THERE IS crisis in the coffee market - but not for the four giant corporations that dominate it. Kraft Foods, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Sara Lee control all the major high street coffee brands. Kraft, controlled by tobacco giant Philip Morris, made profits of over $1 billion last year. Nestlé makes an estimated 26 percent profit margin on its instant coffee. Its profits are so huge that one investment analyst described it as the "commercial equivalent of heaven".
THE PEOPLE who head the institutions of global capitalism are nervous over the outcome of next Sunday's presidential election in Brazil. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, known universally as Lula in the South American country, looks set to top the poll. He is a former left wing socialist and mass strike leader. Lula has soared in the polls as popular discontent has grown with the current government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
The European Social Forum (ESF) will be the first Europe-wide gathering of the growing movements against neo-liberalism, racism and war. Tens of thousands of people will gather to discuss, debate and organise. There will also be a major united European demonstration against war. The ESF is for everyone who cares about the future of our planet, everyone who believes a better world is possible and necessary.
HUNDREDS OF thousands of people took over central London last Saturday to march against war on Iraq and for freedom for Palestine. The size of the demonstration stunned many people. Marchers waited around four hours to leave Embankment, while speakers at the end rally were already addressing demonstrators as they poured into Hyde Park. Thousands more joined splinter demonstrations that spilled out into other parts of central London, including a march up Oxford Street.
"IT IS extremely important that we prevent more aggression against a country that has already been bombed back to the Stone Age. Around 60 percent of our workforce are African or Middle Eastern in origin, so they tend to be more sympathetic to the anti-war argument. We have to keep on making our efforts to stop the war." Arif Shaikh, TGWU, First Central Buses
SATURDAY'S demonstration was a sea of placards and banners, brought from every corner of Britain. At the heart of the demonstration was a major mobilisation of trade unionists. Black, white and Asian workers, men and women, young and old proudly marched together behind their trade union banners.
"WE REPRESENT the overwhelming majority round the world. We are not a "protest movement". It may be that Bush will go to war in a matter of weeks. It may be that prime minister Blair will send troops into battle. But nothing can take the British people into a war they don't accept and don't want. If the war begins it is our plain duty to take time out at once to see everybody understands what has happened, and mobilise against the war. There is a good chance of stopping Britain going to war if we carry on organising in this brilliant way." Tony Benn
IT WAS not just in London that people took to the streets to protest against war last weekend. Other demonstrations around the world included 5,000 marching in Washington in the US, 50,000 in Madrid in Spain and 3,000 in Athens in Greece. In Rome in Italy 100,000 took part in a demonstration which had a major anti-war theme.
ANTI-WAR activists are mobilising for the next focus in the movement to stop war on Iraq. The Stop the War Coalition has called for a day of action - "Stop Your City, Stop the War" - on Thursday 31 October.
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HUNDREDS OF thousands of school leavers have been left bewildered by the scandal surrounding A-level results. Growing evidence shows that a government quango fixed the exam results to lower students' grades.
AN IRAQI child is lying in a Baghdad hospital bed being treated for leukemia. Ali Hussein is eight years old and can't get the treatment he needs because of US-imposed sanctions on Iraq. Bush and Blair's war will bring more horror to this devastated country.
