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Chile, that thin strip of land lulled to sleep by the Pacific and the Andes, has given birth to many people that have left their mark in the hearts of millions all across the planet: the Nobel Prize winners Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, the amazing composer Victor Jara, tortured and assassinated by Pinochet, our comrade Salvador Allende — and one of the greatest exponents of Chilean music, Violeta Parra.

On October 27, the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) state council unanimously voted to “call upon Unions NSW to organise a Day of Union and Community Action to repeal all of Work Choices” for May 1 next year and to make it “the first of an ongoing series of actions to force the incoming federal government to repeal the anti-worker legislation in its entirety”.

A new UN report that tracks the world’s progress in achieving sustainable development goals, as recommended in the UN’s historic 1987 Our Common Future report, has painted a grim picture of across-the-board environmental deterioration.

The murder of South Africa’s reggae icon Lucky Dube on October 18, in an attempted car hijacking — one of South Africa’s most common crimes these days — has been condemned by all. The African National Congress (ANC) government has urged the nation to unite against the scourge of crime threatening “our democracy”. For opposition parties, Dube’s killing is further proof that crime is out of hand. As a deterrent, some have called for the reinstatement of capital punishment. There is a general feeling that the four “monsters” who recently appeared in court in connection with the crime should “rot” in jail. Typically, however, the debate remains very narrow and shallow.

For the 16th consecutive year, the United Nations has overwhelmingly voted for a resolution urging the US to lift its 47-year long economic embargo against Cuba.