World

The EAST TIMOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT CENTRE argues that the Australian government's supposed "historic shift" in policy on East Timor, recently announced by foreign minister Alexander Downer, is much ado about little. Since the 1970s, both

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on January 12 restored the powers of the speaker and deputy speaker of the Sindh provincial assembly. The federal government of Nawaz Sharif had dismissed the Sindh provincial government, ruled by Sharif's Pakistan

Dita Sari rejects bail offer THE INDONESIAN MEDIA announced on December 13 that Indonesian political prisoner Dita Sari had been offered early bail by the Habibie government. Dita, a labour activist and leader of the People's Democratic Party, was

Landowners threaten to shut Ok Tedi mine Landowners near BHP's giant Ok Tedi gold and copper mine have threatened to close the mine if the Papua New Guinea government does not agree to review an agreement between the state and landowners by

The myth of the pink dollar in the US Is there an economic dividing line in the United States based on sexual orientation? In a report released late last year, Dr Lee Badgett establishes that gay, lesbian and bisexual people are not richer than

Two leaders of the New Left Front in Sri Lanka were brutally assaulted on January 13 while campaigning in provincial council elections. Dr Vicramabahu Karunaratne, the general secretary of the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), Patrick Fernando, the NLF

Calls for trial as Khmer Rouge surrenderIn late December, two of the three remaining top leaders of the Khmer Rouge announced their defection to the Cambodian government and were welcomed in the capital, Phnom Penh. The surrender

Shell head office occupied LONDON — On January 4, environmental and human rights protesters began occupying Shell-Mex House in the Strand. The activists barricaded themselves into the offices in solidarity with indigenous resistance to oil giant

The murdered bodies of two active members of the Iranian Writers Association(IWA) were found on the outskirts of Tehran in December. Later, it was disclosed that the two, who were kidnapped a week apart, were immediately strangled

Organising workers in Indonesia By Wahyu JAKARTA — After consolidating itself theoretically and organisationally in the beginning of the 1990s, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) began organising with workers. The fruit of this was the birth

Vietnam launches action plan for womenThe women of Vietnam have been described as showing a greater sense of independence than women in other south-east Asian countries. During the war of national liberation, first against

Following is a letter to the Chinese government from XU JIN, daughter of arrested pro-democracy activist XU WENLI. JANUARY 5 — On Monday, November 30th, you jailed my father, Xu Wenli, yet again. This time you accuse him of "subverting the