On October 15, about 4000-5000 of protesters in London descended on London's financial sector as part of the 鈥淯nited for Global Change鈥 actions that took place in more than 1000 cities and towns worldwide. Occupy London Stock Exchange is occupying an area in front of St Paul's Cathedral and holding people's assemblies to discuss the goals, demands and direction of the movement.
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The overwhelming success of the October 15 鈥淯nited for Global Change鈥 demonstrations (which took place in more than 1000 cities and towns in about 90 countries) is having powerful positive feedback on the indignados (15-M) movement in Spain.
October 15 was the first time since February 2003, with the huge demonstrations in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, that a call for an international action on a specific date has met with such a response.
The latest wave of the bloodshed that has taken place in Yemen since September 18 shows the country鈥檚 hated President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has no intention of leaving power peacefully.
At least 35 people were killed and many more were wounded in government attempts to crack down on protesters between October 15 and 18, The Guardian said on October 18.
Government forces also battled tribal fighters and defected soldiers loyal to anti-Saleh political forces.
After being delayed by three months, the official campaign for Tunisia's constituent assembly began on October 1, paving the way for the October 23 elections.
More than 80 different parties, many formed or legalised since the overthrow of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, and about 1500 different lists vyed for a place in the 218-member assembly.
United States President Barack Obama announced on October 14 that he was sending US special forces troops to Uganda to join the civil war there.
In the next few months, US combat troops will be sent to South Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic. They will only "engage" for "self-defence", says Obama, satirically.
With Libya secured, a US invasion of the African continent is under way.
Obama's decision is described in the press as "highly unusual" and "surprising", even "weird". It is none of these things. It is the logic of US foreign policy since 1945.
On October 16, Kenyan forces entered southern Somalia. The invasion is aimed against the Islamist militia al Shabaab. It is in response to a recent rise in cross-border kidnappings of Westerners, with four abducted in the past month.
Kenya is not the only regional country with soldiers in Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991. An African Union force of 9000 Ugandan and Burundian troops has been in the country since January 2009, when it replaced an Ethiopian force.
AU troops have launched their own offensive against al Shabaab.
Greek trade unions warned on October 21 of further strikes in the next week after parliament approved new harsh cutbacks amid mass protests that left one man dead and about 200 injured.
Civil servants' union Adedy secretary-general Ilias Iliopoulos said the new law "will not be implemented" and accused the government of ignoring popular dissent.
Greece's main private-sector union, GSEE, was also planning new strikes.
GSEE board member Stathis Anestis said: "We plan long-running opposition to ensure that the crippling cutbacks imposed by our loan shark predators are not enforced."
An estimated 2.4 million Kenyans are facing food insecurity this year.
One cause is poor rains, which have affected all of north-east Africa and are probably at least partially the result of climate change. Another is the rising cost of imported food.
Rising food costs are also partly caused by climate change, but also by speculation. For the finance industry, food is just another commodity to be bought, sold or hoarded to generate the most profits.
Jewish Identity & Palestinian Rights: Diaspora Jewish Opposition to Israel
By David Landy
Zed Books, 2011,
272 pp., $49.95
Just over a year ago, I attended the launch of the radically Zionist 鈥淔riends of Israel鈥 (supporters of the state of Israel as an exclusively 鈥淛ewish鈥 state) at the charismatic Christian Victory Life church in Perth. I did so openly as a member of Friends of Palestine.
I sat with my Palestinian scarf draped around my Jewish neck and listened nervously to more than two hours of speeches.
Stop CSG Illawarra鈥檚 Jess Moore gave the speech below at the 3000-strong rally against coal seam gas mining that took place in Clifton, north of Wollongong, on October 16. * * * Like so many people who live in the north Illawarra, there is a creek that flows through my backyard. Most of those creeks come from aquifers: the Hawkesbury Sandstone Aquifer System that the coal seam gas companies want to drill through to get the gas. This campaign is about our future and our right to protect this area 鈥 to protect our drinking water, our food and our future.
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