NORTH Korea's decision to test a nuclear device is precisely what the world does not need at present. It was unnecessary because the US and its allies already suspected that Pyongyang was nuclear-capable and have held back from invasion.

US strategy, which for decades was oriented around the Soviet and communist “enemy”, is now centred around the “war on terrorism”, weapons of mass destruction and “rogue states”.

The U.S. daily increasing threat of a nuclear war and its vicious sanctions and pressure have caused a grave situation on the Korean Peninsula in which the supreme interests and security of our State are seriously infringed upon and the Korean nation stands at the crossroads of life and death.

The Defense Agency's budget request for the next fiscal year starting in April 2007 includes money for the development of high-mobility combat vehicles that can move at a high-speed in battlegrounds.

The mainstream American media seems incapable of publishing anything rational concerning North Korea or its leader Kim Jong Il. The latest example of a truly ridiculous and sloppily written article is by right-wing ideologue Robert D. Kaplan and appears in the October issue of the Atlantic Monthly.

Japanese peace organizations on August 30 staged a protest in front of the U.S. embassy in Tokyo against a U.S. subcritical nuclear test called "Unicorn" to be conducted at the Nevada Test Site.

Having launched the "war on terrorism" Western governments must continue to beat the "terrorism" drum to keep their populations in a continual state of fear and tension. By staging home invasions, arrests and jailings, backed by a steady stream of lurid media propaganda, they are more responsible than any for creating a situation where people fear others because of their religious beliefs or appearance.

With a nod of the Okinawa prefectural government, the government will set up in August a consultative panel with Okinawa to discuss the project of constructing a new U.S. base in Nago City.

Faced with strong opposition from the Australian Government, backed up by the US, Japan and Britain, the UN Security Council backed away from the call for both military and police contingents to be under UN control in Timor-Leste.

The Prime Minister John Howard and the Governor-General, Michael Jeffrey, who was a participant in the Vietnam war and is well-known for his military attitudes and anti-communism, were at pains to apologise to the participants in the Vietnam War.

The government on July 27 decided to resume U.S. beef imports even though it had discovered a series of U.S failures to comply with standards it had set for the resumption.

Nagasaki, Japan, Aug 9 (Prensa Latina) With a minute s silence, the sounding of sirens and a new list with a thousands of names of victims, Nagasaki recalled Wednesday the 61st anniversary of the atomic attack with a condemnation to the US.

Coalition MPs met on Monday in Canberra and failed to come up with any worthwhile policy to control the spiralling petrol prices. There was a lot of talk about various alternatives such as ethanol and converting vehicles to LPG but nothing is to be done to control prices, stopping the obvious collusion between the oil companies or lowering GST and excise on petrol. More radical policies such as nationalising the oil companies or looking for alternative sources of supply outside of those controlled by British and American oil companies will not have crossed the minds of Coalition MPs. Nor is there any emphasis on the development of public transport.

Hiroshima Day will be observed on August 6 throughout the world by the peace loving people expressing anguish, sympathy and concern for those lakhs of victims of US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 61 years ago.

The 2006 World Conference will be held under a situation in which the world stands at a major crossroads with regards to nuclear weapons. We live in an era in which nuclear weapons can be eliminated by the solidarity of people of the world.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) maintains it has the right to develop, manufacture and test weapons as a means of defending itself in the face of heightened US aggression around the globe.

From the earliest days of its formation in 2002 as an independent state with a government led by Fretilin, the Australian government has been seeking ways to undermine the elected government of East Timor.

The criminal barbarity of the US aggression against Viet Nam has its parallel in the history of our own country. The Philippines is known as the "First Viet Nam" because our country was the first Asian country to suffer the inhumanity of the US invasion which started in 1898.

The democratically elected government of East Timor continues in their attempts to find a peaceful and negotiated outcome to settle the present disturbances.

When the coup attempt by some dissident military and police forces failed the Australian Government sent in a powerful contingent of military forces to help create a situation in which regime change could be brought about.