Green Left Weekly

Egypt: Independent Aus. journo, foreign activists arrested

jay_f — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:04:35 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

Australian journalist Austin Mackell, United States student Derek Ludovici, translator Aliya Alwi and veteran union activist Kamal al-Fayyumi were detained by the police in Mahalla El-Kubra, Egypt on February 11 while trying to interview workers in the city.

Sign a petition calling for their release here.

GLW issue number 910

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:44:59 +0000

Sat, 11/02/2012

Latin America: Anti-imperialist bloc expands

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:22:05 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

By Rachael Boothroyd, Caracas

Member countries of Latin America’s alternative integration bloc, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), met for its 11th summit in Caracas on February 4 and 5 to discuss advancing the organisation.

ALBA is made up of the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda. Formed in 2004, ALBA seeks to develop trade on the basis of solidarity and cooperation.

Argentina: Oil behind British militarist threats over Malvinas

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:04:59 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

The article below has been translated by Federico Fuentes. It first appeared in the Latin America-wide magazine America XXI

* * *

“We support the right of self-determination of the habitants of the Falkland Islands [Malvinas]; what the Argentines having been saying recently is, in my opinion, much more similar to colonialism, because these people want to continue being British and the Argentines what them to do something different.”

United States: Occupy finds new hopes and challenges

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:20:34 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

By Ash Pemberton

The Occupy movement in the US may have disappeared from media headlines. But it has not disappeared from the streets of many US cities. However, dropping attendances and ongoing police repression have caused problems for the movement.

Inspired by protests in the Arab world and Europe, the wave of occupations began in September last year. Thousands gathered in Zuccotti Park near Wall Street in New York to protest against the system that promotes inequality and undemocratic rule by the super-rich — the “1%”. Similar protest sites sprang up across the US and many other countries.

Tibet in flames

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:55:52 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

By Karl Hand

A Buddhist monk has set himself on fire in what is believed to have been a protest for Tibetan independence, the BBC said on February 9.

The immolation follows a series of pro-independence protests in Sichuan, an ethnically Tibetan region of southwest China, which is outside of the Tibetan autonomous region.

The incident was said to be the 20th self-immolation by Tibetan Buddhists since 2011.

Unions slam building industry secret police at Senate inquiry

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:51:31 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

By Susan Price

Industry groups, building industry spokespeople and opposition politicians have made full use of the Senate inquiry into proposed laws to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

They’ve claimed that the Gillard government’s proposed changes will turn the laws against construction workers into a “toothless tiger”.

WA gov't deal to extinguish native title provokes protest

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:39:30 +0000

Sun, 12/02/2012

By Alex Bainbridge, Perth

Supporters of a proposed deal between Nyoongar people and the WA state government say that it has the potential to “close the gap” between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Yet opponents say the deal is no good.

The state government has proposed a deal that would put $60 million a year for 10 years into a trust fund . After the 10 years, the government says this “future fund”, would be used to develop “economic opportunities” for Aboriginal people.

Romania: Mass protests force PM resignation

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:03:43 +0000

Thu, 09/02/2012

By Stef Newton

“What the government does, the streets can undo” may seem like just a slogan, but weeks of anti-austerity protests have forced the resignation of Romania's prime minister Emil Boc.

The protests began when a solidarity demonstration with deputy health minister Raed Arafat took a violent turn. Arafat had announced his resignation in opposition to a draft healthcare reform bill that partially privatised the healthcare system.

Riot police used tear gas against protesters, who responded by throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails.

Cat Power joins Israel boycott

stuart_m — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:59:36 +0000

Fri, 10/02/2012

By Nora Barrows-Friedman

United States' singer/songwriter Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) was encouraged by boycott activists to cancel her gig in Tel Aviv, scheduled for February 12. It looks like the pressure worked.

On February 9, Cat Power announced her show had been cancelled, and tweeted: “Music is healing and it is not humane if all cannot have the choice, the right, to attend.”