An Phoblacht/Republican News (http://www.serve.com/rm/aprn/current/news/index.html) — An Phoblacht is the weekly newspaper of Sinn Féin, and its website is one of the most interesting. AP/RN is essential reading to keep in touch with developments in the Irish freedom struggle, the peace process and debates within the republican movement. With an election due on May 30, keep this address handy. The site also has excellent links, including to Sinn Féin (http://www.serve.com/rm/sinnfein/index.html), the progressive republican party that is leading the struggle to end the partition of Ireland. You can view a history of the party, its key documents and its latest press releases.
Russian elections — With the Russian elections on June 16, surfers should keep an eye on http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/dmiguse/Russian/elections.html, which claims to be one of the most complete sites for information on the Russian elections.
East Timor on the Web — The struggle of the people of East Timor for self-determination is well represented on the web. Timor News (http://amadeus.inesc.pt/~jota/Timor/TimorNews) is a thorough source of all the latest news from East Timor. The East Timor Human Rights Centre (http://www.peg.apc.org/~etchrmel/photos.htm) maintains a site which reports the extent of human rights abuses and the use of torture in East Timor. The essential contribution of the women of East Timor is recognised at the East Timor Women's Issues web page (http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~calliope/Nettalk.html).
Silencing the Net — View a special report on attempts by the US government to censor and control the internet issued by Human Rights Watch (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~monitors/), published to coincide with the G7 Ministerial Conference on the Information Society and Development held in South Africa from May 13-15.
NSW plans net censorship — The NSW attorney-general's office has plans for internet censorship legislation which is among the most restrictive in the world. It bans MA rated material from any web page, Usenet newsgroup or other open forum. It also suggests that internet service providers should "monitor material being transmitted through the internet", with no mention of privacy considerations. More information is available at http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/danny/march or from Australian Writing On Line at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~awol.
Left On-line welcomes information on new and interesting left and progressive Web sites. Send a short description to: glw@greenleft.org.au.