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APEC fails to kick start stalled WTO trade round

BY EVA CHENG Anti-capitalist protesters who succeeded in Seattle last November-December in helping block the launch of a new round of global trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) can proudly register their

Globalisation conference seeks answers

BY ROBERTO JORQUERA & SARAH STEPHEN PERTH — Around 150 people attended the "Globalisation: trash or treasure" conference at Curtin university on November 25. The one day conference was initiated by the Stop MAI [Multilateral Agreement on

QUEBEC: Seattle to come to Quebec?

BY EVA CHENG Having failed to restart the World Trade Organisation negotiations since the mass demonstrations in Seattle last November, the US is now seeking to prioritise the "free trade" regime in the Americas as an interim measure. Hence, the

and ain't i a woman: Reversing those great expectations

Last week's column looked at Prime Minister John Howard's conservative agenda for women. Research shows that under the Liberal-National Coalition government, women are not being driven back into the home, as is often claimed. Participation rates for

ISRAEL: Will Barak survive early elections?

BY AHMED NIMER RAMALLAH — The ongoing uprising and the violent Israeli reaction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip took a new twist on November 28, when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced that early Israeli elections would be held only two

'Corporate globalisers are on the defensive'

One year after the protests against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Seattle, the movement against corporate globalisation is still going strong with 100,000 protesters planning to converge on Nice. In Australia, anti-corporate

TAIWAN: Workers fighting locally and globally

BY EVA CHENG Workers in Taiwan have frequently taken to the streets recently — and not only to defend their own conditions. In a clear rejection of neo-liberal propaganda which encourages national chauvinism, a section of the Taiwanese trade

PALESTINE: The media and the island illusion

BY MAHER MUGHRABI If you were going to use the kind of language that seems to typify discussion of people from the Middle East, I suppose you might say that the Ethnic Community Council's seminar on "Responsible Media in a Multicultural Society" on

Currawong: How Costa squanders workers' assets

BY DAVE BELL For two years the establishment media has carried the odd snippet about the NSW Labor Council's plans to lease Currawong, the trade union movement's beachfront holiday retreat on Pittwater, north of Sydney. Over the years Currawong,

Forest issues in Tasmania

BY VIV MILEY & ALEX BAINBRIDGE Neil Smith was fined $7000 on October 27 for his part in a 1998 forest protest against the logging of virgin forest at Kooparoona Niara, also known as the Great Western Tiers. Smith was known at the time by the

Sun, sand and protest

BeachballsProduced and directed by Bronwyn KiddSBS TV, Tuesday, December 12, 8.30pm REVIEW BY MARINA CARMAN If you want a chance to see some of the reality behind the glamour and glitz of the Sydney Olympics, then park yourself in front of the TV

Inflation rises, how's your income?

BY PAUL OBOOHOV CANBERRA — Inflation figures for the September quarter were recently announced. Included in the figures is the initial impact of the goods and services tax (GST), which the Australian Bureau of Statistics describes as having a