A new group has been established to campaign for women鈥檚 rights in Indonesia. In December, more than 100 women met in Jakarta to launch Indonesian Women鈥檚 Action 鈥 Kartini (API-K), which has begun campaigning for women鈥檚 rights in the workplace, home and society.
Participants came from 32 cities across Indonesia. They included women who are involved in existing women鈥檚 networks, students, workers and urban poor. They spent three days discussing issues facing women in economics, politics and culture.
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The Inconvenient Genocide: Who Remembers the Armenians?
Geoffrey Robertson QC, Vintage Books,
Sydney, 294 pages, 2014
On the eve of Nazi Germany鈥檚 1939 invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler urged his generals 鈥渢o kill without mercy men, women and children of the Polish race or language鈥.
鈥淥nly in such a way will we win [what] we need,鈥 Hitler said. 鈥淲ho, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians.鈥
The Nazi leader was referring to the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Turkish empire in 1915 against the Armenian people within its borders.
Fears over the safety of the 18,000 civilians trapped in Yarmouk, south of the Syrian capital of Damascus, have grown following reports that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has taken control of large areas of the Palestinian refugee camp.
The IS, notorious for its brutal execution of hostages in the areas it occupies in Iraq and Syria, infiltrated Yarmouk camp on April 1.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on April 2 that his government would strengthen the country's public health system by the hiring of 4500 extra staff and abolishing a compulsory 鈧5 fee for treatment at public hospitals, that day.
The measure forms part of a broad package of reforms aimed at overhauling the country鈥檚 broken medical system by providing universal access to quality healthcare.
The Greek parliament has debated a proposal to establish a committee to investigate loan agreements between previous governments and international lenders, on March 31.
The motion, tabled by ruling anti-austerity party SYRIZA, would examine credit accords dating back to 2009 with organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank.
A lot is at stake in Turkey鈥檚 parliamentary elections to be held on June 7 鈥 for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as the oppressed Kurdish population.
White City, Black City: Architecture & War in Tel Aviv & Jaffa
By Sharon Rotbard
Pluto Press, 拢14.99
In July 2003, Unesco put the 鈥淲hite City鈥 of Tel Aviv on its list of World Heritage Sites. It took almost 20 years of incessant campaigning by the Israeli state to secure this recommendation that, de facto, legitimised far-reaching aspects of Zionist ideology.
But was there any merit to the Tel Aviv case in the first place? In fact, the building of Tel Aviv began adjacently to Jaffa 鈥 one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the world 鈥 only from about 1909.
Terrorists from Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab massacred 142 students at Garissa University in northern Kenya on April 2. In response, the Kenyan airforce bombed what they said were al-Shabaab camps in Somalia on April 5 and 6.
Kenyan forces have been occupying Somalia since October 2011, under African Union (AU) auspices, along with troops from Uganda and Burundi.
On April 7, students protested in Garissa and the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, against the seven-hour delay in security forces reaching the university during the attack.
The United States is providing crucial support to regional ally Saudi Arabia 鈥 a big buyer of US arms 鈥 as it launches a new war in the Middle East by attacking neighbouring Yemen.
A Saudi-led coalition of Western-aligned, mainly Sunni Islamist, Arab government's launched air, naval and ground military offensive against Yemen on March 25.
Saudi Arabian forces are being supported by military planes from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Egypt, which is also supplying naval forces.
The Portuguese tax-haven and tourist island of Madeira 鈥 a watering hole of Europe's super-rich 鈥 was the unlikely site of gains for the Left Bloc and the anti-corruption citizens鈥 movement Together for the People (JPP) in March 29 elections for the autonomous region鈥檚 legislative assembly.
The JPP, whose lead candidate Elvio Sousa promised 鈥渁 different way of doing politics 鈥 favouring the most victimised and the middle class鈥, won five seats (10.34%) in the 47-seat legislature.
Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights has released two reports documenting the deterioration of Palestinian health under occupation.
documents the deterioration of Palestinian health in the West Bank and Gaza as the direct consequence of ongoing Israeli military occupation.
A group of Australian academics, unionists, politicians, and others have urged the US to 鈥渟top interfering in Venezuela鈥檚 domestic affairs鈥. More than 70 prominent Australian progressives issued an open letter to US President Barack Obama condemning US sanctions against Venezuela on April 9.
The letter, initiated by the Venezuelan Solidarity Campaign in Melbourne, is printed below. The letter was handed to US consulates in Sydney and Melbourne on April 10.
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No more coups! No more interventions! Repeal the Executive Order!
Dear Mr President,
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