Elections in Schleswig Holstein on May 6 delivered yet another blow to the federal coalition government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
As well as forming government federally, the CDU and FDP were also in government in the small northern German state.
The CDU lost nearly 100,000 votes, slipping 0.7 points to 30.8% 鈥 its worst result in the Schleswig Holstein since 1950.
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As the world marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3, an annual day declared by the UN General Assembly, Sudanese journalists had no reason to celebrate.
They spent the day just like many before it, fighting against censorship and calling for press freedom.
Journalists working for Al-Jareeda, an independent daily based in Khartoum, headed to the Sudanese Journalist鈥檚 Union to stage a silent sit-in.
On May 1 and 2, Al-Jareeda was taken over by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) of Sudan.
In South Australia, where abortion is still legally considered a crime under the Criminal Act, women do not have the legal right to make their own reproductive choices. What we have now is tenuous and limited access to abortions through an underfunded healthcare system.
Now, this access is under attack. Family First MP Robert Brokenshire has introduced into the SA upper house the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration (Registration of Still-Births) Amendment Bill (also known as Jayden鈥檚 Law), which will be put to a vote on May 16.
Quebec college and university students are now in the 13th week of their militant province-wide strike. They have voted overwhelmingly to reject a government offer that met none of their key demands.
After a 22-hour bargaining session involving ministers of the Charest government, university and college heads, and leaders of the major trade-union federations, the student leaders agreed on May 6 to put the offer to a vote of their memberships without recommending acceptance.
If the offer was accepted:
The victory of Socialist Party (PS) candidate Francois Hollande in the French presidential election on May 6 set off a wave of hope across Europe. On May 9, the Spanish government announced that it was nationalising the country鈥檚 fourth biggest bank, Bankia, to keep it from collapsing.
What do these seemingly unrelated events have to do with each other?
Enormous expectations are being loaded onto the shoulders of the former French PS national secretary. In recession-stricken Spain, Portugal and Greece, people hope he will put Europe鈥檚 economies on a path to growth and job-creation.
A May 10 rally against TAFE cuts announced in the Victorian budget attracted more than 2000 protesters in front of Premier Ted Baillieu鈥檚 office.
鈥淟ock up Baillieu, throw away the key, we won鈥檛 stop until TAFE is free鈥 was just one of chants the crowd roared. Lecturers, teachers, students, support staff, community groups, the Australian Education Union (AEU) and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) joined forces to fight against the $300 million cutbacks.
Organisers of a Sydney Palestine solidarity protest 鈥 鈥 released the statement below on May 12.
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NSW police initiated a Supreme Court action against the pro-Palestine Al-Nakba commemoration march to be held in Sydney on May 15. The police are seeking a court order prohibiting the public assembly and procession. Protest organisers state that they will not be intimidated and will defend the right to protest in court.
On the same day that 8000 farmers, environmentalists, the Country Women鈥檚 Association and others took part in Australia's biggest rally against coal seam gas (CSG) mining, the NSW mining industry about the industry.
Website creator the Minerals Council of NSW includes the state's biggest mining companies: Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Barrick Gold, Peabody, Rio Tinto, Shenhua and Xstrata.
After protests against across-the-board staff cuts at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, a new major "restructuring" has been proposed for the School of Music.
The university has two music programs. It announced one would be cut while the other would undergo significant changes, focused on "professional development" and the "portfolio career" rather than the fostering of musical abilities.
Supporters of the National Campaign for the Right To Strike initiated the sign-on statement below.
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Australian law has never provided for the unrestricted right to strike. The first Australian industrial law, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1904, penalised Australian striking workers with fines and jail sentences.
Before that, Australian workers had to comply with the British Master and Servants Act of 1837, which meant that a worker could face jail if they were absent from work for an hour without permission.
Is there a surplus or is there not? Does delivering a $1.5 billion surplus in 2012-13 make Wayne Swan a 鈥済ood economic manager鈥? Are you a winner and grinner or a loser soon to be driven to the boozer? Blah, blah, blah. Enough, enough already with the budget spins and counterspins.
You want something real to worry about from the budget? Worry about your job if you are lucky enough to still have one, and worry about what will happen to you if you lose it.
Fair Work Australia鈥檚 findings into the Health Services Union (HSU) have revealed serious breaches of the union鈥檚 rules, as well as federal regulations governing registered organisations.
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