Member countries of Latin America鈥檚 alternative integration bloc, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), met for its 11th summit in Caracas on February 4 and 5 to discuss advancing the organisation.
ALBA is made up of the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda. Formed in 2004, ALBA seeks to develop trade on the basis of solidarity and cooperation.
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Greek unions launched a two-day general strike on February 10 against new extreme austerity measures the 鈥渢roika鈥 of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Union is seeking to impose on the southern European nation.
Industry groups, building industry spokespeople and opposition politicians have made full use of the Senate inquiry into proposed laws to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).
They鈥檝e claimed that the Gillard government鈥檚 proposed changes will turn the laws against construction workers into a 鈥渢oothless tiger鈥.
A Buddhist monk has set himself on fire in what is believed to have been a protest for Tibetan independence, the BBC said on February 9.
The immolation follows a series of pro-independence protests in Sichuan, an ethnically Tibetan region of southwest China, which is outside of the Tibetan autonomous region.
The incident was said to be the 20th self-immolation by Tibetan Buddhists since 2011.
The Occupy movement in the US may have disappeared from media headlines. But it has not disappeared from the streets of many US cities. However, dropping attendances and ongoing police repression have caused problems for the movement.
Inspired by protests in the Arab world and Europe, the wave of occupations began in September last year. Thousands gathered in Zuccotti Park near Wall Street in New York to protest against the system that promotes inequality and undemocratic rule by the super-rich 鈥 the 鈥1%鈥. Similar protest sites sprang up across the US and many other countries.
Seven months after South Sudan declared independence from its northern neighbour, Khartoum continues to undermine the struggling new nation.
On January 20, the Sudanese People鈥檚 Liberation Movement (SPLM) government of South Sudan took the drastic measure of shutting down its entire oil production.
Sudanese President Omer Al Bashir鈥檚 National Congress Party (NCP) regime had been demanding enormous fees for transporting South Sudan鈥檚 oil to Port Sudan in the north for export.
Germany鈥檚 domestic spy agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has been exposed for spying on left-wing MPs.
German magazine Der Spiegel said on January 23 that the BfV spied on MPs from Germany's biggest left-wing party, the socialist Die Linke ("The Left").
Der Spiegel said the intelligence agency had 27 of Die Linke's members in the Bundestag 鈥 more than one third of its federal MPs 鈥 and a further 11 members of state parliaments, under surveillance, costing 390,000 euros a year.
Australian journalist Austin Mackell, United States student Derek Ludovici, translator Aliya Alwi and veteran union activist Kamal al-Fayyumi were detained by the police in Mahalla El-Kubra, Egypt on February 11 while trying to interview workers in the city.
Murdoch likes compliant politics
鈥淥nly met PMs when asked ... and NEVER asked for anything鈥.
Rupert Murdoch on Twitter, reassuring us that Australia鈥檚 political leaders are so compliant, he hasn鈥檛 had to resort to hacking.
鈥 February 5
Rinehart's bid to nuke Oz
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pity it didn鈥檛 happen鈥.
Gina Rinehart lamenting that her plan to use nuclear explosions in open cut mining never radiated.
鈥 Australian Story, May 1997
Banker greed
鈥淎n opportunity for the customer to get ahead by paying more than they need to.鈥
She鈥檚 proposed nuclear explosions for open-cut mining, funded tours by climate deniers and called for bringing in cheap migrant labour to work her mines.
Palestine prisoner's rights group Addameer released the statement below on February 9 on the condition of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan. At the time of the statement, Adnan was 54 days into a hunger strike and in a critical condition.
The Australian government is pushing to deport the first Afghan asylum seeker since it signed a deal with the Afghanistan government in January last year to allow Afghan asylum seekers to be returned against their will. But a February 7 report by Fairfax journalist Rory Callinan revealed that a flagship $8 million resettlement project for deported asylum seekers 鈥 funded by Australia in a province outside Kabul 鈥 had fallen into .
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