Legal hurdle for Manus Island as disgraceful conditions revealed
A constitutional challenge in Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) National Court of Justice over the Manus Island detention camp has just begun. The challenge, brought by PNG Opposition leader Belden...
“Captain’s pick” Nova Peris will make NT Labor’s problems worse
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has appointed Indigenous former-Olympian Nova Peris as the lead candidate on the Labor Party’s Northern Territory (NT) Senate ticket for the September federal election. This...
‘Aussie’ jobs or jobs for all? Fight the bosses, not 457 workers
The picket of Melbourne’s City West Water construction site, effectively demanding the sacking of 457 visa workers, shows just how dangerous and divisive the unions’ “Aussie jobs” campaign really...
Wild weather summer exposes Labor’s climate crimes
Wild weather around Australia this summer has put the reality of climate change into sharp relief. The whole country was caught in the grip of a heatwave that produced...
Indonesian workers’ movement rising but activists face crackdown
Last year Indonesia was shaken by a strike wave, as workers’ confidence to fight against low wages and insecure casual contracts grew. But in recent months the bosses and...
French war on Mali is not about democracy
When French warplanes began pounding the northern half of the West African state of Mali in mid-January, the French government boasted that they quickly would regain control of the...
Right wing sweeps to victory in Israeli elections
In January Israelis re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and gave unprecedented seats to far right settler parties. They now control a third of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.Their policies...
Chinese journalists strike against censorship
Journalists at the influential, liberal-leaning newspaper Southern Weekly in Guangdong province staged a two-day strike against government censorship on January 7 and 8, the first such strike at a...
Despite deal, US economy still not clear of the cliff
US debt negotiations went down to the wire in January before Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to avert the so called “fiscal cliff”. Yet little has been solved....
Capitalism isn’t working: another world is possible
We live in a world of crisis, climate change, poverty and war, says Feiyi Zhang, which is why we must fight to replace it with a new society of...
From Pauline Hanson to Geert Wilders: stopping the rise of the racist far right
The argument that protests against populist racist politicians like Geert Wilders are a bad idea ignores the lessons of Pauline Hanson’s demise, argues David GlanzDutch politician Geert Wilders, who...
Ten years since Iraq rallies: When millions marched against the war
Jean Parker looks at why the massive February 2003 global weekend of action didn’t stop the Iraq war—and the claim that this proves protests don’t work
Egypt’s revolution and the Muslim Brotherhood
Two years on, Erima Dall discusses role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egypt and the challenges ahead for the revolution that toppled a dictatorTwo years ago the Egyptian...
Lincoln, slavery and the US civil war: unwilling liberator
It was the threat of losing the Civil War that pushed Lincoln into ending slavery, not his convictions, argues Tom OrsagThe new film Lincoln depicts the US President as...
Mythologising Lincoln’s opposition to slavery
Lincoln
Directed by Steven Spielberg
In cinemas nowSteven Spielberg’s Lincoln is a fantastically rendered account of the passage of the 13th Constitutional Amendment which outlawed slavery once and for all. It...
Hands off Bob! Unions take a stand for victimised trade unionist
“A spiteful attempt to intimidate every community activist who may in future wish to assist workers in obtaining justice”—this is how a leaflet distributed to Victorian building sites by...
Victorian teachers strike three against Baillieu
FOR THE third time in 18 months, 30,000 Victorian teachers and school support staff showed their willingness to fight Victorian Liberal Premier Ted Baillieu’s attacks with a statewide strike...
The myths behind Zionism’s claim to Palestine
The Invention of the Jewish People
By Shlomo Sand
Verso, $25“Zionism is the Jewish national movement of rebirth and renewal in the land of Israel—the historical birthplace of the Jewish people....
