Democracy

Queensland pensioner and grandmother, 69-year-old Yvonne D'Arcy, who has twice beaten breast cancer, won an important victory in the High Court on October 7. D'Arcy brought a landmark legal challenge against US-based biotech company Myriad Genetics after it was granted a patent over the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Mutations in the genes dramatically increase a woman's chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Henning Mankell, the creator of the Swedish detective Wallander and activist for Palestinian and African rights, died at home on October 5 aged 67. He had been diagnosed with cancer early last year. Many fans of crime fiction will remember Mankell best for his Wallander novels — dark Scandinavian crime stories featuring a cynical, aging detective. Yet his stand for Palestinian rights is also an important part of his legacy.

An emergency protest on October 12 remembered those killed in a terrorist attack on a peace rally in the Turkish city of Ankara. About 120 people were killed in the bombings on October 10. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The peace rally was protesting against the Turkish government's ongoing war against the Kurdish population. Seval Ulus from the Melbourne Kurdish Association said: “The national creed of 'One Nation, One Language and One Religion' has become a ludicrous social belief that has contaminated peace between cultures.

The federal government wants to amend the national security laws, in the November parliamentary term, to create the offence of inciting genocide and to lower the age at which a minor can be subject to control orders from 16 to 14 years' old. The amendments aim to allow for greater electronic tracking of individuals on control orders, and will give judges the ability to rely on sensitive information in forming a detention decision without disclosing that information to the affected person.

There was massive participation in the general strike declared by four main trade unions on October 12 and 13 in protest at the October 10 massacre in Ankara. The strike brought life to a halt. While there was large participation across Turkey, thousands of workers took to streets in Ankara where the October 10 blasts claimed the lives of at least 128 people and left as many wounded.

The moment the bomb detonated. Ankara, October 10, 10:04am. The following statement was released by Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, co-chairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), on October 12 in response to the October 10 bombing of a peace rally in Ankara organised by the HDP, trade unions and civil society organisations. Following the attack, police blocked ambulances and attacked survivors.

Turkish trade unions began a two-day general strike on October 12 in protest at the bombings two days earlier at a peace march in Ankara peace march that killed more than 125 people, Morning Star online reported.

Jeremy Corbyn's successful leadership campaign team launched a new group of the left on October 7 to transform Labour into a “mass movement.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council has unanimously adopted a resolution called “Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka”. This resolution, of which the United States was the main sponsor, welcomed a proposal by the Sri Lankan government to establish a “judicial mechanism” to investigate “abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law”.

A desperate Conservative Party launched a vicious attack on Labour and the tens of thousands who have protested against its October 4-7 conference in Manchester — highlighting the government's fear of growing mass opposition. Wales Secretary Stephen Crabb accused protesters of spouting “venom and bile” because they dared to speak out against Tory cuts and oppose privatisation of public services and attacks on workers' rights.

Who won the September 27 elections for the Catalan parliament, called as a substitute for the Scottish-style independence referendum that the Spanish People's Party (PP) government refuses to allow? It depends who you ask. On the night, most commentators on Madrid-based TV and radio called the result a defeat for the pro-independence camp: its two tickets — the mainstream nationalist Together for Yes and the anti-capitalist People's Unity Candidacies (CUP) - won only 47.74% of the vote against 52.26% for “the rest”.

The statement below was released by Resistance:‭ ‬Young Socialist Alliance,‭ ‬the youth group of Australia's Socialist Alliance,‭ ‬on October‭ ‬8.‭ *** Resistance:‭ ‬Young Socialist Alliance condemns the killing of three Palestinian youth by Israeli security forces and settlers in the past‭ ‬24‭ ‬hours.‭ ‬They have joined the nearly‭ ‬500‭ ‬Palestinians who have been injured by the Israeli occupation forces since clashes began several days ago.