Australia’s first female senior rabbi says her appointment to the high position can be of benefit to both young women and men of the Jewish faith. Rabbi Nicole Roberts will lead the North Shore Temple Emanuel (NSTE) in Chatswood where she has already served for six years and has helped create programs such as “Teen […]

About 500 protestors gathered at Sydney Town Hall last week to call for a ban to the live export industry. The protestors braved wet weather to demand immediate action by the federal government to end live exports. The rally was held by the Animal Justice Party NSW in response to government reactions to TV footage […]

Based on a true story, Queen of Katwe is a classic and inspiring tale of overcoming extreme adversity to pursue and achieve dreams, against all odds and in the unlikeliest of circumstances. Set against a backdrop of an impoverished Uganda over the last five years, the film chronicles recent events as they unfolded. Directed by […]

Protesters have called on the Prime Minister to raise allegations of persecution, torture and organ harvesting with China at next week’s G20 summit. Members of Falun Gong called for government support at a public media conference in Brisbane’s King George Square on Wednesday. “Immediately end the brutal and senseless persecution of Falun Gong in China […]

In the slums around Vizhinjam Fishing Harbor in Kerala, India, poverty is everywhere. In one village children as young as 10 work on fishing boats instead of going to school. Just 2km away from Vizhinjam waves break cleanly on the shores of Kovalam Beach. It was here that Jelle Rigole, a 32-year-old Belgian, realised surfing […]

State and federal politicians joined a protest of about 300 people outside Queensland parliament on Tuesday organised by pro-life Rethink Abortion campaigners. The protestors demonstrated with speeches, song and dance against the “Women’s right to choose” bill introduced by Independent MP Rob Pyne. Opposition MP Mark Robinson told the rally he would oppose the bill […]

Countries that don’t have abortion on the criminal code have lower abortion rates than Queensland, according to Independent MP Rob Pyne. Mr Pyne said countries like Holland which have abortion on demand had one-tenth the abortion rate of Queensland. Passionate about decriminalising abortion, Mr Pyne told Newsbytes he didn’t understand the thinking behind the idea […]

Pet owners on the Gold Coast are struggling to find accommodation, with many forced to relinquish their animals. Local James Healy said he found it difficult to find a pet-friendly rental for his small dog and cat. Despite being financially qualified, with full-time work and good pay, Mr Healy was refused repeatedly before an application […]

No hardship can crush the hopes of two million people. “Freezing winters, communism, war… all these we endure,” Ljubljana’s Helena said. The red-haired university lecturer stood and watched passers-by stroll through the the main square of Slovenia in southern central Europe. Despite a struggling economy and a ballooning refugee crisis, Helena is optimistic about the […]

Djelko starts his free walking tour atop a park bench beside a busy street in Belgrade. Behind him, expensive cars speed noisily by. Overhead, the sky is blue, cloudless. The young Serb is lanky, thin faced and bespectacled. He wears sneakers, baggy jeans and a green t-shirt that says ‘Save the Earth – it’s the […]

From civil war in Somalia to the lazy Central Coast suburb of Wyoming, Somali-born Khalid Ugaas’s life has been dramatically split between two continents, cultures and lifestyles. The softly-spoken 30-year-old business student has come through harsh circumstances to find peace in Australia. Finally, the skies look bright. Khalid, one of 11 children to Ogaden-born parents, […]

The Senate has approved the Foreign Fighters Bill, making it illegal to advocate terrorism and declaring overseas conflict areas no go zones for Australians. The bill passed the Senate easily 43 votes to 12 with Labor and the Palmer United Party supporting the government. Only the Greens, independent Nick Xenophon and Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm […]

“A-lo!” She shouted down the line. (A mutual friend had warned me that the Sierra Leone-born Australian was “full-on”, “fiery”.) I took the phone away from my ear and placed it on speaker so I could better hear the electric mix of loud, bouncing West African intonations and subtle Australian inflexions bubbling from the phone. […]

About 3000 protestors took to the streets of Sydney on Sunday to rally against Israeli bombing of Gaza. For the third week in a row protesters gathered at the Town Hall at 1pm, where speakers addressed the crowd and led chants against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and the Abbott government’s perceived pro-Israeli stance. More than […]

About 600 angry protesters converged on Brisbane’s King George Square on Saturday to oppose Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s asylum-seeker policy. The policy, which declares that asylum-seekers arriving by boat without a visa will be sent to Papua New Guinea and will never be admitted to Australia, drew strong reactions from speakers. “If deterrents worked, hundreds […]