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BY DICK NICHOLS The biggest loser in the November 13 Catalan regional election was the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC), the Catalan sister organisation of the social-democratic Socialist Workers Party of Spain (PSOE). For two decades, the PSC
BY KAMALA EMANUEL HOBART — The Tasmanian Labor government and Forestry Tasmania are facing a crisis of credibility. In October, former state forest auditor Bill Manning told a Senate inquiry about illegal practices, corruption, "bonuses" paid to
Iraq I In the United States, free speech is guaranteed under the Constitution, but that hasn't prevented the US Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from banning Arab broadcasting networks in Iraq that don't push a US line. In September, Al
BY PIP HINMAN William Nessen, a freelance journalist and photographer from the US, spent two months with Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fighters in the northern-most tip of Sumatra from mid-May. Now returned from the daring journey, which convinced him
BY NORM DIXON Thousands of workers across Zimbabwe joined anti-government protests on November 18, despite threats of police repression prior to the marches and the arrest of scores of trade unionists on the day. Police brutally beat hundreds of
BY DALE MILLS US civil liberties groups have reacted with alarm to a leaked FBI memo which equates demonstrations in the USA with terrorist activity. The memo, released by the New York Times on November 23, was dated October 15. Its purpose is to
Executive action "Six former Kmart executives charged the company for nannies, luxury cars and private chauffeurs even as the discount retailer fought a losing battle against bankruptcy, creditors said in a lawsuit... [f]ormer chief executive and
BY SHANE BENTLEY A five-day dispute between Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) maintenance staff employed by Patrick Stevedores at Port Botany in Sydney and Fisherman's Island in Brisbane ended on the afternoon of November 21 after union members
BY GEOFF PAYNE NEWCASTLE — There is mounting pressure on Premier Bob Carr's Labor government to retain rail services throughout NSW, as people organise to defend public transport. In the face of this, the government and its lackeys can only lie
BY PETER BOYLE Simon Crean has gone, but is his replacement any better? The answer was a foregone conclusion even before the December 2 Labor caucus vote. The main options delivered by ALP powerbrokers are: Kim "Bomber" Beazley, Mark
BY LESLIE FEINBERG General John Abizaid, top gun in charge of Pentagon forces in the Middle East, summoned his senior commanders to a meeting the week of November 18 at Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to discuss strategy for
BY MICK BULL Former Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) activist and Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) organiser Johnny Loh has died after a long battle with illness. Born in 1953, "Lohie", as he became known, grew up in the