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,

Condolences for Sushil Koirala

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury pays respect to former prime minister of Nepal and Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala in Kathmandu. Koirala, who was elected prime minister of Nepal on February 10, 2014, died of pneumonia at his residence on the outskirts of Kathmandu on February 9. He was 79. He had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Yechury was part of an Indian delegation which visited Nepal to pay tributes to Koirala. The delegation was led by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

North Korea's “Hydrogen Bomb”

THE North Korean government has claimed that it has successfully tested a “hydrogen bomb” on January 5. It was the fourth underground nuclear test conducted by the North Korean government and the first since 2013. Pyongyang has been threatening for some time that it would be testing a more potent nuclear device if political and economic concessions were not forthcoming from the West. The North Korean government has been feeling increasingly threatened as the US and its allies in the region have adopted an even more militarily bellicose attitude.

Venezuela: Setback for the Government

IT was always going to be an uphill fight for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in the parliamentary polls that were held on December 6. With oil prices hitting historical lows in recent years, the oil dependent economy of the country has not been in a healthy state. Oil accounts for 96 percent of the country's export earnings. With the price of oil sliding from $108 a barrel in June 2014 to under $30 a barrel now, Venezuela's oil income has more than halved in the last two years.

Abe's visit: Solidifying Trilateral US-Japan-India Axis

THE Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has become a frequent visitor to India, was in the Indian capital yet again, in the second week of December. This is his third visit to India since taking over as prime minister. Abe had struck a good personal rapport with the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Japan and India have grown extremely close during the ten years of UPA rule. New Delhi's tilt towards the anti-China alliance led by the United States and Japan alliance had started during the UPA rule.

CPI(M) Greets CP Vietnam on its 12th Congress

The following is the text of the greetings sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on the occasion of its 12th Congress held from January 17 to 24, in Hanoi. The message was sent on January 8, 2016.
DEAR Comrades,

ICWA Releases Calendar Dedicated to Gadharites

THE Indo-Canadian Workers’ Association (ICWA) of Canada held a public meeting in Surrey in British Columbia on December 20, 2015 and released its annual calendar of 2016. ICWA has been publishing a calendar, dedicated to the memories of Gadharites, for the past nine years. It contains all the important dates of events related the Gadhar Movement.

India-Pakistan Dialogue Must Continue for Peace in South Asia

COUNTRIES in the South Asian region cannot live in normalcy unless India and Pakistan are able to arrive at a working relationship by resolving their mutual disputes on the basis of ‘give and take policy’.

Argentina: Bad News for the Left

THE surprise victory of Mauricio Macri, a multimillionaire businessman in the presidential elections in Argentina on November 22, marks a comeback for the Right in the country's politics after a long gap. Macri won narrowly, getting just 51 percent of the votes polled. He will be taking over a highly polarised nation. All the same, the result is being viewed as not only a setback for Argentinians but also for the Left in the entire region. It is for the first time in 15 years that an incumbent Left wing government holding office has been defeated.

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