World

  • IRELAND: Socialists jailed in bin tax battle

    DUBLIN — Thousands of people are taking a stand against the introduction of a new household refuse-collection tax. After thousands of citizens refused to pay the tax, the government passed laws allowing local councils to stop

  • UNITED STATES: 100,000 greet freedom riders

    NEW YORK — As many as 100,000 people rallied in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens on October 4 to demand an amnesty and better working conditions for undocumented workers. The demonstration was the climax of the Immigrant Workers Freedom

  • UNITED STATES: Prison rape law enacted

    On September 4, US President George Bush signed into law the Prison Rape Elimination Act. While the law does little more than provide funding for research and some counselling, it is at least a belated recognition that the massive US

  • RUSSIA: Will opposition crisis spur renovation?

    MOSCOW — There has been heated discussion in the camp of the Russian opposition this northern Spring. The crisis of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) led to the emergence of "renovating" tendencies in its

  • SOUTH AFRICA: COSATU: from independence to subordination

    JOHANNESBURG — As the Congress of South African Trade Unions' (COSATU) eighth national congress, held September 15-18, was winding down, a senior leader, perhaps inadvertently, summed up: "We can only hope that these issues

  • UNITED STATES: 'We are workers, we demand respect!'

    ATLANTA — Thousands of immigrant workers and their supporters marched and rallied here September 29 to demand equal rights and the right to hold a driver's licence. The protest was part of the national Immigrant Workers Freedom

  • UNITED STATES: Democrats dumped in California recall vote

    SAN FRANCISCO — The October 7 recall of Governor Gray Davis and the election of Hollywood movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him was a massive repudiation of the pro-big business policies of Davis' Democratic Party.

  • UNITED STATES: Bush's Iraq gamble unravels

    Just four months ago, when Bush declared "major combat operations" in Iraq to be over, the US ruling class was sure its gamble to break international law, dismiss the UN and go against the unprecedented global opposition to the war

  • INDONESIA: Freedom for Aceh and West Papua!

    JAKARTA — On September 27, the first action of a new alliance between Acehnese, Papuan and Indonesian activists took place. The Papuan Students Alliance, the Acehnese People's Democratic Resistance Front, the Referendum Information Centre and the

  • THAILAND: Hiding the human evidence

    BANGKOK — Authorities are striving to make this city look its best for the October 20-21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The race is on to "sanitise" Bangkok's streets, or at least the ones that foreign

  • ISRAEL: US condones attack on Syria

    Israel's government on October 5 launched a missile attack on Syria, claiming that it was acting in "self-defence". The assault was the first Israeli strike into Syrian territory in 30 years. Israel declared that the missile strike