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EAST TIMOR: Women face uphill struggle

BY ROBYN MARSHALL DILI — Aurora Ximenes, the coordinator of the East Timor Women's Network, which comprises 15 grassroots organisations, is angry that women are being sidelined in the transition to independence. Listening to her story, it seems

Philip Ruddock: minister for racism

BY ALISON DELLIT "When I see Mr Ruddock talking on television about [refugees], he looks and sounds like somebody from One Nation" — David Oldfield, One Nation member of the New South Wales upper house. Prime Minister John Howard's December 19

Democracy derailed in Refugee Action Collective

COMMENT BY PAUL BENEDEK SYDNEY — Over the last few months a campaign has been waged by some members of Sydney's Refugee Action Collective to convert RAC into an exclusive, undemocratic, conservative organisation. This has included running a smear

Acehnese supporters target defence force

BY JOHN GAUCI SYDNEY — One hundred and fifty people rallied outside the Australian Defence Force headquarters here on January 20 to support self-determination for the Indonesian province of Aceh. The action coincided with a self-determination

Rage Against the Machine: Renegades of funk

Renegades of funk BY RICHARD PITHOUSE Rage Against the Machine have lobbed their last sonic Molotov cocktail at musical mediocrity and political injustice. Rage Against the Machine, by far the most politically radical rock band to achieve major

Racist loses appeal in defamation case

BY JESSICA ROSE ADELAIDE — The full bench of the South Australian Supreme Court has ruled against Michael Brander, head of the racist National Action organisation, in his defamation action against Messenger Newspapers. Brander claimed that he

LATIN AMERICA: Trend toward dollarisation accelerates

BY SEAN HEALY Two shockwaves have hit the Central American country of El Salvador in the first weeks of January. One, a massive earthquake which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, struck on January 13 and killed more than 600 people, devastating

Nurses strike for extra staff

BY JACQUI LEE FREMANTLE — Western Australia's nurses made the condition of the state's health system a make-or-break election issue when on January 15 and 16 they struck, refusing to open beds unless staffing levels were increased. The

Labor in damage control as Kaiser quits

BY JIM McILROY BRISBANE — The Queensland Labor government is in deep trouble after one of its leading lights, MP for Woodridge and former state secretary Mike Kaiser, quit the ALP and announced he would not stand in the upcoming state election.

McDonald's workers excluded

BY GRANT COLEMAN PERTH — On December 12, the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU), Australian Hotels Association (AHA), and the Chamber and Commerce Industry (CCI) finalised a deal to increase WA hospitality pay rates to the

$27 million for Hewitt, violence for workers

BY GEORGINA DAVIES MELBOURNE — Australian tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt has reportedly signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Nike valued at a cool $27 million. The contract reportedly also includes a bonus clause that could double the figure if

Depleted uranium row rages

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of uranium enrichment. Enriched uranium contains a greater percentage of the uranium-235 isotope than natural uranium, whereas the DU by-product contains less uranium-235 (and more uranium-238).