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= NSW rail crisis reveals public anger with Carr

Jenny Long, Sydney As Sydney enters its third week of massive disruption to commuter rail services — with up to 121 daily commuter services having been cancelled — some astonishing facts have been emerging from this remarkable dispute. One is

Vanstone releases children from detention

Sarah Stephen Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone is feeling the pressure of public opposition to children in detention. So the government is quietly releasing them, one by one. Over the past 12 months, the number of asylum-seekers under 18

UNITED STATES: Feds back off on harrasment

Nicole Colson, Iowa "Friends, the piece of news that I have is historic," Brian Terrell announced to a crowd of 150 cheering protesters gathered at the federal building in Des Moines, Iowa on February 10. "The subpoenas against the four of us were

HAITI: How Washington set the stage for uprising

Lee Sustar The media have a standard story line to explain the uprising in Haiti — one-time populist leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide has become a corrupt authoritarian who is relying on armed gangs to crush a popular uprising. In reality, the

IRAQ: 'Free market' looting spree continues

Rohan Pearce The Reuters wire service revealed on February 9 that Al Rafidayn, Iraq's largest bank, has sacked one-third of its 7300 employees in preparation for privatisation. Bank chairperson Daya al Khayoun told Reuters that Al Rafidayn accounts

Will Vanuatu be Australia's next target?

Tom Orsag Since the official end of the war in Iraq, Australia, the former British colonial settler-state, has gone on to send troops and police to recolonise parts of the South Pacific, its so-called backyard. Prime Minister John Howard is US

TAIWAN: Chen manipulates massacre anniversary for votes

Eva Cheng More than 60,000 people formed a human chain in southern Taiwan on February 1, acting in defiance of Beijing's military threats. Supported by President Chen Shui-bian and former president Lee Teng-hui, the protesters vowed to form a much

Another whitewash of racist cop violence?

Ray Fulcher, Melbourne On February 1, Victoria Police dragged Raymond Merritt through the broken window of an allegedly stolen car and smashed his head against the roof. Merritt, an Aboriginal man, is wanted by NSW police as a suspect in a series

Jailed anti-war activists gain support

Anna Samson, Sydney Will Saunders and David Burgess commenced their first weekend of periodic detention on February 14. The pair were found guilty of malicious damage after painting the words "No war" on the highest sail of the Opera House. They

NUS calls national student protest on March 31

Nathan Coombs, Melbourne "If we want to defeat the Liberals' education agenda, students have to rely on our own ability to organise and fight", Paul Coats, the education officer of the National Union of Students (NUS), told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly. The

ALP on refugees — how much really changed?

The weekend after the January 29-31 ALP national conference, I attended the Rural Australians for Refugees national conference, one of the biggest gatherings of refugees' rights activists in the last few years.

VENEZUELA: US finances coup conspiracy

Doug Lorimer The radical government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the US government of financing a conspiracy to carry out an anti-government coup. Washington regards the burgeoning Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela — an