CHENNAI, India — “The Family Man 2”, a crime thriller on streaming platform Amazon Prime Video, has raked up a controversy after members of an ethnic population in India accused the show of hurting “sentiments” and tarnishing the image of their community. “I would like to state that the above serial has not only hurt the sentiments of Eelam Tamils but also the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu [a southern Indian state] on a large scale,” Mano Thangaraj, the state’s information technology minister, wrote to Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on May 24. “If allowed to…
Author: zenger.news
SYDNEY — Amid a blizzard of economic events this week, there seems little doubt over the Reserve Bank of Australia making any change to its suite of policies when its board meets on June 1. The central bank has already flagged that any changes to its bond targeting and buying program aimed at keeping market interest rates low will be announced at its July meeting. As such, the cash rate is expected to remain at a record low of 0.1 percent. Australian National University‘s Timo Henckel expects the cash rate could remain unchanged for at least a year. The lockdown in…
SYDNEY — Mini main streets with bustling cafes. Parks dotted about neighborhoods. Public transport within a quick walk. Rather than contentious housing estate sprawl, leading planner Mike Day says Australia’s cities need to create “urban experiences” on the expanding outskirts. With the market further out of reach than ever for many and the absence of overseas students causing inner-city investment opportunities to evaporate, new home buyers are being drawn increasingly to outer suburbs. The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation forecasts Australia will need an additional 780,000 new dwellings by 2025. In Sydney alone, more than 150,000 will need to be…
ELLENBROOK, Australia — A proposed expansion of a Chinese-owned mine in Tasmania’s northwest wilderness rests with federal environment minister Sussan Ley. In the path of bulldozers sits Australia’s largest tract of cool-temperate rainforest, the Tarkine. Behind the machinery, is a bid by a 74 percent Chinese government-owned miner. In between are about two dozen hardcore environmental protesters backed by the Bob Brown Foundation. The group has maintained a constant on-site presence outside Minerals and Metals Group‘s 85-year-old zinc, copper and lead operation at Rosebery, on the Pieman River, for more than 100 days. Eleven of them have been arrested by police for trespassing…
DARWIN, Australia — A massive Northern Territory lead and zinc mine that’s been dogged by environmental incidents and alleged damage to Indigenous cultural sites have lifted its game, an independent monitor says. Glencore’s McArthur River Mine — about 750km (466 miles) southeast of Darwin — has been under fire for decades over problems including spontaneously combusting waste rock, a seeping tailings dam and expansion near Aboriginal cultural and sacred sites. Since 2006, it’s been assessed by an independent monitor to ensure it’s following the rules, along with the Northern Territory Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, which is tasked with enforcing them. The watchdog…
CANBERRA, Australia — What’s the state of the Australia-New Zealand relationship? Three months ago, it seemed imperiled, as Jacinda Ardern lambasted her Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, for stripping the Australian citizenship of a dual national woman in Syria. It was a hospital pass, an abrogation of Australian responsibility, and Ardern was furious. “Our very strong view on behalf of New Zealand and New Zealanders was that this individual was clearly most appropriately dealt with by Australia,” she said at the time. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speak during a joint press conference held at The…
Whether Americans today believe the Vietnam War was a bright shining lie, a noble cause, or something in between, one thing is for certain: most can now agree it was a national tragedy compounded by the treatment of the men and women deployed over the course of the conflict and when they came home. How should a country heal after a divisive war? What could be done to bring the rage and recrimination to an end? How long would reconciliation take — if indeed the healing could ever happen? From the end of the war to the early 1980s, debate…
Whether Americans today believe the Vietnam War was a bright shining lie, a noble cause, or something in between, one thing is for certain: most can now agree it was a national tragedy compounded by the treatment of the men and women deployed over the course of the conflict and when they came home. How should a country heal after a divisive war? What could be done to bring the rage and recrimination to an end? How long would reconciliation take — if indeed the healing could ever happen? From the end of the war to the early 1980s, debate…
HUMPTY DOO, Australia — Australia’s most significant Indigenous gathering, Garma Festival, has been canceled over coronavirus fears for remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The annual festival held in Gulkula in northeast Arnhem Land was due to run from July 30 to August 2, but organizers of the Yothu Yindi Foundation say it is too risky due to the ongoing pandemic in the world. “It is with enormous regret and sadness that we advise this year’s Garma Festival will not proceed,” a spokesman said on May 31. “Unfortunately, the Northern Territory’s chief health officer has determined that Gulkula’s remote location poses too many logistical and safety…
HUMPTY DOO, Australia — Australia’s most significant Indigenous gathering, Garma Festival, has been canceled over coronavirus fears for remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The annual festival held in Gulkula in northeast Arnhem Land was due to run from July 30 to August 2, but organizers of the Yothu Yindi Foundation say it is too risky due to the ongoing pandemic in the world. “It is with enormous regret and sadness that we advise this year’s Garma Festival will not proceed,” a spokesman said on May 31. “Unfortunately, the Northern Territory’s chief health officer has determined that Gulkula’s remote location poses too many logistical and safety…