By Norm Dixon Mecky Salosa, a senior leader of the Free West Papua Movement (OPM), which is fighting for independence of Indonesian-occupied West Papua, was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 18 by an Indonesian District Court in Jayapura.
World
By Steve Painter Five days of mass protests shook the Yugoslav and Serbian capital, Belgrade, in mid-March. Two people were killed and up to 160 injured as police, backed briefly by army tanks, attacked the protesters. The tanks were withdrawn after
Since 1986, about 1 million civilians have fled their homes to escape the fighting in the Philippines. The plight of this destitute, homeless tribe — "internal refugees" — is still not fully recognised by the Aquino government. DAVID ROBIE
Tirana, Washington resume relations By Peter Annear PRAGUE — After 52 years without diplomatic contact, the United States agreed to restore full diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15. Talks on resuming ties were virtually completed
Finns for fuel efficiency By a big majority, the people of Finland prefer greater energy efficiency to the building of new power plants, according to a poll published on February 26. Commissioned by Greenpeace and conducted in January, the
Student demonstrations, a military clampdown and an emigre exodus have marked the lead-up to Albania's first multiparty elections, scheduled for March 31. From Prague, Green Left correspondent PETER ANNEAR reports. The exodus of 20,000 Albanians
By Peter Annear The Straits of Otranto — an 80 kilometre stretch of the Adriatic — were the corridor for the exodus of 20,000 Albanians in the second week of March from Durres, Vlore and Shengjin to Brindisi, Otranto and other ports in the
By Jacqui Kavanagh The African National Congress has expressed "outrage and deep disappointment" at the South African government's white paper on land reform, tabled in parliament on March 12. The paper fails to address the crucial issue of land
By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — They were the first eggs I had seen in my local food store in over a month. I stood in line, seized a packet, and headed for the check-out. On the packet was printed in large letters: "Price 1 rouble 34 kopeks".
By Norm Dixon As industrialised countries adopt stricter, more costly regulations on disposal of toxic wastes, a whole industry of shadowy operators has developed to promote dumping wastes in the Third World. Late last year, a California-based
By Andrew Nette Aung Naing Oo is one of thousands of students who fled Burma's cities in the wake of the crushing of the nation's democracy movement in 1988. In fear of military retaliation for their central role in the opposition, they moved into
By Daniel Flakoll Alegría "What is there to celebrate?", Vice President Virgilio Godoy says with a tone of resignation. "This isn't the UNO [National Opposition Union] government. It's Antonio Lacayo's government presided over by Violetta
By Max Lane In the last week at least 20 people have either been jailed, detained or interrogated in connection with the circulation of a calendar in Central Java. The calendar, in the form of a wall poster, illustrates the struggles of peasant
Thai arrests Fifteen university students in Bangkok have been arrested for defying the new military junta by organising a public rally. Also under arrest is Bundit Thammatrirat, a respected labour researcher. Sukhon Khaekprayoon, a researcher for
By Asples Madang (People of Madang) For the past 17 years, JANT Pty Ltd has paid the landowners of the Gogol-Naru in Papua New Guinea's Madang province only K1.18 per cubic metre (K1.00=US1.05) for premium timber — hardwoods that can easily
TAMAS KRAUSZ is a leader of Hungarian Left Alternative, a left organisation that has grown out of discussions of socialism outside the official state and party structures over the past 15 years. He was interviewed by STEVE PAINTER for in Budapest.
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