Middle East: Opportunity Knocks
Formal talks between Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were put on hold this week. The first face to face dialogue between the two since the 'disengagement' of the Gaza Strip was sidelined for a second time because of a difference in 'objectives.'
Iraq: The Cost of Quagmire
Describing the continuing US occupation of Iraq as a 'quagmire,' a recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies elaborated on the massive cost in lives and resources for the war in Iraq.
WEST AFRICA: Rights activists urge UN to investigate abuse of migrants
The thorny and long-standing problem came into the world media spotlight in recent weeks, with televised images of desperate African migrants being shot at and crushed trying to enter Europe and scores of others deposited in the vacant sands of Morocco with no food or water.
Take e-Action: Rebuild America, Protect Workers Rights
Take e-action to protest the Bush agenda for the Gulf Coast, to support the demand to ratify the Kyoto Treaty, and to protest TimeWarner's exploitation of child labor.
Venezuelan Government Supports Indigenous Rights
Venezuelan government to give material and cultural support to the country's indigenous population by turning over millions of acres of land and by funding institutes to preserve indigenous culture.
Stupid Republicans in the News (October 14, 2005)
Today's list includes the White House as a whole, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Karl Rove, James Dobson, Harriet Miers, the religious extremists at the base of the GOP, and goofy Pat Robertson.
Ithaca, New York Residents and Students Initiate Fast to Protest War
On August 25, Cornell University students began a 'Fast Relay' in memory of the estimated 100,000 Iraqi lives lost since the March 2003 invasion and in protest of the US occupation of Iraq. In 48-hour shifts, the students will fast one minute for every dead Iraqi, the relay totaling 70 days.
October 7: A Successful General Strike in Belgium
Last October 7 2005, Belgium witnessed a 24-hour general strike the first in more than 12 years. The social democratic trade union federation (Federation Generale du Travail de Belgique or FGTB, with more than 1.3 million members) had called for a general strike because the workers opposed the prolongation of their employment career by 5 years thus limiting the access to early retirement schemes.
News Roundup: Iraq, Bush taxes, terror hoax and more
Iraqis voters overwhelmingly favor troop withdrawal from their country. New report shows the Iraq war costs US taxpayers almost $6 billion per month. To pay for it, big business and Republican-dominated tax advisory panel plans to advise Bush to raise taxes on working families. Was the New York terror hoax a diversionary tactic?
Pakistan Will Not Forget
Even in the midst of devastation, life goes on. The global media have descended on the country, their reports repeating the same images and the same banal comments every few minutes. Soon they will move on, so that when they are really needed, to monitor relief efforts and reconstruction or keep watch on the funds, they will no longer be there. The citizens of the west will also forget. But Pakistan will never be able to.
