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Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has launched an 鈥淪OS Palestine鈥 campaign to demand an end to Israel鈥檚 ongoing bombardment of Palestine鈥檚 Gaza strip, said on July 12. 鈥淓nough already, I鈥檝e joined the campaign,鈥 he told supporters during a televised broadcast. 鈥#SOS Palestina, let鈥檚 launch it.鈥 Holding up a handwritten placard, he asked fellow citizens to join the campaign, stating, 鈥淭he Palestinian people have the right to live in their ancestral lands in peace.鈥
Two teenage asylum seekers have been taken from their homes in a community detention program in Adelaide鈥檚 inner-northern suburbs and sent to a closed detention centre, causing other young asylum seekers to run away from their homes in fear. On June 26, two young Vietnamese asylum seekers, who attended Woodville High School, were taken from their homes and detained by the immigration department.
Journalist Nic Maclellan spoke at a public meeting in Melbourne on July 10 about his visit to New Caledonia to observe the May 11 elections. Maclellan said New Caledonia was colonised by France in 1853. Indigenous Kanaks have been reduced to a minority in their own country. Kanaks are now 44% of the population. In addition to settlers from France itself, there are also people from other French colonies in the Pacific (Tahiti, Wallis and Futuna), as well as people whose ancestors came from former French colonies such as Vietnam and Algeria.
It was the theme du jour at the B20 gathering in Sydney, which brought together more than 300 business leaders seeking to shape the agenda of the G20: Business knows best so leave the big decisions to us. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it and numerous self-serving CEOs happily served as a chorus. But the standout croaky voice was that of global media mogul Rupert Murdoch: 鈥淓verybody in this room knows dozens or hundreds of very, very fine businessmen. How many people know a politician who can run a business?鈥
Aboriginal communities from across Australia met in Brisbane on July 11 to attend a day of protest and planning against the ongoing . Aunty Karen Fusi from the Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy and Aunty Hazel Collins from Grandmothers Against Removal Gunnedah told the that child removal is having devastating effects on families and communities.
Students for Women鈥檚 Only Services released this statement on July 14. *** Candles, as well as petitions, will be given out at a Sydney rally to shine a light on the statewide closure of independent women鈥檚 homelessness services. University students have organised the vigil for July 24 in Pitt St Mall at 5.30pm and hope to gain the attention and signatures of late-night shoppers.
Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe came out in an interview with Michael Parkinson on July 13. Thorpe is a sporting hero. He has smashed 22 world records and won five gold, three silver and one bronze Olympic medals. He retired from professional swimming in 2012 after battling depression. In the interview, Thorpe said: "I'm not straight and this is only something that very recently 鈥 we're talking in the past two weeks 鈥 I've been comfortable telling the closest people around me."
NSW Premier Mike Baird has pushed ahead with plans to privatise the state's power network, without waiting for the results of the NSW election in March next year. The Stop the Sell Off campaign has condemned the move, saying it makes a mockery of the premier's claim that he would seek a mandate from voters before pressing on with the sale of 49% of the state-owned electricity network businesses Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, Transgrid and Essential Energy.
A US drone attack in North Waziristan in Pakistan鈥檚 Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) killed 20 people on July 16. It brought the number of people killed by US drones in North Waziristan since June 12 to 50. The July 16 Nation reported, 鈥渇ive drones are still flying over the Datta Khel area and hampering the relief activities underway there. This 鈥 is fomenting a fear of the death toll rising.鈥
Anti-coal activist Jonathan Moylan is awaiting sentencing after Justice David Davies adjourned his decision at a Supreme Court hearing in Sydney on July 11. On the same day, more than 100 people gathered outside the court in a silent vigil to support Moylan. Moylan pleaded guilty in May this year to one count of disseminating false information to the market, after being charged last year under the Corporations Act 2001 for making a 鈥渇alse or misleading鈥 statement.
Capital in the 21st Century Thomas Piketty Havard University Press, 2014 US$39.95, 696 pages By now, perhaps, you鈥檝e heard the fuss about French economist Thomas Piketty鈥檚 new book Capital in the 21st Century, but haven鈥檛 been able to carve out time to read it. Waiting for a movie version? It could be a long time coming (more on that below). In the meantime, here are some critical takeaways, and omissions, for labour activists.
GREEN LEFT WEEKLY EDITORIAL The apparent shooting down of Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH17 is an unspeakable tragedy and a criminal act that has sent shock waves around the world. 麻豆传媒 Weekly offers our condolences to the families of all its victims. Nobody yet knows who was responsible for this crime, despite Western media and governments pointing the finger at either the rebel forces in Ukraine's east, which the West accuses Russia of arming, or the Russian military itself.