Last month, I stood in the Guildhall Square in Derry and watched as the relatives of the 14 innocent victims of the British Parachute Regiment expressed their delight at the Saville report鈥檚 conclusion that the 14 were innocent victims.
At the time of the killings the dead were labelled as terrorists by the British government. The British system and, to its shame, much of the British media, accused those who had been shot of being 鈥済unmen鈥 and 鈥渂ombers鈥.
848
Despite US President Barack Obama鈥檚 promise to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that his administration wouldn鈥檛 interfere in Venezuela鈥檚 internal affairs, the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is channelling millions to anti-Chavez groups.
Foreign intervention is not only executed through military force. The funding of 鈥渃ivil society鈥 groups and media outlets is one of the more widely used mechanisms by the US government to achieve its strategic objectives.
As of June 25, more than 4116 people, 566 of them children, were in Australian immigration detention centres, according to figures published on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.
The site also noted an increase of 46 people in the past week.
In a country of 22 million people, 46 is a minute figure. That 鈥渟topping the boats鈥 is a key election promise of both major parties illustrates the mean-spiritedness of their campaign.
Outstanding service
Fairfax columnist Gerald Henderson quotes Australian Workers鈥 Union leader Paul Howes concerning the family background of Greens Senate candidate Lee Rhiannon in the July 27 Sydney Morning Herald. I knew her parents, Bill and Freda Brown, since 1944, and I was privileged to be Bill鈥檚 campaign director when he stood for the federal parliament on several occasions.
The Stop the War Coalition Sydney held a picket outside ALP MP Tanya Plibersek鈥檚 office on August 5 to call for an end to Australian support for the war in Afghanistan.
The STWC has condemned the Australian government鈥檚 purchase of 18 unmanned spy drones and training packages worth $175 million.
Spokesperson Marlene Obeid said: 鈥淭he drones are part of an offensive weapons system that, almost certainly, will be linked to US systems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In other words, Australia will be subsidising US assault operations, which will kill more Afghan women and children.鈥
鈥淎lways Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land: The struggle for Aboriginal rights鈥, was the title of an August 3 forum in the Brisbane Activist Centre sponsored by Socialist Alliance and Resistance. Speakers were Murri activist and SA Queensland Senate candidate Sam Watson and Ewan Saunders, SA candidate for the seat of Brisbane who has recently returned from the Justice Bus Ride to the Northern Territory.
On August 3, following an international campaign of solidarity, Gerardo Hernandez was transferred from 鈥渢he hole鈥 鈥 the punitive isolation unit at the maximum-security Victorville penitentiary in California 鈥 and returned to the general prison population.
Arrested in 1998, Hernandez was sentenced in 2001 to two life terms plus 15 years on a legally dubious espionage conviction.
鈥淭he major parties, Labor and Liberal, have failed to highlight Indigenous issues, and have largely ignored problems important to my community in this election鈥, Sam Watson, Aboriginal activist and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate for Queensland, said at a rally to launch his campaign for the Queensland Senate on July 31.
Last month, thousands of people around the country marched in solidarity with Ark Tribe, the construction worker from Adelaide who faces six months鈥 jail for refusing to attend an interview with the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
Adorned with emblems of union pride, rank and file union members, representatives from unions, political parties and the broader community, took to the streets to send a clear message to the government and the big construction bosses that 鈥淚f Ark goes in, we'll go out''.
Preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games have turned Delhi into a swirl of mud, scaffolding and scandal.
Government officials connected to the games appear confident that Delhi鈥檚 upturned streets and impassable traffic jams will soon turn into something spectacular.
On the horizon is the transformation of India鈥檚 congested national capital into a 鈥渨orld class city鈥, worthy not only of hosting this high-prestige sporting event, but also of India鈥檚 growing reputation as the next Asian superpower.
From August 9 to 12, high school students will be able to take part in a mock election thanks to the Google Student Voice initiative.
Students aged 15 to 17 will be able to participate in the online poll. Google sent information packs to schools around Australia
The vote will allow students to choose between the candidates standing in their electorates for the federal election. Results of the simulated election will be released on August 15.
On August 3, the Ecuadorian government signed a landmark deal to prevent drilling for oil in the ecologically unique Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini areas of the Yasuni National Park (Yasuni-ITT).
The agreement, signed by the government of left-wing President Rafael Correa and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), guarantees that the estimated 900 million barrels of oil that lie beneath the pristine Amazonian region will remain untouched, as will the forest above.
- Previous page
- Page 4
- Next page