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Action updates

ASIET picket SYDNEY — ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor) held a picket outside the Defence Department in Pitt St on September 19. The protest against Howard's visit to Indonesia coincided with his recent talks with Suharto

From fish and chips to proto-fascism

By Lisa Macdonald Independent MP Pauline Hanson's inaugural speech to parliament on September 10 should disgust and anger, but not surprise, us. In less than 2500 words, Hanson painted a vision for Australia that includes: the introduction of 12

The untold story of Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island)

By Carla Gorton The minister for Aboriginal affairs, Senator Herron, recently announced plans to introduce special legislation to exempt the Hindmarsh Island bridge from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 and

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 7pm. Access News — Melbourne community TV, Channel 31,

Anqelique Kidjo

SYDNEY — Anqelique Kidjo sang to a packed Metro last week. For two solid hours this charismatic African diva had the enthusiastic crowd dancing and singing — even though most of Kidjo's songs are in Fon, her native Beninois language. Fifa, which

Widespread air transport of plutonium planned

By Lisa Macdonald The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week approved new regulations allowing widespread air transport of plutonium and other nuclear materials. The decision massively increases the possibility of extensive nuclear

Elections shake Curtin Uni

By Corinne Glenn PERTH— One of the most political and hotly contested elections in years was held on Curtin University from September 10-12. The Higher Education Action Team (HEAT), initiated by Resistance and involving students from the

Victoria: a far cry from utopia

By Dave Holmes MELBOURNE —"Life wasn't meant to be easy": in its day, Malcolm Fraser's quip became notorious. Its haughty Tory disdain summed up perfectly the outlook of the capitalist class and the Coalition government towards the needs and

Nikitin case shows sad state of Russian rights

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — "Russia's Federal Security Service [FSB] said yesterday that it had observed all relevant legal norms in its arrest and detainment of Alexander Nikitin", an Itar-Tass report on September 11 stated blandly. The security

Courage fails under fire

Courage Under FireDirected by Edward ZwickWith Denzil Washington, Meg Ryan and Lou Diamond PhillipsReviewed by Norm Dixon The build-up to the release of Courage Under Fire made much of the US military's refusal to cooperate with its production. The

Letter from the US: Profits from poverty

Profits from poverty Since President Clinton signed the bipartisan law abolishing the 60-year-old guarantee of federal aid to poor children, one startling development has been proposals by giant corporations to take over the running of welfare

Vanstone attempts to confuse education campaign

By Marina Cameron With four successful national days of action having been held already this year, the campaign against education cuts and the massive public sentiment behind it represent significant stumbling blocks for the government. In an