"The slave trade in women for sexual purposes is growing ... Smuggling in humans is much less risky than smuggling drugs and it is highly profitable", Commissioner Anita Gradin told the European Commission's Conference on Trafficking in Women held by
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The expectation of enormous productivity gains from the rapid spread of information technology (IT) has been driving the Nasdaq, Wall Street's index which tracks the prices of key IT and other high-tech stocks, to breathtaking new highs. The US stock
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Black Book I wish to add some complementary information to Phil Shannon's excellent review of the Black Book of Communism that appeared in GLW #400. What the media circus in France forgot to mention when the book was released there, through
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Speaks volumes already Light snow falls and renews the paths we walk, grey skies soften raw, wintry day with bright light my beard freezes in clumps of ice along the way ... I call puppy Bella: Come! She loves to play, I tell
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Tony Cliff — a life for revolution LONDON — Tony Cliff (real name Ygael Gluckstein), founder and central leader of the British Socialist Workers Party (SWP), died on April 10, aged 82. Cliff built what is today the largest revolutionary
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Networker: Running out of workers It would be suicidal for any government to be honest about long-term employment prospects. So every time the government cuts another job, or encourages corporations to do the same, it talks about opportunities in
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CUBA Castro: the Third World must take the helm The G-77 heads of state and government meeting was held in Havana, Cuba, April 12-14. The G-77 brings together representatives of Third World countries. Below are excerpts of Cuban President FIDEL
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PERTH — The frenzy against street prostitution in the inner suburb of Highgate reached new heights when two women were served with restraining orders "on behalf of the general public" and police blockaded several surrounding streets. The local
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Controversy over milk hormone safety In late 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave permission for Monsanto corporation to market rBGH, a genetically engineered hormone that is injected into dairy cows to make them produce more milk.
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Racism: Howard's re-election strategy Leading right-wing columnists and journalists in the daily newspapers are debating how the government should manage growing popular discontent — without getting diverted from the path of economic
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Demonstrators in Washington, D.C., for the World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) joint meeting on April 18-19, will take up where those who protested in Seattle in December against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) left off: they will seek to
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How they work The World Bank The World Bank is a group of four banks: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (which most call the "World Bank"), which offers loans for infrastructure-building and other "social" projects (such
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Union dissent delays work for the dole Members of the teachers' union, the Australian Education Union, in Canberra "simply weren't prepared to go ahead with work for the dole as it was designed", Clive Haggar, president of the AEU's ACT branch,
News
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Students serve log of claimsBRISBANE — Griffith University students, incensed at deteriorating campus conditions, have served a log of claims on their university administration. The students marched through the
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East Timor activists finedCANBERRA — East Timor solidarity activist Gareth Smith was fined $16,335 on April 12 for painting the slogan, "Shame, Australia, shame", on the front wall of federal Parliament House to protest
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UQ rally against restructure BRISBANE — More than 150 students and staff rallied in the Great Court at the University of Queensland on April 12 to oppose the planned restructure of the UQ arts faculty. Protesters condemned the corporatisation of
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Tax office pay disputeThe tax section council of the Community and Public Sector Union has recommended that CPSU members in the Australian Tax Office reject management's draft agency agreement. Management is offering a 4% a year
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Labor blocks debate on forestsThe federal Labor "opposition" blocked an April 13 debate in the Senate on a call for the federal and state governments to uphold the law in the forests. Australian Greens senator Bob Brown, who put the
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Young people rally against 'legalised racism' Hundreds of secondary students walked out of school last week to protest the racist policies of the federal government, in particular its refusal to repeal mandatory sentencing laws in Western Australia
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Incumbents worried by union militantsThe incumbents of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) leadership are resorting to dirty tricks to stave off the challenge by the militant Workers First ticket. Workers First's
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HOBART — One hundred people gathered at the International Wall of Friendship on April 11 to protest against the forced removal of the five remaining Kosovar refugees in Tasmania. The Sopjani family were being held by the
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LISMORE — "There's something rotten in the state of Lismore!", thundered Maurie O'Sullivan, president of the NSW Public Sector Association, at a picket and rally at Southern Cross University (SCU) here on April 11. O'Sullivan was
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Smart "It's a fine sentiment, but a woolly one. It's an attempt to reduce unemployment solely at employers' expense." — Media commentator Ross Gittins arguing against a 36-hour work week (Age, April 12). Aim, focus, fire! "There'll be very
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HOBART — A range of allegations have been made concerning the privatisation of the Trust Bank by the state Labor government last year. Months after the privatisation was heralded as a "win for Tasmania", it has been revealed
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Mangrove-destroying road dumpedBRISBANE — The Queensland government has decided to drop the controversial Mackay East-West Connector Road project after a six-year campaign by conservationists, anglers and businesspeople. In an
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'400 and still dancing' ADELAIDE — Supporters of Green Left Weekly celebrated the 400th issue of the paper on April 8 with a cocktail and dance party at the Resistance Centre. "400 and Still Dancing" raised funds for the Green Left Weekly
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Australia sinking climate change effortsAustralia's aggressive promotion of carbon sinks may undermine global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas levels. Greenpeace International's climate policy director, Bill Hare, warned on April 13
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MOSS VALE, NSW — Rather than renegotiate a collective agreement that has been in place for the last 20 years, Joy Mining Machinery has locked out 71 workers. Workers walked off the job on March 31 in protest against the company
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Education should be GST-freeADELAIDE — The Australian Education Union's South Australian branch president, John Gregory, has called for all aspects of education to be totally exempt from the goods and services tax.
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WOLLONGONG — "Sold down the alley", "Absolutely shocking" and "It was a waste of time [going out on strike]" — these were some of the comments by cleaners following a meeting with their union on April 12. On April 7, 200
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Rail workers walk out over safetyBRISBANE — The Queensland Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) struck for 12 hours on April 13 against the introduction of driver-only trains in north Queensland. The "wildcat" strike was called at
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ACI workers appeal for support MELBOURNE — Workers at the ACI glass mould manufacturing plant in Box Hill have been locked out for four months. Below are extracts from an appeal issued by the workers, who are members of the Australian
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A comprehensive agreement between the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations (CCER) and the Independent Education Union (IEU) was reached on April 14. The agreement applies to all Catholic dioceses and relevant Catholic
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Indonesian, East Timorese militants tourBRISBANE — More than 130 people, some who travelled from as far away as Lismore and Toowoomba, packed the Queensland Council of Unions auditorium on April 11 to hear the Budiman Sujatmiko,
Analysis
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Howard and Burke's dirty deal While the compromise on mandatory sentencing struck between Prime Minister John Howard and Northern Territory chief minister Denis Burke may have been sufficient to quell disquiet from the Liberal
World
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FRANKFURT, Germany — Twenty-six years ago, a young theology student, Manuel Campos, fled Portugal one step ahead of the secret police. Campos suddenly found himself in Germany, a young man with no prospects, few skills, and a head filled with
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UNITED STATES: Washington farts at NPT The United Nations' Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, to be held in New York from April 24 to May 19, will face — and probably fudge — the fact that about 5000 nuclear weapons are
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US toxic waste rejected @body text = A ship carrying 110 tonnes of toxic US military waste from bases in Japan to Canada has had to return without unloading, Radio Australia reported on April 10. Two inflatable boats belonging to environmental
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Martial law was declared in Bolivia in the early hours of April 8 by President Hugo Banzer. The drastic move came at the end of a week of protests, general strikes and transportation blockades that brought large parts of the Latin American country to
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Democrats back white privilege, IMF austerity in Zimbabwe On April 4, Australian Democrat senator for Western Australia Andrew Murray successfully moved a notice of motion asking the Senate to "support the British government's strongly expressed
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Mining company won't compensate PNG villagersDome Resources, the Australian mining company responsible for a spill of 100 to 150 kilograms of sodium cyanide in Papua New Guinea on March 21, says it does not plan to pay compensation
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RUSSIA: Trade unionist bashed The following urgent appeal was issued by Konstantin Prasolov, from the independent Russian trade union Zaschita. The authorities in Bashkiria, Bashkortostan Republic, Russia, have again used brute force against
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INDONESIA: May Day win for strikers JAKARTA — A three-day strike by 1800 workers employed at the PT Isanti shoe factory in Semarang, Central Java, forced the company to grant 23 out of their 25 demands on April 11. The strike was organised by the
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As the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (national congress) meets on April 15-16, a great deal of attention will focus on what leader Gerry Adams has to say and considerably less on the character of the party he leads. It has become common place to talk about the
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US blocks global warming treaty deadline Environment ministers from the industrialised capitalist powers on April 9 failed to agree to a deadline for the ratification of the agreement on global warming reached in Kyoto three years ago. Ministers
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Just after midnight on April 5, weary government and civic representatives inked a deal that put a halt to three weeks of sometimes violent national strikes in Costa Rica. The strikes were the largest mass protests seen in this Central American
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BRITAIN: Punch-drunk British Nuclear floored again British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL), already punch-drunk from a series of scandals in recent months, faced another crisis on April 13 after a large number of confidential memos were leaked. One
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NOUMEA — Yann Celene Uregei, leader of the United Kanak Liberation Front/People's Congress (FULK/CP), died following a long illness, in his home in the suburbs of New Caledonia/Kanaky on April 7. "Old Yann", as he was respectfully known, had
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Russia: After Putin's coronationMOSCOW — In the Russian drama, a new act is beginning. Since the financial collapse of 1998, the “oligarchs” have recognised that the system they have created cannot survive
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An estimated 80,000 car workers in South Korea are on strike. Workers from Daewoo initiated the walk-out to protest the proposed sale of their company to a foreign monopoly.
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UNITED STATES: 16 years for pinching a chocolate According to an April 5 report on ABC radio, mandatory sentencing laws in the US state of Texas resulted in a man being jailed for 16 years for stealing a Snickers chocolate bar. Listeners to the AM
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BRITAIN: Unity fires socialist election campaign LONDON — On April 13, the second major election rally of the London Socialist Alliance will be held. The LSA is a broad regroupment of socialist groups, which is using the May 4 elections for the
Culture
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Prime suspects To all men in Wee Waa: if you're innocent you've got nothing to worry about. How many men can say that! Just as soon as the results come back from the lab, you'll be among the fortunate few in Australia who we know did not bash and
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Advertisement STREETS FREE TO ARTISTS see Australia: http://www.brushtail.com.au USA: http://openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
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Murder for Capital (Vol. 4) The Marx SistersBy Barry MaitlandAllen & Unwin, 2000315pp, $14.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Eleanor, Meredith and Peg possess something unique and quite valuable, something which greedy, unscrupulous rogues
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Activist guide to workers' revolution The State and RevolutionBy Vladimir Ilyich LeninResistance Books, 1999108pp, $8.50 rrp Reviewed by Susan Price They say you should never judge a book by its cover. But the contemporary format of this newly
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Readers of Green Left Weekly will know Dave Riley from his regular satirical column, "The Life of Riley" . But written satire is not his only cultural pursuit. He also does a lot of theatre work. The theatre Riley practises, however,