James Vassilopoulos

  • SRI LANKA: Human cost of war mounts

    More than half a million people have been displaced as a result of the war between the Sri Lankan government and Tamils in the country's north demanding self-determination. Diseases like malaria and tuberculosis are spreading

  • Thousands march to save the ABC

    CANBERRA — Ten thousand people marched to save the ABC on February 11, in an enormous show of the support the national broadcaster has among this city's population. From the point when Canberrans began gathering at

  • WTO head says protesters make him vomit

    CANBERRA — "The people who stand outside and say they work in the interests of the poorest people ... they make me want to vomit." This is how Mike Moore, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),

  • Can we make a revolution in Australia?

    What do revolutions look like? Many people have a stereotyped picture of what a revolution is: a revolution is an event in which people with guns take over a city or a country. This image confuses a revolution with an

  • Why I joined the DSP: 'There is an alternative'

    Leigh Hughes joined the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) in November 2000 following the tumultuous events at the S11 protests in Melbourne. He is 17 years old, and is a Year 12 student at Tuggeranong College, a college in an

  • A glimpse at the history of rap

    Louder than a BombVarious artistsCompiled by Chuck DRhino recordsThis year is the 21st anniversary of the "birth" of rap as a commercial music. In 1979, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang was the first rap song to

  • Rally condemns 'mutual obligation'

    Rally condemns 'mutual obligation'CANBERRA — Sole parents and people with disabilities protested outside Parliament House on June 22 against government plans to extend harsh new welfare provisions to them and to

  • Protests demand action on Fiji by Australian government

    BY JAMES VASSILOPOULOS & BILL MASON "What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Now!", chanted 250 Indian-Fijians and their supporters at a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on May 31. The protest, organised by the Movement for

  • East Timor activists fined

    East Timor activists finedCANBERRA — East Timor solidarity activist Gareth Smith was fined $16,335 on April 12 for painting the slogan, "Shame, Australia, shame", on the front wall of federal Parliament House to protest

  • East Timor activist faces court

    CANBERRA — East Timor solidarity activist Gareth Smith faced charges of willful damage in the ACT Magistrate's Court on March 24. Last September, Smith painted "Shame Australia shame" on the front of Parliament House. If

  • Unionists debate Pilbara dispute

    CANBERRA — Supporters of workers' rights discussed the implications of BHP's attempt to force their Pilbara work force into individual contracts at a Green Left Weekly forum here on February 16. Trevor Zeltner, the

  • ACT opposes mandatory sentencing

    ACT opposes mandatory sentencingCANBERRA — Three hundred people turned out to a protest on February 17 against mandatory sentencing in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The rally, called with only two days'