Police in North Dakota arrested 76 people at the Standing Rock protest camp on February 1 as the Army Corp of Engineers cleared the way to continue construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) through Native American land.
The US$3.78 billion DAPL project involves building a 1886-kilometre long pipeline to shift almost half-a-million barrels of oil a day. Its route passes through Native American land on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, threatening water supplies and sacred sites.
A young, white, French-speaking, Quebec-born man opened fire inside a Quebec City mosque on January 29, killing six Muslim worshipers 鈥 Azzeddine Soufiane, Abdelkrim (Karim) Hassane, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Mamadou Tanou Barry and Ibrahima Barry 鈥 and injuring 25.
The six victims were first-generation immigrants who had lived in Quebec for years, some for decades. The shooter, Alexandre Bissonnette, had expressed anti-immigrant positions online and was a fan of US President Donald Trump and France鈥檚 far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
In 2010 President聽Obama聽directed聽the CIA聽to assassinate an American citizen in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, despite the fact that he had never been charged with (let alone convicted of) any crime, and the agency successfully carried out that order a year later聽with a September 2011 drone strike.
The Refugee Council of Australia called for a bipartisan commitment on offshore detention on February 1.
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The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has called on political leaders to urgently bring the people imprisoned on Manus Island and Nauru to safety in Australia.
鈥淭his brings pride to our people. This is a turning of the tide!鈥,聽First Nation鈥檚 activist Ken Canning told the thousands on the streets for the Invasion Day march from Redfern to Chippendale on January 26.聽
Indeed, it was.聽
New Premier Gladys Berejiklian is already on the run, after only a couple of weeks in the job.
Since taking over from disgraced former premier Mike Baird on January 23, Berejiklian has managed to cobble together a new cabinet of misfits, but is already reported to be preparing to dump one of Baird's signature policies 鈥 the forced amalgamation of the state's local councils.
People across the world are rising up, angry at the failure of governments to listen to their concerns or prioritize their lives over the profits of big business.
On January 12, Perth joined this movement when more than 1000 鈥減rotectors鈥, as they have dubbed themselves, descended on the Roe 8 construction site to protest the state government鈥檚 efforts to build a freeway through the Beeliar Wetlands. Roe 8, which is part of greater freeway known as Perth Freight Link has ignited some of the most sustained community opposition Perth has ever seen.
The dairy industry is in crisis and dairy sustainability is under attack.
In Victoria 鈥 where most dairy farms are 鈥 Australia鈥檚 largest processor, farmer-owned co-operative Murray Goulburn, allowed outside investors to become members, to get the funds to build more infrastructure to take advantage of export opportunities. Murray Goulburn prioritised paying returns to those investors out of their 2016 $44 million annual profit, rather than to the farmers who supply the product.
Dave Oliver announced his resignation as secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions on January 31 after five years in the post. Vice-president Sally McManus is likely to take the role.
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) has urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to immediately halt Centrelink鈥檚 automated debt recovery system, protect government whistleblowers and end an ongoing 鈥渁buse of government power鈥 that is causing distress and financial hardship to some of Australia鈥檚 most vulnerable people.
ACOSS joined a wide range of charities, welfare groups, legal bodies, unions and advocacy services, which have all expressed serious reservations about the accuracy and fairness of the debt recovery system.
Santos released an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on February 1, declaring it intended to develop a controversial gas reserve in Narrabri, in north western New South Wales.
Farmers, townspeople, Traditional Owners and environmentalists are opposed to the proposed gas field: an overwhelming 96% of landholders, representing 3.2 million hectares of land over which Santos holds leases, have declared their lands 鈥済asfield free鈥.
Santos wants to drill 850 wells at 425 sites on about 1000 hectares in and around the Pilliga State Forest, near Narrabri.
A rally organised by Australians for a Free West Papua in support of West Papuan independence was held outside the Indonesian Consulate in Darwin on January 31.
Maritime Union of Australia NT secretary Thomas Mayor pledged the MUA鈥檚 help to grow the campaign for a Free West Papua. The rally burned a copy of the Lombok Treaty.
The West Papuan struggle continues to gain momentum as the facts about the West Papua struggle become known via social media.