Flash: No Federal Budget Allocation for The Consternation

By Canberra, Australia correspondent Erica Quarterbee

Education Minister Christopher Pyne has flagged that the Abbott government will not provide funding for The Consternation in the budget.

“We are deeply disappointed at the total lack of federal budget allocation for this invaluable project” said the publishers and editors in a joint statement on Friday. “We cannot express the depth of our disappointment in the Minister’s decision, especially after the favourable publicity given to his other budgeted changes.  We will try to continue with funding from other sources but will have to divert more of our energies to fund-raising activities such as the Sustainability Regatta in August this year.”

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Budget Shuffles Guns from Defence into Schools

By Canberra, Australia correspondent Erica Quarterbee

From WikipediaThe Australian Minister for Education and Training, Christopher Pyne today announced that the forthcoming budget will tie Federal school funding to weapons training in schools, retargeting half a billion dollars from the defence budget every year. The objective is to address the huge market of more than 250,000 illicit weapons in Australia.

KAL1Students in years 10 to 12 will be required to take part in weapons training starting with small-calibre rifles, shotguns and hand guns, graduating through sub-machine guns, up to 50 calibre machine guns in the final year. Continue reading

Au Revoir Eiffel Tower. Bonjour Moulin Tricolore

by European correspondents Ahmed Butrosghali (Calais), Yvonne Rückenkratzer (Vaduz), Menno van Spijkergraf (Hilversum), Dieter Ditteldiestel (Düsseldorf) and Sven-Erik Østermark (Wroclaw)

EiffelTricolore

The quarter of Paris to be rejuvinated and energised.

The Eiffel Tower is to be dismantled in the lead up to IPCC’s COP21 at the end of November this year, symbolising France’s contribution to the lowering of carbon emissions.

France’s President François Hollande was delighted to announce planning approval has been granted by the City for a more appropriate 300-metre tall, 12 megawatt wind turbine tower to be installed in its place. Already dubbed Moulin Tricolore by passionate and popular acclaim, the structure is to be completed and opened to the public on Bastille Day, 2020. The complete success of the two wind turbines installed within the old Eiffel Tower earlier this year had encouraged government, environmentalists and city planners to tackle climate change in a big way. Continue reading