Australia – Page 3 – CounterVortex

The Andes

Peru and Australia sign free trade pact

Peru and Australia signed a free trade pact that does away with 99% of tariffs on imported goods from Australia, while securing Peruvian exports greater access to Australian markets. The Peru-Australia Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA) was signed in Vietnam, at the 25th summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, speaking at the summit, reiterated his support for free trade and warned about the dangers of protectionism–comments seemingly aimed at the Donald Trump administration.

Oceania

bougainville

Indigenous resistance halts Bougainville mine

The push to re-open a controversial copper mine on the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville was halted after indigenous residents blocked roads to prevent officials from reaching the site. (Image via Radio Australia)

Planet Watch

International direct action against fossil fuel

Police arrested 65 protesters, many in kayaks, who shut down Australia's biggest coal export terminal as part of a global direct action campaign against fossil fuels.

Oceania

ISIS in Sydney?

Internet and media slueths scramble to identify the faction behind the jihadist flag raised by the militant in the Sydney hostage crisis—which follows Austrailian air-strikes on ISIS.

Oceania

Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony

China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.

Planet Watch

Polar Vortex: Yes, it’s global warming!

Climate-change denialists are gloating at the "Polar Vortex"—failing to understand that it was unleashed by destabilization of the Jet Stream due to loss of arctic ice cover.

Iran

Persian Gulf militarized —by drug war

In addition to the naval face-off over a global oil outlet, the Persian Gulf has seen escalating militarization by international forces in the guise of narcotics enforcement.

Southeast Asia

Indonesia threatens West Papua ‘Freedom Flotilla’

A Freedom Flotilla carrying indigenous Australian protesters bound for the restive Indonesian territory of West Papua set off from Queensland—despite threats from Jakarta.

Oceania

Kali Yuga in Australia

Nuclear disaster was narrowly averted in Sydney when one of the wildfires sweeping New South Wales threatened an atomic research station near the city.

New York City

NYC: Astoria repudiates ‘Golden Dawn’ fascists

When the Greek neo-fascist organization Golden Dawn tried to open a chapter in New York City’s Greek neighborhood of Astoria, they were quickly met with vocal repudiation.

Oceania

US, New Zealand restore military cooperation

Leon Panetta in Auckland announced that US naval cooperation with New Zealand will be resumed—cut off in 1985, when the Pacific nation declared itself a nuclear-free zone.