International News

Behind the assault on Mumbai

The November 27 terrorist assault on Mumbai’s five-star hotels was well planned, but did not require a great deal of logistic intelligence: all the targets were soft. » Mumbai Attacks: An Al-Qaida attempt to provoke India-Pakistan War?

INDIA The butchery unleashed on Mumbai by a team of 10 black-hooded terrorists came to an end on November 29 at around 8.30 am. This is the sixth time Mumbai has come under some kind of attack since 1993. » United States: Victory at Republic factory occupation

CHICAGO — With a unanimous vote, workers at the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago ended their six-day factory occupation late on December 10 after Bank of America and other lenders agreed to fund about $2 million in severance and vacation pay as well as health insurance. » Bolivia: The struggle for change

Having captured the imagination of progressives across the globe with scenes of indigenous uprisings confronting right-wing governments and multinationals, Bolivia has become a key focus point of discussion within the left regarding strategies for change. » Can Washington ’save Darfur’?

Few humanitarian crises have occasioned as much media and activist attention in the US as the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. » Greek left condemns police murder of youth

We, the organizations of the anticapitalist Left that sign this text, want to condemn the murder, in cold blood, of 16 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos by a police special guard in the evening of December 6th. » Killing of two Saharawi students condemned

Members of the Australia Western Sahara Association (AWSA) are saddened and shocked by the outrageous killing of two young Saharawi students in Agadir, Morocco. » Judiciary under attack in East Timor

EAST TIMOR East Timor’s defacto government last week stepped up its assault on the judiciary by blocking the reappointment of a senior judge who ruled against key budget measures last month. » Venezuela: Stop the killing of trade unionists — bring hired killers to justice!

The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) condemns the murder of Venezuelan trade unionist Simon Caldera, who was shot in Aragua state on December 4. Caldera was a leader of the pro-revolution Bolivarian Construction and Industry Union. » Cuba: Eco-materials, hurricanes and solidarity

Dr Fernando Martirena from the Centre of Investigation in Structures and Materials (CIDEM) research institute at the University of Santa Clara, Cuba, recently visited Australia to speak to a number of meetings organised by the Australian Green Development Forum. » Gaza’s death throes, and no one’s listening

What kind of government in the 21st century can deny another people basic human rights -- that is, the right to food, water, shelter, security and dignity? » Malaysia: Bicycle protesters for workers’ rights defy police intimidation

The Oppressed People’s Movement (Jaring Rakyat Tertindas, Jerit) is conducting a cycling campaign throughout Malaysia to highlight demands for workers’ rights, which will be presented to the prime minister of Malaysia. » United States: The Clinton era, mark two?

President-elect Barack Obama ran his campaign on the promise of bringing “change” to Washington. » Zimbabwe: Call for mass action against dictatorship

Below are two statements on the situation in Zimbabwe. The first is by the Zimbabwe Social Forum and the second by the Zimbabwe International Socialist Organisation, which is also part of the ZSF. » Academic union urges immediate Israeli boycott

The following appeal was issued on December 29 by the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees. » Child death toll soars in Gaza

Between 1pm on January 4 and 2.30pm on January 5, 77 people were killed by the Israeli assault on Gaza. Of the victims, a staggering 21 were children. » Egyptian government feels its people’s ire

Thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets to protest the continuing Israeli aggression against Gaza and the participation of the Egyptian regime in the isolation of its population. » Gaza: Reality turned inside out

When you read the statements from Israeli and US politicians, and try to match them with the pictures of devastation in Gaza, there seems to be only one explanation. They must have one of those conditions, called something like “Visual-Carnage-Responsibility-Back-To-Front-Upside-Down-Massacre-Diso... » Israel — an apartheid state

In a 1969 interview, then-Israeli PM Golda Meir, referring to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, said: “It is not as though there was a Palestinian people … and we came and threw them out and took their country … They did not exist.” » Israel’s bloody assault on Gaza continues

“It’s absolutely impossible, unbelievable, it’s a massacre.” » Venezuela, Cuba condemn Israel, offer Gaza support

While Western powers and many Arab governments are complicit in Israel’s crimes against the people of Gaza, the revolutionary governments of Venezuela and Cuba have strongly opposed Israel’s war. » World stands up against terror

People all over the world have finally taken US President George Bush’s call for a “war on terror” seriously, taking to the streets to demand the biggest terrorist organisation in the Middle East, the Israeli Defence Force, immediately cease its terror campaign against the people of Gaza. » Blood and tears in the streets of Gaza

Gaza is under attack by one of the most deadly military machines on the planet — with even worse to come as Israel masses troops for a threatened ground invasion. » Economic crisis: Rich make world’s poor pay

The current global economic crisis has all the earmarks of an epoch-defining event. Mainstream economists now openly employ phrases like “systemic meltdown” and “peering into the abyss”. » Venezuela: The significance of the election results and the new struggles

Supporters and opponents of Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution have come out with differing assessments post the November 23 regional elections, which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had defined as the most important electoral contest yet for the process of change. » Boycott the Israeli academy — end the carnage in Gaza

The below article is a December 29 press release from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE). » Britain: Venezuela solidarity conference success

On November 22, Hands off Venezuela (HoV) held its fourth national conference at Birkbeck College at the University of London. » Climate Justice Network!: Radical new agenda needed

The below statement was released on December 12 by Climate Justice Now!, on the Poznan international climate conference. It is reprinted from http://www.tni.org. For more information on CJN contact Nicola Bullard, n.bullard@focusweb.org, or Juana Camacho, deuda@censat.org. » Indonesia: Tracing a path towards parliament

After such a long period of time in a vacuum, uncertain of how to respond to change caused by neoliberal economic policies, little by little, democracy movement activists have been able to wrest back the political podium. » Israel attacks mercy ship bring supplies to Gaza: take action now

A December 30 statement. » Israeli socialists condemn deadly attacks on Gaza, call for action

For more statements by Israeli, Palestinian and international organisations, visit » Malaysian socialist MP on the ‘dialectics of success’

The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM), formed only in 1996, shocked Malaysia’s political establishment by winning two seats in the March 8 general elections. Nasir Hashim was elected to the Selangor state legislative assembly and Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj was elected to the national parliament. » Palestinians in Israel declare strike, call for boycott

Appeal from the Higher Follow Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel. » Poznan climate talks: fiddling while the earth burns

The United Nations climate conference in Poznan, Poland failed to achieve any breakthrough towards a global climate deal – a sign not merely of bad timing, but of a fundamentally flawed system that takes no account of climate justice. » Sri Lanka: Tamil women and the struggle for freedom

The below article is abridged from a speech given by Mano Navaratnam from the Tamil Ealam Women’s Organisation (TEWO) at an October 30 Melbourne film screening of My Daughter the Terrorist, organised with the Socialist Alliance. The Tamil people, whose homeland is in the north and east of Sri L... » United States: Struggle for union democracy as SEIU dissidents attacked

On November 17, the Service Employees Industrial Union (SEIU) announced that it would be holding an advisory ballot of members in California to determine the future of the United Healthcare Workers–West (UHW-W), which with 150,000 members is the SEIU’s third largest local. » Venezuela: Big march in defence of social missions, agaisnt violence

Beneficiaries, teachers, adults, disabled people, students and workers came out on Friday to defend the social missions and programs of the national government in the face of threats to close them down by the new governor-elect of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles Radonski. » Venezuela: Chavez orders investigation into unionist killings, backs nationalisations

Speaking during the swearing in of the newly elected PSUV governor of Aragua, Rafael Isea, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered a full investigation into the killing of three trade union leaders in the state and threatened to nationalise any companies which violate workers’ rights. » Venezuela: US-backed right-wing launches violent assault on Chavistas, revolutionary gains

The below article is a statement from the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network released on November 28. » Venezuela: Workers propose a clean out and more revolution

I want to give some preliminary and personal impressions, in the heat of the moment, where many comrades are very preoccupied by the significance of the [Chavista movement's] loss of the Mayor of Greater Caracas and of some important or key governorships in the country. » Venezuela; Solidarity brigade sees revolution in action

The November 2008 Venezuela solidarity brigade organised by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) spent its first days meeting community activists and hearing reports on the progress of the Bolivarian revolution. » Venezuelan trade union leaders shot dead, workers call for armed self-defence

Three trade unionists Richard Gallardo, Luis Hernandez and Carlos Requena, leaders of the pro-revolution National Union of Workers (UNT) and also members of the United Socialist Left were shot dead late Thursday night in Aragua state, Venezuela. » Western Sahara’s struggle for self-determination

In October, a three-member delegation of Australian unionists visited the Western Saharawi refugee camps in the Hamada desert, South West Algeria. Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975. »

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