Thousands of protesters marched in Australian cities yesterday demanding an end to the US military occupation in Iraq, kicking off a wave of worldwide rallies to mark the first anniversary of the war.
In Sydney, protesters held aloft a 1.5m-high puppet of Prime Minister John Howard in a cage to represent Australian terror suspects detained at the US military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. The puppet also had a Pinocchio-like long nose, a reference to accusations the government lied about the reasons for going to war.
The demonstrations across Australia, along with others planned in New Zealand and Asian locations such as Hong Kong, were expected to be the first globally to mark the start of the Iraq war on March 20 last year.
"By the end of this 24-hour cycle, millions of people will have marched throughout the world asking their governments not to take them to war and to give them peace," Pamela Curr, an organizer of the Sydney protest, said.
Howard and his government have been unstinting supporters of US President George W. Bush in the war on terror, fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Australia sent 2,000 troops to fight in Iraq despite overwhelming public opposition to the war.
In Hong Kong, demonstrators were expected to march to the US Consulate.
"Bush's invasion of Iraq has incited more terrorism. It caused terrible suffering not only to the Iraqi people, but everyone in the world," said protest organizer and pro-democracy activist Lau San-ching.
In Sydney, an estimated 3,000 protesters marched through the downtown shopping district chanting "US out of the Middle East, No Justice, No Peace."
"Many Australians are disappointed that the government ignored their voices," said Anna Sampson, one of the demonstrators.
"It's an election year and I think it's time the Howard government was held to account," she said.
Australia expects to go to the polls later this year.
In the northeastern city of Brisbane, protesters unfurled a 100m-long banner with the words "We still say no to war," and marched through the city's streets.
"We went to war in this country on the basis of false premises. That has been proven now," anti-war campaigner Annette Brownlie. "The world is less safe now than it was a year ago."
Terry Hicks, the father of Australian terror suspect David Hicks, who has been detained without charge at Guantanamo Bay, was to address a rally in Melbourne.
David Hicks was captured by US troops for allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban in late 2001. He is only one of two detainees to have been appointed a military lawyer by the Pentagon, but the date for his first court appearance -- or the charges he may face -- have not yet been established.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number