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Britain: Welfare cuts leave disabled 鈥榰nable to live鈥

The Conservative party government鈥檚 plan to slash unemployment benefits for disabled people making new claims could leave some unable to afford the essentials of life, opponents warned on February 2.

Under government plans, from April new claimants assessed as fit for work will have their benefits cut by 拢29.05 to 拢73.10 a week, the same rate as the jobseeker鈥檚 allowance. The government claims the changes will help halve the 鈥渄isability employment gap鈥 and save the Treasury an estimated 拢1 billion by 2020-21.

An anti-Trump protest placard.

TrumpWatch: General strike call spreads; Trump workers' unionise; ACLU smash donations record; and more

Momentum for general strike call against Trump grows

鈥淎ctivists are calling for people to stop working and buying things for a day to bring down Donald Trump,鈥 on February 2. A nation-wide general strike has been called for February 17 to protest the Trump administration.

Ecuador, Bolivia call for Latin American unity against Trump

Ecuadorean said on January 30 that Latin America needed to respond with a strong, united front against the anti-immigration measures of US President Donald Trump, T.

Venezuela: 'A new revolutionary subject has been created'

Marta Harnecker is a Chilean-born socialist activist and intellectual. A former advisor to Venezuela鈥檚 late revolutionary president Hugo Chavez, she has written dozens of books on popular struggles and socialist theory.

India: Farmer protests hit by repression in Tamil Nadu

Farmers, fisherfolk and students across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu have been protesting since January 16 to protect the region鈥檚 tradition of Jallikattu (bull taming).

Usually conducted in January during Pongal (harvest) festival, it creates economic gains for farmers across the state of 70.5 million people.

Jallikattu is a 2000-year-old cultural practice in Tamil Nadu, where youth seek to hold on to the hump of a bull as a display of courage. There is evidence of this sport in the ancient literature and in sculptures across the temples in Tamil Nadu.

Sri Lanka: Uprooted Tamils confront structural genocide

Uprooted Tamil families from Keappaa-pulavu in the predominantly Tamil north-east province of Mullaiththeevu have accused the Sri Lankan military of genocide for depriving them of their land.

Following a series of protests by Tamils, who face systematic discrimination and oppression, Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena was supposed to release 234 acres of lands to Tamil families last month as a temporary measure.

Sri Lanka: Fears grow over missing trade unionist

A trade union leader who has been in the forefront of industrial action for more than a month against Sri Lanka鈥檚 main telecommunications provider has gone missing after court orders banning protests led by his union.

The wife of M Sujeewa Mangala, the vice-president of the All Ceylon Telecommunication Employees鈥 Union, has lodged a complaint at a police station in the Colombo suburbs that her husband did not come home on December 29 as expected.

Homeless people speak out

Melbourne City Council sent 75 riot police to evict 10 rough sleepers who had been camping outside Flinders Street Station on February 1.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle had previously threatened to remove rough sleepers from the streets of the CBD and council officers had taken away the property of homeless people.

WestConnex minister is no fix for tollway disaster

At least three of Australia's largest infrastructure investors are queuing up to form consortia to bid for the controversial $17 billion WestConnex tollway. CP2, IFM and the favourite, Transurban, are involved, with QIC and AMP Capital said to be likely participants.

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Why Israel loves Trump

Since the January 21 inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Israel has approved the construction of 8000 new homes for Jewish Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967. This represents a significant rise in the rate of illegal settlement building.

There has also been a rise in the rate of demolitions of Palestinian homes and land confiscations, both in the territories occupied in 1967 and in those that have been within the Israeli state since 1948.

Koala.

Victoria's koala population needs protection

Conservationists say the Strzelecki Ranges hold 鈥渙ne of the most important koala populations in Australia鈥, after completing surveys that may suggest a population of several thousand koalas across the region.

No to Centrelink Robo-Debts

About 200 people rallied in Melbourne on January 31 against the Turnbull Government's new practice of sending computer-generated debt notices to people who have received or are receiving Centrelink payments.

Up to 90% of these debt notices are false. Many people have received debt notices demanding they repay thousands of dollars that they dispute owing. Centrelink staff have been instructed not to fix any obvious errors unless the person complains.