World

  • BOTSWANA: Evicted Bushmen killed by mystery disease

    Survival International reported on March 22 that at least 15 Bushmen in the New Xade resettlement camp have died suddenly of unknown causes since the start of the year. A further three are in a critical condition. Gaseitsiwe Gaorapelwe, who was

  • UNITED STATES: Global warming at 'tipping point'

    On March 15, Reuters reported on new findings by the Washington-based World Resources Institute that human-fuelled global warming has reached a "tipping point". The institute has released a report surveying recent scientific research, which found

  • VENEZUELA: 'We have eliminated illiteracy'

    Robyn Marshall, Caracas Since it took office in 1999, the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has implemented a number of programs and reforms to help the poor. Assisting in the process of change has been the Bolivarian Circles, through

  • EAST TIMOR: APCET takes on regional agenda

    Robyn Waite, Dili The Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor (APCET) is a coalition of Asian human rights groups and East Timor solidarity networks that was founded at a conference in Manila in 1994 with the aim of galvanising solidarity with East

  • PACIFIC: Defeat for colonialists

    Norman Brewer, Auckland In elections on May 9 in New Caledonia (Kanaky) and on May 23 in French Polynesia (Te Ao Maohi, also known by the name of its main island, Tahiti), both pro-French ruling parties unexpectedly found themselves unseated. In

  • IRAQ: Chalabi and the Cheney gang: Thieves fall out

    Doug Lorimer Ahmad Chalabi, who up until a few months ago had been the Bush administration's favourite to head Washington's puppet regime in Iraq, now stands accused of duping the US into invading Iraq. On May 18, US deputy defence secretary Paul

  • UNITED STATES: US plots Cuba invasion

    Stuart Harrison A US$80 million fund has been approved by US President George Bush to help the United States achieve "regime change" in Cuba. The second report from the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, released on July 5, outlines

  • BRITAIN: 2000 rally for Palestine

    More than 2000 people rallied in Trafalgar Square on May 15 to demand that the wall built by Israel be halted and dismantled. The rally called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.From Green Left Weekly,

  • SOUTH AFRICA: Protests cause cracks in ANC-led alliance

    Leo Zeilig, Johannesburg The March 1 municipal elections in South Africa have again triggered questioning of the future of the Tripartite Alliance, the coalition led by the governing African National Congress (ANC) that includes the South African

  • RUSSIA: Terrorists, hostages and double-speak

    Boris Kagarlitsky, Moscow The number of dead and wounded in the Beslan tragedy was stunning, but so were the authorities' lies. They minimised the number of hostages and casualties. They said there were Arabs and "one black" among the terrorists.

  • East Timor after Alkatiri: nation or protectorate?

    Tim Anderson "We did not expect that the elected leader of a party with an overwhelming mandate could be forced to stand down in this way in a democracy." — Fretilin press release, June 26, 2006. Backed by a foreign army, and with his country's

  • IRAQ: US generals admit they are 'on road to defeat'

    Doug Lorimer Growing support among Iraqis for the armed resistance against the US-led occupation has led top US military officers to acknowledge that the US is headed for defeat in Iraq. According to the May 9 Washington Post, this "view is far