Politics

What do Bolivia, Iceland, Tunisia, Egypt and Spain all have in common? Given that they are famous respectively for; ladies in bowler hats, volcanoes, mosaics, pyramids and Rafael Nadal there seems to be little to connect these diverse countries, yet they are all undergoing the most radical forms of social revolution witnessed since the collapse of the Soviet Empire. »

Now that the dust has settled in Greece and the austerity measures are in place our correspondent in Greece reflects about; the great truths about the non-violent nature of the movement of the “outraged” and the historic weekend of the 28th & 29th of June, unprecedented state repression, provocation and media propaganda. »

The mainstream mass-media have been silent about the protests and the example of a popular revolution that took place in Iceland two years ago, when citizens made the government step down and rewrite the constitution. Because the events in Iceland are a model for how to make a popular revolution, the information has been hushed up. »

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces trial hearings for bribery and for paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl on Monday, as the Italian leader fights off growing unpopularity and financial woes. Berlusconi, 74, is a defendant in three ongoing trials but is only due to attend the corruption hearing in which he stands accused of paying a bribe to his former British lawyer. »

Brushing off protests from China, Barack Obama welcomed the Dalai Lama to the White House, urging respect for human rights and cultural traditions in Tibet. China immediately lodged a protest and accused Obama of undermining relations between the world's two largest economies by meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader, who has spent more than a half-century in exile. »

Echoing the recent protests in Egypt and Spain, it is the turn of Israeli youth to take to the streets and start camping to draw attention to the excessive cost of rents in Tel Aviv and other major population centres of the territory. An emergency session of the Israeli Cabinet is convened to try to deal with the situation. »

The Israeli government is under heat now also from citizens who are normally indifferent to its immoral conduct. After a successful boycott of cottage cheese that forced the producer to put down the prices, hundreds of Israelis are now taking to the streets in protest of lack of affordable housing, building a tent town on Tel Aviv's fashionable Rothschild Boulevard. »

The ex-presidential candidate for the Humanist Party, Tomás Hirsch, confirmed, on Friday, his participation in an activity at the University of Santiago (USACH) where, following the harsh intervention of police officers in the march for education, the authorities are attempting to confuse public opinion by criminalising the student movement. »

When you don't acknowledge China's stupendous achievements, what you find is a country that has little to show and still far to go. When you don't see the political foundations of economic policies that freed the vast majority of dirt poor and backward Chinese from awesome feudal inequalities, it is taken to be the success of capitalist impulses alone. »

Over 100,000 high school and university students and teachers have been protesting throughout Chile since mid-June demanding reforms to the country’s education system. To calm the demonstrations, President Sebastián Piñera announced on July 5 a US$4 billion-plan, financed using income from the copper mining industry that, he says, will make schools more efficient. »