Japans Koizumi wins election victory
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) gained a election victory in the Sept. 11 general election by capturing 296 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament.
UN meeting of NGOs hears call to eradicate poverty
UNITED NATIONS — A week before the UN World Summit, the world body convened a meeting of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) designed to give grassroots, civil society input into the global meeting. The three-day summit, which opened here Sept. 14, is the largest gathering of heads of state in history and is intended to set the UN’s future course.
Supporters of Cuban 5: Set them free now
Its momentum growing, a rejuvenated worldwide mobilization is pressuring the Bush administration to release five Cuban men held unjustly in U.S. jails. Millions are demanding that they be freed immediately. They are “kidnapped,” Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told interviewer Bernie Dwyer. “The abduction has to end — immediately, unconditionally,” he said Sept. 5 in Havana. click here for Spanish text
School candidate urges parents, students to opt out
LAWRENCE, Mass. — “Don’t let them violate your privacy,” said Martina M. Cruz to high school students and parents here as they arrived for the beginning of the school year. click here for Spanish text
Western New York hosts antiwar tour
BUFFALO, N.Y. — One of the three “Bring Them Home Now” bus tours that started in Crawford, Texas, Aug. 31, when Cindy Sheehan and supporters closed up camp, stopped here Sept. 12. Members of Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Gold Star Families for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War are traveling in caravans across the U.S., speaking out against the Iraq war and building support for a massive antiwar rally in Washington, D.C., Sept. 24, and a day congressional lobbying, Sept. 26.
Assembleywoman calls for return of California National Guard
As news of Hurricane Katrina’s ravages in New Orleans and the Gulf region shocked the nation, California Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-El Cerrito) Sept. 2 introduced a Joint Resolution calling for the return home of the California National Guard. By the time the legislative session ended Sept. 9, the number of co-authors, initially four, had grown to more than 20.
San Jose protest blocks panel with Minutemen
An attempt by the Commonwealth Club to host a forum in San Jose, Calif., featuring representatives of the Minuteman vigilante border patrol has met with a firestorm of protest from area community and immigrant rights leaders, forcing organizers to cancel the event. Fueling the controversy was the scheduling of the program for the city’s Mexican Heritage Plaza on Sept. 16 — Mexican Independence Day.
Calif. labor mobilizes for Nov. 8 special election
Union and community campaigners gathered at sites around California Sept. 10 to launch their drive to defeat a series of anti-people propositions placed on the Nov. 8 special election ballot by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his corporate allies.
Angelenos get ready for peace actions
LOS ANGELES — Peace activists here have accelerated their mobilization for national rallies and lobbying for peace on Sept. 24-26.
Roberts: the far rights legal gun-for-hire
If John Roberts is confirmed as chief justice of the Supreme Court, replacing William Rehnquist, he has a chance at heading the court for the rest of most baby boomers’ lives and much of Generation Xers’ as well.
