Australia

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05 July 2007 -- A long drought and recent floods have intensified debate in Australia over climate change. Many Australians believe man's reliance on fossil fuels is warming the earth, while skeptics say it is all part of a natural cycle. Phil Mercer reports on Australia's climate change debate from a sheep farm near the outback town of Goulburn in New South Wales.    » read more »

02 July 2007 -- Several Asian countries saw the fastest growth in the number of millionaires worldwide last year. And in China, the government plans to raise the minimum wage.

The number of Asians with assets of more than $1 million increased 8.6 percent in 2006, compared with a year earlier. Investment bank Merrill Lynch's annual wealth report, released jointly with financial services provider Capgemini, says their combined wealth increased 10.5 percent to more than $8 trillion.    » read more »

5/29/2007 - HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) -- Australian and American forces came together at Hickam Air Force Base and executed part one of Exercise Talisman Saber 2007 the end of May.

The two-part exercise, directed by the U.S. Pacific Command and executed every two years, is designed to maintain and strengthen the working relationship between U.S. and Australian forces in the Pacific Region.

Part one of the exercise focuses on planning and executing contingency missions from the Pacific Air Forces Kenney Headquarters Air Operations Center at Hickam AFB.    » read more »

May 19, 2007 -- The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of David Matthew Hicks from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Australia.

On March 30, Hicks pled guilty and was convicted of material support to terrorism in the first trial under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The military commissions Act established procedures that fully comply with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.    » read more »

20 May 2007 -- Convicted Australian terrorism supporter David Hicks is back home and behind bars after a flight from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Hicks was the first detainee convicted of supporting extremism by the U.S. military court. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

After more than five years as an inmate at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks is back in Australia.

He was flown from Cuba to the southern city of Adelaide on a jet chartered by the Australian government.    » read more »

14 May 2007 -- Zimbabwe cricket faced a major hurdle Sunday, when Australian Prime Minister John Howard barred the Australian cricket team from touring the country, citing gross human rights abuses.

The International Cricket Council said since the decision to cancel the tour was made by the government and not the cricket team, it will not fine the cricket body the estimated US$2 million penalty.    » read more »

05/04/2007 -- Keeping California at the forefront of the fight against climate change, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today met with the Honorable Steve Bracks, Premier of Victoria, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and establish a partnership to fight climate change.    » read more »

Agreement to Swap Refugees Flouts International Law

(New York, April 18, 2007) – A deal between the United States and Australia to trade refugees housed at Guantanamo Bay for those held on the island nation of Nauru upends international refugee standards, Human Rights Watch said today.

“Refugees are human beings, not products that countries can broker and trade,” said Bill Frelick, Refugee Policy director at Human Rights Watch. “The United States and Australia have signed a deal that bargains with lives and flouts international law.”    » read more »