World

  • SOUTH AFRICA: The frustrating decade of freedom

    Patrick Bond, Johannesburg On April 27, 1994, the racist apartheid system was smashed. One person, one-vote democracy and deracialisation of government was achieved as a result of the mass struggle conducted largely under the 72-year long

  • BOLIVIA: Has Morales sold out?

    Federico Fuentes Even before the January 22 inauguration of Evo Morales as Bolivia's first indigenous president, commentators from all sides of the political spectrum, particularly on the left internationally, have begun to speculate about what

  • BRITAIN: Respect conference follows year of successes

    Julian Coppens, London Four hundred people attended the second annual conference of the anti-war Respect coalition in London on November 19-20, including 350 delegates. The conference followed a year of unprecedented successes. The left gained

  • IRAN: UN inspectors report no evidence of nukes

    Doug Lorimer United Nations inspectors have found no clear evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran, according to a report circulated to the board of governors of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Iranian government

  • TAIWAN: Election result hangs in the balance

    Eva Cheng Despite winning 50.11% of the votes cast in Taiwan's March 20 presidential election — a big improvement from the 39.3% that won him the presidency in 2000 — incumbent President Chen Shui-bian's re-election remains in doubt. Along

  • CANADA: Health crisis in Kashechewan

    Mike Krebs, Vancouver The crisis on the Kashechewan native reserve in northern Ontario has once again placed the brutal social and living conditions of indigenous people in Canada onto the centre stage of politics. On October 14, Health Canada, the

  • IRAQ: Rebels deal new blows to occupation forces

    Doug Lorimer On August 30, rebel Shiite leader Moqtada al Sadr instructed his Mahdi Army militia to suspend attacks on US-led occupation troops and their puppet Iraqi security forces. The decision followed a three-week US-led assault on the Iraqi

  • PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Police brutalise, charge AIDS workers

    Karen Fredericks, Port Moresby A violent raid by Port Moresby police on an alleged brothel on March 11 has galvanised women's groups, community and church organisations and aid workers in a new coalition to call for a public and independent

  • ARGENTINA: Who's afraid of the piqueteros?

    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

  • THAILAND: Unions fight privatisation

    Nick Fredman, Bangkok Marching behind a banner reading "Thailand is not a company Thaksin", tens of thousands of Thai workers protested in the Thai capital on March 9 against the plans of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinauatra's government to privatise