International News

Scotland will vote on September 18 on whether to become an independent nation or stay in the British “union” led by England that includes Wales and Northern Ireland. Independence is opposed by major political parties in Westminster and establishment forces in England and Scotland. However, support for independence is growing.

The Spanish government’s response to the move by armed Basque pro-independence organisation Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA) to put its weapons beyond use has clearly demonstrated it favours continuing conflict over peace.

On February 21, ETA released a video showing two of its members meeting with representatives of the International Verification Commission. The IVC were inspecting weapons that had been put beyond operational use.

The February 21 collapse of the government of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich in the face of anti-corruption protests has led to the most serious confrontation between the US and Russia since the end of the Cold War.

The Russian Federation is not the superpower the Soviet Union once was, but it remains the world’s second largest nuclear power after the US, which has about 80% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

The US and its allies are insisting that Ukraine is indivisible, including the autonomous region of Crimea.

Around 6.40am on Feburary 19, a United States Border Patrol agent shot and killed Jesus Flores Cruz, a 41-year-old Mexican national, four miles east of the Otay Mesa port of entry to the US in southern San Diego.

Employing what has become an all-too-familiar explanation, authorities said Flores Cruz, an unauthorised migrant, pelted the agent with rocks. Reportedly fearing for his well-being, the agent shot his pistol twice, fatally wounding the alleged attacker.

It has been 10 years since the February 29, 2004, coup d’etat that ousted the democratically-elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti.

Paramilitary groups ― including many former members of Haiti’s disbanded army and CIA-funded death squads ― engaged in a campaign of violence directed against supporters of the government and the Haitian National Police (HNP), for years before the coup.

More than 350 climate activists were arrested March 2 in Washington, DC, after zip-tying themselves to the White House fence.

The civil disobedience action was the highlight of two days of protest, dubbed XL Dissent by organisers, to demand that the Obama administration reject building the Keystone XL pipeline.

The pipeline runs from Canada through the US and will shift oil from tar sands in Canada, which emits more greenhouse gases than conventional oil when burned. The Obama administration is yet to make a decision on allowing a key part of the pipeline to be built.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced his country was severing all diplomatic and economic ties with Panama after its government sought the intervention of the Organization of American States (OAS) into Venezuela’s domestic affairs.

The move came as the US House of Representatives approved a motion calling on countries in the region to stand in solidarity with protesters currently seeking to topple Maduro.

Maduro saidright-wing Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli has been “actively working against Venezuela”.

Millions of Colombians are set to the ballot box on March 9 to vote for the country's Senate and Chamber of Representatives.

Presidential elections themselves are not until May, but Congress elections are no less important as the left wing parties fight for space in one of Latin America’s most, if not the most, conservative-led countries.

Venezuelan opposition protesters in Caracas attacked three journalists after a march demanding “greater freedom of the press”. Meanwhile, barricades in Tachira state have claimed another life.

Luis Gutierrez Camargo was killed instantly during a collision with an opposition roadblock in Tachira on March 4, communication minister Delcy Rodriguez announced via Twitter.

Rodriguez condemned the use of street barricades, describing them as “murderous methods”.

Venezuela has commemorated the one year anniversary of the death of former president Hugo Chavez with rallies across the country.

Supporters of the late socialist president turned out in hundreds of thousands for official commemoration services.

In a show of support for the revolutionary process Chavez led, in Caracas crowds in red flooded the city centre for military and civil parades. Supporters of social programs launched under Chavez, along with social movements aligned with the government of President Nicolas Maduro also rallied in the capital.