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British verdict a 'tipping point' in climate struggle

On September 10 a British jury acquitted six Greenpeace protesters who were on trial for trying to shut down a coal-fired power station on the grounds that they were trying to stop global warming.

Financial crisis: working people will pay

“Will my superannuation fund be next?” “Are my savings safe?” As working people in the developed economies watch the assets of one financial institution after another vaporise into nothingness, tens of millions are asking these dreadful questions.

Blacklisted activists behind Gaza breakthrough

A group of international peace activists blacklisted and deported from Israel were the organising force behind the August 23 breaking of the Gaza blockade by two activist boats.

Zimbabwe: Deal 'no cause for celebration'

While many Movement for Democratic Change activists are confident that the power sharing agreement between the ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC is a step forward, there are widespread concerns about the deal.

Climate emergency: birth of a new protest movement

In the room are a chemical engineer from a large mining/energy corporation, a solar energy engineer, a psychiatrist, a veterinarian, an artist and a construction worker. Also present are an ex-Labor Party activist, a Greens candidate in the 2007 election and a socialist student. Where do you find all these people, and more besides, in one room working for the one cause? At a meeting of Melbourne’s Climate Emergency Network (CEN).

Manley and McKay: reform and revolution in the politics of the African diaspora

“In-Dependence” from Bondage: Claude McKay and Michael Manley Defying the Ideological Clash and Policy Gaps in African Diaspora Relations
By Lloyd D. McCarthy
Africa World Press, 2007
US$24.95, Available from http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com

Ambos bail up minister

Fifty ambulance officers and paramedics campaigning for more staff and better conditions bailed up Victorian health minister Daniel Andrews as he visited Geelong on September 19.

Garrett gives Gunns more time

Federal environment minister Peter Garrett has maintained for weeks that he had not been approached by Gunns timber company to extend the deadline on the environmental approval process for the company’s proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. Last week, however, the government extended the deadline from October 4 to January 5.

Let them eat jam

On September 15, in his last full day as federal opposition leader, Brendan Nelson confronted the Labor government with a tin of baked beans and a jar of jam. “That is the reality for Australian pensioners: baked beans and jam sandwiches”, Nelson said, moving a censure motion against the government for its failure to agree to increase the Age Pension by $30 a week.

The Bones of September

Two vast and trunkless legs of steel Like silent Pharaohs over Wall Street stood Scraping the vast canvas of immortality @poetry = How many died erecting those towers: Welders of iron, exoskeletal beams? Manhattan is missing her two front

'Historic changes' shaking Nepal

In April, Nepal held historic elections for a new constituent assembly, a product of years of pro-democracy struggle against the monarchy, including a 10-year-long “people’s war” waged by the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), which easily won the largest share of seats in the assembly.

Seven convicted of 'terrorism'

The trial of 12 Muslim men under the “anti-terror” laws has ended with seven being found guilty of one or more charges, four found not guilty and the jury unable to decide on one.