World

LONDON — During a short visit to her native Somalia recently, Rakiya Omaar was stunned to discover that she could not gain access to foreign relief offices. "It was a very painful experience", she recalled, "to see the

International actions against Sarawak logging Rainforest campaigner Bruno Manser will begin a fast in March in solidarity with the Penan people of Sarawak state in Malaysia. Manser and others in Switzerland and Austria plan the fast as part of

'Mitterrand approved Greenpeace bombing' It has been alleged that French President Francois Mitterrand approved the bombing of the environmental organisation Greenpeace's ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour in 1985. Two French agents

MALIK MIAH is a leading member of the northern Californian committee of the US Committees of Correspondence, formed after a split in the US Communist Party. In this interview with SEAN MALLOY, Miah outlines the main debates in the process of

Imagine what would happen if an industrialised country with over 10 million inhabitants were to have its petroleum reduced by 40% and consequently had to cut the bus fleet in its capital in half, cut petroleum used for

Austrians demonstrate against racismIn the biggest demonstration in Vienna for 50 years, more than 250,000 people at the end of January demonstrated their anger at a racist "Austria First" petition organised by the

MOSCOW — Who really has the right to rule Russia — President Boris Yeltsin, elected by 57% of voters in June 1991? Or the Russian parliament, elected more than two years earlier in a vote that was only partly

MOSCOW — Russians travellers are mostly still obliged to cover the huge distances in our country by rail. While no-one would expect the Russian railways to be an oasis of order and efficiency within the current general

In Cuba with the Southern Cross Brigade 'All they asked us to do was tell the truth' By Bernie Brian In 1959 Fred Huntley, as a young British merchant seaman, made a brief stopover in Cuba. Over 30 years later, he made a return visit as

Shetland anger turns on officialsAnger on Shetland over the use of dispersants on the Braer oil spill last month has deepened after the government's admission that some of the chemicals used failed the Agriculture

Victory for Tongan democracy movement The Tongan pro-democracy movement has won a sweeping victory in elections for the nine seats reserved for commoners in a parliament dominated by the country's hereditary nobles. Under the present

BERLIN — In the south-east German region of Lusatia (Lausitz) lives a small ethnic group — the Sorbs. Also called Lusatians or Wends, the Sorbs are of Slavic descent and speak a language closely related to Czech and Polish.