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News briefs

Web site against mandatory sentencing Territorians for Effective Sentencing launched their new web site on March 5 at <http://ms.dcls.org.au>. Go there now, it's mandatory! One Nation ordered to repay $500,000 BRISBANE — Pauline

Street artists v Sydney City Council

Street artists v Sydney City Council By Bruce White SYDNEY — The Ombudsman has replied evasively to a complaint about council treatment of street artists but has, in passing, testified to how deliberate council's policy is. Sydney City Council

Palestinian Authority forced to release students

Students at Birzeit University celebrated the unconditional release of those imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the widespread crackdown that followed the February 26 demonstration against France's Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

Resistance to Hindu fundamentalists' 'coup' in Bihar

By Eva Cheng The Hindu-fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the leading party in the 24-party coalition that has ruled India since October, has seized power through the back door in the country's second most populous state of Bihar despite

and ain't i a woman?: Back to normal?

Back to normal? Had enough of the special women's editions or episodes that have been on the screens, pages and airwaves for the past week? Then don't despair — with International Women's Day out of the way, you won't see them for another

IWD celebrated in Cambodia

By Allen Myers PHNOM PENH — Hundreds of women and men gathered in the main square here on March 8 to mark International Women's Day. The activities were organised by the OXFAM organisations and their Cambodian counterparts. The program extended

The death of reconciliation?

The death of reconciliation? By Sue Boland It's a wonder that Prime Minister John Howard didn't choke on his insincerity on the night of the Coalition government's re-election in 1998 when he said, "I want to commit myself very genuinely to the

India: Deepa Mehta's latest feminist film disrupted

Deepa Mehta's latest feminist film disrupted By Eva Cheng Progressive Indian film-maker Deepa Mehta's latest production, Water, has been disrupted by violent attacks from Hindu fundamentalists in Varanasi, attacks supported by the Bharatiya

Loose cannons

Exemplary "This is a great example of what government can achieve when we work in partnership with the private sector to create greatly enhanced spaces and facilities for the community." — NSW Labor deputy premier Andrew Refshauge after

Newcastle holds People's Inquiry

Newcastle holds People's Inquiry By Geoff Payne NEWCASTLE "Madre, they will kill us." These words have stayed with Sister Carmel Hanson, even since she returned from East Timor last year. She feels that her assurances to people there that the

Cuba's battle for socialist renewal

Cuba's battle for socialist renewal By Rafael Hernandez HAVANA — "What will happen when Castro dies?" That's the inevitable question I'm invited to talk about on Cuba overseas. Curiously enough, I also get a repeated question from the most

How PR buries the environment

How PR buries the environment Global Spin: the corporate assault on environmentalismRevised editionBy Sharon BederScribe Publications336 pp., $29.95 (pb) Global Spin reveals the sophisticated techniques being used around the world by powerful