US Women Charged with Murder Following Miscarriage (tags)
In a growing number of US states, pregnant women who miscarry their babies are being criminalized, some charged with murder. Ultimately, the move by state prosecutors is more widely aimed at stripping women of the legal right to abortion sanctioned by the US Supreme Court in its 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade (1973) 410 US 113 [Majority opinion by Nixon appointee Justice Blackmun; Dissenting opinion by Justice White, a Kennedy appointee, proving mass demonstrations are decisive].
New Zealand joins Australia’s military occupation of East Timor (tags)
The New Zealand Labour government last month dispatched nearly 200 troops to support the Australian-led military occupation of East Timor. Underlining the close Australian and New Zealand collaboration in neo-colonial exercises throughout the region, the contingent includes soldiers who were deployed in the initial 1999 intervention in East Timor, some who had recently served in the Solomon Islands, and a group of military police just returned from Afghanistan.