World

Graham Matthews Sun Xiaodi, a former miner at the Gansu No. 72 Uranium Mine in Chinese-controlled Tibet, remains "missing" over six months after he was abducted, following an interview with an AFP journalist in Beijing on April 28. Sun had

James Balowski, Jakarta The government of Megawati Sukarnoputri declared martial law in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh last May. It launched an "integrated operation" to smash the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and restore "law and order".

The US-based Human Rights Watch has criticised the US government for aligning itself with Iran and Zimbabwe in an anti-gay vote in the United Nations. The US and other countries voted to deny UN consultative status at a meeting in late January to any

Raul Bassi & Federico Fuentes On June 29, under the headline "US concerned by piqueteros advance", Argentina's main daily newspaper, Clarin, quoted an anonymous "high level source from the US state department" voicing "concern" over the

Pablo Stefanoni, La Paz The arrows being fired between President Evo Morales and sectors of the Bolivian business elite found a new setting on June 2: the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The heart of this rich area, which has embarked on an

Eva Cheng The world was stunned when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the shores of Asian countries in December 2004. It killed 300,000 people. But "slow-motion" disasters are unfolding every day with a killing power equal to three such tsunamis every

Rohan Pearce "Somewhere down the line, we became an occupation force in [Iraqi] eyes. We don't feel like heroes any more... We are outnumbered. We are exhausted. We are in over our heads." — a website posting by Isaac Kindblade, a US Army private

Green Left Weekly's Walter Yoia from Resistance and Cameron Durnsford from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network spoke to participants at the World Social Forum — held in Caracas on January 24-29 — about their impressions of the gathering.

Jenny Francis, Kabul Washington has a dream: following a large turnout at the polls in Afghanistan on October 9, US-backed interim president Hamid Karzai will win free and fair elections, and US President George Bush will claim credit for bringing

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.

John Cleary There are about 35,000 electrical industry workers in Venezuela. They are organised in 30 unions, which together form Fetraelec. About 80% of all workers in the electrical industry are in unions. A new leadership was elected in

Barry Weisleder, Toronto Despite a very modest recovery in the latest opinion polls, the scandal-rocked Liberal Party remains in a quandary over whether to call the Canadian federal election in Spring, or Autumn, or even later. For now, damage