Saturday, 23 July 2011
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
One of Australia’s richest men destroying Coral sea paradise in West Papua
Threat to Raja Ampat, the amazon of the oceans?
An article in the weekend edition of the Sydney Morning Herald 2-3 July by investigative journalist Tom Allard exposes the threat to a Coral sea paradise. Do you know about Raja Ampat, the amazon of the oceans? It is a place of unparalleled beauty in West Papua.
Perhaps you have seen this: The Beauty of Raja Ampat– Sidney Morning Herald slide show
But it is also threatened.
One of Australia’s richest men destroying Coral sea paradise in West PapuaThese two articles show how Clive Palmer one of Australia’s richest men is tearing the place apart: “Coral Sea Paradise Faces Ruin From Mining” & “Chipping away at paradise”
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Monday, 4 July 2011
South Sudan: Tumultuous Birth of a New State
South Sudan’s stormy birthday
After a long, always troubled and often bloody journey, South Sudan’s independence is just days away.
For many it understandably seemed that this moment would never come. After all, January’s decisive referendum to divide Africa’s largest state, whilst one of the final pieces in the 2005 treaty that formally ended two decades of civil war, did nothing to halt the fighting.
Various warlords, armed and sponsored by the North’s despotic president Omar Al-Bashir, wrecked havoc throughout the state-to-be. By April over 1000 were dead, the World Food Programme had pulled out leaving 240 000 more facing starvation and Northern rhetoric over the disputed region of Abyei threatened further conflict.
Shortly after tension boiled over, with Al-Bashir’s troops illegally moving into Abyei and later clashing with Southern forces. Fighting spread to South Kordofan, which falls North of the border line but has a high population of ethnic Nubans loyal to the South:
They are still being targeted in what has already been described as ethnic cleansing.
