World

PRAGUE — Czechoslovakia's lustrace or political screening law came into effect on November 5. Even if the constitutional court, which has not yet been established, rules that the law should be amended or annulled,

Rebuilding ZimbabweIn Zimbabwe, a unique human process is taking place though the Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP), a village-based movement which seeks a return to indigenous values and structures to

Philippines logging companies, together with sections of the military, are suspected of involvement in the murder of an environmental activist, Father Nery Lito Satur. Father Satur, a parish priest from Valencia in Mindanao, was killed on October

More destruction was caused by tropical storm Thelma in the central Philippines than has been caused in the past by much bigger storms. Worst affected was he town of Ormoc on the island of Leyte, where thousands of bodies were left

PLZEN, West Bohemia — Most people know this Czechoslovakian town by its German name, Pilsen, famous as the producer of one of world's finest lagers: Pilsner Urquell. It was, in fact, already a thriving burgher town

This week our friend Kamal Bamadhaj became the seventh foreigner to die in the war in East Timor. Five journalists were killed in October 1975 by advancing Indonesian troops, and a sixth, Roger East, was murdered, together with

The African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress and 92 other anti-apartheid organisations have agreed to form a Patriotic Front. This will strengthen the anti-apartheid movement, allowing it to enter constitutional negotiations with a

South African industry ground to a halt during a general strike on November 4-5, called to protest against the introduction of a new indirect tax that will hit the poor hardest. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is

MOSCOW — While the first autumn snow fell lightly, at least 10,000 people, and up to 50,000 according to some media, assembled on October 23 in the Manezh square in central Moscow. This was the first demonstration in which

Malaysian-Korean logging threat to Guyana The Guyanese government has just leased more than 1.65 million hectares of forest to a foreign consortium. The logging operation seriously threatens the livelihoods of local communities and the ecology of

More Turkish raids on KurdsAccording to the London-based Kurdistan Information Centre, about 40 Turkish bombers attacked Kurdish villages in northern Iraq towards the end of October with weapons including napalm, phosphorous bombs

Farmers protest in PraguePRAGUE — In the first big display of social resistance to the harsh effects of the government's economic reform program, about 25,000 Czech farmers demonstrated in Wenceslas Square in the heart of Prague