World

  • INDONESIA: Bureaucratic delays hinder quake relief

    James Balowski, Jakarta The official death toll from the massive earthquake that struck densely populated Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java on May 27 now stands at more than 6200, with more than 46,000 people injured — 33,000 seriously.

  • 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

  • SOUTH AFRICA: Expect more global apartheid in 2006

    Patrick Bond, Johannesburg Unless political elites change strategy and tactics in 2006, North-South relations will continue to degenerate. By the end of last year, opportunities ranging from rock concerts to summits and trade negotiations were

  • SOUTH AFRICA: General strike reveals growing anger

    Leo Zeilig, Johannesburg On May 18, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) led a general strike to protest against low pay, job losses and casualisation. There is growing working-class anger at the levels of poverty and unemployment in

  • 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

  • GERMANY: Iraq war role exposed

    Tania Roth On January 13, the ARD public television's magazine Panorama and the national newspaper Die Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SD) broke the news that in 2003, two agents of the German secret service (BND) stayed in Iraq and worked as informants for

  • EGYPT: Crackdown continues

    On May 11, 10,000 riot police attempted to prevent a pro-democracy demonstration in Cairo in support of two judges facing disciplinary hearings for exposing corruption in the November elections. Dozens of protesters, as well as media reporters, were

  • 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

  • VENEZUELA: Chavez outlines vision for public transport

    Jim McIlroy& Coral Wynter, Caracas Opening the new Line 4 of the Caracas Metro system on July 18, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declared a vision for a "new Caracas", with major developments in the rail, road and urban planning areas. Chavez was

  • 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

  • Israel's wars: Mounting humanitarian and environmental toll

    Zoe Kenny Israel's US-backed military campaign against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is not only directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians and displacement of hundreds of thousands of others. There are increasing signs of the onset

  • 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,