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AFGHANISTAN: US-backed Karzai elected president

Jenny Francis Afghans voted for a new president on October 9, and hoped for a better future. After the events of that day, however, there is a growing fear that their hope is misplaced. While the official results were yet to be declared by

Arundhati Roy: Why we should support Iraqi resistance

Through his op-ed column in the October 26 Sydney Morning Herald, Liberal Party historian and apologist for imperialism Gerard Henderson attempted to discredit the awarding of the Sydney Peace Prize to Indian writer and campaigner

Electrolux decision must be fought

Chris Latham The September 2 High Court's Electrolux decision has signalled a serious assault on the right of workers to organize and strike. In a six-to-one decision, the High Court ruled that bargaining-agent fees could not be included in

ZIMBABWE: Unionists deported

Brian Stephens, Harare A delegation of 13 unionists from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was deported from Zimbabwe under armed escort on October 26. The delegation was investigating the situation in the lead up to national

Outdoing the Coalition on refugees?

Sarah Stephen &Roberto Jorquera, Sydney Labor's newly appointed shadow immigration minister, Laurie Ferguson, told the October 28 Melbourne Age that he was a "bit sick of being lectured to by people". He claimed that refugee advocates were "usually

New 'super ministry' threat to jobs

Jim McIlroy, Brisbane The Coalition government's plans to create a new federal "super-ministry" — the Department of Human Services (DHS) — has been met with concern by public sector workers worried that it will involve outsourcing or

Loose cannons

Capitalist justice "US Airways Group, in its second journey through Chapter 11 [bankruptcy], had requested that a bankruptcy court impose a 23% pay cut on nearly all of its union workers. A bankruptcy judge on Friday granted the carrier authority

In brief

IRAQ: US bombing kills 100,000 civilians About 100,000 Iraqi civilians — half of them women and children — have died since the US-led invasion in March 2003, most of them as a result of air strikes by the US-led occupation forces. The

The Conch [For survivors of Suharto's dictatorship]

I spent fifteen years in a single cellThe cold could be predicted, food not soMy body languished, my spirit fed well. I shivered with the ghosts of those who fellTwo tiny holes let in a concrete glowI spent fifteen years in a single cell. My

Dodging responsibility

Kathy Newnam, Darwin Support for the One Mile Dam Aboriginal community, just outside Darwin's CBD, has been growing since the launch of the Kumbutjil Association in early 2004. But this support has not been matched by action from the NT

News briefs #2

#2 Green groups slam SE Qld regional plan BRISBANE — Conservation organisations have criticised the Queensland government's draft south-east Queensland regional plan, released for public comment on October 27, labelling it a sham and a threat

On the Box

On the Box Message Stick: Thancoupie — Profiles Australia's most famous Indigenous potter renowned for creating stunning spherical forms with Indigenous designs. ABC, Friday November 5, 6pm. Transamazonian Highway — Includes footage of the