South Africa: ANC on the Defensive

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma is coming under increasing political pressure, both from within his party and from the opposition on an array of issues. His handling of the economy has been particularly under the scanner. Plummeting commodity prices have hit the South African economy very hard. The South African economy is heavily dependent on mineral exports. The mining sector, dominated by big conglomerates, accounts for 35 percent of the country's exports. It is the second largest economic sector after the agricultural sector.

Corruption Scandal: Malaysian PM Given “Clean Chit”

MALAYSIA'S attorney general, Mohamed Apandi, a handpicked appointee of the prime minister, Najib Razak, surprised few Malaysians when he announced in the last week of January that he is closing the corruption inquiry into the transfer of hundreds of million dollars into the personal bank accounts of his boss. Apandi solemnly announced in the last week of January that “no laws were broken” by the prime minister and that he had ordered the country's anti-corruption bureau to close the investigations into the sources of the funds that the Malaysian prime minister received.

Syria: No “Cessation of Hostilities” So Far

WITH the Syrian national army on the verge of totally liberating Aleppo, the country's biggest commercial city and the jihadi forces in retreat from the other sectors, the US secretary of state, John Kerry and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, announced a “cessation of hostilities” agreement in the second week of February. The two officials made this announcement after a meeting in Munich with the other 15 members of the International Support Group for Syria.

Dhaka Seminar on Role of Indian Left in The Liberation War of Bangladesh

THE liberation war of Bangladesh was absolutely a struggle of Bangladeshi people to get rid of the tyranny and get freedom from Pakistan. None had created Bangladesh from outside. The people of Bangladesh had wanted liberation because of deprivation, which was spontaneous, said Biman Basu, member of the Polit Bureau of CPI(M) while speaking as the chief guest in a seminar held at Dhaka on March 5 last.

The IS threat to Global Security

FINALLY, it was the latest terror attack on Paris that may galvanise the international community into taking concerted and coordinated action against the threat being posed by the Islamic State (IS). The French President Francois Hollande has called for the formation of a “large alliance” to “decisively” take on the IS. President Hollande has not invoked Article 5 of the NATO alliance treaty which would have obligated all alliance members to militarily help France. This would have meant involvement of countries like Turkey which are playing a dubious role in the conflict in Syria.

Pakistan Terror Strike: One among Many

JUST weeks after the terror strike in Pathankot, Pakistan was hit by an even more deadly attack. Before that, in the same fortnight, there were major terror attacks in Istanbul, Jakarta and Ouagadougou. Terrorists, belonging to a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, attacked the Bacha Khan University campus in Charsadda near the city of Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The university is named after Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi.

Working Group of the IMCWP Holds its Meeting in Istanbul

A MEETING of the Working Group of the International Meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) was held on February 20-21, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Communist Party, Turkey which had hosted the last IMCWP took the initiative in organising this meeting.The meeting was attended by 13 Communist and Workers' parties.

India-Pakistan Relations: Impact of the Pathankot Terror Attack

THE failed terror attack on the strategically located Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2 was an obvious attempt to derail the dialogue process between India and Pakistan. Around the same time, there was an attempt to storm the Indian consulate in the Afghan city of Mazhar-i-Sharif. Prompt action by Afghan security forces foiled that attempt. Afghan security officials have said that the militants who tried to storm the consulate were well trained and highly motivated.

Saudi Executions Raise Regional Tensions

THE execution of the prominent Saudi Shia cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, by the Saudi authorities on January 1 along with 47 others, has led to a dangerous exacerbation of tensions between the Saudi monarchy and Iran. The execution of al-Nimr, whose only crime was calling for a peaceful struggle against the authoritarian regime in Riyadh, has further accentuated the dangerous sectarian divide in West Asia. Last year, 157 people were put to death in Saudi Arabia.

CPI(M) Greets Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on its Tenth Congress

The following is the text of the message of greetings sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on the occasion of its 10th Congress. The message was sent on January 15.DEAR Comrades,THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) greets the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on the occasion of its 10th Congress and wishes the Congress all success. We are confident that the discussions and the decisions will lead to the strengthening of the Party.

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