On 19 October 2001, 353 people, mostly women and children, drowned on the high seas trying to reach Australia in a small, dilapidated, grossly overloaded fishing boat that would later… Read More »2001: Sinking of refugee boat SIEV X
Pope John Paul II was beatified in Saint Peter's Square on 1 May 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI, his immediate successor and for many years his valued collaborator as Prefect for… Read More »Saint John Paul II
UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including… Read More »United Nations Day
"Information and communications technologies have the potential to provide new solutions to development challenges, particularly in the context of globalization, and can foster economic growth, competitiveness, access to information and… Read More »World Development Information Day
In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945… Read More »1945: Establishment of the United Nations
"The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was a defining moment for global efforts to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit arms trade: the Agenda included a specific… Read More »Disarmament Week
On 26 October 1985 the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen, handed over title for the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to the Traditional Owners of the area – the… Read More »1985: Return of Uluru to the traditional owners, the Anangu people
On this day the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board of Management decision to close the climb to the top of Uluru came into force. The Board is made up of… Read More »2019: Ban on climbing Uluru comes into force
Jesus chose some unlikely people: a former Zealot, a former (crooked) tax collector, an impetuous fisherman, two “sons of thunder,” and a man named Judas Iscariot. It is a reminder… Read More »Saints Simon and Jude
One hundred years after the Battle of Pinjarra, someone writing under the nome de plume 'Cygney' recounted the story in The West Australian newspaper. What do you make of this… Read More »1834: Battle of Pinjara, WA