World

  • GERMANY: Pre-existing 'grand coalition' now formalised

    Winfried Wolf, Berlin On October 10, a de facto decision was made to form a new federal coalition government, made up of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the "centre-left" Social-democratic Party of Germany (SPD). If that also

  • EL SALVADOR: FMLN resists wave of repression

    Lara Pullin "I'm letting you know they have killed my parents ... I don't know exactly at what hour but it was early this morning ... you are my only family now, and we can't rest until justice is done." On the morning of July 1, members of the

  • PALESTINE: A visit to the settlements

    Kim Bullimore, West Bank As you pass through the West Bank, you can't help but notice the illegal Israeli settlements dotted high up on the hills. They are easily identifiable: red tiled roofs, Western-style houses, barbed wire, checkpoints and

  • CAMBODIA: Sex workers celebrate unity

    Allen Myers, Phnom Penh Several hundred members and supporters of the Women's Network for Unity (WNU), the union of sex workers, gathered on June 28 to celebrate the organisation's sixth anniversary. The events began on the bank of the Tonle Sap

  • SOUTH AFRICA: 800,000 public servants strike

    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

  • PHILIPPINES: Protests expected against emergency decree

    Max Lane Warrantless arrests appear to be one of the first results of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyos's February 24 declaration of a state of emergency, professor Randy David from the University of the Philippines told Green Left Weekly from

  • EGYPT: Anti-globalisation activist still imprisoned

    Wael Khalil from the Egyptian Anti-Globalisation Group remains in pre-trial detention after he was arrested at an April 27 protest in support of the independence of the judiciary. Khalil has been actively involved in many grassroots campaigns against

  • 9/11 three years on: 'War on terror' has not stopped terrorism

    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

  • VENEZUELA: US isolation campaign falters

    Stuart Munckton Venezuela's push to join the United Nations Security Council has triggered a new conflict between the government of socialist President Hugo Chavez and Washington, which is desperately manoeuvring to stop this from occurring.

  • VENEZUELA: Opposition worried about regional elections

    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,

  • VENEZUELA: 'Socialism is our model'

    Aurora Morales, member of the Venezuelan National Assembly and secretary for international relations for the Movement for the Fifth Republic (MVR) party, was a guest speaker at an international conference, "Socialism in Latin America: Experiences in

  • PALESTINE: 'The streets will explode if hunger strikers die'

    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,