About 100,000 people took over the streets of Dublin on November 27 to protest the Irish government鈥檚 鈥渂ailout package鈥 from the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, and the savage austerity accompanying the loans, the Morning Star said on November 28.
The government formalised the loans, worth 鈧85 billion, on November 29. Loan conditions include the government spending cuts over four years to reduce its deficit. The 2011 budget will contain 鈧4.7 billion in cuts and 鈧1.5 billion in new taxes, the Morning Star said.
864
Those who counselled against holding a national election in Haiti in the midst of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis will take no comfort in the debacle it became.
Our thoughts rest squarely with the tens of thousands of people afflicted with cholera, or the hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims still without shelter, clean water and hope. How much suffering could have been alleviated with the tens of million of dollars spent on a wasted electoral exercise?
Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange have made some powerful enemies. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Wikileaks of putting the world in danger and Australian PM Julia Gillard has said its activities are illegal.
In the US, Wikileaks has been denounced as a terrorist organisation and there have been calls for Assange to be either prosecuted, kidnapped or simply assassinated.
Thousands gathered in Vienna and other cities across Austria on November 27 to oppose government cuts in education, heath care and family allowances, the Morning Star said on November 28.
Students, trade unionists and pensioners carried placards reading: 鈥淭ake it from the rich鈥, and 鈥淵ou want to prune the budget, we want to overturn you鈥.
The government, a coalition between the Social Democrats and the conservative People鈥檚 Party, is seeking to reduce public spending by 鈧1.6 billion next year.
November 20 was Trans Remembrance Day. Sally Goldner, spokesperson for TransGender Victoria, gave the following speech at the 3000-strong marriage equality rally held in Melbourne that day.
* * *
Trans Remembrance Day started to mark the violent death of Rita Hester, a transgender African American woman who was murdered in Boston on November 28, 1998. Prejudice against trans people comes from the same evil seed as any form of prejudice 鈥 and all manifestations are totally unacceptable.
Anti-war activists salute Wikileaks鈥 courage and determination in exposing the lies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ruthlessness with which the biggest imperial power 鈥 the US 鈥 seeks to maintain its global dominance.
A new report from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) casts doubt on the ability of current government and corporate policy to meet its goal of 鈥渃losing the gap鈥 between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal unemployment.
The CAEPR report looks at the goals and achievements of two private-sector initiatives: the Australian Employment Covenant and Generation One.
On November 22, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Vice-President Elias Jaua headed a meeting including the regional vice presidents of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV 鈥 the mass party led by Chavez) as well as government vice-presidents. The two groups make up the Council of Vice-Presidents.
A magistrate at the Geelong Magistrates Court dismissed the charges against nine peace activists on November 29. The activists had blocked the road to Swan Island Defence Training Facility in Queenscliff on June 16.
The activists 鈥 Jessica Morrison, Julie Moyle, Trent Hawkins, Mitch Cherry, Tom Beattie, Shane Anderson, Dave Fagg, Ellen McNaught, Leesl Wegner 鈥 were charged with hindering police and obstructing a road.
On June 16, the court dismissed charges against four activists who entered the base in March and shut off equipment.
As indigenous peoples, we are extremely concerned that the principles agreed upon in the Cochabamba People鈥檚 Agreement have been unilaterally removed from the negotiating document [for the Cancun climate conference] that was released on November 24.
Equally alarming is the misrepresentation of the Copenhagen Accord as a legitimate path forward, despite its widespread denouncement by civil society and its tepid reception last December in Denmark, when the United Nations merely 鈥渢ook note of鈥 it.
The Cuban Communist Party has called its Sixth Congress for April. It has presented a document for discussion that proposes economic and political reforms to be implement over the next five years.
The proposals are outlined in the 鈥淭he Economic and Social Policy Development Project鈥, a 32-page pamphlet that establishes 291 鈥渓ines of action鈥.
The document covers: the economic management model; macroeconomic and foreign economic policies; investment, agro-industrial and energy plans; and initiatives in the tourism, transport, construction and trade sectors.
- Previous page
- Page 5
- Next page