Talk of a possible Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has re-ignited debate over the right of self-defence under international law. Some academics, including Anthony D'Amato and [Alan Dershowitz](link…
Scientists are clear that tuna catch needs to be cut, but figuring out who will fish less and where is much trickier.
AAP
The eighth meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission concluded in Guam on Friday 30 March 2012. Five hundred delegates from more than 40 countries argued for a week about how to reduce…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has resurrected former coalition government policy to “turn back” boats seeking asylum in Australia.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has said that under a coalition government every boat coming to Australia carrying asylum seekers will be sent back to Indonesia. The Indonesian police, the United Nations…
The legalities of whaling and protesting aren’t black and white.
wietse?/Flickr
Japanese whaling and Australian opposition to it has become as much a staple for the Australian media in summer as bushfires and the cricket. The level of interest has greatly intensified since Sea Shepherd…
In Iceland, the whale is just another fish.
reutC/flickr
On December 7, three whaling ships set out from Japan and kicked off the 2011 whaling season. For the next few months, Australian eyes will be focused on conflict in the Southern Ocean as the annual ritual…
The conference is over, but has anything changed?
AAP
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: Occasionally international treaties conflict with each other. The last days of the Durban climate talks was one of those times. The United Nations’ Convention on Climate…
Protesters have a point: big polluters’ approach to patents isn’t helping developing nations clean up.
Tck, Tck, Tck
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: In a global day of action for climate justice, thousands of protestors complained about the slow progress in international debates on climate change at the United Nations…
No new climate dawn at Durban? It’s not the end of the world.
Andrew Roos
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: Progress towards a binding international agreement on targets to tackle global warming has been more than glacial. Yet despite growing alarm among the climate science…
Last week the Rena, a Liberian-registered container ship, ran aground on Astrolaube Reef in the Bay of Plenty, around 12 nautical miles from the New Zealand coast. The stricken vessel has been stuck there…
The Australian government decides what help it will provide to travellers caught in civil unrest, like these foreign tourists in Thailand.
EPA/Rungroj Yongrit
The passport all Australians carry overseas is not just an entry or exit permit in and out of countries. It represents our nationality and our rights when abroad, as well as the rights and duties the government…
What is Australia’s responsibility for low-lying neighbours like Palau?
CasaDeQueso
The Pacific Island State of Palau recently announced it will seek an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), asking whether countries have a responsibility to avoid their emissions…
Laws designed to protect domestic workers could also help those trafficked from other countries.
Flickr/Kara Allyson
Domestic workers now have greater protection from exploitative employers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted a convention which regulates working hours and prevents violence in the…
Colonel Gaddafi is a brutal tyrant, but his arrest warrant is a political move.
EPA/Sabri Elmhedwi
Arrest warrants have been issued for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and Libya’s intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi. It follows a referral by the United Nations Security Council…