World

NEW ZEALAND — On October 12, New Zealand held its first general election under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system. Expanding from 99 to 120 seats, the NZ parliament now consists of 65 constituency MPs and 55 list MPs. Parties'

Japan's main capitalist party, the Liberal Democratic Party, gained ground in the October 20 lower house election, increasing its seats from 211 in a 493-seat house to 239 out of 500. The gain is not big enough for a working majority,

Apartheid rulers named Hard on the heels of the acquittal of the Magnus Malan and other senior military and political officials of the apartheid regime have come further accusations of former apartheid rulers ordering violence against

Tongan pro-democracy MP and publisher 'Akilisi Pohiva and two newspaper editors walked free after the supreme court on October 14 ruled that they had been detained illegally. The three had served three weeks of a 30-day sentence.

The pro-independence Bougainville Interim Government has denied involvement in the murder of the Port Moresby-appointed premier of Bougainville, Theodore Miriung. BIG spokespeople believe that, in the light of tensions between Miriung

On September 30, the Sydney Morning Herald published an op-ed commentary on the Bougainville crisis by James Griffin, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of PNG. Griffin wrote that, "Nothing can now be achieved without action against the

MANAGUA — On October 16, the right-wing Liberal Alliance (AL) closed its Nicaraguan election campaign with a rally of 30,000 to 120,000 people (estimates varied). Later that day, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)

Papua New Guinea's leading radical group, Melanesian Solidarity (Melsol), is under increasing pressure from its supporters to form a party committed to the country's poor, the group's national general secretary, Peti Lafanama, told

Elections in Ecuador in May confirmed the rapid rise of the recently formed Pachakátic Plurinational Unity Movement-New Country Movement (MUPP-NP). The front was an initiative of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities

While the victory of the "new image" PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) of Costas Simitis in the September 22 elections confirmed and deepened Greeces capitalist integration into Europe and the Maastricht Treaty, the

International news briefs Worldwide attacks on unionists rise Hundreds of trade union members were murdered and thousands of others injured or arrested across the world in 1995 according to a report released by the International Confederation of

Latino march demands rights and justice Tens of thousands of Latinos marched through the streets of Washington, D.C. and rallied near the White House on October 12 to press their demands on Congress and the President. This was the first