World

Rohan Pearce On June 5, militia aligned with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) declared victory in their struggle to control Mogadishu, capital of the east African country of Somalia. The militia had routed the grossly misnamed Alliance for the

John 'Briggs' Bomba I was among 120 people who were arrested on the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)-led Action Against Poverty demonstration on November 8. Hundreds of people had protested against spiralling levels of poverty. Those

Doug Lorimer On April 20, as the death toll of US troops in Iraq passed the 700 mark, US President George Bush nominated John Negroponte, currently Washington's ambassador to the UN, to replace Paul Bremer as US ambassador to Iraq. If his

Norm Dixon On September 16, at least 800,000 government workers, including 300,000 teachers, took part in what the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) described as the "largest strike in South Africa's history". Members of eight public

Kim Bullimore On June 13, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) organisation called on Israel to launch an immediate, independent investigation into the explosion on June 9 that killed seven Palestinian civilians picnicking on a northern Gaza

Gregory Wilpert, Caracas Chavez's party, the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR), won 114 or 68% of the 167 seats in the new National Assembly, according to preliminary results that MVR deputy William Lara announced on December 4. Pro-Chavez

Eva Cheng On April 11, more than 20,000 people marched to China's central government liaison office in Hong Kong. They were protesting Beijing's backtrack from a promise, made before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China, that the

Michael Karadjis Beginning late last year, tens of thousands of Vietnamese workers downed tools at dozens of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in southern industrial zones around Ho Chi Minh City, demanding implementation of a 40-48% wage rise

Rohan Pearce & Alison Dellit The appalling end to the hostage crisis in Beslan, Russia on September 4, which left more than 300 dead, had people all over the world horrified. The killing of so many children helped neither the Chechens fighting the

Robyn Marshall & Bill Mason On May 27, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's main revolutionary guerrilla movement, marked 42 years of struggle. Speaking from a jungle camp, Raul Reyes, secretary for international

Stuart Munckton A key witness in the trial of those charged over the assassination of Venezuelan state prosecutor Danilo Anderson has identified FBI and CIA agents as being involved in planning his death. Anderson, who was killed by a car bomb on

Chris Slee The Tamil National Alliance will contest the April 2 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections on a platform calling for the creation of an interim self-governing authority for the north-eastern part of the island. The TNA, an alliance of four