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United States: New court ruling against Cuban Five

On June 4, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the US issued its ruling upholding the convictions of the five Cuban nationals being held in US jails, including the espionage and murder conspiracy convictions. The Cuban Five had infiltrated right-wing Cuban exile groups in Miami to help prevent terrorist attacks. At the same time, the US government has refused demands from the Cuban and Venezuelan governments to extradite convicted terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, responsible for blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976 that killed all passengers, to Venezuela where he escaped from jail. Below, is an abridged statement at a May 20 press conference by Gloria La Riva on behalf of the US National Committee to Free the Cuban Five. For more information, visit http://freethefive.org.

Afghani civilians killed, imprisoned by US operation

According to a May 25 Tolo TV report, translated and posted on http://rawa.org, civilians in Garmsir District of Helmand Province claim that US forces, involved in military operations in the district in the past two weeks, have killed and imprisoned

Come to the Resistance national conference!

Green Left Weekly asked these Resistance activists what they hope to get out of the national conference in Sydney later this month.

NSW budget a gift to big business

NSW Treasurer Michael Costa’s third budget, on June 3, included massive handouts to big business and a nasty backhander to workers.

Workers and environmentalists need a new alliance

Like many others, I cut my activist teeth during the Franklin River campaign of the early 1980s. Like thousands of others, I joined the blockades in south west Tasmania and, like hundreds of others, was arrested for my troubles and spent a week in Risdon Jail.

'Guest worker' schemes = super-exploitation even under Rudd Labor

Twenty-first century capitalism has sentenced millions of workers to near slavery in the form of various migrant labour schemes that underpin the mega profits of many giant corporations. From Singapore to Dubai to the US, such schemes spell super-exploitation. So would a guest worker scheme in Australia be much less exploitative?

Climate group targets power substation

A new group of climate activists resolved on May 31 to campaign against the construction of a massive electricity substation in state forest in the Hackett’s Gully area. The Hills Climate Action Group was holding its first business meeting after forming at a May 17 public forum.

Solidarity brigade fosters links and forges friendships

In a country where the balance of power is tipping away from bosses and towards ordinary workers, Venezuela\'s annual May 1 labour celebration holds great significance. It has been declared a national holiday.

Farmers descend on Melbourne

One thousand farmers from across Victoria descended on Melbourne on June 3 to protest the state governments North South Pipeline plan, which will bring 75 billion litres of water each year from the Goulburn River across the Great Dividing Range to Sugarloaf Reservoir. The pipeline is due to be completed by 2010.

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