Time to take a stand for refugees
On November 15, Indonesian authorities said they had shot and wounded two Afghan refugees they said were trying to escape after their boat was intercepted three days earlier.
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Queensland abortion arrests: defend the right to choose
Many Queenslanders assume abortion is legal, since 14,000 terminations occur every year in the state.
John Pilger’s 2009 Sydney Peace Award speech: Breaking the Australian silence
The following speech by renowned journalist and film-maker John Pilger was delivered on November 5 as he accepted the 2009 Sydney Peace Prize. To read more of John Pilger's work, visit www.johnpilger.com
Unionists speak out for refugees
On November 6, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the mining division of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) announced they would jointly donate $10,000 to the 78 asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking.
Clive Hamilton: ‘We can make Higgins a turning-point in Australian politics’
Well known author and environmentalist Clive Hamilton recently announced he will stand for the Australian Greens in the December 5 by-election for the seat of Higgins in Melbourne.
Gov't report condemns NT intervention
The Northern Territory Emergency Response, a “tough love” government intervention into remote NT Aboriginal communities, has been renamed by the federal ALP government. Its official name is now "Closing the Gap NT".
Green Left Weekly fighting fund: Don’t let Rudd play the race card
In a recent reflection, veteran Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro noted that 237 members of the US Congress — 44% — were millionaires, including President Barack Obama.
Honduras: ‘The elections are fraudulent’
“On November 29, we are not going to have time to vote”, Juan Barahona, a leader of the National Resistance Front Against the Coup on Honduras (FNRG) told the media in front of the Honduran Congress on November 12, Rightsaction.org said that day.
United States: The making of the Fort Hood tragedy
People across the world were shocked at the news that a US Army psychiatrist went on a shooting rampage on November 5 at Fort Hood army base in Texas, killing 13 people and injuring dozens.
Interview: The fight for intersex rights
Earlier this year, South African track athlete Caster Semenya was vilified in the international media for allegedly having both male and female biological characteristics. People with such characteristics are known as “intersex”. Green Left Weekly’s Farida Iqbal spoke to Gina Wilson from the Organisation Intersex International (OII) about Semenya and intersex politics.
Venezuela: Chavez denounces war threat as unions organise
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared on November 8 that his country is prepared to defend itself against a possible act of aggression from Colombia or the United States.
Climate logic of the madhouse
As the November 2-6 international climate change talks in Barcelona ended in poorly-concealed acrimony and weary expressions of “official optimism”, a funny thing happened in mainstream Australian media.
Iraq: Government pushes oil privatisation
Before and after the invasion of Iraq, the war’s goal of privatising Iraq’s oil to the benefit of Western oil corporations was highlighted not just by the war’s opponents, but also by many of its supporters.
Sri Lanka: Australian complicity in genocide
National Party leader Senator Barnaby Joyce has sought political capital by promoting an even harder line than the Rudd government on Tamil refugees. “Send the Oceanic Viking to Colombo and you will have made a strong statement”, Joyce told the Nine Network on November 8 about the 78 Tamil people refusing to leave the Australian custom ship to be imprisoned in Indonesia’s Tanjung Pinang Detention Centre.
Sri Lanka: The campaign for justice for political prisoners
Thirty years ago, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was enacted in the Sri Lankan parliament. It was meant to be merely a “temporary” provision, to stamp out the encroaching terrorist menace.
ACT makes civil unions legal
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly passed a civil unions bill on November 11 to allow same-sex couples the right to legally binding ceremonies. Civil unions with ceremonies have been a key demand of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) movement in the ACT since 2006.
Don’t forget the men of Guantanamo
When United States President Barack Obama issued an executive order in January to close down the military-run prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, a collective sigh of relief spread across the world.
El Salvador: Appeal for donations for victims of floods and mudslides
Rains have caused 176 mudslides and 13 large floods in El Salvador. The town of San Vicente, was buried in mud and stones from the slopes of the Chinchontepec volcano.
Traveston Dam project blocked by federal government
A huge community campaign in opposition to the construction of a new dam on the Mary River, north of Brisbane, ended last week with a victory for people power.
UN vote: Australia backs Israeli war crimes
Australia was one of 18 countries to vote against the United Nations Goldstone report into Israel’s December-January war on Gaza at the UN General Assembly in New York on November 5.
Abuse of guest workers is the real threat: Noonan
“What threatens Australian workers is the abuse of guest workers and the use of guest workers to drive down Australian workers’ wages and conditions”, Dave Noonan, national secretary of the construction division of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) told Green Left Weekly.
Britain: Travel company says carbon offsets don’t work
A British travel agent has said it will no longer offer its customers carbon offsets because they are a diversion from dealing with climate change.
Chris Harman: 1942-2009
Chris Harman, a leading British socialist and author of dozens of books and pamphlets on politics, economics, history and the Marxist tradition, died of a heart attack on November 6 at the age of 67.
Community services workers march for pay equity
On a 35-degree day, community services workers in not-for-profit organisations mobilised from across Victoria to call for equal pay. The Australian Services Union, which covers the workers, estimated almost 4000 people rallied.
El Salvador: Twenty years since radical priests murdered
At about 2am on November 16, 1989, Salvadoran soldiers burst into the home of six Jesuit priests teaching at the University of Central America. They proceeded to slaughter them.
Germany: Twenty years since the fall of the Wall
Here in Berlin, radio and TV are celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago so intensively there’s hardly a moment for the weather report, which, unfortunately for all the planned events, turned out nasty and rainy.
Gov’t takes over coffee firms
The government has taken over Venezuela’s two largest coffee makers, Fama de America and Cafe Madrid. FdA has been nationalised and CM turned into a partially state-owned mixed-enterprise.
Hundreds attend Sri Lankan rights meeting
More than 200 people, many from the Tamil community, attended a public meeting at Monash University on November 10 called “Sri Lanka: Human rights issues and media representation”.
On the box
Palestine: Abbas to not stand again as way forward questioned
President of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, said on November 5 that he would not run in the presidential election scheduled for January 24.
