3
Afghan community discusses women's rights
SYDNEY — Most women in Afghanistan are no better off since the country was "liberated" by the United States two years ago, Afghan academic Dr Nazir Gul told a packed hall on March 20.
The
Issue 577
News
Jim McIlroy, Brisbane
Socialist Alliance candidate Coral Wynter gained 3.5% (533 votes at the close of counting on polling night) in the Central ward in the March 27 Brisbane City Council election.
The Greens won 17.5% in the same inner-city
Jon Lamb, Darwin
Twelve workers at the Ranger uranium mine near Jabiru were sent home on March 24, after they were poisoned by uranium-contaminated water.
The workers complained of bad nausea and headaches after drinking "strange tasting" water.
2
Public sector shuts down
ADELAIDE — Historic strike action closed down most of the South Australian public service on March 26. For the first time in more than 20 years, members of the Public Service Association walked out en masse in
Paul Benedek, Sydney
More than 300 Aboriginal protesters and supporters marched from the Redfern Block to NSW state parliament on March 24, chanting "Too many police, not enough justice".
The rally was called to protest police mistreatment of
Simon Tayler, Sydney
Sydney's community TV channel, Channel 31, will remain on air for now, after a win in the courtroom for the many supporters of the station's current broadcasters.
On March 18, the Australian Broadcasting Authority announced
Paul Benedek
Controversial decisions by the state Labor government to forcibly amalgamate several councils dominated the March 27 NSW council election.
In the City of Sydney lord mayoral contest, the thinly veiled ALP manoeuver to gain Labor
1
WA teachers accept wage offer
PERTH — On March 12, the Western Australian state executive of the Australian Education Union (AEU) announced that its members had voted to accept the government's certified agreement (CA) offer.
The
Andrew Hall, Canberra
Multi-coloured hearts have been signed and decorated with refugee-rights slogans and images to create the "field of hearts".
This growing project provides a vehicle for people to symbolically "show their hearts for
Paul Oboohov, Canberra
The campaign to save the O'Connor and Bruce Ridge from the Gungahlin Drive extension escalated on March 22, when up to 100 protesters blockaded the work site. Nine people were arrested over two days of protests, organised by
Max Lane
On March 24, the Senate resumed debate of the Greater Sunrise Unitisation Bill 2004, a bill to allow for the implementation of the Greater Sunrise International Unitisation Agreement that the East Timorese government was pressured to sign
World
Murray Smith, Paris
The verdict in the first round of the French regional elections on March 21 was unambiguous. The electorate massively rejected the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
Parties supporting the
Eva Cheng
Despite winning 50.11% of the votes cast in Taiwan's March 20 presidential election — a big improvement from the 39.3% that won him the presidency in 2000 — incumbent President Chen Shui-bian's re-election remains in doubt.
Along
Jon Lamb, Darwin
On March 18, East Timorese dock worker Pedro Henrique was crushed to death by a container at Dili wharf, while working for Darwin-based Perkins Shipping.
Union officials in East Timor and Darwin claim that Henrique was fatally
Lou Plummer, Fayetteville, North Carolina
On the day after his 19th birthday in 1966, my father received his commission as an officer in the same North Carolina National Guard unit that took his father to Europe in World War Two. By 1969, having
Three days of talks between India and Pakistan in February sought to find a "roadmap to peace" in the disputed territory of Kashmir, but Kashmiri representatives are yet to be involved. Iqbal Khan, a Kashmiri living in Canberra, spoke to Green Left
Chris Slee
The Tamil National Alliance will contest the April 2 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections on a platform calling for the creation of an interim self-governing authority for the north-eastern part of the island. The TNA, an alliance of four
Robyn Marshall & Alison Dellit
On March 23, the constitutional chamber of Venezuela's Supreme Court overturned a ruling of the court's electoral chamber regarding the validity of 876,017 signatures submitted as part of a campaign to unseat
Barry Weisleder & Ahmed Nimer, Toronto
As the reports are collated, it has become clear that millions of people worldwide joined the March 20 protests against the occupation of Iraq.
Doug Nesbitt of the British Stop the War Coalition has collated
Doug Lorimer
"An opinion poll suggests most Iraqis feel their lives have improved since the war in Iraq began about a year ago", BBC News reported on March 16. The BBC was referring to a survey of 2652 Iraqis conducted over the last six months for
Nidal al Haddad
On March 24, the United Nations Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution condemning Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. Thirty-one countries represented on the commission, including UN Security
Amid a sea of red, white, and blue flags and chants of "Homeland â yes, Communism â no", the right wing held its eerie celebration on the evening of March 21, election day in El Salvador. By an unexpectedly high margin, Tony Saca, the
James Balowski, Jakarta
The government of Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh last May. It launched an "integrated operation" to smash the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and restore "law and order".
Doug Lorimer
A top US official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named, has admitted to reporters at a dinner meeting on March 21 that the planned June 30 hand-over of "sovereignty" from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to an "interim
Culture
John Tomlinson
Beyond the New Paternalism: Basic Security as EqualityBy Guy StandingVerso, London, 2002320 pages
In early December, I finally got around to reading Philippe Van Parijs' 1997 book Real Freedom for All. I needed to read it before
Tong Tana: The Lost Paradise — A Swedish TV crew and Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser travel to Borneo to film the devastation of the ancient forests. SBS, Friday, April 2, 2pm.
Message Stick: Customary Law — Many Indigenous communities
The Secret Death of Salvador DaliBy Stephen SewellStables Theatre, SydneyMarch 24 to April 17
REVIEW BY BRENDAN DOYLE
In the foyer, a violinist in dinner suit and angel wings plays sitting in a suspended picture frame. You climb the stairs into
Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark PrinceBy Marc ElliotAndre Deutsch, 2003305 pages, $30 (pb)
Review by Phil Shannon
"Who's afraid of the Big Bad Walt?", read the placards of striking Disney cartoonists in 1941, mocking the popular lyric from Walt
Editorial
On March 23, federal ALP leader Mark Latham told Sydney radio station 2UE that a Labor government would bring back the Australian troops currently in and around Iraq, as soon as possible after the planned June installation of an interim Iraqi