Colombia Peace Talks, Referendum and After

COLOMBIA and the world was stunned when the NO vote won the referendum on the peace agreements on October 2, 2016.

North Korea Nuclear Test: Getting Bigger and Bigger

IN the second week of September, North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test. The last two tests have been in quick succession. The latest nuclear test, the most powerful so far, coincided with the country's 68th independence day celebrations. It was conducted in the underground testing facility of Punggye-ri in the northeast of the country. The magnitude of the blast has been estimated at between 10 and 20 kilotons, much higher than the test in 2013 which was estimated to be between 6-7 kilotons. Pyongyang has claimed that the latest test was that of a hydrogen bomb.

WFTU 17th Congress Begins In Durban, South Africa

THE 17th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) began in Durban, South Africa on October 5, 2015. It started with George Mavrikos, general secretary of WFTU announcing the names of the 45 member presidium. The presidium includes Comrades K Hemalata (CITU) and Amarjeet Kaur (AITUC) from India.The president of COSATU welcomed the delegates. Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa gave the opening remarks. Covering a gamut of issues, political and economical all over the world, he explained the challenges faced by the working class of South Africa.

Thailand: Democracy Trampled

THE Thai army junta which calls itself the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) that seized power from a democratically elected government on May 2014 now seems intent to permanently convert electoral politics in the country into a farce. In the first week of August, Thais were told to vote in a referendum that in effect sought to curtail their democratic rights.

National Conference of Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain) Held

THE national conference of the Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain), one of the oldest NRI organisations, took place in Derby on September 11. Delegates from across the UK assembled to discuss and deliberate upon the report presented by Joginder Kaur on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of IWA (GB). The conference was organised in a hall dedicated to all the founders of the Association.

ICWA Organises Public Mela in Surrey

THE Indo-Canadian Workers’ Association (ICWA) of Canada organised its annual Public Mela on August 14 at Stetson Boyal Stadium in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. This year’s mela was dedicated to the Gadhar martyrs of 1916 -- Babu Harnam Singh Sahri, Sohal Lal Pathik, Beer Singh Bahowal, Uttam Singh Haans and Easher Singh Thudike among others.

Ongoing Saudi led Massacre in Yemen

IT has been more than 16 months since the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched a war on Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arabian peninsula. The other members of the military coalition are the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco and Kuwait. Most of the bombing raids are being conducted by Saudi planes these days. The UAE air force which was very active in the earlier phase of the campaign is now only playing a limited role. The UAE forces on the ground are concentrating their firepower on the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Daesh (Islamic State).

Europe: Growth of Far Right and Challenges

In Germany, for the first time since the Second World War, a far right-wing party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) is emerging as a major political force. The growth of various right-wing parties in Europe, the latest being the AfD, has forced some commentators to call it as the 'spectre haunting Europe'. Some of the commentators had even started questioning the future of the Left as a political force in these changed circumstances.

NATO on the Warpath

THE two day NATO summit held in Warsaw in the second week of July was billed as the most important one since the end of the Cold War. It was held in the wake of the “Brexit” vote and the looming threat it poses to the very concept of European unity. Britain has been America's foremost ally within the European Union (EU) and NATO. With the exit of the United Kingdom, the EU is theoretically better positioned to follow a more independent foreign policy. An important goal of the Warsaw summit was to project unity.

Historic Colombia Peace Accord

The signing of the draft peace accord between the government of Colombia and the country's main rebel grouping, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana on June 23, had heralded the end of the longest running civil war in Latin America. In the last week of August, the two sides formalised the cease fire agreement in Bogota.

Search form

Peoples Democracy

International