IT was at the end of September last year that Russia in a surprise move dispatched its planes and troops to Syria at the request of the government in Damascus. The jihadi forces and their western backed allies were intent on delivering the coup d'grace to the legitimate secular government before the end of that year. More territory and towns, including the historic city of Palmyra, had fallen to the terrorist Daesh (IS) and the Jabhat al Nusra Front. Washington and its allies were waiting for the much heralded regime change in Syria even as the country was awash in blood and suffering.

THE 11th Congress of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) was held from October 28-31, 2016 in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The four-day Congress began on 28th evening with a mass rally held at Soharawardi Uddan.  Party workers and supporters, both men and women, attended the open session from across the country.

THE Communist Party of Vietnam hosted the 18th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties, which was held for the first time in a socialist country, from October 28-30. The theme of the meeting was, “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - strategy and tactics of the communist and workers’ parties in struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism.” M A Baby, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and head of the international department attended the meeting.

IT has been evident for some time that India has been slowly but surely veering away from the principles of non-alignment that defined its foreign policy for more than four decades after independence. The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi's decision to skip the important NAM summit in Venezuela is only a stark illustration of this reality. Previous UPA and NDA governments had started the process of downgrading the movement founded by the leaders of anti-colonial struggle like Jawaharlal Nehru, Achmed Sukarno, Khwame Nkrumah and Gamel Abdel Nasser.

PRIME Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have further consolidated their political gains after the latest round of elections to the upper house of the Diet, held in the third week of July. The LDP will now have the brute majority in both the lower and upper house that will help the government to pass controversial legislation relating to the constitution and other important issues. Though the upper house is not as powerful as the lower house, it has the power to block legislation.