Despite Indonesia’s agreement to an international force in East Timor, the violence there continues. The following people, most of whom were UN-accredited observers for the late August vote, have recently returned from East Timor and are available for interviews: BARBARA NASH A UN-accredited observer with the International Federation for East Timor, Nash just returned on September 8. Nash is a teacher and grandmother. More Information JEROME HANSEN Hansen, who has also done election monitoring in Sri Lanka and Cambodia, is currently a graduate student in conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University. MIRIAM YOUNG and ANDREW WELLS Associated with…

KRISTIN SUNDELL A UN-accredited observer with the International Federation for East Timor and national field organizer with the East Timor Action Network, Sundell recently returned from East Timor. She is in contact with others who are just returning and have witnessed the brutality there. More Information AMY GOODMAN and ALLAN NAIRN Goodman and Nairn have each won numerous journalist awards for their coverage of East Timor. They both survived the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre there. Goodman, host of Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now!” program, was recently expelled from Indonesia because she is on a blacklist. She is in regular contact with…

News reports from East Timor indicate that the Indonesian army and the militias are now working together openly to wreak new terror on the streets of East Timor’s capital, Dili. The following analysts and commentators are available for interviews: JOSE RAMOS-HORTA Jose Ramos-Horta is winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize and the International Representative of the National Council of Timorese Resistance. (He will be at a news conference at the National Press Club at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.) More Information ALLAN NAIRN An award-winning journalist, Nairn has written about East Timor for The Nation, The New Yorker and other…

LAURA JONES A recent study by the 2030 Center, a public policy institute that advocates for the economic interests of young adults, examined the threats to job security due to increases in temporary work. Jones, communications director for the 2030 Center, said: “As Americans race to the beach this Labor Day weekend, an army of young temporary workers will keep American businesses humming — and they won’t be getting holiday pay to do it. Wages and job quality are actually declining for young Americans — since 1973, entry-level wages for young workers have fallen between 5 and 29 percent… Few…

Indonesian-backed forces have increased their violence in recent days as Monday’s UN-organized referendum on self-determination approaches. In 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor with tacit U.S. backing. In the 24 years since, 200,000 people have died, a third of the population. Interviews are available with the following analysts: LYNN FREDRIKSSON Washington representative of the East Timor Action Network, Fredriksson said: “Few doubt that the vast majority in East Timor will opt for independence if the vote is free. But just days before the long-awaited referendum, the people of East Timor face escalating paramilitary threats, intimidation and outright terrorist attacks. The human…

A year ago — on August 20, 1998 — the U.S. government launched cruise missiles at Sudan and Afghanistan, claiming retaliation for the U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya two weeks earlier. Key assertions by U.S. government officials — that the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan was producing chemical weapons and that it was linked to Osama bin Laden — turned out to be inaccurate. The owner of the plant, Salah Idris, has brought suit against the U.S. government. The following analysts are available for interviews: JASON VEST A Washington correspondent for the Village Voice, Vest has investigated the…

ROSS GELBSPAN Author of The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis, the Cover-Up, the Prescription, Gelbspan said: “This year in the United States, a 315-mile-an-hour tornado destroyed parts of Oklahoma City, one of the worst droughts on record is decimating crops in the mid-Atlantic states and a summer heat wave has killed more than 270 people in the Northeast. These extreme weather events represent an early stage of global warming — the heating of our atmosphere from the buildup of coal and oil emissions. To restore our climate’s stability requires us to cut those emissions by 70 percent — and…

Newspaper accounts this week report that workers were unknowingly exposed to deadly radioactive isotopes at key Department of Energy facilities. The following analysts are available for interviews: JAY TRUMAN Founder and director of Downwinders, a group of people exposed to radiation during nuclear tests, Truman said: “The news that the workers at Paducah (Ky.) and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) were unknowingly exposed to plutonium and other dangerous isotopes for up to three decades is yet another tragic example of the price paid by average American citizens for this country’s nuclear weapons policy. For decades, these workers were led to believe by…

These analysts are available to talk about the drought and other issues facing farmers: KATHY OZER Director of program operations at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, which works with small (mostly African American) farmers, Zippert said: “What’s far more serious than the drought for our farmers is the price of agricultural commodities. They’re getting 3 or 4 cents a pound for watermelon… The prices that farmers are receiving are the same as 50 years ago… The farmers are not getting the full value of these products, a series of middlemen are. You have the food processors and the agribusiness corporations,…

WASHINGTON — While a congressional hearing today focuses on Nigeria, advocates for human rights and environmental protection are available for interviews on the role of oil companies in backing repressive actions by the Nigerian government. Among those available for interviews are: BRONWEN MANBY A researcher for Human Rights Watch, Manby is one of three witnesses to be testifying before the House subcommittee on Africa about the human rights status of the Niger Delta. She is author of The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria’s Oil Producing Communities (1999). Manby said: “The oil companies operating in…