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TURKEY: US pushes Ankara toward war with Iraq

BY ERTUGRUL KURKCU ISTANBUL — Top Pentagon brass may have doubts about the feasibility of the circulating war plans for Iraq, but George Bush's envoys have convinced Turkish decision-makers that a US military operation to overthrow Saddam

Loose cannons

Unless it's private health insurance funds "Well we're not in the business of bailing out commercial enterprises... I can assure you that that won't be happening." — Prime Menzies John Howard, speaking to 3AW's Neil Mitchell on August 2, in

Janet Giles: 'Unions need to be activist organisations'

BY JOHN MCGILL ADELAIDE — Janet Giles, former president of the South Australian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU), was recently elected unopposed as the secretary of the South Australian United Trades and Labor Council (UTLC). She

High Court ruling: Refugees denied justice

BY SARAH STEPHEN Two Indonesians of Chinese descent fled to Australia from Indonesia seeking asylum on the basis of religious and ethnic persecution after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998. Assessed as separate cases, they were

Health worker dispute escalates

BY SUSAN AUSTIN CAIRNS — A meeting of health union delegates and members on August 7 launched a campaign committee to organise the intensifying health workers' industrial dispute. This followed a similar meeting the week before which voted to

NSW election campaign launched

BY LISA MACDONALD SYDNEY — The mood among the 52 delegates, representing nine NSW Socialist Alliance branches, was confident while tinged with a sense of urgency, when they gathered for the alliance's state conference on August 3. The

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), Sunday, 9pm. Phone 9565 5522. Visit <http://www.channel31.org>

Narangba opposed

BY NICOLE HILDER BRISBANE — In a mostly peaceful action on August 7, 200 people picketed the Narangba irradiation facility construction site. Protesters have maintained a protest camp against Steritech and its contracted company Statham

Campaign for refugee sanctuary

BY GRANT COLEMAN WOLLONGONG — The Illawarra Refugee Action Collective (RAC) is campaigning to make the University of Wollongong a refugee safe haven. During the first week of August, students were greeted with life-size cardboard "refugees"

Murris rally over stolen wages

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — More than 200 people, including representatives of Indigenous groups from all over Queensland, protested in the Roma Street Forum on August 3 against the state Labor government's compensation offer on the "stolen wages"

UNITED STATES: Hail to the thief

BY ERIC RUDER CHICAGO — "I'm all name and no money", George Bush claimed in 1986. In 1975, Bush returned to Texas after his stint at Yale and Harvard in the hope of copying his father's success in the Texas oil business. By the end of the

A blue-print to shift further right

A blue-print to shift further right After six months of hoopla, the much-anticipated review of the ALP's structures was released on August 9. The document is part distraction — proposing minor changes to make the party appear more