233

New evidence: apartheid terror ordered from the top

By Norm Dixon The murder and conspiracy trial of apartheid-era defence minister Magnus Malan and other top military officers in the Durban Supreme Court has heard evidence that the vicious terror campaigns conducted by the "third force" against the

Thousands rally for right to education

Last week, thousands of students joined rallies and marches organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) and cross-campus committees as part of a national week of action to protest against the federal government's proposed tertiary education

Building workers to strike

By Jennifer Thompson SYDNEY — Building workers will strike around Australia on May 29, against cuts by the Howard government affecting their wages and those of apprentices and trainees. In a major slug to building workers' pay, Liberal treasurer

An Othello to be remembered

OthelloBy William ShakespeareDirected by Oliver ParkerStarring Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Fishburne, Irene JacobNow screeningReviewed by Natasha Simons Whatever your likes or prejudices regarding Shakespeare, put them away when seeing this 1995 film

News briefs

Unions slam maternity leave decision BRISBANE — Unions have criticised the state government's decision, announced on May 13, to grant six weeks' paid maternity leave to women in the Queensland public service. State Public Sector Federation

Action at Fairlea Women's Prison

By Kim Linden MELBOURNE — A "wringout" for Fairlea Women's Prison at Fairfield on May 19 was a resounding demonstration of solidarity with the women imprisoned there and against the scheduled replacement of Fairlea by a private prison. The

and ain't i a woman?: Equal pay and Howard's IR bill

Equal pay and Howard's IR bill A comment by the chief executive of the Metal Trades Industry Association — the metal bosses' "union" — reveals employer thinking behind their hostility to paying women and men equal pay for work of equal value.

Mayak: the other Chernobyl

By Renfrey Clarke MOSCOW — The 1986 accident at Chernobyl was not the first case in which the Soviet nuclear industry contrived to pour huge quantities of deadly radionuclides into the environment. In terms of total radioactivity released, the

Appeal for condemnation of repression

May Day events organised by the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq (WCPI) and other groups, in Iraqi Kurdistan, attracted more than 200,000 people. In one city, Duhok, armed forces belonging to the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) attacked a May 1

Beijing steps up repression

By Eva Cheng Dozens of people in China have been arrested, some receiving long jail sentences, under laws which use a sweeping definition of "state secrets" as an excuse to stifle public scrutiny, according to the Amnesty International. Journalist

Poem: Batik Diplomacy

An Australian mouse squeaks petulantly at the distant Lion as its bombs insult the peaceful ocean, degrading both the culture of origin and the hapless victims of "collateral" damage, deformed babies coral reefs and birds, mutant fish

The GST raises its ugly head

Since the federal election, business groups have lost no time in re-raising their arguments for a goods and services tax (GST). Having had to let it go after John Hewson's spectacularly unsuccessful bid to popularise the GST in the 1993 election,