Australian activists launched a legal challenge yesterday to tough new laws introduced to prevent protesters “annoying” Catholic pilgrims during Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit to Sydney.
Under the new laws, police will be able to stop behavior that “causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants” in World Youth Day, the celebration of Catholic youth that is the focus of the pope’s visit.
Civil libertarians have said the laws mean people wearing T-shirts with slogans deemed annoying to Catholics face A$5,500 (US$5,225) fines.
Victims of church sex abuse also say it limits their right to legitimate peaceful protest.
Two members of a protest group called the NoToPope coalition went to the Federal Court yesterday in an attempt to have the laws overturned.
NoToPope member Rachel Evans said her group objected to the fact that they faced criminal sanctions for handing out condoms to World Youth Day pilgrims.
“These laws are very draconian and we have the right to protest and say our piece,” she told reporters outside the court.
One of the judges hearing the case, Catherine Branson, said the concept of annoyance was subjective.
“It’s the subjective element that, can I say for myself, I find most troubling,” national news agency AAP quoted her as telling the court.
“There’s a risk of public life in Sydney becoming extraordinarily bland over a period of weeks because of the force of this,” she said.
Meanwhile, one of Australia’s largest sexual health groups, Marie Stopes International, said it would provide free condoms to pilgrims through its four Sydney healthcare centers.
“The simple fact is that many young people — including Catholics — have sex,” Marie Stopes International operations manager Jill Michelson said.
“When young people get together to celebrate and the euphoria is high, sexual activity can occur,” Michelson said.
“To not provide access to condoms to those that choose to engage in sexual activity is simply encouraging unprotected sex, sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy,” she said.
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
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
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