CAIRNS 鈥 Three Queensland doctors published a letter in the international medical journal The Lancet on March 6, highlighting the difficulties women in the state face accessing medical and surgical abortions.
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BRISBANE 鈥 Despite the postponement of US President Barack Obama's visit to Australia until June, a rally protesting against his government's war policies took place on March 19, the seventh anniversary of the US-led allied invasion of Iraq.
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Author and climate commentator Clive Hamilton launched his new book, Requiem for a Species, at Gleebooks on March 16. He discussed the troubling gap between the scientific certainty that dangerous climate change is already underway and the refusal of governments to respond. In the past 12 months, climate change denial has made something of a comeback. In the US, attacks on science are reaching a fever-pitch. -
The state of Israel has been in defiance of international law for decades. Along with Israeli and Jewish and other groups around the world, Jews against the Occupation Sydney supports in principle the call of Palestinian civil society for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the state of Israel and the institutions that support it.
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The following statement was released by the Socialist Alliance national executive.
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>Jude Conway, whose book Step by Step: Women of East Timor, Stories of Resistance and Survival has just been released by Charles Darwin University Press, gave the Andrew McNaughton Memorial Lecture at Gleebooks, Sydney on February 12. McNaughtan was a Sydney medical practitioner and a leading East Timor activist who died in late 2003.
News
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鈥淭he feminist movement was one of the strongest parts of the radicalisation of the 1960s and 1970s鈥, said Carla Gorton, a pro-choice activist and Socialist Alliance member from Cairns. She addressed a March 16 forum called 鈥淔eminism: Theory and Action鈥, presented by Resistance and the Socialist Alliance.
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On March 16, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib won his case for defamation against an article by Piers Akerman in February 2005 in the Daily Telegraph.
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On March 16, Yarra City Council amended the racist Local Law 8, which bans drinking in public places. The law was originally passed on October 20 with the ALP, Greens and independent councillors voting for it. Socialist Party councillor Stephen Jolly was the only councillor to oppose the law.
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Aboriginal services workers and community members from across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions held a 鈥渃ommunity issues workshop鈥 on March 17.
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Victorian police have been rocked by allegations of racism, physical abuse and harassment of young Africans in inner-urban Melbourne.
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Victorian fuel supplies could be threatened if agreement is not reached in an industrial dispute between Shell and tanker drivers at its Newport depot.
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A 鈥渕ock wedding鈥 of queer couples was held in Wollongong on March 18, protesting against Australia's legislation banning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people from getting married.
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Australian Services Union organiser Julie Kun outlined the ASU鈥檚 campaign for pay equity at an International Women鈥檚 Day meeting organised by the Anatolian Cultural Centre and the Socialist Alliance on March 14.
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On March 15, I was banned for a period of 12 months from entering any premises or lands belonging to the University of Sydney. Another Socialist Alliance activist, Paul Benedek, was issued with an 鈥渋ndefinite鈥 ban.On March 15, I was banned for a period of 12 months from entering any premises or lands belonging to the University of Sydney. Another Socialist Alliance activist, Paul Benedek, was issued with an "indefinite" ban.
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Two weeks ago, Norrie won the right to have 鈥渘on gender specific鈥 written on zie's (non-gendered pronoun) birth certificate.
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Frustrated by a lack of progress in enterprise bargaining after eleven months of negotiation, members of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) at the University of New South Wales launched the first of a series of fortnightly 24-hour strikes on March 18.
Analysis
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Every week, dedicated 91自拍论坛 Weekly supporters hit the streets to present the news and ideas excluded from the mainstream media. These ideas help us better understand the world around us and expose the lies and distortions of the corporate elite.
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91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 Niko Leka spoke with Professor Louise Newman Friday, chair of the Detention Expert Health Advisory Group (DEHAG) following her recent visit to immigration facilities on Christmas Island.
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Journalists at the ABC have come under strong pressure from the organisation鈥檚 chairperson to give more weight to the views of climate change deniers.
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In the Christmas Island detention centre's Alpha Compound 鈥 a maximum security-style section holding refugees from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka 鈥 Tamil refugees are desperately appealing to the Australian government not to send them back to Sri Lanka.
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Three hundred climate activists participated in Australia鈥檚 second national Climate Action Summit in Canberra on March 13-15, marking an important step forward for the grassroots climate movement in this country.
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On March 15, opposition leader Tony Abbott said the shadow cabinet would support the federal ALP government鈥檚 extension of 鈥渋ncome management鈥 to more welfare recipients in the Northern Territory 鈥 not just those living in targeted Aboriginal communities.
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The inquest into the fatal boat explosion involving Afghan asylum seekers and the Australian navy in April 2009 has ended with appalling conclusions. Despite evidence suggesting the five deaths and extensive injuries could have been avoided if defence personnel had operated differently, the refugees received sole blame and may face criminal charges.
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For the 2009 climate summit, I wrote a short article titled 鈥淟ooking back 鈥 moving forward: ten lessons for the climate movement鈥. It attempted to articulate some of the challenges and opportunities for the community climate movement after two years of rapid growth in scope and capacity.
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Hearings in the ongoing coronial inquest into the November 2004 death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee, a member of the Indigenous community on Palm Island, were held on the island and in Townsville from March 8-12.
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鈥淭he Aboriginal community is moving to call for a national day of action against Black deaths in custody on Saturday April 10鈥, Queensland Aboriginal leader and Socialist Alliance member Sam Watson told 91自拍论坛 Weekly on March 19. 鈥淲e are calling on all state and federal governments across Australia to conduct a national audit of the implementation of the recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody.
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Western Australian attorney-general Christian Porter said on March 17 an interim payment of $200,000 to the family of Aboriginal elder Mr Ward should be 鈥渇inalised鈥欌 by the end of the month (leaving unclear whether this meant 鈥減aid鈥 or 鈥渁pproved鈥).
World
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In Copenhagen, Sydney-based climate justice advocate Natasha Verco, as well as US activist Noah Weiss, faces charges under Denmark鈥檚 鈥渢errorism鈥 laws. Verco faces up to 12-and-a-half year jail for her role in organising protests against the United Nations Copemnhagen climate summit in December.
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鈥淭he free, sovereign and independent homeland of our dreams will only come true if we radicalise the process and speed up the transition to socialism鈥, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wrote in his March 14 weekly column 鈥淐havez Lines鈥.
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Federico Fuentes and Kiraz Janicke concluded their ten-day tour of Canada on March 7, with a rally in Vancouver entitled 鈥淐hange the System, Not the Climate.鈥 Fuentes shared the platform with Pablo Solon, Bolivia鈥檚 UN ambassador and chief spokesperson on climate change.
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At 8am on February 17, 100 families were evicted from the Nuevo Sol housing estate, leaving its inhabitants without a roof over their heads. That morning, an individual appeared without legal written orders accompanied by 200 police, trained dogs and bulldozers to carry out the eviction.
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On March 15, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, spruiking his plans to revamp Australia鈥檚 ailing health care system, was told by Queanbeyan Doctor Jeannie Ellis, who has spent some time in Cuba, that he should look to the Caribbean island for ideas on how to develop a decent public health system.
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La鈥檕 Hamutuk, the Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis, calls on the military and civilian commanders of Australian and other foreign soldiers in Timor-Leste to direct their soldiers to avoid involvement in local politics, including asking Timorese citizens their political views or encouraging them to identify with one political grouping or another.
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An arepa is a Venezuelan food staple. It is a round type of bread made from corn flour and water and slapped into shape with both hands. Venezuelans say they cannot live without eating an arepa each day.
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US maternity death rate doubles in 20 years "Deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the United States have doubled in the past 20 years, a development that a human rights group called 'scandalous and disgraceful' Friday ... "[Amnesty
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The Indonesian government headed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (commonly known as 鈥淪BY鈥) claims it has reduced poverty in Indonesia from 17.7% in 2006 to 14.2% in 2009.
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A year after a murderous Israeli assault, the war on the people of Gaza continues. Gaza is still under siege 鈥 still surrounded by walls and checkpoints. Its people are denied the necessities of life and the right to rebuild and shape their future. Gaza is still under siege 鈥 still surrounded by walls and checkpoints. Its people are denied the necessities of life and the right to rebuild and shape their future.
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Three thousand heavily armed Israeli security service forces locked down large parts of the Old City of Jerusalem on March 16 as battalions of police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian protesters in the occupied eastern part of the city.
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Hundreds of thousands of "Red Shirt" pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets of Bangkok and other cities over the weekend of March 13-14. This was a show of force to prove the strength of the movement and to dispel any lies by the
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In an indication that the global climate justice movement is becoming broader, there is now intense opposition to a climate-destroying energy loan for South Africa.
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On March 16, tens of hundreds of Palestinians of all political persuasions took to the streets, alleys and sidewalks as widespread rioting and protests spread across occupied East Jerusalem, the rest of the West Bank, Gaza and into Israel proper.
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Residents in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah have named a street after Rachel Corrie, a US solidarity activist crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003 while protesting against Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza.
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鈥淎t least 11 people have been injured by Israeli air strikes targeting Gaza's airport, Palestinian officials say鈥, BBC News reported on March 20.
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It was common during the opening of the Iraq war to see slogans proclaiming 鈥淣o blood for oil!鈥 The cover story for the war 鈥 Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein鈥檚 links with Al Qaeda and his weapons of mass destruction 鈥 were obvious mass deceptions, hiding a far less palatable imperial agenda.
Culture
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Thinking Outside The Square: A Retrospective (Photographs 1972-2010) By Elaine Pelot-Syron South Sydney Uniting Church 56a Raglan Street Waterloo March 14 until May 20 Tues-Thu, 4.30-6pm; Sun, 9am-noon
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Commonwealth By Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri Harvard University Press, $64.95, (hb)