World

New, draconian labour laws recently enacted by the Iranian regime will exempt small businesses from the Islamic Labour Law, affecting 2.8 million workers and resulting in 600,000 redundancies, according to a statement by the

SURABAYA — One thousand five hundred workers at PT Surabaya Meka Box in East Java, Indonesia, began a strike on February 21 to protest against the dismissal of three colleagues who were representing workers in negotiations for a new

What happened to the Democratic Republic of East Timor? DILI — The small, unassuming office of the CPD-RDTL (Council in Defence of the Democratic Republic of East Timor) in Balide belies the debate that is brewing over the restoration of the

Turkish police attack neighbourhood Several thousand Turkish cops, including anti-riot police and special units with face masks and assault-style weapons, swept the predominantly leftist and Kurdish Gazi neighbourhood in Istanbul on March 12. Three

On March 16, the Paris Club of rich creditor countries announced a suspension of Mozambique's debt repayments until July, following the floods that devastated the country earlier this month. The Jubilee 2000 coalition, which campaigns for the

Reject Wahid's austerity plan, says PRDSince his election five months ago, the new president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, has managed to create the impression that his is a people-friendly government. But how true is this?

Behind the Spanish left's worst electoral loss By G. Buster In the March 12 Spanish election, the left suffered the worst electoral defeat in its history. After four years of conservative and neo-liberal policies, the governing People's Party

Job seekers demonstrate in East TimorDILI — Frustration and discontent spilt over into another demonstration here on March 7 as 300 job seekers gathered outside the offices of the United Nations Transitional Administration in

Indonesia plans to deport labour consultantRoger Smith, an Australian who works for the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity, which is funded by the US government and the AFL-CIO, has been threatened with deportation

Hindu fundamentalists knocked backThe February attempt by India's main Hindu fundamentalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to seize power through the back door in India's second largest state, Bihar, has failed miserably.

Serious events are taking place in the areas of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) where the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Jalal Talabani, is imposing its rule. The PUK has violated the political freedoms and human

The following is abridged from a statement by MUHAMMAD NAZAR, chairperson of the presidium board of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), to Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid, dated March 5. Violence and human rights violations by the