President Hugo Chávez, who died on 5 March, started the movement that transformed Latin America. He began on the left and went further leftwards during his time in power, unlike most world leaders who took the opposite route. If you asked someone in a European street if they knew the names of the Uzbek president, Saudi king or Danish prime minister — the leaders of three countries similar in size, populatio ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VPCzfitXNOQ ...

The Christina O, which was bought and refurbished using two of the offshore companies in ICIJ's data. Photo: Getty Images By Harry Karanikas and Marina Walker Guevara Officials say they will check ICIJ’s data for any evidence of misconduct by owners of offshore companies. Greek citizens who own or direct offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens rarely declare them to Greek tax o ...

Exclusive: Offshore financial industry leak exposes identities of 1,000s of holders of anonymous wealth from around the world David Leigh  The GuardianThe British Virgin Islands, the world's leading offshore haven used by an array of government officials and rich families to hide their wealth. Photograph: Duncan Mcnicol/Getty Images --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...

A new world heaves into view this week with sweeping changes in the fields of welfare, justice, health and tax Monday 1 April Bedroom tax introduced The aim is to tackle overcrowding and encourage a more efficient use of social housing. Working age housing benefit and unemployment claimants deemed to have one spare bedroom in social housing will lose 14% of their housing benefit and those with two or more s ...

In this animate, academic David Harvey looks beyond capitalism towards a new social order. Can we find a more responsible, just, and humane economic system? This RSA Animate was taken from a lecture given as part of the RSA's free public lecture programme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0 ...

Kolkata/New Delhi: In a major embarrassment for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, an SFI student leader was allegedly killed in police custody on Tuesday. Eyewitnesses said Sudipto Gupta (22) was brutally thrashed by the police while he was leading a protest march in Kolkata. But the Chief Minister maintained that the student leader died when he put his head out while being taken in a police van a ...

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press DRAPETSONA, Greece -- In rain and shrieking wind, the ferry strains at its ropes, the gangplank creaking and scraping against the pier. A sailor on night watch duty huddles over a portable heater at the entrance to the cavernous hull. For seven months, often under harsh winter conditions, Giorgos Polilogidis has waited for one thing: a paycheck. A seasoned veteran of the ...

The crisis in Greece is posing serious threats to democracy and human rights (Report, 15 March). We are particularly concerned about the rise of fascism and racism. The government continues to tolerate the violence and hate speech of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn MPs attack democracy and display symbols of the military junta of 1967-1974; the party recruits supporters unopposed by the authorit ...

For all its vaunted efficiency, capitalism has foisted wasteful inequality and environmental ruin on us. There is an alternative. What's efficiency got to do with capitalism? The short answer is little or nothing. Economic and social collapses in Detroit, Cleveland and many other US cities did not happen because production was inefficient there. Efficiency problems did not cause the longer-term economic dec ...