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In brief

AFGHANISTAN: Women election workers killed Two Afghan women were killed and 13 were wounded on June 28 by a bomb that exploded on a bus filled with election workers travelling to Rodat to register women voters. A Taliban spokesperson claimed

HONG KONG: 530,000 protest China

Some 530,000 people, braving a heat wave in humid Hong Kong, demonstrated on the seventh anniversary of the former British colony's July 1, 1997, handover to China. They were angered by Beijing's recent rejection of the demand for complete direct

Clear-felling in Tasmania: an environmental catastrophe

Annie Philips Living in Hobart I witness the rather sobering daily event of scores of laden log trucks thundering down the main street of town. It's a continual reminder to all those who care about the environment of current Tasmanian forestry

This is Codka Dhallinyaradda Soomaaliyeed

Marcus Pabian& Tony Iltis Over the last 12 months a new bilingual newspaper, Codka Dhallinyaradda Soomaaliyeed (Voice of Somali Youth), has been published in Melbourne by activists who were part of the Western Suburbs Community Coalition Against

'Troops out' rallies mark fake hand-over

Kerryn Williams, Sydney SYDNEY — Rallies took place around the country on June 30 to "Bring the troops home" and to protest the fake handover of sovereignty to a US-appointed Iraqi interim government. The "handover" occurring two days early and

Dawn of the Dead

With Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber and Mekhi PhiferDirected by Zack Snyder REVIEW BY RJURIK DAVIDSON There is no space for liberalism in the horror story, which proceeds from the assumption that there is something drastically wrong with

CANADA: Voters reject the right

Barry Weisleder, Toronto On June 28, voters across Canada rejected the newly formed Conservative Party, and punished the Liberals for 11 years of cutbacks and corruption and strengthened the New Democratic Party (NDP). The electoral shift to the

WEST PAPUA: A struggle for human rights

Frances Evans West Papua: where the second largest rainforest in the world is cleared for Freeport/Rio Tinto's gold and copper mines; where one of the world's most diverse marine environments is being polluted by BHP-Billiton's toxic tailings;

SHOCKFACTS: Indigenous health and welfare

Indigenous households earn about $200 less than other households per week, or 62% of the average household income. Indigenous people are half as likely to have completed their schooling and only about 40% are employed, compared to 60% in the wider

IRAQ: Resistance ends US occupation of Baquba

Doug Lorimer On June 24, Iraqi resistance fighters forced US Army troops to withdraw to the outskirts of Baquba, a city with 250,000 residents located 56 kilometres north of Baghdad. The assault was part of coordinated attacks against US occupation

Nursing cuts make us sick

Julia Costello & Frances Usherwood, Sydney The University of Sydney recently proposed the cutting of its nursing faculty. This proposal, announced by Vice-Chancellor Gavin Brown, states that the faculty will not take any more undergraduate

Who's afraid of Michael Moore?

Rohan Pearce The June 26-27 opening weekend of Michael Moore's new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, confirmed the nightmares of US President George Bush's supporters. Despite the right-wing's best efforts to derail the Fahrenheit juggernaut, in a