World

  • Iraq: Sadr calls for united resistance to occupation

    On May 25, Moqtada al Sadr, Iraq’s widely popular Shiite cleric whose Madhi Army militia has been accused by US officials of being responsible for a wave of killings of Sunni Muslims since February 2006, emerged publicly for the first time in months to deliver a Friday evening prayer speech in the southern holy city of Kufa, in which he called for US forces to get out of Iraq and vowed to protect Iraqi Sunnis and Christians.

  • Ireland: Status quo prevails after elections

    The Fianna Fail party of current Taoiseach (prime minister) Bertie Ahern won a resounding victory in the May 24 elections with 41% of the vote. FF, which has held power for 10 years, fell five seats short of an outright majority. Ahern will likely form a centre-right coalition with the right-wing Progressive Democrats (PD) and independents, although there are also reports of contact with the Greens about forming a coalition. There is a June 14 deadline for the formation of the incoming government.

  • Lebanon: Refugee camp devastated by army assault

    Sporadic fighting was reported to have erupted on May 29 on the edges of the Nahr al Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon between the Lebanese Army and a Sunni Arab Islamist group called Fatah al Islam. On May 21, the Lebanese Army had laid siege to the camp and its 45,000 residents after the pro-US government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora alleged that members of the little known Islamist group had carried out a bank robbery the previous day.

  • Iraq: US troops no longer believe in 'the mission'

    “We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us”, the May 27 New York Times reported being told by US Army Staff Sergeant David Safstrom, who was commenting on the US-recruited and trained Iraqi Army.

  • Britain: Blair proposes new terrorism laws

    The proposed “anti-terror” laws would allow police to demand people’s names and addresses and question them as to where they have been and where they are going. Those giving unsatisfactory answers could be arrested and fined up to £5000 (about A$12,000). Under current British laws, police already have powers to stop and search people, but not to demand answers to questions or to issue fines for non-compliance. “Stop and question” powers are already in place in Northern Ireland.

  • Pentagon plans second Iraq 'surge'

    While public support in the US for Washington’s counterinsurgency war in Iraq has collapsed, the Pentagon has drawn up plans to almost double the number of US combat troops deployed in the oil-rich country by the end of this year.

  • Communal power versus capitalism in Venezuela

    Led by the country’s socialist president, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan revolution is sending shockwaves through the corporate elite both within Venezuela and internationally. The Venezuelan people are waging a struggle to gain sovereignty over the country’s natural resources in order to rebuild the nation along pro-people lines.

  • Britain: 'Two cheeks of the same arse'

    On May 10, British PM Tony Blair finally made his long-awaited resignation statement. Blair will stand down as prime minister with effect from June 27. He will also stand down as leader of the Labour Party, and preparations for the election of the next Labour leader — who will simultaneously become PM — got underway immediately.

  • Why wealthy, cigar-chomping Republicans hate Mike Moore (and Cuba)

    Documentary maker Michael Moore has made headlines again with his latest film, SiCKO!, which premiered at the Cannes Film festival on May 23. The documentary is a loaded gun aimed at the US health-care system, which is the most expensive in the world and yet provides the worst cover in the First World, according to the latest World Health Organisation scorecard.

  • Left party makes breakthrough in the west

    On May 13, the Left party won 8.4 % of the votes in Germany’s smallest state, the adjoining north-western cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. This was sufficient for the party to enter a west German state parliament for the first time, with seven MPs.

  • Venezuela: The case of RCTV and freedom of speech

    May 27 will be end of the 20-year concession granted by the Venezuelan government to the RCTV corporation — owned by multi-millionaire Marcel Granier — to use the state-owned Channel 2 broadcasting signal. The Venezuelan government has announced that the channel will become a public station, similar to a number of stations in Europe, based on programs made by independent producers

  • Aceh: Women activists declare new political party

    On May 20, a group of women activists in Indonesia’s northern-most province of Aceh declared the formation of a new local political party — the Acehnese People’s Alliance Party for Women’s Concern (PARAPP).