Liberal-NDP threat to Canadian Tories

Stephen Harper

A Liberal-NDP coalition agreement that would replace the minority Conservative government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was being fleshed out, the CBC has learned. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has shown the outline of an agreement between his party and the New Democratic Party to Liberal leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff, Dominic LeBlanc and Bob Rae, the CBC’s Keith Boag reported, citing sources. More

Hostages to fear

TO spend a week in Israel is to begin to understand that this country is generations away from peace with Palestinians. Janet Albrechtsen

NZ Labour trawls through Key’s past, but, please, don’t mention the word “dirt”

SMH online

The Sydney Morning Herald online reports today that “NZ Labor” (sic) has been digging through John Key’s past.

Labour has been trying to link opposition leader John Key to sham currency deals. The National Party has called the exercise a desperate smear campaign.

What is interesting about the story is the absence of the journalistic outrage that, in an Australian context, usually accompanies stories about the Coalition parties examining the careers of Labor politicians. More

Maori seats controversy for Key

National Party leader John Key is in the middle of another controversy after admitting today he told the Maori Party he was prepared to drop a policy to abolish the Maori seats in Parliament.

Harper falls short of a majority

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives made gains in Canada’s Tuesday elections, but again fell short of an absolute majority. The National Post reports, “As the results rolled in from across the country, the rival Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois chalked up large enough numbers to keep the Conservatives from scoring the majority win they so desperately hoped to secure when Harper pulled the plug on his minority government on Sept. 7. More

Dion sends a message to undecided voters

CONSERVATIVES WITHIN REACH OF A MAJORITY - NEW POLL

In the lead up to Tuesday’s Canadian election, the National Post reports: “One polling company is projecting the Conservatives once again within reach of winning a majority … though other surveys showed a tighter race. More

Brazilian homeschooling showdown

The case of a Brazilian family who, concerned about immorality and low educational standards, pulled their children out of Brazil’s state education system is attracting media attention. More

Spain pushes human rights’ boundaries

Senator Bernardi

South Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi has an interesting piece on the ABC’s Unleashed website. He comments on the moves by the Spanish Parliament to support the right of great apes to life and freedom. “No one wants to see animals being abused,” he says, “but isn’t this taking it a bit far?”
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Persian Gulf switching to coal

As Professor Ross Garnaut was bringing down his report about our “diabolical” climate crisis, Spiegel Online was bringing news of the Persian Gulf turning to coal to meet its energy needs - on the basis that when it comes to oil “it makes more sense to sell it than to burn it.” More

Greens policies support Sharia Law in Indonesia

The Indonesia province of Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, has been plunged into Taliban-style Sharia Law, and all with the backing of the Australian Greens. More