World

MANILA — Romeo Estropigan, a BMP labour organiser, was kidnapped soon after the May Day rally. Eight armed men brandishing pistols blocked the taxi he was in and dragged him out. Seven other members of the BMP who were with

In Indonesia, the president is "elected" by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) every five years. The MPR usually meets about a year after the election of a new House of Representatives, including the appointment of its 100 military members. The

The 1.6 million member Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) reinforced its opposition to anti-worker sections of South Africa's draft constitution by bringing the country to a standstill on April 30. The general strike and

Lesbian movement emerges in the PhilippinesMANILA — "We want to express our real feelings/ We are women loving women/ We are lesbians." The three young women of the lesbian band Lantad (Coming Out) belted out the song,

SLORC, the military junta which rules Burma, is well known as one of the most repressive regimes on the planet. Otherwise staid diplomats have used terms such as "hydra-headed" and "barbaric" to describe SLORC's recent behaviour.

TSURUGA, Japan — Nuclear expert Professor Jochen Benecke said after meetings with Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) officials at the end of March that he is not convinced by the company's safety analysis of its ability to

Two students have been reported killed during demonstrations against public transport fare increases in the city of Makassar on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Students from the Muslim University of Indonesia in Makassar began a demonstration on

Two-party system under strain The two-party system is showing signs of strain. Polls indicate a growing distrust of both Democratic and Republican politicians. Fuelling this unease is the fact that in the past two decades, real wages have fallen

Brazilian ranchers, loggers, and local and state governments and squatters all rushed in by the April 8 deadline to file claims against Indian land rights. They were taking advantage of a federal decree on January 8 that gave anyone who thought they

MANILA — March 19 was the first anniversary of the death of Flor Contemplacion, the Filipina migrant worker who was hanged on fraudulent murder charges by the Singapore government. Just a few days before the anniversary, the

Centre-left win masks Italian social crisisTURIN — At the end of a long election campaign, the Olive Tree, the centre-left alliance led by former state industry boss Romano Prodi with the Democratic Party

By Fernando Gonçalves Residents of the small southern Mozambican town of Namaacha, on the border with Swaziland, are now accustomed to the daily explosions that scare off visitors. A team of 50 land mines clearance personnel are busy searching