541

BY JAMES BALOWSKI At around 9pm on June 4, two German tourists camping out near Lueng Gayo beach in the sub-district of Teunom in West Aceh were fired on by Indonesian troops (TNI). Lothar Heinrich Albert (54) died from a bullet wound to the chest
Silver lining "Longer term, the SARS scare will be the biggest boost to sales of life insurance and related products that I can think of." — Maurice Greenberg, chief executive of insurer AIG, quoted in the May 26 International Herald Tribune.
BY EMMA CLANCY Protest actions were held in a number of capital cities last week to oppose the Howard government's drive to deregulate and privatise higher education. On June 4, 50 people attended a rally at the University of Wollongong. A
BY VANNESSA HEARMAN MELBOURNE — Fernando de Araujo heads the Democratic Party (PD) in East Timor, the second-largest party in the country's parliament. He also leads an eight-party parliamentary opposition to the Fretilin government. The
BY ALEX BAINBRIDGE HOBART — Deputy-premier Paul Lennon announced plans on June 4 to lift a 20-year ban on logging in the Tarkine rainforest. The Tarkine is Australia's largest wilderness rainforest. The state government's decision will allow
BY DOUG LORIMER The French government mobilised 16,500 troops and police in and around the small resort town of Evian, on the southern bank of Lake Geneva, to suppress protests against the June 1-3 G8 summit. While central Geneva, 42 kilometres
BY GAIL LORD SYDNEY — After the death of sitting MP Jim Anderson, a by-election for that state seat of Londonderry was held on May 31. In a large field of candidates, the Greens doubled their previous vote in the seat. Labor's replacement
BY IGGY KIM On May 30, Burmese troops and regime-sponsored thugs attacked a National League for Democracy (NLD) motorcade. Led by NLD founder, Aung San Suu Kyi, the motorcade was part a pro-democracy tour that began in early May. Suu Kyi received
CANBERRA — On June 3, 80 people marched from Parliament House to the Burmese embassy to protest against the recent crackdown against opposition forces in Burma. Protesters called for the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
BY PETER BAKER & ALEX BAINBRIDGE HOBART — The Bacon Labor government released its state budget on May 22. Treasurer David Crean described it as "about sharing rewards" and the May 23 Mercury lauded Crean as "com[ing] close to being a hero in
BY IGGY KIM SYDNEY — Toni Kasim, from Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), discussed Malaysia's repressive Internal Security Act (ISA) at a June 2 public forum organised by Amnesty International, AidWatch and the NSW Labor Council. SUARAM is
BY LIAM MITCHELL SYDNEY — As 40 workers started their 12th week of strike action, 200 people turned up for a community picket to support the strike at the Morris McMahon site on June 5. Although the dispute began over working hours in March, it