What the dissidents say

Lagu was rushed to the local shop where he was provided with a shirt and a pair of shorts, but no shoes, and sent off on the four-day journey towards his first regular education. It was nine months before he came home for the holidays.

'If it were not for Margit Borg Sundman, I would be dead today.'

Mulugeta Asseratte spent nine years in jail as a political prisoner - and then met the man who had killed his father.By Michael Smith

Since independence from Britain and Egypt 32 years ago, Sudan has seen violence and discrimination between racial and religious groups. This has invited harsh military dictatorships and further deepened the rifts between the Sudanese people.

The man who takes such an interest in those around him carries each hour the pain and suffering of his six million people.

Last year the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for the first time allowed the establishment of political parties in opposition to the ruling National Party (Kuomintang). In December the Government lifted the prohibition of Chinese in Taiwan - provided they were not in the armed forces or government officials - from visiting relatives on the mainland.

Only one father and son have each been Lord Chancellor twice. The son is Quintin McGarel Hogg, Lord Hailsham, who retired last year on the eve of his 80th birthday.

The blend of voluntary and compulsory effort which built Australia produced its own distinctive culture of daring, enterprise, skull-duggery, bravado and basic achievement. So began great cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane and later Perth and Adelaide.

In 1975 the Senate created a landmark in the history of Australian race relations when it passed without dissent a motion stating that before 1788, Australia's indigenous peoples possessed the whole country. It urged `the Australian Government to... introduce legislation to compensate (these) people...