14 April: A WA woman has appeared in court charged with squirting a policewoman with her breast milk.
Erica Stefanie Leeder, 26, faced Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday accused of assaulting the female officer while she was being strip searched at Rockingham police station.
It has been alleged that while she was undergoing the examination she grabbed her own breast and squirted milk on to the officer’s forehead, arms and clothing.
She was charged with assaulting a police officer and appeared in court on Match 31 where she was refused bail on the grounds she needed to show exceptional circumstances.
12 April: Two police officers have been injured following the closure of a dance party in Sydney involving approximately 1000 people.
Police were called to an abandoned industrial area on McPherson Street, Botany at 10.30pm on Saturday after receiving complaints about the rave.
About 1000 people were moved on with relative ease, but it is alleged a number of partygoers began throwing glass bottles at police. One of these bottles struck an officer who suffered cuts to his head. The officer was taken to Prince of Wales Hospital to have pieces of glass removed from his head. Another police officer was allegedly assaulted by a 26-year-old woman, who was taken to Botany Bay Police Station for questioning.
Police, accompanied by the riot and dog squads, used capsicum spray to subdue unruly partygoers. A number of people were treated for minor capsicum spray contamination.
Police are investigating the incident and trying to determine if the party was promoted on social media platforms.
4 April: Hundreds of anti-Islam protesters clashed with counterdemonstrators at rallies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and other sites across the country.
Mounted police were forced to separate the two sides in Melbourne as tensions soared and scuffles broke out across Federation Square, with paramedics called to treat several injured people.
The group Reclaim Australia is holding nationwide rallies against “sharia law, halal tax and Islamisation”. Around 200 marched on the square, a handful bearing swastika tattoos, others in T-shirts reading: “If you don’t love it, leave”.
They were met by several hundreds protesters carrying signs that read, “No room for racism”, and promoting a variety of other causes. Continue reading “Australia: Anti-racist protesters clash with ‘Reclaim Australia’ rallies”
29 January: A five-day blockade that cut fuel supplies to Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, and forced some power stations to close ended on 29 January.
The blockade was imposed by villagers from Hanuabada after two betel nut vendors were shot and killed by police who fired into a crowd.
Locals say police fired indiscriminately into a crowd of men, women and children after a dispute between betel nut sellers and council officers. Angry Hanuabadans maintained roadblocks around the village, one of which blocks the road to the PNG LNG plant site outside the capital.
Radio NZ correspondent, Todagia Kelola, says the police commissioner, Geoffrey Vaki, and other senior government officials visited the village, and negotiated the end of the blockade.
Mr Kelola says the blockade’s end came at a crucial moment. “Port Moresby city almost came to a standstill with the fuel for the city running short because tankers were blocked, and at the same time the power station that supports supply to city, the expatriates that operate that power plant had to be evacuated, so the power plant was shut down.”
Todagia Kelola says it’s not clear what deal was reached with police, as the villagers had originally demanded 4 million US dollars compensation for the killings.
