Jailed UQ student back in Iran
A University of Queensland student has arrived back in Iran after avoiding extradition to the United States.
Reza Dehbashi Kivi had been in custody for 13 months in Australia, accused of exporting American equipment for detecting stealth planes or missiles to Iran.
The US sought to extradite him on six charges, dating back to 2008, for which he faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.
VIC goes back to recycling
Six Victorian councils are back to sending their footpath waste to recycling rather than to the tip, following the repair of Victorian processor SKM.
After the collapse of the processor, councils were forced to divert waste to landfill for months.
Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said SKM’s Laverton North site is now fully operational, while its Coolaroo site is yet to return to business.
30 arrested in fight for climate justice
30 protesters were arrested by police in the Sydney CBD yesterday, as climate action group ‘Extinction Rebellion’ kicked off a week of protests across Australia.
Images have emerged of elderly people and men in suits being dragged through Broadway, Sydney by police as crowds blocked the busy road.
Just this morning, police have been negotiating with a climate protester dangling off Brisbane’s Story Bridge in a hammock, with ‘The Extinction Rebellion’ flags hanging from it.
Hong Kong taxi driver ploughed into a crowd of anti-government protesters
According to local media reports, a taxi driver broke into a group of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, causing at least two people to be injured and then beaten by the crowd.
A witness named Huang said two girls were hit by a car, and a girl was trapped between a car and a store.
The Hong Kong Free Press said that the driver was beaten by the crowd. The graphic image shows his face being beaten and bleeding, and the protesters attacked the taxi and smashed the window with an umbrella.
South Korea suspends the Panmunjom tour in the demilitarised zone to curb African swine fever
In order to curb the outbreak of African swine fever, tourists are prohibited from entering the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating North Korea and South Korea.
The South Korean Unification Ministry announced yesterday that it is expected to prevent visitors from entering the Panmunjom store in the DFZ region.
The decision is part of an inevitable increase in quarantine measures to prevent the spread of ASF to other regions while the government said they will restore Panmunjom travel as soon as possible.
Film Review: The Third Wife at Brisbane International Film Festival 2019
Featuring at the Brisbane International Film Festival 2019 is The Third Wife, a poetic look into the marital life of a fourteen year old. Vietnamese Writer/Director Ash Mayfair depicts ancient traditions through a delicately interwoven story that focuses on central protagonist May, played by Nguyen Phuong Tra My. Breathtaking cinematography is featured in the film and this can be credited to Chananun Chotrungroj.
Kelso: Always A Godmother, Never A God
- Always a Godmother, Never A God is the second EP of self-described “cute weird songs for cute weird people” from Melbourne singer-songwriter Kelso.
Kelso is better known as Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, bass player in world-conquering rock band Camp Cope. Kelly’s melodic bass playing is one of that band’s musical strengths, but these four tacks show a different side to her.
City And Colour: A Pill For Loneliness
- After reuniting with his long-time stablemates Alexisonfire for a handful of tantalising festival dates & some new music from that entity, Dallas Green is donning the City & Colour moniker once again. Since the man-and-his-guitar era of City & Colour, the twin peaks of Green’s musical muscles have been the mournful tenderness ever-present in that angelic falsetto and the trained eye he has for picking at and unravelling his listener's emotional stitching.
Kefaya + Elaha Soroor: Songs Of Our Mothers
- This collaboration of Iranian born Afghan singer Elaha Soroor with award-winning, UK-based duo Kerfaya is greater than the sum of its parts: the modern approach to Afghani folk that underpins Soroor’s treatment, combined with the eclectic experience of the production duo. Al MacSween on keys and guitarist Giuliano Modarelli are founders of the international collective Kerfaya which won Songlines Magazine’s Best Newcomer Award in 2017 for their release Radio International.
Flangipanis - 'Community Backwash'
Flangipanis are a punk rock band from Brisbane founded in 2008 by their feisty front woman Jodie. The band is renowned for fast and fun live sets filled with songs that are catchy but not prissy; angry but still funny, and make the odd substance abuse reference.
Team Flange has been lucky enough to share the stage with many bands who they drew direct influence from, such as Frenzal, The Dwarves, SNFU, Teenage Bottlerocket, and a couple of Ramones to name a few.
Their 4 piece music style is melodic, occasionally anthemic, and usually as loud and manic as possible. They have topped their local radio station’s hot 100 four times and regularly tour around the country. Flangipanis have just released their 7th studio recording “Community Backwash”, so keep an eye out at your local seediest and loudest pubs and venues for hugs and beers from this crew.
On the forthcoming release, vocalist/ Jodie Lawlor says:
“We travelled down to Sydney to record Community Backwash at the Pet food Factory. We wanted to capture a more realistic sound for flange, and a lot of the music that Jay had recorded there reflected where we wanted to go with this EP. Always the Bridesmaid did really well for us in 2018 – though we went a little all out and it didn’t capture what we do live. Community Backwash is a spurt of 7 songs in 7 inches – it’s a lot more straight forward and we reckon he nailed it.”