World

MOSCOW — On January 21 and 22, the Third Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) was held here. No sensations were expected, and none occurred. Nevertheless, the congress was an important landmark

Times are hard in Cuba. The collapse of the socialist bloc has led to an estimated 85% drop in total external economic relations — that is exports, imports and foreign aid. The US trade embargo has been strengthened through the passage of the Torricelli Act, making it impossible for the West to make up for the bulk of the loss in trade with the socialist bloc.

While he was in Sydney, internationally renowned author NOAM CHOMSKY was interviewed by the alternative media. Last week we featured his comments on the Middle East. In the same interview, Anna Pha of the Guardian asked whether, in the light of the

HAVANA — "You are probably wondering who the foreign minister is ... well I'm it". With these words, Roberto Robaina opened a discussion with a group of some 40 Australians on January 20, the day after the departure of Gareth

US court win for bigots In Boston, a gay, lesbian and bi-sexual group, GLIB, has been prevented by a court ruling from taking part in the St Patrick's Day parade through the city. The US District Court ruled in January that the South Boston

Indonesian terrorism The National Council of Maubere Resistance (CNRM) reports that Indonesians from Java on January 25 stabbed to death Atai, an East Timorese of Chinese ancestry, in Bairro Pite. It was not immediately known whether the killers

A report in late January from the liberal Turkish Daily News unveiled the latest in the Kurdish struggle for independence: a Kurdish-language satellite TV station, broadcasting from Britain. According to the report, the

MOSCOW — In the foothills of the Caucasus mountains near Russia's southern border, the battle is still raging for Grozny, the capital of the rebellious Chechen republic. At many other points throughout Chechnya, a popular

RIO de JANEIRO — There are tanks in the streets. The army is ready for combat. Masked soldiers, armed with modern guns, violently search even pregnant women and children of eight and nine years old. Those who don't prove they

The December 8 conviction and heavy sentencing of eight Kurdish deputies of the Turkish parliament completed a long process of systematic suppression by the Turkish military and governing coalition. Fifteen-year

MANILA — Few people would have thought that just eight years after the 1986 People's Power revolution, the spectre of martial law would again hang over the Philippines. Yet several indications are that this could be the case.

The following "Challenge to political leaders of countries in the Indian Ocean and Asian regions" was issued by the Third Indian Ocean Regional Trade Union Conference, held in Perth at the end of November. We, the workers of the Indian Ocean and