World

  • NORTHERN IRELAND: Concern over Taser trial

    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

  • 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,

  • SCOTLAND: SSP rallies for unity, integrity, socialism

    Alex Miller On September 2, close to 400 members of the Scottish Socialist Party attended a Glasgow rally dedicated to "Unity, integrity and socialism". It took place in the wake of the announcement that two former SSP platforms, those controlled by

  • BOLIVIA: Terrorist bombings kill two

    Stuart Munckton "A wave of condemnation swept through Bolivia today after the terrorist attacks that killed two people and resulted in the arrest of a U.S. citizen", Prensa Latina reported on March 22. Two bombings occurred at low-cost tourist

  • IRAQ: US generals admit they are 'on road to defeat'

    Doug Lorimer Growing support among Iraqis for the armed resistance against the US-led occupation has led top US military officers to acknowledge that the US is headed for defeat in Iraq. According to the May 9 Washington Post, this "view is far

  • BRITAIN: A bad week for a horrible man

    Alex Miller, London It was a torrid week for Prime Minister Tony Blair. On September 6, the normally Blairite defence minister, Tom Watson, resigned in protest at the PM's refusal to specify a timetable for handing over his job to a successor. The

  • UNITED STATES: New security document targets Iran

    Doug Lorimer Undeterred by the erosion of public support for the war in Iraq, in an update of its September 2002 US National Security Strategy document, US President George Bush reaffirmed his policy of "pre-emptive" attacks — what used to be

  • UNITED STATES: The question the 9/11 commission won't ask

    Jack A. Smith, New York The 9/11 commission hearings in Washington, for all their members' cacophony and fury, and front-page headlines, seem to have been constructed to avoid the real reason why the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York

  • VENEZUELA: Defending PDVSA's social role

    Jim McIlroy & Coral Wynter, Caracas A feature article in the August 21 Newsweek International criticised the role of state-owned oil companies (dubbed the "Seven Sovereigns") that compete with privately owned oil multinationals in the world market.

  • VENEZUELA: Date set for reverification of recall signatures

    Robyn Marshall, Caracas Jorge Rodriguez, one of the five members of Venezuela's National Elections Council (CNE), announced on April 14 that the re-verification of signatures on the right-wing opposition's petition for a referendum to recall

  • New calls for Cuban Five's release

    Doug Lorimer On September 21, while the US government was considering freeing notorious right-wing Cuban emigre terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from detention for illegally entering the US, supporters of five Cuban men convicted in 2001 of spying on

  • IRAQ: US to retain control after June 30

    Doug Lorimer A top US official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named, has admitted to reporters at a dinner meeting on March 21 that the planned June 30 hand-over of "sovereignty" from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to an "interim