World

Rohan Pearce The Reuters wire service revealed on February 9 that Al Rafidayn, Iraq's largest bank, has sacked one-third of its 7300 employees in preparation for privatisation. Bank chairperson Daya al Khayoun told Reuters that Al Rafidayn accounts

Refusenik support group Yesh Gvul reported on July 31 that Captain Amir Pasteur was sentenced to 28 days' jail for his refusal to take part in Israel's war on Lebanon. Yesh Gvul spokesperson Ishai Menuchin said the group had contact with about a

Roberto Jorquera July 26 marks the 51st anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks. The attack, led by Fidel Castro, is regarded in Cuba as the event that initiated the six-year struggle to oust the US-backed capitalist regime of Fulgencio

Caryl Rivers, Boston Women's eNews (<http://www.womensenews.org/&#062; — The Vatican's anti-contraception campaign — which has an ally in the White House — has been blocked by a New York court. In places such as Kenya — where HIV is

Robert Fisk, Beirut When my electricity returned at around 3am yesterday [August 11], I turned on the BBC World Service television. There were a series of powerful explosions that shook the house — just as they vibrated across all of Beirut — as

Tariq Ali Before the war, they said Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction" that threatened the West. Those of us who opposed the war said this was a lie. US President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian PM John Howard

According to the August 20 London Sunday Mirror, a quarter of the soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment have quit after the news that their regiment was to be redeployed to Iraq. Three members of the regiment died and 20 were

Protests continue in numerous cities against proposed revisions to the 2003 labour law, which will remove the obligation of employers to provide protection, welfare and health benefits to workers and will dramatically reduce severance pay. On March

On August 20, miners on strike at the Escondida copper mine rejected BHP Billiton's latest pay rise offer, which fell way short of the strikers' demands. The miners have been on strike since August 7 over pay, bonuses and working conditions. The

Sol Salbe Palestinians and their supporters were generally indifferent to the March 28 Israeli election. And for a good reason: they couldn't tell the difference between most of the parties. Few of the parties offered even the most minimal program

Nawab Akbar Bugti, a key leader of the Baloch national liberation movement in Pakistan's south-western Balochistan province, was killed in a military attack on his headquarters on August 26. Nawab Bugti was 79, a veteran of the Baloch liberation

The Human Rights Commission of Northern Ireland has expressed concern over a trial of Taser guns. On March 23 the Policing Board of Northern Ireland invited a two-week "consultation", stating it is "proposed that the use of Tasers be introduced on a