world news Let’s do lunch. 4 T m ay 1. 1 M 3 ▼ J im « o a t ARGENTINA One in eight of the 4,500 federal prison in­ mates has AIDS, the Federal Prison Service re­ ported. Officials predict 45 percent could be HIV-positive in 10 years. Meanwhile, 23 prisoners who are very sick asked President Carlos Menem for clemency. Menem released 12 prisoners with AIDS last year after they were found chained to their beds in a Buenos Aires hospital ward used as a jail sick bay. BURMA The Columbia River Fellowship for Peace, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, are urging a boycott of Pepsi prod­ ucts to pressure Burma’s ruling party to release dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. Pepsi is one of Burma’s few large foreign investors. Suu Kyi’s democratic opposition party was elected in May, 1990, but the State Law and Order Restoration Council has not given up power. They placed Suu Kyi under house arrest after the elections, when she refused to leave the country. She is the second generation in her family to suffer for their political convictions; her father was assassinated in 1947 shortly before Burma’s independence. PepsiCo includes Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, 7-Up, Ruffles, Doritos, Lays, Fritos, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken ami Taco Bell. Boycott- ers can write to PepsiCo CEO Wayne Calloway at PepsiCo, Inc., Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY, 10577. Irene K. Hislop (And a lot more!) The Portland Area Business Association (PABA) invites you to join us for lunch - and a lot more. PABA, over 180 members strong, is a networking organization for gays, lesbians and friends in business. Organization activities include regular "After Hours" events at member businesses and monthly luncheons. Don’t miss out on any more of the excitement. Join us for lunch this mohth and find out what the Portland business community, the media and your friends are talking about. Next Luncheon: Monday, May 10th Guest Speaker: Portland Mayor Vera Katz 11:30 a.m. - p.m. Portland Marriott Hotel, Lower Level P O R T L A N D A R E A ,W i g * * BUSINESS ASSOCIATION^ CHINA The National Health Education Institute has launched “Men’s World,” a Beijing support group for gays, reported The Beijing Weekend, a state- run newspaper. Discussions focus on AIDS prevention and the agony of life in the closet, the paper said. Luncheons cost $12.50 for PABA Members and $17.50 for Non-members. (Reservations for the May luncheon must be made by May 6th.) For more information about PABA membership, or to make your lunch reservation and pay by credit card call 232-4895. P.O. Box 4724 • Portland , Oregon 97208 • 503/232-4895 B ( >C) K S TW ENTY-THIRD AVENUE 1015 N W 23rd Avenue, Portland, O re g o n 97210, (503) 224-5097 Monday- Friday 9:30 am - 8 pm □ Saturday 10 am - 8 pm □ Sunday 11 am - 4 pm L ________ _ J CZECH REPUBLIC The local government in Most has thrown its support behind the Most Gay Club’s plans to open a gay center. According to the Prague gay magazine SOHO Revue, the city will Fmd a site and rent it to the club for next to nothing. The center will house a cafe, library and read­ ing room, counseling and legal offices, meeting spaces, movie theater, fitness center, newspaper office, exhibition hall and guest rooms for over­ night visitors, the club says. The only problem, said SOHO, is that so many buildings in this Bohemian coal-mining town are ugly, pre-fab high-rises that are unsuitable to the project. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC The Atlanta-based World Community Build­ ers, an affiliate of the Metropolitan Community Church, recently built an open-air church for the gay Christian community of Santo Domingo. Eighteen American volunteers erected the structure in just 10 days in the nearby village of El Tamar indo. “The sweat, laughter and love produced an open-air pavilion and the village’s only flushing toilet and running-water sinks,” said the U.S. gay-Christian newspaper Second Stone. ‘The building doesn’t look like an American idea of a church, but it’s just what the community needs.” WCB returns to Santo Domingo this month to repair an orphanage and build a lean-to at the gay pavilion. The 60 attendees at the “Courage Trust” ser­ vice shouted at the 20 demonstrators. The Church of England released a statement saying: “We do not regard it as an illness. We are not of the opinion that homosexuality needs to be About 40 percent of deaths among Parisian men age 25-44 are from AIDS, according to a new government report. France leads Europe in AIDS cases, with more than 22,000. The high figure results from a large gay popu­ lation, combined with governmental and public resistance to AIDS education, researchers said. The government did not promote condoms until 1988, and many men don’t use them, due to personal distaste or Catholic indoctrination, the report said. GERMANY Two members of the Pink List party were re­ elected to Munich City Council in December. Thomas Niederbühl and Guido Vael plan to introduce a gay anti-discrimination law. The German Gay Association wrote Defense Minister Volker Ruehe, charging gays in the army have little or no chance