World

Michael Karadjis A wide-ranging public discussion in the lead up to the 10th congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) — held in Hanoi on April 18-25 and attended by 1176 delegates — focused on issues of corruption, calls for greater

James Balowski, Jakarta The government of Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh last May. It launched an "integrated operation" to smash the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and restore "law and order".

Raul Bassi & Federico Fuentes On June 29, under the headline "US concerned by piqueteros advance", Argentina's main daily newspaper, Clarin, quoted an anonymous "high level source from the US state department" voicing "concern" over the

Doug Lorimer "The US commander in Iraq confirmed that a 3700-strong contingent of American combat troops equipped with armoured fighting vehicles is to be brought into Baghdad", Agence France Presse reported on July 29, adding: "General George Casey

Eva Cheng The re-emergence of concurrent deficits in the external current account and the federal budget of the United States — dubbed the "twin deficits" — and the likelihood of them continuing to grow for a long time, has reignited a debate

James Vassilopoulos Is this the way to "celebrate humanity": to evict Roma families from where they have been living for 30 years in order to build car parks? To allow poor safety to claim the lives of 13 workers? To launch a major attack on civil

Lynette Dumble & Susanne Menihane July 1 marked the departure of the first train from Beijing to the roof of the world, with President Hu Jintao trumpeting an engineering feat that puts China's interests within 48 hours of Tibet's heartland, as

Max Lane Of the 19 parties contesting the July Indonesian presidential elections that are not currently represented in the parliament, eight are regarded as critical of the major parties. These are the Vanguard Party (PELOPOR), the National

Max Lane On July 27, outside the office of the Jakarta governor, scores of civil service police — the governor's security corps — attacked a peaceful demonstration as it was dispersing. Some 700 people had gathered outside the Presidential

On August 4 residents of the West Bank town of Bil'lin were joined by Israelis and members of the International Solidarity Movement to mourn the deaths of more than 1000 people killed in Gaza and Lebanon by the Israeli military. Protesters marched to

Doug Lorimer Candidates considered loyal to Iran's conservative clerical rulers regained control of the Majlis, the country's parliament, in an undemocratic election held on February 20. They have won at least 156 places in the 290-seat

Protests mark World Bank's 60th birthday On July 22, activists around the world marked the World Bank's 60th birthday with a global day of protest. Protests were held in Jakarta, London, Geneva, Lima and Washington DC. In Potosi, a Bolivian mining