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Cuba's fighting women

REVIEW BY KIM BULLIMORE Marianas in Combat: Tet‚ Puebla and the Mariana Grajales Women's Platoon in the Cuban revolutionary war, 1956-1958Edited by Mary-Alice WalkerPathfinder Press, 200397 pages, $22. "How can we give rifles to women when there

Powerful view of life under the Taliban

REVIEW BY SARAH STEPHEN OsamaWriteen and directed by Siddiq BarmakDistributed by Sharmill FilmsWith Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida SaharShowing in Sydney from April 29 at the Chauvel, Hayden Orpheum Cremorne and Valhalla Cinemas Osama

Troops out now!

While government and opposition ministers ruminate ceaselessly about what kind of "exit strategy" is needed to get troops out of Iraq, the anti-war movement has been shouting its strategy: "Troops out now!" Prime Minister John Howard may have

SCOTLAND: SSP launches free school meals campaign

Alex Miller In March, Scottish Socialist Party MSP Frances Curran launched a campaign aimed at securing legislation in the Scottish Parliament that would provide a daily free, nutritious school meal for all children in Scottish schools. The SSP

At last, a home?

Chris White, Adelaide On any one night, some 7500 South Australians are homeless. One obvious reason for this crisis is a lack of housing, caused by the federal Coalition government's 60% capital grants cut to the South Australian Housing Trust.

GERMANY: Protests challenge ruling elite

Wolfgang Pomrehn, Berlin Despite the predictions of one of Germany's biggest trade union newspapers, Europe was not on the move on April 3, the first European action day against social cuts. But in Germany the turnout was overwhelming. More then

Campaign demands a fair go for East Timor

Vannessa Hearman MELBOURNE — On April 14, 50 members of the Timor Sea Justice Campaign met outside the High Court to launch the group. Comedian Rod Quantock was joined by protesters disguised as Prime Minister John Howard and foreign minister

SCOTLAND: Striking childcare workers hold out

Since March 1, 5000 Scottish nursery nurses (childcare workers) have been on strike for better pay. It is 15 years since the low-paid workers had a pay review. Currently paid £13,000 a year, the workers are demanding £18,000. While more

East Timorese: 'We only want what is rightfully ours'

Last month, the Australian government released new offshore areas for companies to bid for petroleum exploration permits. This includes territory that is much closer to East Timor's coast than to Australia, which East Timor's government claims as

IRAQ: Burial ground of the New American Century?

Doug Lorimer BBC television journalist Tara Sutton reported on February 4 that one of the first signs people see as they enter the Iraqi city of Fallujah in March reads: "Welcome to Fallujah — burial ground of the Americans." The mass rebellion

News briefs 1

1 Channel 31 forced off air SYDNEY — In the Federal Court on April 16, Justice Ronald Sackville upheld the Australian Broadcasting Authority's decision to award TV Sydney with the broadcasting licence previously held by Community TV Sydney

Loose cannons

Unoccupied I "This is [US President George] Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David