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Venezuela: 'Another television is possible'

Jim McIlroy &Coral Wynter, Caracas On February 2, the Latin American TV channel Telesur and the Arabic channel Al Jazeera signed an agreement to exchange information and technology, formalising a growing link that was initiated when Telesur began

Campaign over Recherche Bay scores win

Bob Elliston, Hobart A five-year campaign to save part of historic Recherche Bay, in south-east Tasmania, has been won, with all parties involved having achieved a satisfactory resolution. The agreement was announced on February 8 by Labor Premier

Union leaders slam racism at public forum

Tim Doughney, Melbourne "To not speak out against racism would be cowardly", Dean Mighell, Victorian secretary of the Electrical Trades Union, told an anti-racist public forum held at the Brunswick Town Hall on February 9. He said workers should

WESTERN SAHARA: Calls for urgent refugee aid

On February 4, the Saharawi Red Crescent made an urgent appeal for assistance for 158,000 Saharawi refugees in the south of Algeria. Emergency food supplies will only last until March, the organisation stated, and medical supplies have already run

Pro-Palestinian or pro-Zionist?

MunichDirected by Steven SpielbergWritten by Tony Kushner and Eric RothWith Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Daniel Craig, Hanns Zischler REVIEW BY KIM BULLIMORE Steven Spielberg's film Munich, on the aftermath of the

Politicising Glasgow's pavements

This City Now: Glasgow and its Working Class PastBy Ian R. MitchellLuath Press, 2005180 pages REVIEW BY ALEX MILLER If Edinburgh was the city of the 18th century enlightened bourgeoisie, Glasgow was, and to a certain extent still is, the city of

Socialists to contest WA by-election

Ron Perkins, Perth Following the surprise resignation last month of Geoff Gallop as WA premier, a by-election for his vacated seat of Victoria Park will be held on March 11. Victoria Park has been held by the ALP continuously since 1953. In such

Should Chavez have helped Kirchner pay the IMD?

Raul Bassi On December 18 Argentine President Nestor Kirchner announced that his government would be paying in full, and up-front, its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — US$9.8 billion. "We have decided to finish with the 50-year-old

Howard targets minimum wage and welfare benefits

Graham Matthews It's an open secret that the Howard government introduced the Orwellian-named Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) in its Work Choices package as a means to cut the minimum wage. The commission will supercede the Australian

War and a tale of two satirists

The First CasualtyBy Ben EltonBantam Press, 2005381 pages, $32.95 (pb) Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror: Observations and Denunciations by a Founding Member of Monty PythonBy Terry JonesNation Books, 2005163 pages, $17.95 (pb) REVIEW BY

Firefighters demand safe uniforms

Sue Bolton, Melbourne On February 8, 1200 angry members of the United Firefighters Union (UFU) marched to Victoria's Parliament House steps to protest the stalling by the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (MFB) on negotiations over a

AWB, the Iraq war and the Howard government

Doug Lorimer A former senior AWB executive told the government-appointed commission of inquiry into the Australian wheat export monopoly's deals with the now-ousted Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein there was a culture of regular bribes and