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Tasmanian rallies draw huge crowds

BY IAN STOLP & JULES GREEN HOBART — Between 12,000 and 15,000 people marched on February 15, in one of the biggest demonstrations ever held here. It took more than 40 minutes for the marchers to travel the 500-metre route. Protesters,

Lesley McCulloch freed

BY PIP HINMAN Lesley McCulloch was freed from prison in Aceh on February 9. McCulloch, along with US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler, was arrested at a military check-point and held for five months. McCulloch was charged with violating her visa. McCulloch,

Thousands march in Brisbane

BY MARCE CAMERON BRISBANE — Around 100,000 protesters turned up to oppose war on Iraq on February 15, making it probably the biggest protest in the city's history. "How is the US so sure Iraq has had weapons of mass destruction?", rally chair

GUAM: 'Get your arsenal out of the Pacific'

The Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (PCRC), which serves as the secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement, has expressed its disgust with the US military build up on Guam, specifically the deployment of B-1 and B-52 bombers

Lawrence: war with UN 'still immoral'

BY DANNY FAIRFAX CANBERRA — "In my opinion, it doesn't matter if the UN is arm-twisted into a war with Iraq, it's still immoral" — these blunt words set the tone for federal Labor MP Carmen Lawrence's talk to a meeting organised by the Canberra

Half a million rally against war in Sydney

BY LISA MACDONALD SYDNEY — In one of the most amazing displays of political passion in Sydney’s history, up to 500,000 rallied on February 16 against war in Iraq. Many protesters did not march, but stayed in the rally in Hyde Park because

Airshow anti-war protest takes off

BY TRISHA REIMERS & SUE BULL GEELONG — Amid huge local controversy, more than 200 people protested against a war on Iraq outside the Avalon International Airshow on February 15. The protest was organised by the Geelong Anti-War Coalition. The

VENEZUELA: 'The most important anti-neoliberal struggle in the world'

According to radical Latin American journalist MARTA HARNECKER, "the process of Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution" is little understood by much of the left. One of Harnecker's latest books is Hugo Chavez: One Man, One People, an interview with the

Vic unions plan lunchtime protest against war

BY SUE BOLTON MELBOURNE — Victoria’s unions have joined those in Western Australia, calling for organised labour to play a stronger role in building mass opposition to the threat of a war against the Iraqi people. Victorian Trades Hall

East Timorese asylum seekers: Let them stay!

BY GILLIAN DAVY MELBOURNE — At a civic ceremony held February 12 in support of East Timorese asylum seekers was attended by 200 people including local government councillors and state parliamentarians, the message was loud and clear: "Let them

'The anti-war movement is our priority'

BY PIP HINMAN The Socialist Alliance has made stopping the war on Iraq and bringing back the troops the centrepiece of our NSW election campaign. The fact that this is a state election doesn't make our focus any less relevant. Both major parties

VENEZUELA: Opposition 'strike' collapses

BY MARIA VICTORIA VALDES-RODDA After two months of trying to bring down President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's right-wing opposition on February 2 announced the end to its "general strike". The opposition alliance, the Coordinadora Democratica (CD),