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News Briefs

Protest against new secret police powers ADELAIDE — A "journalist", a "minor" and a "neighbour" symbolically detained in a cage on the steps of Parliament House on June 25 were among 70 people protesting the new anti-terrorism law, under which

Rebellion in the maritime union

BY SUE BOLTON According to many long-time members of the Maritime Union of Australia, there has never before been such a rebellion from the ranks of the MUA and its forerunners — the Seamens Union of Australia and the Waterside Workers

AFGHANISTAN: World's largest source of heroin

BY DOUG LORIMER A survey by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has found that Afghanistan has supplanted Burma as the world's largest source of illegal heroin. There are now 741 square kilometres of land being used to cultivate opium poppies in

Sarwari family victory

BY KAMALA EMANUEL LAUNCESTON — The Sarwari family — Mohib, Fatima and their four children — will be able to stay in Australia for now. After a long struggle, the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) reinstated their temporary protection visa

Afghans refugees fight to stay

BY MAREE KENNY In late 2001, hundreds of B-52 fighter planes roared through the skies above Afghanistan. While these US-led coalition forces bombed the Taliban and hunted Osama bin Laden, around 2000 Afghan asylum seekers in Australia waited for

INDONESIA: Solidarity call to end military ties with Indonesia

[The following statement was issued by 90 signatories on June 23, 2003. To view the signatories and sign on, visit <www.asia-pacific-action.org>.] We are organisations and groups concerned about human rights in Indonesia and about the

8 Mile: It's all about class

8 Mile DVDDirected by Curtis HansonWritten by Scott SilverStarring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Eugene Byrd BY BENJAMEN STANDING "All this terror, America demands actionNext thing you know, you've got Uncle Sam's ass

WMD conspiracy: Independent judicial inquiry needed

BY SARAH STEPHEN British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush are facing inquiries into allegations they fabricated evidence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in order to win public support for going to war. In

Loose cannons

GI means General Indignation "At first glance they appear to be the archetypal Band Of Brothers of Hollywood myth, brave and honest men united in common purpose. But a closer look at these American GIs, sweltering in the heat of an unwelcoming

Gallop evicts Swan Valley Nyungah community

BY RUSSELL PICKERING PERTH — On June 9-10, the Western Australian government of Labor Premier Geoff Gallop rammed through a draconian law evicting the Swan Valley Nyungah Community (SVNC) from their traditional land. The Reserves (Reserve 43131)

ASIO law: a serious threat to civil liberties

BY DALE MILLS On June 26, federal parliament passed the controversial Australian Security Intelligence Organisation legislation. The powers given to ASIO and the Australian Federal Police are the most serious threat to civil liberties in our

Socialist Alliance condemns Australian intervention in the Solomons

The Socialist Alliance has condemned the Australian government's decision to send warships and troops to police the Solomon Islands. Alliance members at the June 28 Victorian SA conference argued that Canberra would use the intervention to further