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On July 24, 20,000 people rallied to mark President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's annual State of the Nation address to the Philippines Congress. Arroyo has survived a deep political crisis that resulted from revelations of widespread cheating during the
JindabyneDirected by Ray LawrenceScreenplay by Beatrix ChristianWith Laura Linney and Gabriel ByrneShowing at major cinemas REVIEW BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS Four men go on a weekend fishing trip into the high-country of the Snowy Mountains. It's an
Liam Mitchell, Sydney On July 24, a lunchtime solidarity meeting with a member of the Western Australian branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) who is facing a heavy fine for taking strike action was held on the
Nick Fredman "Religion is the opium of the people." One of Karl Marx's best-known quotes seems to be saying that religion is a wholly negative phenomenon that prevents people from seeing the world as it is and changing it for the better. In this
Alex Bainbridge, Sydney "We are not facing an enemy to the Muslim people, nor an enemy to the Middle East ... It's an enemy to humanity in general", Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad told a July 26 public forum on Israel's wars on

Awestruck by the power of the atomic bomb during its test bombing in the New Mexico desert, J Robert Oppenheimer nevertheless set the coordinates for the first atomic bombs to be used in war, to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki three weeks later, writes Phil Shannon.

Zoe Kenny In a July 24 speech to the Sydney Institute, federal ALP leader Kim Beazley threw his weight behind the pro-uranium wing in his party, which is itching to scrap the party's "no new mines" policy at next year's Labor Party national
An opinion poll conducted by ISM research found that 63% of British voters believe the British government should break from its current position of subservience to the US administration. The findings of the poll were published in the July 25 London
Dale T. McKinley, Johannesburg The alliance is dead! Long live the alliance! That about sums up the politics of the organisational marriage between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of
NEWCASTLE — On July 21, 70 truck drivers protested outside the Coles store in the NSW Central Coast town of Wyoming after being left with no job security by Coles-Myer and the Linfox trucking company following the closure of the nearby Coles-Myer
Dave Hill Ted Grant co-founded and led Militant in Britain in 1964, which grew to become the most effective and largest Trotskyist organisation in Britain. At its height it had 8000 members, three MPs (and other fellow-travellers) and more
Stuart Munckton The 30th Common Market of the South (Mercosur) summit was held on July 20-21 in Cordoba, Argentina, and was the first presidential summit since Mercosur accepted Venezuela as a full member on July 4. Mercosur also includes Brazil,