World

  • 500,000 French high school students hit the streets

    High school students in France, angry about large class sizes, badly maintained buildings, too few teachers and shortages of resources, have taken to the streets in their hundreds of thousands. Student strikes began in Nimes, in

  • NZ spy agency fights for secrecy over bungled break-in

    AUCKLAND — With less than a year to go before the 1999 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) leaders' summit here, a high-profile civil court case against the New Zealand spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service (SIS),

  • International briefs: Cuba; Congo: South Africa

    UN votes 157-2 against blockade of Cuba The United Nations General Assembly on October 14 voted against the US blockade of Cuba by a record margin, 157-2. Only the US and Israel voted in favour of the blockade. Twelve countries abstained. The vote

  • Cuba updates

    Putting people first Speaking to the UN General Assembly's third commission on social, humanitarian and cultural issues in early October, Rodolfo Reyes, second secretary of Cuba's UN mission, said Cuba will continue to be a society that puts its

  • US immigration law — bringing back sweatshops

    BERKELEY, California — There is an immigration crisis in the United States. But it is not caused by uncontrolled borders or too many immigrants, the stereotyped images used to inflame anti-immigrant hysteria. It is the return of

  • Chilean dictator Pinochet arrested

    Chilean dictator Pinochet arrestedThe dictator General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile for more than 16 years, was arrested in a London hospital on October 19. The arrest by Interpol came on a request from Spanish

  • PRD holds congress

    The People's Democratic Party (PRD) announced on October 22 that it had held a national congress in Yogyakarta October 9-11. Eighty-five delegates representing 23 branches, the national leadership and the affiliated mass organisations

  • Indonesian regime suffers further setbacks

    Indonesian regime suffers further setbacksThe Habibie-Wiranto regime suffered another major setback on October 22 when the parliament finally passed a law on "public expression of opinion". The final version of the law undid

  • On strike at the Volkov mine

    KEMEROVO, Russia — Gennady Filatyev, director of the Volkov coalmine near this city in the Kuzbass industrial region of Siberia, is a bull of a man. When he leans across a lectern, gesticulating as he makes a point, he could be

  • Neglect and exploitation led to Nigerian oil carnage

    By any calculation, the October 17 oil pipeline disaster in southern Nigerian rates amongst the worst industrial accidents ever. As of October 21, the death toll was estimated at 700; it is expected to climb above 1000. The western

  • Nepali student movement holds conference

    Nepali student movement holds conferenceKATHMANDU, NEPAL — The All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU), Nepal's largest student organisation and one of the world's largest left student organisations, held its 14th national