The Sun Record News

  The "Pillar of Shame" statue being removed from the University of Hong Kong on Thursday.   A monument at a Hong Kong university that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre was removed by workers early Thursday over the objections of its creator from Denmark. The 8-meter (26-foot) tall Pillar of Shame, which depicts 50 torn and twisted bodies piled on top of each other, was made by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt to symbolize the lives lost during the bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. But the statue became an issue of dispute in October, with the university demanding that it be removed, even as the decision drew backlash from activists and rights groups. Galschiøt offered to take it back to Denmark provided he was given legal immunity that he won’t be persecuted under Hong Kong’s national security law, but has not succeeded so far. Workers barricaded the monument at the University of Hong Kong lat...

  IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Aboriginal communities argued the welfare policy breached anti-discrimination laws Australia's government will pay A$2m (£1.1m; $1.4m) in compensation to hundreds of Aboriginal people who said a welfare scheme was racist. The "work for the dole" scheme required people in remote outback communities to work up to 25 hours a week to receive income benefits. But its strict requirements meant that many vulnerable people were pushed further into poverty, critics said. The government settled a lawsuit but did not admit it was at fault. Several people had struggled to survive after having their payments cut off, advocates said. Australia controversially requires welfare recipients to record job searches and other tasks in order to receive payments. But advocates say these requirements disadvantage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in some of Australia's poorest and most isolated communities. Residents there have li...