The Maoist victory in Nepal took India by surprise. But New Delhi must now critically reflect on its responsibility for the outcome, says Manjushree Thapa. > continue

Robert Bates’ When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late Century Africa is a seminal contribution to understanding state crises Africa. Bates’ thesis is that in the late 20th century, sub-Saharan African states suffered a catastrophic lowering of public revenues (brought about by a combination of poverty and fiscal austerity measures), that caused rulers with relatively short time horizons to shift from a longer-term strategy of promoting domestic wealth creation, and taxing it, to short-term predation. > continue

Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African shackdwellers’ movement reminds us in this statement and call to action that the structures of apartheid are still thriving in South Africa. > continue

The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman that the China Ocean Shipping Company which owns the An Yue Jiang, has decided to recall the ship because Zimbabwe cannot take delivery of the 77 tonnes of weapons and ammunition onboard. > continue

Maoist ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai has emerged as the real leader of this country after the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls. He defeated his Nepali Congress opponent Chandraprakash Neupane with a huge margin from Gorkha-2. He says the CPN (Maoist) will not dare to deviate from its political commitments nor will it ever betray the people. He thinks the Maoists have now taken upon their shoulders a greater responsibility, that of restructuring the country and steering it onto the track of economic prosperity. Dr Bhattarai, a former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, is not surprised by the results of the CA election. He argues that the CPN (Maoist) has changed the country’s ground realities. Dr Bhattarai spoke with Prateek Pradhan, Ghanashyam Ojha and Puran P Bista of The Kathmandu Post on how the CPN (Maoist) would proceed with its economic and political agenda. Excerpts: > continue

The violent protests in Haiti against rising food prices have exposed key problems in the already impoverished country’s political condition. > continue

The success of the 6th Cairo Conference and the Cairo Forum for Liberation 2008, despite all the challenges and difficulties, is, by all measures, an important achievement. The objective of the two events was and continues to be linking between three struggles: the resistance movements in (...) > continue

Women’s Right to Land and Housing has been major concern of the women’s movement in India for over two decades. Globally, women’s land rights are becoming an area of increasing urgency. In most societies, women have historically managed the unpaid care economy and fulfilled the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, family care, collection of fuel, fodder, water, kitchen gardening, poultry and animal husbandry and provided food and nutritional security. As women’s contribution to the economy and society at large remains unrecognised, largely underpaid and mostly unpaid, the need for women to be able to secure land and property has become even more critical. > continue

A worldwide increase in the price of basic foods is provoking anger and despair in many of the world’s poor countries. Both analysts and policymakers are attempting to rise to the challenge of understanding the reasons for the trend and what can be done, reports Heidi Fritschel. > continue

The creation of a Europe-wide left has proved to be a much stickier process than I imagined in 2002 when I stood in Florence and watched the 60,000-strong demonstration of the first European Social Forum being greeted by local residents. But from this first Forum onwards, the Italian participants have been notable for their dedication to creating a European political space. Their capacity to mobilise, including the trade unions, is impressive, as is their political seriousness, shaped by a national context in which the left visibly matters. The involvement of many in trying to fashion a new kind of political party through Rifondazione Comunista, which saw itself as ‘one actor amongst many’ and sought to break from both vanguardist and parliamentarist routines, also aroused our curiosity - and hope. > continue