Hundreds of thousands of people overflowed the streets of central Barcelona on February 20 in the largest ever European demonstration in support of refugee rights. The city police estimated attendance at 160,000 people; the organisers 鈥 the 鈥淥ur House, Your House鈥 campaign 鈥 put it at half a million people.
All along the vast march, its thematic sea-blue placards stood out in the light of the bright winter鈥檚 day: 鈥淓nough excuses! Let鈥檚 take them in now!"
The Australian government, at the behest of the United States, has decided to boycott major United Nations nuclear disarmament beginning on March 27. It argues that US nuclear weapons are essential for Australia鈥檚 security and therefore should not be prohibited under international law.
Australia ranks equal 15th overall in a new World Bank , tied with five other countries in the bottom group of wealthy OECD countries.
The Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) provides benchmarks to evaluate clean energy progress.
RISE rates country performance in three areas: renewable energy, energy efficiency, and access to modern energy (excluding advanced countries), using 27 indicators and 80 sub-indicators.
Ecuador鈥檚 National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on February 22 that the presidential race will head to a second round after left-wing candidate Lenin Moreno came first in the February 19 election, but fell agonisingly short of the 40% needed to win a first-round victory.
Moreno, from the ruling Alianza Pais (AP) of outgoing President Rafael Correa, won 39.35% of the vote. He beat right-wing Guillermo Lasso of the opposition CREO party by more than 10 percentage points, with the ex-banker winning 28.12%.
Severe coral bleaching could return to the Great Barrier Reef in the next four weeks scientists warn, after new bleaching and unusually high ocean temperatures have been documented.
Newly bleached corals have been discovered near Townsville.
Vast swathes of the Great Barrier Reef have been placed on Alert Level 1 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 Coral Reef Watch for the next four weeks 鈥 meaning that coral bleaching is likely.
The February 23 ruling by the so-called Fair Work Australia Commission to allow the slashing of weekend penalty rates for those working in the food and retail sector is a direct attack on some of the most vulnerable and underpaid workers in Australia.
麻豆传媒 Weekly鈥檚 Chris Jenkins spoke to Aaron Beardsell, WA state organiser of the newly formed Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) about the new union and the challenges facing workers in their sector.
* * *
With the decision by the misnamed Fair Work Commission to slash the take home pay of some of the lowest-paid workers, it is worth restating that all wealth in our society is created by workers and not capitalists.
Profits come from the difference between the value of the goods and services created by a worker and what they are paid for their work. Some of this "surplus value" is invested back into production, but the rest is siphoned off as profit.
More than 400 people rallied for abortion rights outside the Queensland parliament on February 16 in the lead up to a March 1 debate on decriminalising abortion in the state.
One feature of the rally was the strong support by unionists speaking out in favour of the campaign demands. General secretary of the Queensland Council of Unions Ros McLennan gave a powerful speech criticising the 鈥渨eak-kneed hand-wringing and flip flopping鈥 of the state's politicians when the 鈥渞ight thing to do is just so clear鈥.
Victoria鈥檚 new Climate Change Act, which was passed on February 23, will set Victoria on the path to zero climate pollution.
The act will establish a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; require five-yearly interim emissions targets from 2020 onwards; improve accountability and transparency on efforts to cut emissions; and ensure all arms of government are factoring climate change impacts and emissions reductions into their decision making and policy setting.
Iranian cartoonist Eaten Fish (Ali Duranti) ended his hunger strike after 18 days on February 18. He went on hunger strike to protest being sexually assaulted and guards ignoring his complaints, often bullying him in response.
Australians overwhelmingly believe keeping asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru indefinitely is cruel, but are evenly split on whether they should be resettled in Australia.聽
This was the result of a survey by Roy Morgan Research over February 18 to 19.
The poll found a majority of voters in Victoria (52%), NSW (51%) and Tasmania (58%) supported bringing those on Manus and Nauru to Australia.
A majority of voters in Queensland (53%), WA (57%) and SA (54%) opposed resettlement in Australia.
The widespread jubilation when it was announced that Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera would be released in May shows that liberation struggle still resonates in the Caribbean island that remains a United States colony.