World

Kerryn Williams The arrival on Australian shores of 43 West Papuan refugees on January 18 has put the spotlight on the long suffering — and determined resistance — of the people of West Papua. For more than two centuries West Papua was a

The Colombian government is attempting to break the month-long strike at Ecopetrol, the national oil company, by using military force. The strike began on April 7, after 17 months of negotiations. The strikers are trying to stop the privatisation

Eva Cheng A secret March gathering in Beijing of high profile pro-capitalist economists, legal experts and government advisers — most of whom are members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) — have alarmed China's waning pro-socialist forces.

Jonah Gindin & Robin Nieto Despite rumours that Venezuela's right-wing opposition would boycott the regional elections scheduled for October, on August 24, at a meeting of labour leaders belonging to the social-democratic Accion Democratica,

Rohan Pearce As the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, the imperial ambitions of the Bush junior White House are running smack-bang into the reality of what seems to be a militarily unwinnable counterinsurgency war. The reserves

Doug Lorimer As US and British occupation troops fought fierce street battles with rebel Shiite cleric Sayed Moqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in four cities, Iraqi resistance fighters assassinated Izz al Din Salim, the president of the

Deirdre Griswold President George Bush's speech on immigration, carried live by the media on May 15, was full of demagogy. He said, "The United States is not going to militarise the southern border". But he laid out a plan to send up to 6000

Omar Karmi, Ramallah "My daughter has only seen her father twice in her life", said one woman. "It's been two months since I last saw my husband." A young boy, in a faltering voice, then recited a poem he had written to his father, also a prisoner,

Dale T. McKinley, Johannesburg The alliance is dead! Long live the alliance! That about sums up the politics of the organisational marriage between the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of

Bert Brauer, Christchurch NZ National Party leader Don Brash's speech attacking Maori rights just before Waitangi Day (February 6) ignited a racist backlash. Racially motivated verbal and physical attacks, especially on Asian immigrants, have

Around 120,000 public sector workers returned to their jobs on May 15 after they were laid off for two weeks. On May 1, the Puerto Rican government laid off 95,000 employees, closing down the public school system and partially closing almost half of

Doug Lorimer "I advise all countries that want to help Iraq not to send forces here. If such forces come to Iraq, they will be seen as collaborators of the occupation", Iraqi Shiite leader Sayed Moqtada al Sadr declared in a sermon in Kufa on July