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Howard and Burke strike rotten deal — again

BY ROBERT MILNE& PETER JOHNSTON DARWIN — After months of stalling and damning criticisms from the United Nations, the so-called mandatory sentencing "compromise" between Prime Minister John Howard and Northern Territory Chief Minister Denis

Protests build as asylum seekers grow desperate

Protests build as asylum seekers grow desperate BY PAUL BENEDEK SYDNEY — On the afternoon of July 29, riot police were used to force more than 50 asylum seekers at the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney's western suburbs onto buses to be

Privatisation: irrationality gone mad

BY SUE BOLAND Several years ago, a Melbourne woman was critically injured in a car crash in Greece. She suffered third-degree burns to 70-80% of her body. The usual treatment for serious burns, skin grafts, was not possible. The doctors could save

Cuban women warmly welcomed

Cuban women warmly welcomed BY JACKIE LYNCH MELBOURNE — Seventy people enjoyed a night of political discussion, delicious food and solidarity with the Cuban Revolution at Victorian's Trades Hall on July 22 to welcome Bertha Acosta and Nancy

BHP should 'put money where mouth is'

BHP should 'put money where mouth is' BY SEAN HEALY SYDNEY — The Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) has condemned mining giant BHP's unwillingness to take any responsibility for the destruction wreaked by its Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea, in

The mellowing of Linton Kwesi Johnson

BY RICHARD PITHOUSE Reggae has been an important world music ever since the release of Bob Marley's Catch a Fire back in 1973. For obvious reasons, it has always had a particular resonance in Africa and in marginalised communities and countries

CUBA: A million people march against US blockade

CUBA: A million people march against US blockade HAVANA, July 26 — Cuba's President Fidel Castro headed a march of more than 1 million people past the US Interests Office here to demand the end of the US blockade of Cuba and Washington's economic

CUBA: Combating sexism

BY ALISON DELLIT Women in Cuba must continue to organise to defend and extend the gains of the revolution, Nancy Iglesias Mildenstein told a meeting at Newcastle University on July 27. Mildenstein, a leader of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC),

Looking out: A human being can change

A human being can change In the desertI saw a creature, naked, bestial,Who, squatting upon the ground,Held his heart in his hands/And ate of it. I said, Is it good, friend?It is bitter — bitter, he answered;But I like itBecause it is

Write on: Letters to the editor

Write on: Letters to the editor Unemployment The never-ending chant that social security recipients should not receive "something for nothing" is astonishing. Payments to disabled and unemployed people constitute compensation for their

Message from Indonesian peasants' union

Message from Indonesian peasants' union Fransisca Christianti, secretary-general of Indonesia's National Peasants Union (STN), sent a message to Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor thanking all the Australian and international

SOUTH KOREA: Workers step up protests against repression

SEOUL — On July 29, more than 13,000 workers and students amassed in the city centre to mark one month since the Kim Dae-Jung regime violently cracked down on striking workers from the Lotte Hotel and the Public Health Insurance Office. Using