World

A crucial time for East TimorSince the fall of the Suharto regime in May, a new phase of the independence struggle has developed within East Timor. Not since the invasion in 1975 have so many large pro-independence demonstrations,

MOSCOW — On November 27, a Supreme Court judge here refused to order the release pending trial of Grigory Pasko, a Vladivostok naval journalist charged with treason after reporting on the dumping of nuclear waste by the Russian

Indonesia: 'The struggle must be completed' [The following is from a talk presented by a People's Democratic Party (PRD) leader and recently released political prisoner, WILSON BIN NURTIAS, at the public meeting "East Timor, Indonesia: the future",

Philippine socialists unite in new partyMANILA — November 30, the birth date of Andres Bonifacio, a left-wing leader of the 1898 Philippine revolution against Spanish colonial domination, is marked as National Heroes Day by

Malaysian democracy activist arrestedKUALA LUMPUR — Tian Chua was at a thankyou party for volunteers of the Asia Pacific People's Assembly on November 21 when news reached the gathering that a pro-reform demonstration had

Cuba updates Hurricane relief While the developed countries failed to provide adequate assistance to hurricane-devastated Nicaragua and Honduras, Cuba has more than obliged. Cuba sent medical brigades to Nicaragua, made up of general

MOSCOW — The scene might have appeared mundane, scarcely news at all: lying inert in a St Petersburg stairwell on November 20, killed by a shot to the base of her skull, was a 52-year-old woman. The fact that the victim was

JOHANNESBURG — The British Labour government has become involved in the privatisation of South African water. Just weeks before a water privatisation contract with British transnational Biwater was to be sealed, British trade and

KUALA LUMPUR — Representatives of non-government organisations met in Malaysia's capital for the fourth annual Asia Pacific People's Assembly at the time of the APEC summit. Assembly delegates harshly criticised the neo-liberal

'Costa Rica has been invaded by mining companies' GABRIEL RIVAS DUCCA, from Costa Rica, has been supporting local communities in their fight against open-cut mining. He was in Australia to participate in conferences hosted by Friends of the Earth.

Students protest killings in East TimorThousands of East Timorese students occupied the provincial parliament in Dili on November 23, angered by a brutal crackdown by Indonesian soldiers. The crackdown has killed up to 50 East

CHRISTCHURCH — The New Zealand government is the chair of APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) for 1999. We are now entering a period of hard sell for the government and business leaders who support APEC's goal of a "free"