International

An End to the Blackmail

In a landmark speech, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announces that a referendum will be held on the Troika bailout deal. The following is the text of the speech.

FOR six months now the Greek government has been waging a battle in conditions of unprecedented economic suffocation to implement the mandate you gave us on January 25.

The mandate we were negotiating with our partners was to end the austerity and to allow prosperity and social justice to return to our country.

CPI(M) General Secretary Meets Bangladesh PM

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury met prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina at Dhaka on May 29. He was accompanied by CPI(M) Central Committee member Gautam Das. During the meeting that lasted for more than 40 minutes, Sheikh Hasina thanked the CPI(M) for its endeavour in the successful endorsement of the Land border agreement in the Indian parliament. Yechury noted that the problem was longstanding and all the political parties have helped towards its resolution.

Tahira Mazhar Ali: The Peerless Communist

TAHIRA Mazhar Ali passed away in Lahore on March 23. She was an eminent Communist leader. She was the first woman political prisoner, who was arrested in Pakistan along other comrades and writers in 1948. On the day she died, a young friend called from London and gave me the bad news. The next day a few of us met at a small place and held a meeting in her memory. It was a homely meet. At the most, 20-25 people attended.

Nigeria: Buhari Trumps Jonathan

AN electoral upset was always on the cards given the ham handed way President Goodluck Jonathan was dealing with the key issues of corruption and terrorism. But previous elections were marked by widespread electoral fraud and vote buying. Besides, in the checkered history of Nigerian politics, no ruling party was ever defeated since the country gained independence in 1960. Regime change was always effected through the barrel of the gun not through the ballot box.

Yemen under Attack: Civilians Pay the Price

YEMEN has been experiencing political turmoil for many years now. The problems in the country have been exacerbated after the ouster of the long ruling president, Ali Abdullah Saleh from power in 2012. An interim government was formed under the leadership of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi following Saleh's departure. Hadi was Saleh's deputy but he did not have the kind of support his predecessor had. Under his watch, the country had to function without a representative government.

Summit of the Americas: US Recognises New Realities

THE Summit of the Americas held in the second week of April in Panama City has been an eventful one. Besides the handshake and meeting between the American and Cuban presidents, what was on show was the unity shown by the Caribbean and Latin American countries on key issues. The trend has been continued form the last Summit held in 2012 in the Colombian port city of Cartagena. That summit was notable for the solidarity extended to Cuba. Barring the United States, all the other countries in the continent were united in their opposition to the American economic blockade on Cuba.

40th Anniversary of the Reunification of Vietnam

SURELY it was giving me the goose bumps. I was simply overwhelmed by the enormity of the occasion and the circumstances.  We were right there; meeting hall of the Thong-Nhat Palace (which in Vietnamese would read) -the reunification palace.  It was here that at 11.30 am on April 30, 1975, the Liberation Army of Vietnam commandeered by Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap entered the main gates of this building then known as the Independence Palace.

70th Anniversary: Victory over Fascism: An Epochal Event

THE Second World War, or, the war against fascism, was one of the truly epochal events of the 20th century. The war was like no other in history because of its global scale and the immense destruction of human lives and productive capacities. It also exemplified the collision of various historical forces set in the background of the worst crisis faced by capitalism and imperialism. The barbarous force which emerged in the inter-war period, between the First and the Second World Wars, was the phenomenon of fascism and its German variant Nazism.

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