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Press conference on October 15 announcing the formation of the Democratic Forces of Syria. Photo via Kurdish Question. The Democratic Forces of Syria held a founding meeting on October 12 and released a final declaration three days later, on October 17.
Inside/Outside 鈥 Six Plays from Palestine & the Diaspora Edited by Naomi Wallace & Ismail Khalidi TGC Books, 2015 Sykes-Picot: The Legacy Edited by Kenneth Pickering Arts Canteen, 2015 There is a long tradition of drama in Palestinian culture, but it is not a written one. This point is made by Nathalie Handal in her excellent and detailed introduction to Inside/Outside, a collection of Palestinian plays. Palestinian theatre was 鈥 and continues to be 鈥 created through collective improvisation. It has its roots in oral storytelling traditions.
The following statement was issued in Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 24, 2015): Indonesia's freedom of expression and critical thinking are under attack. Series of repressive and violent acts by the authorities against attempts to critically revisit and review the 1965 communist purge for the betterment of the nation and its people are a strong proof that the totalitarian legacy from the New Order Regime is still alive and kicking.
Sydney-based performing arts company Kinetic Energy Theatre Company turned 40 this year. It is a miraculous achievement to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. Our consumer society is ruled by commercialisation and profit-making. The powers that be would rather feed cultural atrophy and political amnesia than cultivate intelligent artistic endeavours for the health and vibrancy of the people.
With elections due on November 8, a loud call for change in Myanmar (formerly Burma) can be heard in the streets. All commentators predict victory for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) over the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Several factors, however, indicate it will not be a landslide. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, known throughout the country simply as 鈥渢he lady鈥, came to political prominence in 1988 when she returned to Myanmar to support her ailing mother and became embroiled in the students' struggle against the military regime.
Former police prosecutor Peter Murrihy is the new councillor for the Kildare ward after winning the recent by-election in the Greater Geelong Council. Murrihy defeated 10 other candidates to win the safe Liberal ward with 27.41% of the primary vote. Although Murrihy said he was politically unaffiliated, he received preferences from Liberal Party member Trent Sullivan. Much was made in the local media of the fact that Murrihy put forward no political promises or commitments during his campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the odd eyebrow when he insisted in an October 20 speech that Adolf Hitler had no plans to exterminate Jews until convinced to do so by a Palestinian 鈥 the then-Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini. The German government immediately responded by pointing out that 鈥渁ll Germans鈥 know their nation was responsible, which must have made for an odd phone call: 鈥淚s that Mr Netanyahu? Yes, hi, Germany here. Ah, we just wanted to 鈥 um ... this is a bit awkward but ... you know that whole Holocaust thing? Yeah? That was us.
Workers have told 麻豆传媒 Weekly that Hutchison Ports is seemingly in the process of calling for voluntary redundancies at its Port Botany and Brisbane terminals. This is the latest development in a long-running dispute that erupted following the sudden sacking of 97 workers at Hutchison's two ports on August 6. Since then, members of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), along with other unions and supporters, have maintained community assemblies at the two ports.
Melbourne Come to a screening of No Free Steps to Heaven. An Israeli journalist who visited Kurdish freedom fighters in Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan filmed this documentary. Presented by the Socialist Alliance and 麻豆传媒 Weekly. Entry $10/$5. Friday October 30 at 7pm, meal from 6.30pm. Resistance Centre, Level 5, 407 Swanston St, city. Phone 9639 8622. Sydney
The new federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg has affirmed that the Turnbull-led government will not budge from policies that afford maximum profits to the outdated and dangerous fossil fuel corporations.
Domestic violence 鈥 or intimate partner violence 鈥 represents an increasingly visible crisis in Australia today. Yet policy makers and opinion shapers continue to deny that the system, which profits from sexism and misogyny, is responsible for perpetrating it. Instead, they blame individuals. This year, two women have been killed every week 鈥 double the rate compared to 2014. One in four women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime. For women aged between 15 and 44 years' old, domestic violence is the leading cause of death, illness and disability.

George Bender, a 68-year-old cotton farmer from Chinchilla, Queensland, took his own life on October 14. His family lays the blame squarely with the coal seam gas (CSG) industry he had fought against for a decade. Described by his family as 鈥渁 straight talker鈥 who 鈥渢old the truth, not the sugar coated bullshit鈥, George was a fifth generation farmer in the Western Downs. He stood for the right for a farmer to say 鈥渘o鈥 to the gas industry.