Erica Garner, Black Lives Matter activist and daughter of African American victim of police murder Eric Garner, died on December 30 aged 27.
The proximate cause of death was a heart attack, extremely rare in one so young. The underlying cause was the trauma-induced stress (PTSD) she and her family suffered because of Eric’s murder in 2014, the exoneration of the killer cops, and the callous way the Garner family was treated by city authorities, including Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Thousands of people have marched in Invasion Day rallies across the country. Many chanted "No pride in genocide" and "Always was, always will be Aboriginal land". Here are some photos from the protest marches.
The Australian billionaire Dick Smith has been on the stump again warning of the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.
“If we're not careful, if you end up with really wealthy people and lots of poor people, in the end the poor people will rebel,” he said late last year.
“You look at what happened in Russia in 1917 where they ended up with the tsar and the tsar's friends who are all equivalent billionaires.
“The pitchforks came out and we had revolution.”
In November 2016, as the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) met in Bogota’s Colon Theatre to sign an agreement – for the second time – to bring the country’s long-running armed conflict to an end, it was clear that peace-building in Colombia faced a myriad of challenges and obstacles.
Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) has approved a proposal to hold presidential elections before April 30.
The move came a day after the European Union announced sanctions targeting seven Venezuelan senior state officials on January 22.
Brazilian professor and researcher Sabrina Fernandes discusses former president Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva’s January 24 corruption trial and the country’s forthcoming October presidential election.
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva has lost his appeal against 2017 corruption conviction last year in a major blow to his chances of regaining office.
The judgment was reached on January 24 after two of the three appeal court judges in the case voted to uphold the decision of a lower court. While Lula can still take his appeal to a higher court, the court's decision could rule him out of October's presidential election.
Even though the NSW government convinced Fair Work deputy commissioner, Jonathan Hamberger on January 25 that the Rail Tram and Bus Union’s (RBTU) overtime ban and proposed 24-hour strike should be suspended, Sydney’s hard-pressed commuters continue to support railway workers’ demand for an agreement that does not mean drivers have to work overtime to take home a fair wage.
Railway workers want a wage rise of 6% a year over the next four years to bring them in line with wages for drivers in other states.
When federal parliament reconvenes on February 5, the Coalition government’s first priority will be to pass two punitive bills which, if made into law, will make life even harder for those trying to get by on income support.
"Last year it felt like a funeral. This year it feels like a resistance."
Those words--from one of the many hundreds of thousands of protesters who took to the streets on January 20 as part of the massive Women's Marches marking the shameful anniversary of US President Donald Trump's first year in office--summed up the political mood.
In two words: Pissed off.
Protest against Turkish attacks on Afrin and complicity of world powers. Photos from Melbourne and Sydney rallies. Read more here: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/northern-syrian-movements-condemn-turkish-invasion
Over 100 people took part in an emergency demonstration in Sydney on January 21 to protest the Turkish government's military assault on Afrin in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (previously known as Rojava).
This video profiles one of the speeches at that rally by Socialist Alliance member Peter Boyle