IN 1931 the London publishers Jonathan Cape brought out a 218-page book Moscow has Plan. Strikingly illustrated in Futurist style by the Australian graphic artist William Kermode it contrasted the crisis conditions in the Depression-era economies of the capitalist West with the great progress being made in constructing the Soviet Union’s socialist economy.| Morning Star
THAILAND and Cambodia agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire in a significant breakthrough to resolve deadly border clashes, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said today.Mr Anwar, who chaired the talks as head of the Association of South East Asian Nations regional bloc, said both sides have reached a common understanding to take steps to return to normalcy, following what he described as frank discussions.| morningstaronline.co.uk
THOSE of us who were born on the ruins of the socialist Eastern Bloc know how purpose-built, industrial “monotowns” are meant to look.Rusting steel mills, cracked and potholed roads, weathered sheets of corrugated metal strewn about. Thick smog and poisoned soil. Drunks passed out on the train platform. Emaciated stray dogs. A lone child skipping down the muddy path of a panel-block neighbourhood silenced by demographic blight.| morningstaronline.co.uk
