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An extraordinary summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) was held in Argentina on August 28, to discuss the proposed US military bases in Colombia.
In the last week of winter, something strange happened: bushfires raged across New South Wales, with major fires in the Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla in the south of the state.
In April 2008, workplace relations minister Julia Gillard set up the National Review into Model Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Laws to develop a new national OHS standard. The process is called “OHS Harmonisation”.
More than 100 people attended a meeting organised by the Sri Lankan Human Rights Project at the University of Sydney on August 31.
Green Left Weekly is launching a “spring offensive” to help us reach our 2009 fighting fund target of $250,000. By the end of August, we had raised $147,550 — about 60%. We need a push to get to 100% or more.
At Camps for Climate Action, climate change activists organise discussions on the politics of the climate movement and take direct action against major polluting industries.
Three hundred people rallied in Sydney to demand equal rights for international students on September 2. The protest was organised by the Cross-Campus Concessions Coalition and the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association
Before the recent elections in the German states of Thuringia, Saarland and Saxony it seemed likely that Christian Democrat (CDU) German Chancellor Angela Merkel would return to power comfortably this year, probably in coalition with the free-market fundamentalists of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Racism is alive and well in Australia today.
The Socialist Alliance was one of many signatories to a letter presented to UN Human Rights Rapporteur James Anaya when he arrived in Australia on August 17. The letter said “special measures” taken under the Northern Territory Emergency Response — or intervention — were racist.
Leonard Peltier, an activist for the rights of Native Americans and one of the US’s longest-serving political prisoners, was denied parole by the US Parole Commission on August 21.

August was a terrible month of climate vandalism in Western Australia.