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BRAZIL: Mayor's murder indicates political polarisation

BY BEN REID PORTO ALEGRE — The second World Social Forum occurred at an important time in Brazilian politics. On January 19 Celso Daniel, mayor of Santo Andre in Sao Paulo state, was found murdered. Daniel is the second mayor belonging to the

Black Hawk Down a hit in Mogadishu

BY BUSTER SOUTHERLY Black Hawk Down, the first of the wave of patriotic US war and action movies being rushed to the screens following the September 11 incidents, opens across Australia on February 21. The film's Pentagon advisers hope that Black

CAMBODIA: UN tries to sabotage Khmer Rouge trial

BY ALLEN MYERS PHNOM PENH — In a surprise move on February 8, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) announced its withdrawal from negotiations to establish a mixed Cambodian-international tribunal to try surviving leaders of the Khmer

The 'Great Game'

BY URI AVNERY JERUSALEM — Some weeks ago, something curious happened: Israel discovered that Iran is the Great Satan. It happened quite suddenly. There was no prior sensational news, no new discovery. As if by the order of a drill-sergeant, the

Godfrey Hirst workers win trust fund

BY GRAHAM WILLIAMS GEELONG — Production workers at the Godfrey Hirst carpet factory are one of the first groups of workers in the country to win a trust fund that guarantees all their entitlements if the company goes bankrupt. The Manusafe

ACEH: 'Australia is helping the army to kill my people'

BY MAX LANE "It was extremely disappointing to see Australian Prime Minister John Howard shake hands so enthusiastically with Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Doesn't he know how her government treats the people, not just in Aceh, but

M1 to take over Sydney's streets

BY SEAN HEALY SYDNEY — M1 2002 is up and running. On February 14, activists met to begin planning May 1 actions which will include protests across the city in the morning, a "unity rally" at midday in Martin Place and a festival or street party

'I feel ashamed to be Australian'

BY SARAH STEPHEN "I feel ashamed to be Australian", is the most frequently appearing comment on the online petition calling for a royal commission into the Australian government's treatment of refugees. More than 7000 people have signed on to the

Why they have to lie about refugees

BY SARAH STEPHEN It's now common knowledge: the federal Coalition government lied to win the November 10 election. Prime Minister John Howard and his ministers continued to maintain, long after they knew it wasn't true, that in October some

News Briefs

Barns: "prejudice" claims proven HOBART — Disendorsed Liberal candidate Greg Barns appealed to the Liberal Party on February 14 to have his disendorsement overturned. Barns had accused the Howard government of playing the "fear and prejudice

Royal commission targets militants

BY SUE BULL — The royal commission into the building industry has returned to Melbourne amid a barrage of controversy. There have been sensational allegations about breaches of its security and lack of independence. Unions have continued to

Loose cannons

The Ronald Reagan defence "I have no memory of that." — Former defence minister Peter Reith commenting on Prime Menzies John Howard's claim that he had asked Reith on November 7 if the claims made by government ministers a month earlier about