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PAKISTAN: Military capitulates on blasphemy law On May 17, Pakistan's military ruler General Pervaiz Musharraf announced that he was withdrawing his plan to amend the controversial blasphemy law. His announcement came after conservative clerics
BY JIM GREEN The review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded on May 20 after a gabfest in New York which lasted almost a month. The NPT explicitly allows five "declared" weapons states — the United States, Britain,
BY MATT LIVINGSTON BRISBANE — The University of Queensland Senate is poised to vote on a proposal to restructure the university's arts faculty. The pursuit of a "financially viable" education will see departments scrapped and general staff cuts
Behind the coup in Fiji is a retreat by sections of the Melanesian Fijian elite to the tried and tested divide-and-rule tactic of chauvinist scaremongering. Late on May 25, the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) announced the result of three days of
Union centre teaches organising skills BY MERRILYN TREASURE SYDNEY — A new union centre in Indonesia, established with Australian trade union funds, has begun training workers in the textile, banking, hotel, tourism and teaching sectors in
On May 17, 24 Indonesian soldiers and one civilian were sentenced to between eight and a half and 10 years' jail for the murder of Islamic teacher Teungku Bantaqiahand and 56 members of an Islamic boarding school in western Aceh in July 1999.
BY MARCEL CAMERON AND JOE KIM MELBOURNE — Country Victoria hasn't finished taking revenge on the Liberal and National parties just yet, as was shown by the election of Labor candidate Denise Allen in the May 13 by-election for the state seat of
A rush of liberation wind Cradle Will RockWritten and directed by Tim RobbinsWith Vanessa Redgrave, Philip Baker Hall, Susan Sarandon and Ruben Blades Review by Max Lane Cradle Will Rock, written and directed by Tim Robbins, is not just a breath
Workers rally for jobs ADELAIDE — Manufacturing workers, supported by a host of unions and the SA United Trades and Labor Council, marched on Parliament House on May 23 to protest against the lack of state government action to prevent job
Unionists face fines, jail BY CHRIS SLEE MELBOURNE — Five hundred union delegates rallied outside the Federal Court on May 22 in support of three union officials found guilty of contempt of court for organising union meetings. Electrical Trades
Teachers plan state-wide strikes BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — After teachers at Sarina High School near Mackay walked off the job for 24 hours on May 23, the Queensland Teachers Union has warned that unless Premier Peter Beattie began serious talks
JAKARTA — A group of fifty pro-integration East Timorese carried out a vicious attack on the office of East Timor solidarity group Solidamor on May 24 here. The gang, which according to an eyewitness was accompanied by a group of Indonesian