International news briefs
Climate treaty under attack
The Global Climate Coalition (GCC), a grouping of some of the biggest multinational corporations, is launching a new campaign to strip the Kyoto greenhouse gas accord of its scientific credibility.
The accord established binding commitments on governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but has been ratified by only a few countries. Big business argues that the treaty is unfair because it would force business to take costly pollution control measures while exempting "competitors" in the Third World.
The GCC, dominated by the fossil fuel industry, has drawn up plans for a $5 million, two-year campaign to recruit scientists, sponsor research and disseminate "findings" that cast doubt on global warming.
Congo marks liberation anniversary
The Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated the first anniversary of the overthrow of the Mobutu regime with a mass rally in Kinshasa on May 17. More than 60,000 people listened to President Laurent Kabila criticise the western powers for their failure to offer adequate aid or to cancel Congo's US$16 billion foreign debt.
"We have asked the big powers for a Marshall Plan" to rebuild the country, left shattered and bankrupt by three decades of western-backed dictatorship, Kabila said. "Instead, conditions are set for us ... We are not going to be fooled by those who have always dominated Africa", he declared.
Kabila said that the new government has created 50,000 jobs and has begun to rebuild Congo's infrastructure but that the DRC's problems could not be solved in one year.
Basques demand language rights
More than 80,000 people from the three French-ruled northern Basque provinces gathered around Lake Sempere on May 10 to celebrate the 15th annual Herri Urrats. Herri Urrats is a political and cultural festival that is both a demonstration in support of the Basque language being granted official status and a fundraising event for the federation of Basque community schools, Seaska.
Kanaky wharfies strike
Members of New Caledonia's (Kanaky) dock workers' union returned to work on May 23 after a week-long strike and blockade of Noumea harbour. The dispute disrupted shipping in the Pacific. The workers were protesting against the sacking of 49 workers and the forced merger of two other waterfront unions.
Russian youth mark May '68
MOSCOW — On May 23, about 200 young intellectuals, mostly artists and students, blocked one of the central Moscow streets 150 metres from the Kremlin. The action was initiated by a radical leftist magazine, Radek, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1968 uprising in France.
Organised by artists, the action was initially more like a postmodernist performance than a political protest. Participants carried traditional slogans like "Imagination to power" or "Let's be realistic and demand the impossible". However, they were joined by enthusiastic young people chanting "Down with Yeltsin!" and "Capitalism is shit!".
Police arrested six people, including Radek editor Anatoly Osmolovsky. Some student activists and artists were beaten up. Others face criminal charges of "hooliganism".
40,000 march against privatisation
Around 40,000 members of TURK-IS (the biggest trade union confederation in Turkey), marched against privatisation on May 16.
The workers, who came from all cities, marched for two kilometres before holding a rally in Sihhiye Square in the capital, Istanbul. Their slogans were, "Stop privatisations!" and "No to privatisation of energy". Public employees, engineers' organisations and NGOs supported the demonstration.