World

  • Attempted coup a diversion

    Attempted coup a diversion In the days following my return from Phnom Penh, dramatic events put Cambodia back on the front pages of the world's press. As I arrived at the airport on July 1 a friend told me: "There's a coup in process — right

  • Festival celebrates victory for lesbian and gay rights

    JOHANNESBURG — The coming of democracy here has special significance for the lesbian and gay community. One of the gains, a world first, is a constitutional bill of rights that specifically outlaws discrimination on the grounds

  • Tightening the noose on the Third World

    The patterns of Western capitalist investment in the Third World have been changing rapidly. The result is an even greater dependence of underdeveloped countries' governments, writes CHOW WEI CHENG. Mutual funds have taken over much of the

  • Police union pledges support for workers' rights

    JOHANNESBURG — The Police and Prison Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) is committed to building a democratic police service purged of "Third Force" elements, restructured to reflect South African society and respectful of trade union

  • Khmer Rouge outlawed

    PHNOM PENH — The gloves are coming off in Cambodia in the struggle against the Khmer Rouge. It is now one year since the United Nations ushered in a coalition government of the previously governing Cambodia People's Party and

  • IMF brings disaster to Tanzania

    DAR ES SALAAM — Nine years into the structural adjustment program (SAP), Tanzania's workers, social workers and human rights activists are saying the program disregards basic human rights. They point out that

  • British rail workers strike over pay

    LONDON — Britain's railways came to a near halt on June 16 and June 23 as signal workers struck in support of an 11% pay claim. The signal workers are demanding a large pay increase to compensate for greater workloads and the

  • Ecuador's indigenous people oppose new land law

    QUITO — Indigenous people throughout Ecuador have been engaged in protests against a new agricultural law which was approved by the national congress and President Sixto Duran Ballen at the beginning of June. Protests

  • Cuba blockade costs jobs

    Cuba blockade costs jobs According to a United States marketing consultant who visited Havana in May, the US economic blockade of Cuba prevents the creation of between 60,000 and 120,000 permanent jobs in the US. This is considered a

  • Little has changed for Namibian farm workers

    WINDHOEK — Four years after independence, Namibia's farm workers have yet to see their employers' attitudes change. Workers face unjustified dismissal, assault and exploitation at the hands of predominantly white farmers.

  • British violence ignored by church, say Irish priests

    DUBLIN — Four Catholic priests, members of the Clergy for Justice group, have accused Irish church leaders of deliberately ignoring the "institutional violence of the British state in Northern Ireland". "Given the way the British government

  • United Left makes gains in Spain

    United Left makes gains in SpainMADRID — The United Left (UL), based on the former Communist Party but which includes a wide spectrum of the left, scored a major success in the June 12 European elections with 13.4% of the