World

In his state of the republic address last year, French President Jacques Chirac said: "The dissolution of the National Assembly is a constitutional weapon which the president cannot deploy for reasons of personal convenience". But On April 21, Chirac

An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 angry protesters took to the streets in Taipei on May 4 calling on Prime Minister Lien Chan to resign and President Lee Teng-hui to apologise for the failure to check an increase of violent crime.

With the rebels of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Zaire-Congo (ADFL) just a few days' march from the capital, Kinshasa, dictator Mobutu Sese Seko suddenly left Zaire on May 7 to attend a meeting of

LIVERPOOL — The Liverpool dockers, in the 20th month of their dispute with the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC), are determined to fight on. Despite the obstacles and hardships — 90 dockers have had their houses

Members of South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) on May 1 launched a nine-day nationwide campaign of protests against the privatisation of municipal services. The campaign includes daily demonstrations outside town halls

Police on May 5 and 6 raided the offices and homes of activists and organisations involved in the Port Moresby demonstrations in March against the Chan government's deployment of mercenaries on Bougainville. Three leading activists

Detroit labour march setDetroit labour march setNewspaper workers now in the 22nd month of a strike have won important support in a call by top American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations

MEXICO CITY — US President Bill Clinton's May 5-6 visit here was designed to improve much deteriorated bilateral relations. In the past year, Mexican outrage over the Helms-Burton law, US congressional certification of the

Overseas Chinese 'defend' islandsA handful of right-wingers led by Japanese legislator Shingo Nishimura made a provocative landing on May 6 on an islet of Diaoyu Islands (or what the Japanese called Senkaku Islands), the

Turkish troops chase Kurdish rebels Turkish newspapers reported on May 1 that as many as 40,000 Turkish troops crossed 10 kilometres into northern Iraq in an effort to attack guerillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party. Turkey regularly stages

MEXICO CITY — Mexican workers marked May Day with huge demonstrations in the country's capital. Workers have plenty to demonstrate about. At least 70 % of the population lives in poverty, the price of the basic foods and

Stolen timber recovered Timber stolen from the Nuxalk nation (an indigenous people from the north-west coast of Canada) was recovered from a UK timber yard on April 9. The timber has been handed to police, who have been asked to prosecute the