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Colombia is the most dangerous country for trade unionists. This was the finding of a survey conducted by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). In 2001, 201 trade unionists were reported killed or disappeared in Colombia. This
LONDON — On June 16, protesters disrupted Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's meeting with British Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. Waving placards, posters and a grave stone for the murdered Papuan leader Theys Eluay, protesters blocked
BY JACK A. SMITH Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's past political misdeeds are catching up to him at last. Some human rights groups are trying to have him arrested as a war criminal for his involvement in Washington's war to dominate
BY JON LAND East Timor's recently elected president, Xanana Gusmao, arrived in Canberra on June 17 for his first official state visit to Australia. Accompanied by foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta and other East Timorese representatives, Gusmao
BY NOAM CHOMSKY "What we feared has come true", Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling wrote in a leading newspaper in Israel a year ago. Jews and Palestinians are "regressing to superstitious tribalism... War appears an unavoidable fate", an "evil
BY MAX LANE JAKARTA — The persistence of the movement for a self-determination referendum in Aceh, the emergence of the Papuan People's Council and the troubles in Ambon have all raised concerns about whether Indonesian unity can be maintained.
BY SUE BOLTON MELBOURNE — Federal workplace relations minister Tony Abbott is lashing out at the two main militant unions that defend their members' rights, regardless of the federal government's anti-worker industrial relations laws. The two
BY ADAM BAKER BRISBANE — "Australia has mistreated the Aboriginal people for more than 200 years. Why can't we show some compassion?", pleaded a resident opposed to the proposed Pinkenba refugee detention centre during a 100-strong meeting at
US President George Bush thinks that the United States should be free to carry out war crimes in the name of "fighting terrorism". Its war on Afghanistan and its declaration of intent to invade Iraq again are blatant examples of Washington's
BY JIM GREEN The United States government formally withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty on June 13. The withdrawal is part of the US government's broader plans to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, enhance its nuclear "first-strike"
BY ALISTAIR DICKINSON SYDNEY — The redevelopment of the former Australian Defence Industries (ADI) site near St Marys, in Sydney's outer western suburbs, is one step closer with the NSW Labor government's approval of the construction of a private
BY SARAH STEPHEN On June 18, the federal government was forced to introduce into the Senate regulations it had drafted 12 days earlier to excise some 3500 islands from Australia's migration zone, islands which run from 200 kilometres south of