US President George Bush this week ordered the biggest naval build-up since the Gulf War in 1991. He stunned the world two weeks ago by declaring that Iran, North Korea and Iraq were on his hit list. Yet there is no evidence that any of these countries have anything to do with the Al Qaida network.
One of the biggest conferences the world has ever seen finished last week in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. Over 70,000 people joined the World Social Forum. They demonstrated and debated in meetings, forums and workshops around the conference theme, "Another world is possible."
If you work for ICI, BT, Marks & Spencer, Iceland or a string of other top firms your pension is under threat. Such companies plan to slash what they spend on pensions by a third and make workers pay more. If they did this directly through a pay cut everyone would know what was happening.
The papers have been stuffed with millions of words about Princess Margaret. Here are some things they didn't tell you.
"We want people in Britain to know the truth about Tony Blair's 'welcome' in West Africa. In Ghana a planned protest against Blair was not allowed under security laws. Yet, despite very short notice, hundreds of people crammed into a rally to speak out against his visit.
The scandal about playing fields for children goes on. Under the Tories, Labour was very critical of the policy of selling off school playing fields. But in office New Labour has continued to allow fields to be sold. Amid great fanfares the government announced in 1999 that £125 million of lottery cash had been allocated to create new playing fields for kids.
£679,000-that's how much Trish Seabourne, the boss of TimePlan, pocketed last year. TimePlan is the firm which employed Amy Gehring, the supply teacher at the centre of a court case over sex with pupils.
"Rolls-Royce is the latest victim of Enronitis, the fear that many firms, particularly those with large debts, could be concealing nasty secrets." That was the verdict of the Sunday Times this week as panic spread across the financial world in the wake of the scandal surrounding the collapse of Enron. Bankers and speculators are nervously watching firms with similarly huge debts to Enron.
The RMT union has suspended strikes that were planned on South West Trains (SWT) for this week. The decision was taken on Friday of last week to allow RMT acting general secretary Vernon Hince to approach SWT management for talks over pay. A further meeting of the union's national executive was to take place this Wednesday. It was to consider reinstating action if the company had not made any serious moves to end the dispute.
Despite high winds and driving rain, around 500 people joined a lively demonstration outside Faslane nuclear submarine base last Monday. The blockade kicked off the three-day "Block 'n' Roll" of the Faslane base in Scotland, organised by CND and Trident Ploughshares.
Teachers in London are to ballot for strike action over pay. Ballot papers will go out to over 40,000 members of the NUT union the week after next. Teachers will vote on a one-day strike over the allowances paid for working in London and neighbouring areas.
Over 70 people went to a teach-in against the war at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London last Saturday. The event was called by the Stop the War Coalition. It attracted a new audience of people who have just started to get involved in opposing the war.
