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Students defend democracy

BY HELEN SLANEY MELBOURNE — Six hundred outraged students attended a student general meeting at Melbourne University on May 15, protesting against the recent attacks on campus political activism by the Melbourne University Students' Union

Offer 'too little, too late'

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — "Too little, too late" is how Aboriginal employee Gloria Beckett has described the Queensland Labor government's compensation offer to Aborigines who were victims of the "stolen wages" system that operated in the state

CUBA: Carter's concept of 'democracy' debated

BY KAREN FLETCHER, JO WILLIAMS & JORGE JORQUERA HAVANA — Former US president Jimmy Carter's historic May 12-17 visit to Cuba has highlighted the differences within the US ruling class over how to defeat Cuba's socialist revolution. The wing

INDIA: Coca-Cola swallows villagers' fresh water

BY RATHEESH KALIYADAN KERALA — Plachimada has never been singled out as a village that exemplifies the "Kerala model of development". It is a tribal area that is highly crowded with destitute people. Families own tiny plots of land. The only jobs

IRAQ: Terrorist connection that never was

Another of the US government's post-September 11 lies has been exposed — and from the horse's mouth. According to the April 28 Newsweek magazine, US officials have confirmed that the alleged leader of the September 11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta, could

Inquiry exposes concentration camp horror

BY TONY ILTIS MELBOURNE — At a May 16 "people's inquiry" into the immigration detention centres held at the Inner West Migrant Resource Centre in Footscray, a panel of health workers formerly employed at the Woomera detention centre spoke out

On the box

ICAM — Julie Nimmo takes to the streets of Sydney's Waterloo to speak to Indigenous kids living rough. SBS, Thursday, May 23, 7.30pm. Unreported World: The Philippines — A look at the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. Will the US "war against

Socialist Alliance registered in Tasmania

BY KAMALA EMANUEL HOBART — At the next Tasmanian state election, the word "socialist" will appear on ballot papers for the first time since 1976. The Socialist Alliance was registered by the Tasmanian Electoral Office on May 16 and is one of only

EAST TIMOR: Independence poses new challenges

BY JON LAND As the official festivities wind down in East Timor following the May 20 independence celebrations and the international dignitaries fly back to their comfortable and privileged lifestyles, a beckoning question for most East Timorese

Probable amendments

BY ALISON DELLIT The Greens and the Democrats oppose the “anti-terrorism” legislation and will vote against it in the Senate. Attorney-General Daryl Williams has been under considerable criticism within the Liberal Party for the botching

What are the laws?

2, 2002, Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Bill 2002, Criminal Code Amendment (Suppression of Terrorist Bombings) Bill 2002, Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, ETA,

Refugees treated 'worse than animals'

BY AMY PARISH WOLLONGONG — "Refugees are willing to contribute to society but the government won't let them", Afghan refugee Riz Wakil told a public meeting, organised by the Illawarra Refugee Action Collective, at the Thirroul Senior Citizens