World

  • People pay for US budget crisis

    By Eva Cheng Some 800,000 federal workers were forced to stand down from November 15 after US President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, vetoed two related funding bills passed by the Republican-dominated Congress. The bills were structured to deprive

  • Weapons maker awarded landmine contract in Angola

    By Norm Dixon A lucrative UN contract to clear landmines in Angola has been given to Mechem — a subsidiary of the South African state-owned weapons manufacturer Denel. Angolan authorities, unhappy with the decision, have delayed unloading

  • Russian security forces persecute environmentalists

    By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — For anyone puzzled by the inability of the once all-powerful Russian security services to prevent crime, part of the mystery is now explained. To a significant degree, the resources of the Federal Security Service (FSB

  • Shell's policy of blood for oil

    Shell's policy of blood for oil By Norm Dixon Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by Nigeria's brutal military regime on November 10 because he threatened the interests of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, and a handful of European and US oil companies.

  • Delegation expelled from East Timor

    BALI, Indonesia — On November 8, an international ecumenical delegation was expelled from East Timor. The delegation, which included Namibian MP Daniel Botha, Brian Brown of Freedom House, Australian Aboriginal poet Lionel Fogerty, Australian

  • The Mexican murder mysteries - 3

    Four leading members of Mexico's ruling elite have been assassinated over the past two years. Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo of Guadalajara, Jalisco, and six other people died in a gun battle at Guadalajara's Miguel Hidalgo international airport

  • Calls for action to save Saro-Wiwa

    Struggle continues after Ogoni leader is executed By Norm Dixon On November 10, in defiance of international outrage, the Nigerian dictatorship executed Ken Saro-Wiwa a leading campaigner against the environmental devastation of his homeland by the

  • The real record of Yitzhak Rabin

    By Jennifer Thompson The proclamations by governments and the media of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a courageous "peacemaker" are not surprising given his Nobel peace prize, shared with his replacement, Israeli Foreign Minister

  • NSSP campaigns for peace in Sri Lanka

    NSSP campaigns for peace in Sri Lanka By Sujatha Fernandes On October 17, after peace talks had failed, the Sri Lankan government launched a major offensive against Jaffna, the citadel of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) in an attempt to

  • How 'stabilisation' is killing Russian factories

    By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — Late in October the huge tractor plant in the city of Vladimir, 250 kilometres east of the Russian capital, laid off almost 30% of its workers in a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy. For the Russian government and

  • More evidence on apartheid's death squads

    By Norm Dixon More details have emerged about how the apartheid state collaborated with Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party to murder its opponents. Former defence minister General Magnus Malan and 10 former security officers

  • Liverpool dockers fight casualisation

    By Lisa Macdonald Five hundred dock-workers in Liverpool have been sacked by the Mersey Harbour Dock Company (MHDC) after refusing to cross a picket line established by young "trainee" dockers fighting casualisation of their jobs. Dozens of ships and