World

  • Dita Sari rejects bail offer

    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 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

  • East Timor: is a breakthrough looming?

    East Timor: is a breakthrough looming?Speculation on the future of East Timor is rife in Jakarta. There have even been unconfirmed reports that the Habibie-Wiranto military regime may allow East Timorese resistance leader Xanana

  • Report highlights risk of pesticides used on aircraft

    Airline passengers and crew can be exposed to hazardous pesticides without their knowledge, according to a report by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). “Flyers Beware: Pesticide Use on International and Domestic

  • 100,000 remember Liebknecht and Luxemburg

    100,000 remember Liebknecht and Luxemburg BERLIN — The traditional January 9 march to the graves of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the revolutionary Communist leaders murdered in 1919 on the orders of the Social Democrats, attracted 100,000

  • Shell head office occupied

    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

  • Murder of writers stirs Iran

    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

    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 women

    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

  • Open letter to the Chinese government

    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

  • NZ government moves to silence dissent

    WELLINGTON — New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley has indicated that the law will be changed to allow the Security Intelligence Service to break and enter people's houses. The moves came in early December after the NZ Court of Appeal ruled

  • As schools decay, Russian teachers protest

    As schools decay, Russian teachers protestMOSCOW — When Russian authorities learned on December 15 that striking teachers had blocked an important rail line, it may finally have dawned on them that the situation in the