Pressenza IPA

Thousands of people have attended the candle-light vigil in Victoria Park to commemorate those who died during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square 23 years ago. Organisers said more than 180,000 people were there, although police put the figure at 85,000. brought to our attention by Pete Spurrier, (from RTHK report).

Faced with a crisis surrounding the uproar against the Quebec Government, started by the planned hike in tuition fees, the government has chosen to take the most cowardly and irresponsible route possible: it chose to push through a special law to to take away the rights of all citizens–not just students–to demonstrate.

On May 25th at around 11:30 a lawsuit was submitted to the Superior Court by the FEUQ and the FECQ to enable students to receive instruction from the institutions they attend, or the special law, deemed null and void immediately. This action is a temporary measure to avoid irreperable damages while the case is brought through the standard legal venues.

In April of this year, I wrote that the upheaval in Syria (the Sunni majority revolt against the Alawite-dominated regime) has turned into a battleground between the Sunni axis led by Turkey and Saudi Arabia and the Shiite axis led by Iran. As events continue to unfold in the region, particularly the Sunni Islamists’ monopolization of the political processes in … (read more)

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, CLASSE spokesman, pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court, 29 May 2012, in Quebec’s city courtroom. The ongoing drama has made the student leader something of an international hero to his fellows but clearly he’s a stone-in-the-shoe for the authorities, and for those students who want to to along with system as is.

While the entire watching world condemned the heinous Syria massacre of 26 May 2012 in Houla, little substantial could be understood from the killings as to which group was primarily responsible. For the West it was the Assad regime but there was no evidence of any such sole perpetrator, thus China, Russia as major powers took a more cautious view.

The NATO-Free Future gathering in Chicago coincides with a rising global movement against war, militarism, inequality and poverty. We represent the pro-peace and justice majority, the global 99%. We heed the wisdom of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to challenge the “triple evils” of poverty, racial inequality and militarism.

The federal government will support the private bill C-309 aiming at prohibiting wearing mask during a demonstration, said Sunday the Canadian Minister for Justice, Rob Nicholson. Accoring to the minister the dissimulation of the identity would be criminal. To take part in a riot while carrying a mask or dissimulate its identity would be criminal in Canada.

I strongly believe that the time is right for Turkey and Israel to mend their critically important bilateral relationship which has suffered a precipitous decline since 2010. With the Middle East in turmoil as a result of the Arab Spring, the perilously unfolding crisis in Syria, the concerns around the Iranian nuclear program…. (read more)….

The Canadian Association of University Teachers is strongly condemning Quebec’s Bill 78, the law tabled in Quebec to end the 14-week student strike, for violating fundamental freedoms of association, assembly, and expression. Already, the bill has received strong criticism from the Quebec Bar Association, student groups, labour organizations, and civil liberties groups.