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Star Trek — first film of the Obama period

Star Trek
Directed by JJ Abrams
Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy and Eric Bana

Posties deserve better

MELBOURNE—Fifty Australia Post workers and supporters protested outside Australia Post’s head office on May 13. The rally was organised by the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union communications division, and protested against the appalling treatment that injured postal workers receive from their employer. Protesters called for Australia Post’s self-insurance licence to be revoked.

Bankers' friend? The Obama presidency so far

The US Socialist Worker is running a series of commentary from a range of left-wing perspectives assessing the first 100 days of US President Barack Obama. Two contributions are published below. To read more of the commentary, visit www.socialistworker.org.

The Bologna plan: education as a business service

The Bologna process is the name for the measures contained in the proposed European Higher Education Area. The stated aim of the European Union’s EHEA is to create compatible and coherent higher education systems across the continent.

Rebus's exit

Exit Music
By Ian Rankin
Orion, 2007
460 pages, $26.95 (pb)

Union members fight sackings

MELBOURNE—Thirteen workers have protested outside Tieman Industries in the northern suburb of Keon Park since they were sacked on April 30. They are members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU). Many had been working at the company for more than 10 years.

Paraguay: Protests, rubber bullets greet criminal's return

Workers and activists gathered in the central plaza of Asuncion, Paraguay on May 1 to commemorate International Workers Day. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, a former priest elected in April last year on a pro-poor platform, marked the day by raising the minimum wage by 5%, half of what many of the unions present were demanding.

Pollies: Try living on welfare

Government backbenchers have been challenged to live on $227 a week — the equivalent of the dole — by the National Welfare Rights Network.

Peru: State of siege declared to put down revolt

The Peruvian government decreed a 60-day state of emergency on May 9 across various districts in the Amazonian region in the east.

Write on

New laws a slur on civil liberties New NSW laws that allow police to move-on people who are "noticeably" drunk ("slurring their speech") and arrest those who fail to comply, will mostly target Aboriginals, teenagers, young people and people with

On The Box

World War Il: Behind Closed Doors — focuses on the secret history of the non-aggression pact between Hitler and Stalin. SBS, Friday, May 22, 8.30pm. Sex, TV and Ugly George — Explores censorship and public decency on television using the

Venezuela: Oil-related companies expropriated

Venezuela’s National Assembly passed a law on May 7 that assigns control over goods and services connected to the country’s petroleum industry to the state.