World

After workers at the giant plantation and refinery in Pelalawan owned by the world's largest palm oil company, Musim Mas, dared to organise a union, the union leaders were sacked. The company brought in scabs and more than 700 union members were

Stuart Munckton Venezuela's poverty rate is expected to drop from 47% in 2004 to 35% by the end of 2005, according to figures from Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics (INE). The figure was calculated to be at 38.5% half-way through this

Maria Julua Mayoral, Pedro de la Hoz & Jose de la Osa, Havana Cuban President Fidel Castro has challenged US President George Bush, the CIA, the 33 US intelligence agencies, the thousands of banks in the world and the "servants" of Forbes magazine

Eva Cheng The March 5-14 annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), will be asked by the country's rulers to approve 14 changes to the country's constitution, the most important of which is to

Forty-two Sri Lankan military personnel were killed in the four weeks to December 28, in attacks believed to have been carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in retaliation for the killing of LTTE supporters. The LTTE, which fought a

On May 14, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez spoke to a meeting of 800 people in London, with hundreds more being turned away, during a triumphant two-day visit hosted by Mayor Ken Livingstone. Thousands of people turned out to greet

Rohan Pearce& Doug Lorimer Resistance fighters have forced US troops to abandon their occupation of the Iraqi city of Fallujah, at least temporarily. According to the February 8 Washington Post, US troops abandoned fixed positions in the city,

Jose Pertierra Cuba calls the shots; and Venezuela pays the bills. That is the major premise underlying the report made public on July 10 by the US State Department concerning Cuba. Its findings are as much about the Bush administration's plans for

James Crafti On May 12 Sydney resident Phillip Reiss was shot with a "rubber" bullet in the back of the head while demonstrating in the Palestinian village of Bil'in. The misleadingly named "rubber bullet" — a metal cylinder covered by a

Norm Dixon As proof continues to mount that US President George Bush's administration systematically lied about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to justify invading the oil-rich Persian Gulf country, it has been revealed that

The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador reported on August 2 that violence and intimidation against progressive forces has continued since the July 2 political murders of Juana and Francisco Manzanares and the brutal police attacks

Simon Cooper& Ruth Riordan, Istanbul Since 1982, 122 people have given their lives in unlimited hunger strikes, known as death fasts — in struggling for the human rights of political prisoners in Turkey. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the