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Sri Lanka: Timorese leader appeals for ceasefire

The article below is abridged from a February 9 statement released by East Timorese president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta calling for an immediate end the conflict in Sri Lanka.

Tennis plays into Israel's apartheid project

The decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ban Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er from playing in the US$2 million Dubai tennis tournament on February 16 — sent shockwaves around the world. However, in reporting this decision, many mainstream outlets have missed the point.

Sri Lanka's war on Tamils: the unknown genocide

Thousands of civilians have been killed or injured and hundreds of thousands are in danger from hunger and disease, as the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) continues its brutal offensive against the Tamil people in the island’s north-east.

Exhibition to combat homophobia

IDAHO: the Exhibition
Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, Sydney
May 4-17
Contact Nick: idahosydney@yahoo.com.au or 0416 716 004

El Salvador: Left poised for election victory

Polls on the March 15 presidential vote show the election will likely open a new progressive chapter in El Salvador’s long, violent history of war and dictatorships with a victory by the left-wing Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN), which is promising to build a people-centred government.

On the box

Madame Sata – Joao Francisco dos Santos, better known as Madame Sata, was also a notorious gay performer in Brazil who pushed social boundaries in a volatile time. SBS, Saturday, March 14, 12.55am. Outsourced – Outsourcing is the new frontier

Venezuela: Multinational rice plant taken over

Following a week of inspections of privately owned rice processing facilities aimed at assuring the supply of essential foods at regulated prices, the Venezuelan government announced plans to expropriate a plant owned by the multinational food company Cargill, which was found to be modifying all its rice in order to evade price controls on basic food items.

Britain: A student rebellion catches on

One of the many upsetting aspects to being in your 40s is hearing people your own age grumbling about “young people” the way we were grumbled about ourselves.

'Make Bono pay tax'

The most eye-catching placard on a 120,000-strong march in Dublin on February 21 against the Irish government’s austerity response to the tottering of the capitalist system was held aloft by a scrawny teenager with the look of a music-lover about him, reading “Make Bono Pay Tax”.

Britain: Green-left challenge in union vote

On March 7, the second Campaign Against Climate Change UK Trade Union Conference was scheduled to be held in London, bringing together activists from left groups such as Socialist Resistance, the Green Party and Respect, as well as rank-and-file trade unionists and officials.

United States: Obama and change

Under conditions of deepening recession, millions of working people went to the polls in the US on November 4 with the intention of voting for a change to the pro-corporate and pro-war policies of the Bush administration.

India: Looming social and environmental disaster

While the US and European economies are in recession, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund inspired “export” oriented policies being followed by the government of India are about to create social and environmental catastrophe in the name of “special economic zones” (SEZs — geographical areas in which less regulations on labour rights, environmental practices and other areas are applied on companies).