World briefs

LITHUANIA: A delegation of the Communist Party of Greece visited 
Lithuania at the end of October on the invitation of the 
Socialist Party of Lithuania. The delegation visited the 
imprisoned leaders of the Communist Party of Lithuania and held a 
meeting with the First Secretary of CC of CPL, Mikolas 
Buraliavitsious and the member of the Secretariat of CPL Giozas 
Kuolialis in prison. Mikolas Buraliavitsious has been imprisoned 
for ten years and Giuozas Kuolialis for five years. This has been 
the first visit by a foreign delegation to the Vilnius prison. 
The Greek communists pointed out that the two Lithuanian 
communist leaders had been initially accused of "treason" but the 
indictment collapsed during the trial. So they were sentenced 
retrospectively under other clauses endorsed after their arrest. 
The CPG delegation reiterated their solidarity with the 
communists and parties that face persecution. They demanded the 
immediate release of the imprisoned communists and the 
legalisation of the Communist Party during a press conference and 
meetings with officials.

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UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan 
said that in 2002, for the sixth consecutive year, developing 
countries had made a net transfer of financial resources of 
almost US$200 billion to other countries. Mr Annan, who spoke at 
the high-level dialogue of the General Assembly on financing for 
development, said such a situation lacked common sense. "Funds 
should be moving from developed countries to developing 
countries, but these numbers tell us the opposite is happening", 
he said. "Funds that could be promoting investment and growth in 
developing countries, or building schools and hospitals, are 
instead being transferred abroad."

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ISRAEL: Twenty-one per cent of the Israeli population — 1.3 
million people — live below the poverty line, according to the 
Poverty Report released by the Social Affairs Ministry. The 
report based on National Insurance Institute figures, revealed 
that 1,321,000 people lived below poverty line in 2002, 618,000 
of them children. A family is considered to be below the poverty 
line when its disposable income is less than half the average 
national salary of A$441.42 per month. The Social Affairs 
Minister said, "This information is extremely worrying and is, in 
effect, a warning sign for Israeli society. Those who attribute 
the poverty in Israel to the economic crisis are misleading the 
Israeli public", he went on to say. "The problem is in the 
dividing of national income. The alarming increase in the 
dimension of poverty has left the rich unaffected." The 2002 
poverty report does not reflect the full impact of the recently 
implemented welfare cuts. Meanwhile one third of the Israeli 
budget is being spent on so-called defence.

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CHINA: Exports rose by 30 per cent between 2000 and 2002, while 
world trade stagnated, according to the WTO. China has become the 
fourth largest merchandise trader, counting the European Union as 
a single trader.