May Day this year in Spain was not built as a special mobilisation against austerity, poverty and unemployment, and did not coincide with a general strike. Despite that, this was not a ritualistic May Day.
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Despite the cold I ventured out to La Mama - a small, quirky and iconic theatre in Melbourne to see Tall Man, a new work by the infamous Melbourne theatre posse Real TV 鈥 the partnership of writer, Angela Betzien and director Leticia Caceres. Within seconds I was transported into the hot, seething heart of the Australian bush, deep in the Dee Ranges of Central Queensland.
There鈥檚 a new president in Latin America, and his name isn鈥檛 Nicolas Maduro. The election that brought him to power was called by an illegitimate regime following a coup d鈥檈tat, and his name isn鈥檛 Porfirio Lobo.
He鈥檚 a wealthy, conservative businessman, and his name isn鈥檛 Sebastian Pinera. His party ruled for over 60 years, and his name isn鈥檛 Enrique Pena Nieto.
When East Timor won its independence from Indonesia in 1999, the country's medical infrastructure in rural areas was almost non-existent.
When then-Cuban President Fidel Castro heard about the problem at a regional summit, he offered to send Cuban doctors free of charge 鈥 as many as were needed.
So began the largest Cuban medical assistance program outside Latin America.
In 2010, after a six year program of study in Cuba, the first of nearly 500 East Timorese medical students graduated and took up their posts in East Timorese villages and towns.
It would be hard to find somewhere that celebrates May Day more enthusiastically than Venezuela. But this year celebrations were marred by claims made in that could easily be mistaken for a lift-out from a UFO enthusiasts' magazine.
It has been four years since the Tamil rebels were crushed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The Sri Lankan government, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, still denies that any human rights violations occurred.
In March, a called on the Rajapaksa government 鈥渢o conduct an independent and credible investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.鈥
This has fallen on deaf ears.
Austerity almost seems like the defining feature of politics today. Across Europe and the US, crippling cuts to education, health care and welfare budgets are driving millions further into poverty.
Even in Australia, where our economy has been spared the worst of the financial crisis, both big parties are raising taxes on ordinary people and applying cuts to welfare and education.
Last year, cuts to courses and staff at several universities, including Sydney University and La Trobe University, led to strong campaigns by staff and students to defend their education and jobs.
The smuggling of cameras inside detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island by the has added to pressure on Labor to answer for the shocking conditions in which men, women and children are being held.
Footage that was aired on April 29 showed rows of muddy tents, derelict amenities and ablution facilities and image after image of people who are losing the will to live.
James Hansen resigned from his position as director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in April to devote more time to campaigning to cut global carbon emissions. In addition to his scientific research on climate change, Hansen has been arrested several times in recent years at protests against coal mining and tar sands mining. Bravo James Hansen 鈥 precious few scientists and academics live and breathe their politics as he does.
The federal Labor government had a rare win when it wedged Tony Abbott and the Liberal opposition into supporting its plan to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) through an increase in the Medicare levy.
But will this be enough to stop Abbott from winning the next election? If the bookies know their business, few are game to put money on this. An ALP win is at its longest odds since Sportsbet opened betting on the election result.
About 200 people rallied outside NSW government offices on May 3 to protest the decision of the NSW Liberal government to defund the Welfare Rights Centre (WRC), an advice and advocacy service for pensioners, the unemployed and other welfare recipients.
The $400,000 cut is 40% of the WRC funding (the rest coming from the federal government) and is seen as an attempt to silence a voice for the poorest sector of society. This follows federal Labor government cuts to sole parent pensions, a step which plunged thousands more women under the poverty line.
Palestine Action Group Sydney released this statement on May 2.
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Supporters of Palestine have responded to a May 2 report in the Australian that asserted that Max Brenner Israel has no direct shares in Max Brenner Australia as irrelevant to the solidarity campaign for justice in Palestine.
Palestine solidarity activists are bemused that the Australian has given front page coverage to this 鈥渟coop鈥. The YouTube video of the rally in question, which took place on September 21 last year, has also just been released.
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