International

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong describes himself as 'pleased' by the support he received for his proposals in the European Parliament to improve protection for consumers against unsolicited advertising. New Internet techniques mean that advertisers are going too far in their use of advertising email shots, in the European Parliament's view. "In the past you could be sure that the postal service weren't reading your mail. But this is now happening on a large school on the Internet, where emails and chat sessions are read by corporations in order to target advertising. The European Parliament wants to put an end to this. From now on this shouldn't happen without explicit permission."

The inhabitants of Burma will tomorrow have the chance to vote in an election for the first time in twenty years. The question is not who they will vote for but rather whether they will vote at all. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for a boycott, while other politicians in Burma see the elections as a chance for democratisation. Europe must, whatever happens, do what it can to support the democratisation movement.