British Conservative PM David Cameron told a May 26 London press conference with US President Barack Obama that the world's biggest superpowers support the 鈥淎rab Spring鈥 uprisings.
He said the main task of the May 26-27 G8 meeting in Deauville, France the following day was promoting 鈥渄emocracy, freedom and prosperity鈥 in the Middle East.
Obama also expressed 鈥渟olidarity鈥 with the uprisings. 鈥淚t will be years before these revolutions reach their conclusion, and there will be difficult days along the way鈥, he said. 鈥淧ower rarely gives up without a fight.鈥
882
The German government announced on May 30 that Germany鈥檚 17 nuclear power stations would all be permanently shut down by 2022.
Germany鈥檚 seven oldest nuclear power stations 鈥 temporarily switched off after public outcry following the Fukushima disaster 鈥 will remain off-line and be permanently decommissioned. An eighth was already off line, and will stay so.
Six of the remaining nine stations will be shut down in 2021 and the final three will be turned off in 2022.
Secret Genocide: Voices of the Karen of Burma
Daniel Pedersen
Maverick House, 272pp
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's national League for Democracy (NLD), might be relatively free, for now. There are many others in Burma, however, who are anything but free of the continual repression and brutality that is still being enacted by the nation鈥檚 military regime.
For the people of the country鈥檚 various ethnic minorities, such as the Shan and the Karen, life is little more than the day-to-day endurance of a seemingly endless civil war.
The Scottish government announced on May 20 that it was aiming to use only聽 renewable energy聽 by 2020, EarthTimes.org said on May 22 鈥 increasing its target from 80%.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, from the Scottish National Party (SNP), said: 鈥淏ecause the pace of development has been so rapid, with our 2011 target already exceeded, we can now commit to generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's own electricity demand from renewable resources by 2020.
鈥淥ffshore wind will play a key role in achieving our ambitions.鈥
Tunisia's first election since the downfall of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali may be delayed from July 24 to October 16, Kamel Jandoubi, president of the High Authority for the Elections, told a meeting of political parties on May 26.
But days later, the interim government reaffirmed its commitment to the July 24 elections for a constituent assembly.
Moez Sinaoui, spokesperson for the interim prime minister Beji Caid el Sebsi , told state news agency TAP on May 29 that the original date 鈥渋s a roadmap and a position of principle to prepare this important political event鈥.
In a contribution to the magazine Viento Sur, Real Democracy Now! activist Nacho 脕lvarez looked at the challenges facing the Real Democracy Now! movement three weeks after May 15. Excerpts of the article are published below.
* * *
Collective reflection about what to do, how to channel people鈥檚 anger and how to structure a sustained and massive protest movement now grips the streets and squares of hundreds of Spanish cities.
More than 3000 people turned out to Austinmer beach in the Illawarra on May 29 to form a 鈥淪TOP COAL SEAM GAS!鈥 human sign.
Three helicopters, each from a big media outlet, circled above the cheering and waving crowd to film the historic event.
Check out all the pictures and media coverage by visiting Stop CSG Illawarra's website: stop-csg-illawarra.org.
A big team of more than 40 volunteers from Stop CSG Illawarra helped make the day such a success.
Members of various activist groups joined a roadside anti-privatisation protest in Booragoon, Western Australia on June 3.
The groups responded to the call by the 鈥淚n Public Hands鈥 campaign group to campaign for public ownership of the soon-to-be-built Fiona Stanley Hospital.
Protesters held placards reading 鈥淒on鈥檛 privatise our hospitals鈥 and 鈥淗onk if you support anti-privatisation鈥, which received plenty of responses from passers-by.
Forty years after the first equal pay test case, the gap between male and female wages continues to widen.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, released on May 20, 2010, put the pay gap (as of February 2010) at 18%. Women on average now earn $239.30 a week less than men. The pay gap increased 0.5% over the past quarter (from 17.5%) and 1.5% over the past year (from 16.5%).
The gap is now at its highest level since August 1994. This pay gap means, on average, Australian women have to work an extra 66 days to earn the same as men.
Corporate media outlets claim Peru鈥檚 mining boom is doing wonders for the country鈥檚 economy, creating opportunities and making everybody richer.
Quite a few Peruvians, mostly situated in the bubble-world of Lima鈥檚 wealthy areas, have been drinking the neoliberal kool-aid.
Someone must have forgotten to tell those troublesome recalcitrants out in the provinces that the despoliation of their lands is good for them.
The Stop the War coalition Sydney released the statement below on June 2.
* * *
鈥淲e will be there seeing the mission through鈥 鈥 Australian troops will stay in Afghanistan until the 鈥渏ob鈥 is done. This was the response of Prime Minister Julia Gillard to the May 23 death of Sergeant Brett Wood, aged 32.
It is the standard response of Australian governments to casualties in the Afghanistan war.
The same response was given following the deaths seven days later of Lieutenant Marcus Case, 27, and Lance Corporal Andrew Jones, 25.
Three hundred teachers from across NSW rallied outside NSW Parliament House in Macquarie St on June 4. They were joined by members of the Public Service Association, the Fire Brigade Employees Union, the NSW Nurses Federation and other unionists.
The teachers left a session of the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF) council to protest the Liberal government鈥檚 plan to strip away conditions and limit wage rises of public sector workers.
At the rally, the NSWTF councillors declared their support for other public sector workers and the unions NSW campaign against the changes.
- Previous page
- Page 2
- Next page