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Loose cannons

Great expectations "When you are working for the brother of the richest man in the world, you expect to have your bills paid." — The head of a British company owed £1 million by the failed company of Prince Jefri, brother of the sultan of

CPSU cuts funds to the ACT branch

By Tim Gooden CANBERRA — On July 1, the Community and Public Sector Union joint national secretary, Wendy Caird, and national assistant secretary, Doug Lilly, travelled to Canberra to inform the ACT branch secretary, Jennifer Eccles, that at

Asian crisis threatens to engulf Japan

By Doug Lorimer Just three years after Mexico's financial disaster, the second great financial crisis of the 1990s exploded in south-east Asia and South Korea. The same imperialist institutions that only a year ago held up the Asian "dragons" and

Abiola's death spoils dictatorship's rehabilitation

By Norm Dixon The sudden death of Moshood Abiola, the imprisoned winner of Nigeria's 1993 presidential election, has thrown into disarray the west's efforts to rehabilitate the brutal and corrupt military dictatorship. From June 8, when dictator

Victorian art students reject fees

Victorian art students reject fees By Kylie Moon MELBOURNE — Students from the Victorian College of the Arts returned to campus on July 13 to discover that a subcommittee of the college council had voted narrowly in favour of recommending full

US groups urge methyl bromide ban

US groups urge methyl bromide ban On June 10, the US House of Representatives Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the deadly, ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide. Critics charge that the hearing was biased and the committee prevented

Brisbane Centrelink unionists walk out

By Nick Everett BRISBANE — Around 30 union members walked off the job in Brisbane's Centrelink Call Centre at 2.45pm on July 10, frustrated by continuous computer system problems. Before the walkout, 53 Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU)

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Thursday, 10pm and Saturday, 7pm. Ph 9565 5522. Access News —

West Papuans demonstrate for independence

By James Balowski Encouraged by the student demonstrations in May which led to the resignation of President Suharto and the political concessions this forced on the new Habibie government, hundreds of pro-independence protesters have been

Business cheers as ACT budget hits workers

By Lara Pullin The ACT Liberal chief minister and treasurer, Kate Carnell, delivered a few more blows to the average worker in the 1998-99 budget on June 23. Carnell touted the budget as a vision for the "clever, caring capital", but increased fees

Cambodian elections: everyone wants a look-in

By Helen Jarvis PHNOM PENH — All the old players are back in town as the Cambodian elections draw close. Contrary to the expectations, and perhaps hopes, of many who deny the present government legitimacy, the elections appear likely to go ahead

The writer who believed what he was told

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Century in His LifeBy D.M. ThomasLittle, Brown and Company, 1998. 583 pp., $45.00 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon February 9, 1945, was the turning point in the life of Captain Alexander Solzhenitsyn. An officer in the Red