated an outlaw...
Danish Women Defy Burqa Ban
A 28-year-old woman has become the first person in Denmark to be fined for wearing a face veil in a public place. The woman was approached by another in a shopping centre who assaulted her and ripped off her face...
