What began as a coup aimed at deposing a millionaire landowner president, whose 鈥渃rime鈥 had been to gradually shift Honduras away from US control and implement mild pro-people reforms, has spurned on a mass resistance movement with the potential to revolutionise the country.
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Thousands of peasant rights鈥 activists marched in Guarico, Venezuela on Thursday to demand an end to impunity for the killings of 220 farmer organizers since the 2001 Land Reform Law was passed. The march was sparked by two recent attacks presumed to have been planned and paid for by large estate owners against well-known land reform activists.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating Washington鈥檚 support on October 5 for the Arias Plan to resolve the Honduran crisis, which she hoped would 鈥済et Honduras back on the path to a more sustainable democracy鈥. But the plan would see Honduran President Manuel Zelaya return to his post and sit out the rest of his term without any real power.
Portugal鈥檚 parliamentary elections, held on September 27, changed the political landscape. The governing Socialist Party (PS), which had an absolute majority in 2005 after winning 45% of votes, lost more than half a million votes and fell to 36.56%.
One of the infamous 鈥渄ouble-speak鈥 slogans of the nightmare totalitarian regime in George Orwell鈥檚 1984 was 鈥渨ar is peace鈥. The Nobel jury appears to have based itself on this principle of inverting reality with its decision to grant this year鈥檚 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama.
Students at the University of Sydney said the federal government鈥檚 proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is not a solution to climate change at a student general meeting on October 7.
The following letter is in response to a Sydney Morning Herald editorial. It was sent to that paper but not published.
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The Sri Lankan government has continued to use 鈥渆mergency鈥 measures justified by Sri Lanka鈥檚 25-year civil war against the pro-independence Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to severely limit democratic rights, despite declaring a final victory in the war in May.
People in the Philippines are struggling to rebuild after Typhoon Ketsana caused widespread flooding and landslides.
Rain and a smaller than expected crowd failed to dampen the spirits of committed peace activists who gathered at Bondi Beach on October 4. On the day Sydney was host to a leg of the 160,000 kilometre global march for peace, organised by World Without Wars.
In May, the New South Wales Labor government introduced a new law lowering the threshold for public intoxication before which a person could be 鈥渕oved on鈥 or potentially arrested by police. The threshold was changed from 鈥渟eriously drunk鈥 to 鈥渘oticeably drunk鈥.
The government formed in the aftermath of an elite-backed de facto coup against the Maoist-led government in May continues in power 鈥 although without moral or popular support.
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