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Iggy Kim, Sydney On January 18, NSW police commissioner Ken Moroney announced that he will recommend to police minister John Watkins that Taskforce Gain, which focuses on gangs linked to "Middle Eastern organised crime", be given extra resources
Mara Ochoa March 10 will mark a watershed day in the long history of US hypocrisy in international relations. This is the date set by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments by attorneys for five Cuban nationals who, while working
Doug Lorimer As former US treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recently confirmed, Washington's post-9/11 "war on terror" was a coldly calculated conspiracy by the administration of US President George Bush, begun from its first week in office, to
Helen Jarvis & Jon Lamb, Mumbai More than 80,000 people participated in the fourth World Social Forum, held on January 16-21 in the NESCO exhibition grounds, located in the north of Mumbai. There were rich discussions and debates on how to counter
Stan Goff, North Carolina Two hot little controversies are brewing among progressive and anti-war Americans. One is the question of how much energy we — if there is a "we" — put into the 2004 US elections, and in what way. The other is the
Andrew Hall & Sarah Stephen At its January 29-31 conference, the ALP will decide on a new policy towards refugees and asylum seekers. Framed by the impending national election, the policy debate is likely to be heated. Labor for Refugees has been
David Bacon, Los Angeles Mark Norton is one of 70,000 workers forced on strike, or locked out, in southern California. Soon he may be one of hundreds of thousands more facing the same difficult predicament. Across the country, the system for
Shane Bentley At its January 15 membership meeting, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 voted to hold a stop-work meeting on March 20 to shut down San Francisco Bay docks in solidarity with protest marches taking place
Newcastle — Long-time US anti-war activist and socialist Barry Sheppard spoke at a public forum organised by the Newcastle branch of the Socialist Alliance on January 17. Sheppard argued that the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were not
Rohan Pearce The sight of Baghdad's streets on January 19, filled with up to 100,000 Shiites chanting "Yes, yes to elections!" and "Enough with America!", was the stuff of nightmares for the White House and the US-dominated Coalition Provisional
Kerryn Williams When federal parliament resumes sitting in February, the government's Medicare Plus bill will be put to the Senate. Health minister Tony Abbott has declared himself unwilling to respond to the "wish lists" of those opposing the
Peter Boyle, Sydney At a raucous meeting on December 15, the ALP-controlled Marrickville Council, in inner-suburban Sydney, rammed through a proposal to bolster the ALP's chances of keeping control after the March 27 local elections. By