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Australian inequality skewered, but few solutions found in Labor

Battlers & Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia Andrew Leigh Black Inc. Books, 2013 210 pages, $19.99 (pb) In Australia, notes economist and Labor MP Andrew Leigh, the poorest 20% of the population own just 1% of total household wealth. The top 20%, however, hog a fat 62%.

Bulgaria: Refugees illegally jailed and abused

There has been a huge rise in asylum seekers in Bulgaria as a direct result of instability in North Africa and the Middle East. They use Bulgaria as a land entry into the European Union. The Bulgarian tabloid press has coined the phrase 鈥渨ave鈥, which has now entered political and popular language. In 2009, the newly-elected government greatly changed the way the law was interpreted and enforced. Before 2010, there was not a single 鈥渋llegal immigrant鈥 convicted and jailed in the criminal prisons.

Screwed by vulture funds, Puerto Rico is the US's 'Greece'

The world has been focused on the spectacle of the 鈥淭roika鈥 of the International Monetary Fund, European Union and the European Central Bank crushing the Greek people, but it is far from the only example of strong nations using a 鈥渄ebt crisis鈥 to extract more wealth from those that are weaker. A case in point is the US colony of Puerto Rico. In a June 28 New York Times interview, the governor of the Caribbean archipelago nation declared its debt of US$73 billion 鈥渋s not payable. There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics. This is math.鈥

New doco is your chance to meet Nina Simone

Liz Garbus' beautifully composed and riveting documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? honours the African American musician and civil rights activist who came to be known as 鈥淭he High Priestess of Soul鈥.

Spanish state: Catalonia hurtles towards showdown

If a Catalan Rip Van Winkle were to wake up today after a sleep of only six years, his disorientation with Catalonia would be as great as that of the original Rip Van Winkle after he dozed right through the American War of Independence. 鈥淎m I hallucinating?鈥 he might ask, struggling to find the right answer to questions like:

Obituary: Vale Felicity Wishart 鈥 a true hero for the environment

The Australian Marine Conservation Society released this . * * * The Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Australian environmental movement is in mourning over the sudden and unexpected loss of Felicity 鈥淔lic鈥 Wishart who passed away in her sleep on July 19 aged 49. Flic was one of Australia鈥檚 leading conservationists and was a great and inspiring champion for the planet, the cause she dedicated her life to.

New report: Ocean warming passes tipping point

Tropical storms are increasing in frequency and strength. City of Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, after Super Typhoon Yolanda, the strongest tropical storm to make landfall in history, struck in November 2013. Photo: Partido Lakas ng Masa.

Hazelwood power station testing use of 鈥榖iomass鈥 instead of brown coal

Clearfelling old growth forest in Tasmania. Previously destroyed for woodchips, native forests are now in danger of being burned to create electricity. Reports that the owner of Victoria鈥檚 Hazelwood coal power station, GDF Suez, has been considering plans to convert it into a co-firing facility, allowing it to burn native forest waste as well as brown coal, have been slammed by environmentalists.

Opposition to Shenhua open-cut coal mine grows, splits Coalition

Opposition to Shenhua Watermark鈥檚 unpopular $1.2 billion open-cut coal mine, proposed for the Liverpool Plains in the north-west of NSW, is growing. The Coalition cabinet is split, as are NSW and federal National Party MPs. Federal agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce, who is fighting to hold his New England seat, opposes the mine. His cabinet colleague, federal environment minister Greg Hunt, .

Why raising the GST to fund health would make the poor less healthy

The neoliberal agenda for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Sydney on July 23 was set by NSW Premier Mike Baird, who proposed increasing the GST from its present 10% to 15%. Baird wants the extra funds to be primarily used to fund health services, which account for almost 30% of state budgets, including spending on hospitals of about 20%. What he neglected to say was that under his mate Tony Abbott鈥檚 federal government, spending has been drastically reduced on health along with education. The total reduction across both areas is about $80 billion.

Refugee Rights Action Network says no to "enhanced screening" at sea

The Refugee Rights Action Network (RAAN) released this statement on July 23. * * * Baby Y Nhu and four year olds Khoi and Chuong are among those on board the Vietnamese asylum seeker boat intercepted by WA Water Police off the coast of Western Australia on July 20. At least eight children and about 30 adults are now being held by Border Force. They are on board a navy boat, possibly the HMAS Choules, which was used in April to hand back another group of asylum seekers from Vietnam.

Turkey: Government implicated in ISIS suicide attack

On July 20, 32 people were killed in a suicide bombing attack on a cultural centre in Suru莽, a town in Turkish Kurdistan. More than 100 were injured. Suru莽 is located across the border from the Syrian Kurdish town of Koban锚, which was besieged by forces of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), between September and January.