After months of street battles and political meetings, a new draft of the Bolivian constitution was ratified by Congress on October 21. A national referendum on whether or not to make the document official is scheduled for January 25, 2009. "Now we have made history," President Evo Morales told supporters in La Paz. "This process of change cannot be turned back... neoliberalism will never return to Bolivia." Marching to La Paz (ABI)
At the Palais des Nations - the UN's European headquarters- on October 15, 2008, there was an uneven start to negotiations among Russian, Georgian, Abkhazian and South Ossetian negotiators. The Russian representatives arrived 50 minutes late unsure if the representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be able to participate as full members. After a half hour of discussions in the hallways and offices set aside for the negotiators, a meeting was started. Palais des Nations
For years, the US never considered Africa as a priority foreign policy agenda. The only context in which Africa came up in Washington was for preferential trade as in AGOA (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act) or in AIDS-funding and of course humanitarian assistance. Despite its continued use of the term 'partnership with Africa', no administration viewed Africa as anything but a source of extractive resources and a perpetual conflict ridden region with few business opportunities. So now, when the US declares Africa to be a very important region and pays special attention to it, one has got to be suspicious.Combined Joint Task Forces, Uganda
Barack Obama is expected to win Vermont in the presidential race by as much as 30 points. But the real surprise is the race for governor. At first, three-term Republican incumbent Jim Douglas looked like a shoo-in. But something unusual is happening. Independent candidate Anthony Pollina has pulled ahead of the Democrat, Gaye Symington.Anthony Pollina
Source: Inside USA
Over the last few weeks, the world has watched as some of the best-known brand names in US capitalism have either crumbled or been bailed out by taxpayers. You could be forgiven for thinking that the financial crisis is all about men in suits, whether on Wall Street or in Washington. But the meltdown did not begin on Wall Street and it did not begin just a few weeks ago. It has been building for years as US workers have struggled with stagnant wages and rising costs – whether for housing, fuel or health care. For the past year, Inside USA has been following those stories.
On the slopes overlooking Kireka, the suburbs of Kampala, hundreds of women and children spend their day working at stone quarries. Whether sick, crippled, young or old, they spend long hours hauling yellow jerry cans of stone from a dusty pit and smashing the large rocks into gravel with crude hammers. One full jerry can fetches 10 cents. At the end of the day, the women have made just enough to buy their children a small portion of dry and starchy cassava for dinner. On slow days, they eat only a bowl of diluted porridge, or nothing. Families at Work in Stone Quarry
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