he Vietnamese Government leader has attributed the country's impressive economic growth and poverty reduction progress partially to international assistance.

In Australia we are only at the beginning of the sort of changes that have taken place in Latin America, in Africa and Asia. None-the-less, there are several issues gaining momentum in this country, and the impact they are making on society should not be underestimated.

Members of the National Assembly, on the second day session of the 2nd National Assembly meeting (Sixth Legislature), yesterday continued to share their concerns on the implementation of the the government's poverty reduction plan.

The government and the ruling parties are rushing to pass through the House of Representatives a bill to revise the Self-Defense Forces Law to include overseas dispatch of the SDF in its primary duties and to revise the Defense Agency Act to upgrade the agency to a ministry that is capable of commanding overseas operations.

Last week's massive demonstrations by the trade union movement, community organisations, and progressive political parties was a powerful message to the Federal Government despite the attendances being below those expected.

Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council Chair Nakagawa Shoichi has repeatedly called for a debate on whether Japan should possess nuclear weapons in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test.

This situation requires us to conduct scientific and sound evaluations in order to come up with appropriate and beneficiary solutions for each party, each country and the world's democratic and progressive movement as a whole.

The greater recourse to military pressures and to war by imperialism and its main surrogates have led to more acute sufferings in many parts of the world. Iraq continues to bleed from the sectarian strife stirred up by the US occupation.

To defeat the Howard Government voters need to ensure that they are on the electoral roll and on polling day put the Liberals last on their ballot paper. At the present time the only alternative to a Liberal/National Party Coalition Government is an ALP Government.

When Itokazu declared her candidacy, she and five opposition parties agreed on a five-point basic policy, the first of which is clear opposition to the plan to construct the U.S. base in Nago City as part of the U.S. military realignment program.

A High Court decision in favour of an appeal brought by the Federal Government means that asylum seekers will now have to "prove" that conditions in the country from which they fled are not safe enough for them to return at the expiry of their Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs).

At the end of the meeting, Lao and Chinese governments signed some agreements especially economic and technical cooperation, debt clearance to Laos, providing soft loan by Chinese government to the Lao PDR, and agreement on anti illicit drug trafficking and drug abuse and intoxicated substances.

In response to the question, whether the growth of private enterprise in the course of building socialism with Chinese characteristics is leading or would, in the future, lead to a class differentiation in the society, they answered in the negative.

The ambassador also informed participants about assistance provided by Switzerland government to Lao PDR, especially in the term of helping Laos access the World Trade Organisation (WTO) through providing technical assistance.

A total of 200,000 people from around the country took part in the Japanese Communist Party's 39th Akahata Festival held November 3-5 in Tokyo, and enjoyed its political, entertainment, cultural, and sports programs and events.

Today, we look back at the role played by our Party in the 76 years since our Party's public proclamation at a massive demonstration of workers and peasants at Plaza Moriones, at the heart of Manila's working class district of Tondo.

In the aftermath of the Oct. 9 nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), many in the region and around the world now worry about the acceleration of nuclear proliferation and the threat to peaceful coexistence in Northeast Asia.

The Japanese and U.S. government scheme to impose a new U.S. base on Okinawa is faced with strong criticism from local residents.

Last week the Howard Government announced more rural drought relief grants. Howard has finally acknowledged the reality of global warming, caused by emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). However, the government still refuses to introduce carbon trading, which is intended to reduce CO2 emissions, and could see farmers earn significant incomes from reforestation, the establishment of wind or solar energy complexes on their farms, and even from ceasing land clearing.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a peaceful and diplomatic solution by nonmilitary measures based on Article 41 of Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter.