This isn鈥檛 an obituary. Every now and again those who hope and pray for his death spread yet another rumour, only to be disappointed by a photo or a commentary in that unmistakable style, confirming that Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro is very much alive and making the most of his twilight years.
When the inevitable does happen, the world, admirers and detractors alike, will pause for reflection. The corporate media will saturate our inner recesses with words and images that convey, for the most part, how the 1% appraise his life and legacy. Just imagine the gloating on Fox News.
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'Palestinians must unite to tackle the occupation'
Shamikh Badra is the youth and students coordinator for the Palestinian People Party (PPP) in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The PPP is a left-wing, secular party that is part of the Palestinian liberation movement. Badra is on a tour of Australia to speak about the situation in Gaza and Palestine's struggle for justice. 91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 Patrick Harrison spoke to Badra.
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West Papuan independence leader Buchtar Tabuni has been put on trial as part of Indonesia's crackdown on the independence movement.
Tabuni, a leader of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was arrested in June for allegedly organising 鈥渁narchic鈥 protests calling on the government to properly investigate a wave of random shootings blamed on independence activists.
The protests were peaceful until attacked by police and ended with several activists dead and others injured.
People are raising their voices in Sydney over August 24-26 to raise awareness among activists of songs, old and new, that further movements for social change.
There was a time when protest songs attracted positive media attention; now the media tends to complain about the lack of contemporary 鈥減rotest鈥 songs while they simultaneously ignore or rubbish them.
Secrecy: The Key to Independence
Laura S. Abrantes & Beba Sequeira
Asia Pacific Support Collective Timor-Leste,
Dili 2012, 102 pp.
This is a book you should turn to whenever you think activism is too hard.
Twelve women from the remote areas of Timor-Leste (East Timor) tell how they fought for their nation's independence. In the 24-year war from 1975 to 1999, official estimates are that 18,600 people were killed by conflict and 84,200 died of hunger and disease.
The 50-year rule of the Ba鈥檃th Party in Syria looks to be effectively over.
In the past month armed clashes have spread to the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the largest city, Aleppo. Armed opposition forces have taken control of several border points. On August 6, Prime Minister Riad Hijab defected to the opposition.
The regime of Bashar al-Assad 鈥 who inherited the presidency in 2000 from his father, Hafez al-Assad, who seized power in a 1970 military coup 鈥 no longer controls the country.
There have been outrageous abuses of power before and during the Olympic Games in London this year. These include a police attack on, and mass arrests during, a "critical mass" bike ride, the placing of missiles on civilian roofs despite protests by affected residents, and special 鈥淥lympic lanes鈥 on roads whose use is limited those granted special permission by games organisers.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard鈥檚 鈥渆xpert panel鈥 on refugee policy will hand over its findings on how to 鈥渟top the boats鈥 and end the parliamentary 鈥渄eadlock鈥 over offshore processing when parliament begins sitting again next week.
After an asylum boat tragedy that killed 90 people in June, the three-member panel, headed by former defence chief Angus Houston, on the 鈥渂est way forward for Australia to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives鈥 considering 鈥淎ustralia鈥檚 right to maintain its borders鈥.
If your home was going to be demolished in 15 minutes, what would you save? Facing a life of poverty, would you salvage valuables? Or, would you retrieve sentimental items, knowing that every day your people lose pieces of their ancient history and culture? For Israeli 鈥渞efusenik鈥 Sahar Vardi, watching Palestinians being forced to make this decision at gunpoint just a few kilometres from her own home changed her life.
NASA scientist James Hansen was in an August 3聽blunt about the future Washington Post聽 article: 鈥淲hen I testified before the Senate in the hot summer of 1988, I warned of the kind of future that climate change would bring to us and our planet.
About 200 past and present students, teachers, local residents and local traders rallied to save Swinburne University of Technology鈥檚 Prahran TAFE campus on August 5. The event was organised by the National Tertiary Education Union and former staff and students.
Former Swinburne executive director of educational development Judy Bissland has worked at the campus for 30 years.
鈥淚 am still involved with campus through working with disengaged youth,鈥 she told the crowd. 鈥淔unding cuts to TAFE and the vocational sector [are] disastrous. We need to take action to stop cuts or modify cuts.鈥
About 2500 people rallied in Melbourne for equal marriage rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people on August 11. A mass illegal wedding was held in defiance of the federal marriage ban.
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