World

International news briefs Rio Tinto workers resume blockade JAKARTA — Coalmining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) stopped operations on July 18 for a second time in less than five weeks after striking workers resumed their blockade in the

DURBAN — On July 9, 5000 people, many wearing "HIV Positive" T-shirts gathered at the Durban city hall to demand equitable access to HIV/AIDS treatment. The march preceded the opening of the 13th International AIDS Conference, held here on July

EAST TIMOR: Unanswered questions on transition As East Timor moves towards full independence under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), the obligations and conduct of the UN, international aid

SYRIA: al-Assad junior ascends the throne HOMS — Syria's government-imposed 40 days of mourning for President Hafez al-Assad came to end on July 20. During that period, I was told, brides were forced to wed in black by the Syrian police. Most

PACIFIC: 'We want to be nuclear free and independent' The failure of another United States missile test at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands highlights the folly of the new arms race in space, notes the Suva-based Pacific Concerns Resource

SYRIA: Baath Party renounces socialist agenda The ruling Syrian Baath Party held its ninth convention on June 17 to appoint Hafez al-Assad's oldest surviving son, Bashar, as its new general secretary, thus paving the way for his official election

A coalition of seven US consumer and environmental groups announced this month the formation of a major new US campaign to keep genetically engineered ingredients off grocery store shelves, unless they are thoroughly safety tested and labelled. As

At least one protester was killed, more than 100 were injured and 57 were arrested when Indonesian security forces attacked an 800-strong protest in South Sumatra on July 20. The detainees were beaten in jail. The action was organised by the National

PHILIPPINES: Protesters disrupt Congress MANILA — Five members of the Philippines Socialist Party of Labour (SPP) were detained on July 18 in the Batasan (parliament) hall. The SPP members interrupted a special session of Congress called to pass

Twenty thousand heavily armed police, six navy warships and a two-kilometre nautical exclusion zone may have allowed the world leaders, including United States President Bill Clinton, attending the G8 summit in Okinawa to rest easy, but it wasn't

On July 21, the armed forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) ordered the closure of the offices of the Independent Women's Organisation (IWO) and its women's protection centre in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. The armed PUK thugs gave the

SAN FRANCISCO — Is it wrong for the state to murder its own citizens? In the United States, the answer is no. If you're convicted of murder, capital punishment (as the death penalty is euphemistically called) is carried out by the state. This has