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ITALY: Firenze Assediata (Florence under siege)

BY STEPHEN BENNETTS FLORENCE — “Non ho mai visto Firenze cosi bella. Che bello vederla cosi piena di gente; di solito ci sono solo le bancarelle d'oro e le cartoline. E che palle!” (“I've never seen Florence looking so beautiful. How

HONG KONG: Pro-democracy protesters defy rally ban

BY DOUG LORIMER HONG KONG — Seventy pro-democracy protesters staged a rally outside in the Chater Garden Square next to the local Legislative Council building on November 17, defying a police warning that the gathering was illegal

Refugee working party shut down

BY SARAH STEPHEN The ALP shut down its working party on refugee policy on November 12, after only two meetings. This is a substantial blow to Labor for Refugees, which agreed to its membersÂ’ involvement in the working party in return for a

Members First challenges ALP in CPSU elections.

BY PAUL OBOOHOV CANBERRA — The Members First rank and file group in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is challenging the ALP-aligned Progressive Caucus in elections for department-based section and local region positions in the ACT,

Alternative visions of September 11

Episodes directed by Samira Makhmalbaf, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, Sean Penn, Denis Tanovic, Mira Nair, Shohei Imamura, Amos Gitai, Youssef Chahine, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Idrissa Ouedrago Now showing at the Nova and Cinema Europa,

David Irving: apologist for Nazism

Telling Lies About Hitler: the Holocaust, History and the David Irving TrialBy Richard EvansVerso, 2002326 pages, $37 (pb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON If a self-styled "geographic revisionist" should ever step up to a witness box to sue the Royal

Vote 1 Socialist Alliance

BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS MELBOURNE — "On November 30, a vote for the Socialist Alliance is the clearest possible vote against war and racism", said Arun Pradhan, Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Melbourne. Pradhan, who has been an

Ku-ring-gai residents protest inappropriate development

Around 1500 Ku-ring-gai residents were drawn together on November 17 to stand against inappropriate over-development of their municipality, particularly the increasing density of housing. The rally, promoted by Friends of Lindfield, kicked off with folk songs before a variety of speakers took the podium.

Speakers highlighted the inadequate representation that they felt local council members are providing, and voiced their concerns about corruption in the council.