Regime change for Burma could be appropriate?

ABC News in Australia is reporting that an opposition frontbencher in Australia has suggested that regime change could actually be a workable option in the wake of the military regime's rejection of foreign aid workers and experts. 

Whilst it may have been two weeks since the cyclone hit that caused so much damage and death, I'm not sure that that is the appropriate time to be talking about regime change, whilst so many of the country's citizens are struggling to survive.  I agree that the thought has to be on the table, but I don't think now is the time to be dealing with it.

News Roundup: Wednesday 28th November 2008

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A 68-year old former drag queen has been arrested over the murders of 18 mainly gay men over a period of 30 years.

BBC News: Portsmouth Manager Harry Redknapp and 4 other people have been arrested in an ongoing City Of London Police investigation into football corruption.

WCBS - CBS 2 News New York: A 9 year old boy is facing serious charges after alledgedly bringing a loaded handgun to a school in New Jersey.

RTE News: Irish Minister for Health Mary Harney has survivied a no-confidence vote, by just 10 votes, but a Fianna Fail TD has resigned the party whip.

And Finally...

Ananova: A US judge has been sacked after he jailed an entire courtroom after no-one admitted responsibility for a ringing mobile phone!

Australia Votes 2007: Labor showing signs of closing in

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's equivalent 0f the BBC, was already pretty certain at 9am GMT / 8pm AEDT that Labor were heading for victory. Election analyst Antony Green was also predicting that John Howard was in trouble in his own seat of Bennelong, even though only 17% of the vote had been counted.

Australia Votes 2007: Online Coverage

As I have previously reported, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is likely to be the first choice for the international reader following the Australian Federal Election. But other broadcasters have their own election sites.

SBS have their own site, and will start their election coverage at 9.30pm AEDT. Seven Network have teamed up with Yahoo! for their site. Nine Network and MSN are together for their special election site. Sky News Australia also has a dedicated election section.

That's the one good thing about the web. If you go hunting, you can often find exactly the information you're looking for, and sometimes, like this time, you can find it many times over.

News Roundup: Friday 23rd November 2007

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The federal election will show whether PM John Howard's strategy will triumph, or whether voters will go for change and elect Kevin Rudd.

Based only on the votes to the poll so far, it looks like readers expect Kevin Rudd to win, but there is still time for things to change.

Al Jazeera: A 15 year old girl who was suspected of robbery was put in a cell with more than 20 men, who raped her repeatedly for a month, according to human rights groups.

CBC News: Lebanon's president declared a state of emergency then resigned, handing power to the military. The move is thought to threaten to push the country in further political uncertainty.

EuroNews: Denamrk's Prime Minister has unveiled his new cabinet and urged his countrymen to support the new European Treaty.

Sorry, but this European Union was created out of political ambition rather than political necessity, and the Euro was created out of political ambition, rather than economic necessity. It was a sow's ear when created and no amount of work can turn it into a silk purse.

And Finally...

BBC News: After 2 21 ft falls and four metal plates, one in each leg, we introduce to you, The Bionic Cat!!!

News Roundup: Wednesday 21st November 2007

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Australian Labouor Party is accusing senior members of the Australian Liberal Party of being involved in the distrubting of fake flyers from the non-existant "Islamic Australia Foundation", which attempted to link the Labour Party with islamic terrorism.

Fox News Channel: Three men who jad been previously arrested back in 2005, have been re-arrested over the disappearance in Aruba of teenager Natalee Holloway.

Russia Today: A female politician has repeatedly slapped a journalist live on national TV in Venezuela, leading to concerns over press freedom.

MSNBC: Opposition politician Imran Khan has been released along with over 5000 lawyers and political activists.

And Finally...

Fox News Channel: A group of Swedish women have staged topless protests over what they call gender-biased rules on swimwear!

News Roundup: Monday 19th November 2007

WABC - Channel 7 Eyewitness News: More racy photos have emerged showing the Hoboken Police Chief and other police officers posing with weapons and "Hooters" girls.

WJLA - ABC 7 News Washington DC: Disgraced Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick has surrended to US Marshals ahead of his sentencing on December 10th.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Australian PM John Howard has denied that he has delayed campaigning in Tasmania because he has given up on two marginal seats.

Al Jazeera: Iraqi Police have arrested 43 foreign security guards after a woman was shit in central Baghdad.

BBC News: Zimbabwe's goverment is accusing the UK of planning an invasion and assassinations of the country's leadership.

This one belongs in the Ridiculous News File! The trouble is, they actually believe this rubbish!

Capital News 9: The Schenectady County District Attorney announceed a grand jury had found numorous problems with the way the local Police Department handled evidence.

CBC News: The government of British Columbia has ordered an inquiry into the death of a man at Vancouver International Airport after he was tasered.

New Dehli Television: The UN-backed genocide tribunal in Cambodia has arrested the former Khmer Rouge head of state after he was released from hospital.

And Finally...

Sky News: After a whirlwind 3 day romance,Britain's oldest newleyweds have just tied the knot.

She is 85 years old, He is 93!

News Roundup: Sunday 18th November 2007

France 24: Greece and Turkey launch their first ever shared gas pipeline.

I hope this is a first step to the reunification of Cyprus.

Agence France Presse: Voters in Kosovo have voted for a pro-independence leader's party in key legislative elections.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: All 27 miners who were trapped in a Ballarat gold mine have been brought to the surface.

KCBS All News 740: An expert in time management is causing controversy by suggesting entrepreneurs go on an email diet.

Sky News: One of America's best known brands, MTV, is now trying to enter the Arab world.

WJLA - ABC 7 Washington DC: The Frederick County Sheriff's Office says a man has died after a deputy used a taser to break up a fight.

And Finally...

BBC News: A 5.5m long Minke Whale has been spotted almost 1000 miles from the ocean in the Amazon rainforest.

Pakistan State Of Emergency Roundup

With the National State Of Emergency declared in Pakistan, I thought it would be interesting to see how the various news websites have reported this.

It'sinteresting to note that the signs were there before this happened. NDTV interviewed former premier and Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on November 1st 2007, and she said that she saw no movement towards fair elections in Pakistan. Then the next day, Al Jazeera reported that there were rumours that Martial Law had been imposed in Pakistan, and that the military leaders were denying this.

But on Saturday, a National State Of Emergency was declared, as Al Jazeera reported, and the constitution was suspended. Zee News reports that the US and UK were unhappy with developments, and were looking for assurances from Musharraf.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who had flown home from Dubai back to Karachi, condemned the move too, but was unexpectedly allowed to return to her home. Perhaps that will be so she can be put under house arrest, as there have been reports that former Pakistan Cricket captain and politician Imran Khan has been put under house arrest.

Meantime, President Musharraf went on television to defend his actions, saying that terrorism was threatening the country's sovereignty.

Obviously, we'll follow developments closely.

Australia Votes 2007: Online coverage news

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation have confirmed that they will be streaming their ABC Television coverage of the Australian Federal Election from 6pm EST, which I believe is 5am UK Time on Saturday morning.

Not sure yet if BBC Parliament will relay coverage, or whether BBC News 24 and/or BBC World will provide some form of coverage as well. I definitely think that there will be an election programme as well on ABC Radio National and/or ABC NewsRadio, which are both streamed live online anyway.

Australian PM soon to call a federal election?

ABC Australia is reporting that there is mounting speculation as to whether PM John Howard will call an election this weekend. ABC Australia seem so certain on this that their election site is already up and running.

Out of interest, I decided to look at the other Australian news sites. NineMSN didn't show anything of interest there. The SBS World News Australia site reports that Howard says he has more to do before setting an election date. Seven News doesn't have anything to say on the matter, whilst Sky News Australia highlights the fact that unofficial campainging is already underway.

One thing I can assure you, is that when the election happens, I will cover Australia's Election Night, right here on Viewpoint.

Rupert Murdoch's Dow Jones bid might not continue

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting that Rupert Murdoch is 'highly unlikely' to proceed with his US$5bn bid for Dow Jones.

I bet that will please the News Hounds!

Police catch Japanese underwear thief in schoolgirl uniform!

Of all the crazy stories to find, this one has to be the craziest!

I found this on the Australian ABC News Online site. As far as news stories go, they don't get much crazier!

There isn't much more I can say about it, just read it...