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TOUGHER sentences, stricter bail laws and a crackdown on repeat offenders have led to a surge in the state's prison population. more
THE Prime Minister, John Howard, has played down claims that racism fuelled the weekend riots, putting him at odds with the NSW Premier, the Police Commissioner and many community leaders. more
A MONTH ago Paris was burning, as riots broke out following the accidental death of two Arab youths. They were fleeing police at the time. Now it's Sydney's turn, as a demonstration over the mugging of two lifesavers in Cronulla by Middle Eastern youths spawns violence in beach suburbs. more
THE British High Court is expected to grant the Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks British citizenship tonight in a decision that will complicate the case for the Prime Minister, John Howard, and his two close allies in the war on terrorism: the US President, George Bush, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. more
WASHINGTON: Just like human boys and girls, male monkeys like to play with toy cars while female monkeys prefer dolls. more
SO IT has come to this, apparently. The passing by the Senate of the Federal Government's industrial relations legislation, and the likely passing this week of its national security legislation, has led to the creation of the Howard fascist police state. All courtesy of Mark Latham's disastrous performance as ALP leader in last year's election, which led to the Coalition obtaining a Senate majority. more
AUSTRALIA'S wheat exporter paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Pakistan, Indonesia and Yemen before it became embroiled in the illicit payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in the oil-for-food scandal, according to two former employees. more
ONE OF the state's most senior judges has declared war - on water bottles. more
Why am I reminded constantly of 1933-35 when I, a Jew, lived in Germany before escaping to Australia as a refugee from Hitler in 1939? more
The Reverend could have simply quoted the Bible to refute Linda Morris because Linda, as a woman, has nothing valuable to say and should limit her participation to asking her husband to explain things to her. more
Hefty payouts and a few high-profile sexual harassment cases could be a turning point for women in the workplace - because money talks, Erin O'Dwyer writes. more
The Department of Immigration flew detainees on private aircraft from one detention centre to another, where they were to be punished, and chartered international flights to deport people, an inquiry into mandatory detention was told yesterday. more
New laws for labour and security aren't necessary. They're political, writes Peter Hartcher. more
The Queen's feeble response to a plea from Nguyen's mother, Kim, to intervene in support of her son's bid for clemency raises serious constitutional issues, writes George Newhouse. more
A leading campaign group has demanded an urgent inquiry into a report that US troops indiscriminately used a controversial incendiary weapon during the battle for Fallujah. Photographic evidence gathered from the aftermath of the battle suggests that women and children were killed by horrific burns caused by the white phosphorus shells dropped by US forces. more
The new sedition laws are a work in progress and the Government is open to debate on their final form, writes Philip Ruddock. more
Australia has not needed a law against sedition since at least 1949, and there is no need for one now, writes Ian Barker. more
Australia has not needed a law against sedition since at least 1949, and there is no need for one now, writes Ian Barker. more
Marching under the banner of a new jihad, Islamic feminists have launched what they hope will become a global movement to liberate Muslim women. more
The Attorney-General has shown himself unwilling to fulfill his traditional obligations, write Ian Barker and Robert Toner. more
The CIA leak scandal was nothing more than cheap payback for a critic, writes Joseph Wilson. more
The President may be about to become a lame duck, writes Michael Gawenda in Washington. more
The latest legislative threat to our freedoms is worthy of contempt, writes Chas Savage. more
THE courageous stand of the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Jon Stanhope, in putting the draft Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 on the web has given us the time the Prime Minister, John Howard, and a complicit line of Labor premiers didn't want us to have. more
Supporting the insurgency in Iraq, Afghanistan or any country where Australian troops are deployed could carry a penalty of seven years' jail under the Prime Minister's new terrorism laws. more
George Bush yesterday nominated his former personal lawyer, Harriet Miers, to take the supreme court seat which until now held the balance of power between the court's liberals and conservatives. more
A Victorian woman has become just the second female judge appointed to the High Court. more
A human rights act would help maintain the balance between rights and security, writes Ben Saul. more
FORMER Melbourne physical education teacher Karen Louise Ellis today lost her bid to reduce her jail sentence for having sex with a teenage schoolboy. more
ELEANOR HALL: Back home now, and this morning the Victorian Court of Appeal has reviewed the sentence imposed on a female teacher who had sex with one of her 15-year-old students. more
The jailing of Karen Ellis highlights the problems the courts face in dealing with certain sex offences. more
Abused and accused, Afghan women make a stand
Howell Raines recalls New Orleans's unique place in US culture and rages against George Bush's glaring failure to manage the tragedy. more
