After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc in the early 1990s, Cuba lost access to the oil, fertilizers and virtually all trading partners that the small island nation depended upon to survive. Cuba faced economic collapse virtually overnight.
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The Australian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) has called on the Australian government to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka, following the Sri Lankan governments decision to abrogate the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
On January 26, most people around the country celebrated Australia Day. Thousands of Australian flags with the British union jack were raised, shrimps rolled on the barbie and beer poured like water.
PM Kevin Rudd used potentially rising inflation and interest rates as the excuse for the federal government's economic plan, announced on January 21. Those hoping that the ALP's pre-election promise of an ``economically conservative’‘ government was just election hype will be disappointed. It could be straight from the former Coalition government's economics bible.
Two protests in one week have demanded that government plans for the development of South and Bathers beaches in Fremantle be canned.
For the first time in 11 years we are under a new government, a Labor government. PM Kevin Rudds government was elected off the back of mounting dissatisfaction with the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, inaction on climate change, the Northern Territory intervention and Work Choices, but the battle for change has not been won.
In October 2007, with the federal election looming, and global warming generating a lot of tepid air in parliaments around the country, a diverse group of people in Adelaide established the Eco-socialist Network to attempt to generate more serious discussion of environmental issues. Green Left Weeklys Leslie Richmond spoke to John Rice, activist, socialist, Greens member and one of the initiators of the network.
Workers at the Fosters brewery at Yatala, south of Brisbane, have stepped up their campaign for a union agreement, following a victory over the latest attempt by the companys management to impose a non-union agreement on the workforce at the plant.
A December 22 warehouse fire in a shared residential and industrial zone on the outskirts of the western Melbourne suburb of Tottenham has caused local residents to demand information and better emergency response procedures after a cloud of chlorine gas covered a substantial part of the suburb.
A group of Australian writers, academics, NGO workers and activists have written an open letter to incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calling for Australia to increase its development assistance to East Timor (see above).
Early on January 23 more than 20,000 Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip poured into Egyptian territory after Palestinian militants from Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) blew up two sections of the Gaza-Egypt border wall at Rafah.
Prime Minister of Australia Mr Kevin Rudd, MHR [also to other ministers] January 2008
Dear Prime Minister
Re: Australian and Cuban education assistance to Timor Leste
We the following academics, writers, organisations and NGO workers observe these developments, on education assistance to Timor Leste:
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