Hunger Strike Protests from Melbourne to Yongah Hill
Over 350 immigration detainees have staged a hunger strike at the two detention centres in Yongah Hill.
The protestors have issued a statement with their concerns, which includes long term detention injustice, visa cancellations, abuse by guards, arbitrary arrest and internal punishment regimes that operate within the detention centres.
Protestors have allegedly been detained in prison cells following their protest, with reports of one detainee who staged a roof protest being taken to the punishment cells and not being seen since.
Australian MP Vomits Over Millions of Rotting Fish
There’s a big stink over a million rotting fish in Australian river. Even causing an Australian MP to vomit while shooting a video campaigning on polluted waterways.
Up to a million rotting fish need to be removed from Australia’s Darling River as the carcasses could trigger another wave of deaths.
The fish need to be collected “within a matter of days” according to environmental scientist Stuart Khan. If they remain in the water, bacteria that feat on the carcasses will proliferate and rob the water of oxygen, compounding the problem.
Gay Purge in Chechnya
The Russian LGBT network has been monitoring alleged abuses in Chechnya, following the imprisonment of forty people and the alleged death of two people from torture.
Chechnya’s authoritative figure, Ramzan Kadyrov has consistently denied allegations of illegal detention and human rights abuses.
Ice Crater On The Surface Of Mars
A new image captured by European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft showcases an ice crater on the surface of mars.
The Korolev Crater is 82 km wide and nearly 2 kms deep, and holds perpetually frozen water in its basin. Ice still exists on Mars near its poles and the Martian atmosphere has tiny amounts of water vapour.
Kirsten Siebach, a planetary geologist at Rice University in Houston, claims that there used to be water in rivers and lakes on Mars but it largely either froze as the atmosphere dissipated or was lost to space.
9AM Zedlines
This is Robyn and Daniel with your 9am Zedlines.
Bus Flips in Gold Coast Hinterland
Six people were taken to hospital after a tourist bus flipped 20 meters down an embankment in the Gold Coast Hinterland last night.
Eighteen tourists and a bus driver had set out from O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat on a glow worm tour.
When the driver stopped on the roadside to check a mechanical issue, the bus began rolling. The driver jumped back inside but was unable to stop it for careering off the road and down an embankment.
Campbell Newman Calls For Legalisation of Illicit Drugs
Former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman calls for the legalisation and regulation of illicit drugs following the drug-related death at the national Music Festival, FOMO.
Campbell Newman has previously stated that we have lost the war on drugs, and has established to Sky News that he could easily buy drugs such as marijuana and ice off the street.
Newman believes that the consumption should be treated as a health issue and not a political issue.
Dress Codes To Be Implemented in Citizenship Ceremonies
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has introduced new laws for citizenship ceremonies including requiring a dress code for New Australians attending their citizenship ceremony.
Local councils will be forced to hold the event on Australia Day, rather than opting for alternative dates.
The dress code will ban new citizens from wearing thongs and boardies to their ceremony.
Australia Bans Secure Encryption
Australia has become the first western country to ban secure encryption, allowing the government to demand encrypted data from companies without judicial review.
Products from Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft must now include systematic weaknesses, which will allow the Government to intercept data.
The bill has only passed Australia’s lower chamber, while the upper chamber has indicated it will pass the legislation provided there are later votes on unspecific parts of the bill.
Teacher Strike in Los Angeles
Los Angeles teachers are on strike for the first time in 30 years, leaving over 600,000 students in limbo.
32,000 Los Angeles educators walked off the job Monday in the country’s second-biggest school district. Los Angeles Unified School District has hired about 400 substitute teachers and reassigned more than 2,000 administrators in response.