Politics

When summer arrives citizens are thinking more about holidays and less about politics. At least this is what governments hope, so as to be able to pass certain laws and decrees without creating waves that could incite rejection whether from student activists, fully-functioning trade unions and associations with all their membership.

By Bernhard Schell

As September draws closer and the Palestine Authority prepares to achieve statehood as well as full membership of the United Nations, a new report is calling upon Fatah and Hamas rivals to take necessary steps to implement the Egyptian sponsored reconciliation agreement and install a Palestinian leadership able to reach and carry out peace with Israel.

Yesterday, the popular marches of the indignant arrived in Madrid — and took back the square. Another major demonstration is planned for today.
Saturday indignados brought much of Madrid to a standstill as the popular marches arrived in the city, taking 6 different routes from all over the country and culminating in a spectacular re-occupation of Sol by thousands of protesters

The Egyptian Armed Forces Supreme Council raised the alert against what it considered an attempt to bring about a breaking-off between the people and the army after clashes with demonstrators on Friday. The military junta asked the population to be prudent, to neutralize such attempts and not to be manipulated by a “suspicious plan” to destroy Egypt’s stability.

GOP Cries Wolf on Debt Ceiling in Order to Impose Radical Pro-Rich Agenda

President Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner are allegedly close to a $3 trillion deficit-reduction package as part of a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline. But the deal is coming under fire from both congressional Democrats and Republicans.

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.