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Students to strike against Work Choices

Emma Clancy Inspired by the example of the French students and workers who defeated their government's attacks on young workers with mass mobilisations, the socialist youth organisation Resistance has called for a student strike against Work

Dioxin poisons fishing families

Zoe Kenny, Sydney A number of commercial fishing operators from Sydney Harbour have levels of dioxin in their blood 10 times higher than the national average as a result of eating their catch. The tests were conducted by ABC TV's 7.30 Report after

Pilbara: Australia's longest strike

Sarah Stephen This month marks 60 years since the Pilbara pastoral workers' strike, sometimes referred to as the "Blackfellas' Eureka". It started on May 1, 1946, and lasted until 1949, making it the longest strike in Australia's history. The

EGYPT: Police attack protesters

CAIRO — On April 27, thousands of riot police broke up a protest outside the high court in defence of two judges who were facing disciplinary hearings. The pro-reform judges — Hisham Bastawisi and Mahmoud Mekki — exposed fraud in last year's

On the box

Message Stick: The Healer — Brian Dowd runs an Aboriginal men's healing program called Back on Track, highly regarded for helping turn around the lives of countless Aboriginal men. ABC, Friday May 5, 6pm. The Chaser's War on Everything —

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Popular revolt forces PM to quit

Doug Lorimer On April 25, nine days after his election as prime minister of the Solomon Islands led to rioting in the streets of the country's capital Honiara, Snyder Rini announced his resignation. He was facing an imminent no-confidence vote

Call for UN to assist West Papua

Pip Hinman An Australian coalition of West Papua support groups has asked the UN to list West Papua as a non-governing territory requiring a self-determination plebiscite. Joe Collins from the Australia-West Papua Association in Sydney said, "It

ITALY: Election success puts Communist Refoundation in hot seat

Dick Nichols In the April 9-10 Italian general elections, outgoing prime minister and media super-boss Silvio Berlusconi just failed to pull off a miracle win for his centre-right coalition the House of Freedoms. The centre-right came to within

SOLOMON ISLANDS: RAMSI: Helpem fren or reimposing colonial rule?

Norm Dixon The dramatic recent events in Honiara have revealed the true role of Australian-dominated Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). While Canberra has brand-named its commitment to RAMSI as Operation Helpem Fren, the

Insurance companies rip off WA workers, Medicare

Sam Wainwright, Perth WA insurance companies are defrauding Medicare through the state's workers' compensation system. Not content with extracting more than $255 million profit in the last financial year, the insurers have found a way of avoiding

CUBA: Confronting 'real capitalism'

Stuart Munckton Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly and one the revolution's central leaders, gave a wide-ranging interview to Nestor Kohan and Luciano Alzaga, which was published on the Rebelion website on April 18. The

Loose Cannons

Land of equal opportunity "The median net worth for African-American families — half have more, half less — is less than one-tenth of the median for white families. That gap is driven largely by differences in home ownership. More than 70% of