MILITANT and sustained protests have become the new norm in many countries. Just a few days back (November 17), the Yellow Vests (gilets jaunes) protests in France observed their first anniversary, protests in Haiti breached the ten-week mark, while the Chilean protests crossed thirty days, similarly in Lebanon and Iraq. On the other hand, Bolivia and Iran have now joined the long list of countries that are witnessing major protest demonstrations.

THE 21st International Meeting of Communists and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) appealed for joint actions of workers, peasants and other toiling masses in different corners of the world on their common issues as well as for peace and socialism. It was stressed in the deliberations that in the fight for social transformation, the revolutionary forces will have to evolve country- specific strategy and tactics, on the basis of the concrete analysis of the concrete situation. 

PORTUGAL, Austria and Poland had elections to their respective parliaments recently. While the Social Democrats were victorious in Portugal, Conservatives won in Austria and Poland. A noteworthy feature is the decrease in the vote share of the far-right party in Austria, a coalition partner of the Conservatives in the previous government; the entry of Left into Polish parliament and the marginal setback to the Left parties in Portugal.

THE week-long 10th India-Vietnam People’s Friendship Festival was held in Vietnam from August 12-18, 2019. The delegation consisted of a 14-member team of professors, lawyers, writers and social workers and another 13-member cultural team to present culture of Punjab to Vietnamese people.

All India Peace And Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO) general secretaries Pallab Sen Gupta, R Arun Kumar and another member from the headquarters, Sadashiv were part of the delegation. 

THE ninth Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Solidarity with Cuba, was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on July 26-28, 2019. 154 delegates, including the 35 delegates from India, from 15 countries representing different progressive forces in the region gathered together in solidarity with Cuba while the world is preparing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the heroic Cuban revolution. The ideas and the socialist, humanitarian initiatives of Cuban revolution and the world order it fought to achieve, both inside Cuba and at the international level, were emphasised throughout the conference.