Los talibán se habían declarado en la víspera dispuestos a disponer de una oficina política fuera de Afganistán para negociaciones de paz, un primer paso histórico tras diez años de conflicto con el gobierno afgano y sus aliados de la OTAN. read full story / add a comment

Le autorità del Kazakhstan hanno sparato su una manifestazione di operai del petrolio in sciopero nella città occidentale di Zhanaozen. Lo sciopero di circa 1500 operai per rivendicare salari più alti e migliori condizioni di lavoro era iniziato nel mese di maggio, ma era stato vietato. I campi petroliferi del Karazhanbas, dove è scoppiata la vertenza, vengono sfruttati da una compagnia che appartiene per parte cinese alla China International Trust Investment Company e per parte kazaka alla compagnia "KazMunayGaz". read full story / add a comment

Le 16 décembre 2011 les autorités du Kazakhstan ont tirés dans Zhanaozen (une ville de l'est du Kazakhstan) sur la manifestation des travailleurs du pétrole en grève. La grève d'environ 1500 travailleurs avec des exigences de hausse des salaires et de meilleures conditions de travail a débuté en mai, mais elle a été interdite. Le gisement de pétrole des Karazhanbas, où le conflit a éclaté, est actuellement développé par la compagnie, qui appartient à l'entreprise Chinoise "China International Trust Investment Company" et la société Kazakh "KazMunayGaz". read full story / add a comment

The authorities in Kazakhstan have shot at a rally of striking oil workers in the West city Zhanaozen.The strike of about 1,500 workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions began in May, but was banned. The Oilfield of Karazhanbas, where conflict broke out, is being developed by the company, which belongs to the Chinese concern China International Trust Investment Company and the Kazakh company "KazMunayGaz". read full story / add a comment

Seit mehr als sechs Monaten streiken in der kasachischen Provinz Mangystau tausende von ÖlarbeiterInnen gegen Ausbeutung und für höhere Löhne. Mehr als 1.000 wurden wegen des Streiks gefeuert. Am 16. Dezember griff die Polizei des diktatorischen Regimes eine Kundgebung in der Stadt Zhanaozen (Jañaözen) an. Nach Berichten von AugenzeugInnen soll es dabei bis zu 70 Tote und 700 bis 800 Verletzte unter den Streikenden und ihren UnterstützerInnen gegeben haben. read full story / add a comment

16 de diciembre de 2011 – las autoridades de Kazajistán dispararon en Zhanaozen (una ciudad del oeste de Kazajistán) a la manifestación de trabajadores petrolíferos en huelga. La huelga de alrededor de 1500 trabajadores, con demandas de salarios más altos y mejores condiciones de trabajo, comenzó en mayo, pero fue prohibida. El campo petrolífero de Karazhanbas, donde estalló el conflicto, está siendo instalado por la empresa, que pertenece a los intereses chinos de la empresa “China International Trust Investment Company” y la empresa Kazaja "KazMunayGaz". read full story / add a comment

Cel putin 70 de morti si 700 de raniti. Se trage in continuare in oameni. read full story / add a comment

This weekend marked a new milestone for the war in Afghanistan: the total number of US troops killed in the war has doubled since President Obama took office, according to icasualties.org and our US Troops in Afghanistan: Obama vs Bush web counter. That means that two-thirds of the total US troop deaths have occurred in the last two years and eight months, which accounts for roughly a third of the duration of the war to date. read full story / add a comment

The US and NATO war in Afghanistan is in its tenth year, yet many fear the Taliban is poised to return to power. read full story / add a comment

On the recent election victory of the Nepali Maoists; how the Maoist leaders ended a revolution and joined the political establishment. The dangers of authoritarian leadership. read full story / add a comment

Le notizie di questo mese sulla morte di Osama bin Laden hanno scatenato festeggiamenti diffusi: migliaia di americani, affascinati dall'idea dell'uccisione del criminale più ricercato dagli USA, hanno festeggiato l'avvenimento riunendosi in luoghi pubblici e sventolando la bandiera americana. [English] read full story / add a comment

“Late Sunday night local time, two U.S. helicopters from Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and carrying Team Six SEALs flew in low from Afghanistan… The raid began on the smaller of two buildings in [Bin Laden's] compound, where [Bin Laden's] couriers were believed to live. The raid then moved to the larger three-story building.

“Two Bin Laden couriers were killed, as was Osama Bin Laden’s son Khalid and a woman. Two women were injured. Children were present in the compound but were not harmed. U.S. officials said that bin Laden was asked to surrender but did not. He was shot in the head and then shot again to make sure he was dead.” read full story / add a comment

Les forces américaines en Afghanistan s’attendent à de possibles émeutes déclenchées par la publication de photographies montrant des «trophées de guerre» pris par des soldats américains posant avec les corps de civils afghans qu’ils ont eux-mêmes tué. read full story / add a comment

Many of the Canadian military, police, and civilian personnel who risk their lives in Afghanistan truly believe they are fighting a just war of good against evil. But America's and Britain's claims that the unsanctioned unilateral invasion of Afghanistan, which began the Global War on Terror, was justified by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 are as credible as claims the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian terrorist justified Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia to begin WWI.

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Mike Skinner, co-founder of the Afghanistan-Canadian Research Group and a researcher at the York Centre for International and Security Studies in Toronto, believes a simple question is being left out of the debate about Canada's continued military involvement in Afghanistan: ”Why are we there?” It is a no-brainer to ask this but there are no easy answers it appears.

To understand the goals of Canada's role, he said, we need to examine the forms of intervention under current consideration as alternatives to Ottawa's combat mission in Kandahar. During extensive travels in Afghanistan in 2007, Skinner studied firsthand Canada's intervention, assisted by Afghan-Canadian reporter Hamayon Rastgar, and has written widely on this question. The two men formed, along with fellow-researcher Angela Joya, the Afghanistan-Canadian Research Group.

When considering the example of Canada's supposed “humanitarian” aid projects, which the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois propose as an alternative to a military mission, Skinner emphasises the limitations of the approach and the bad feelings it can engender.

“Canadian aid agencies in Afghanistan have to follow the orders of the military,” he says. “Aid is meted out as rewards to co-operative communities and withdrawn from others as punishment.”

It was not always the case. “Canadian development and aid agencies – like Care Canada and the Red Cross – had been working in Afghanistan, through all the upheavals in government, the Soviet occupation, and then, after 1992, the Mujahedeen period, and, after 1996, under the Taliban regime. They operated in very difficult conditions, negotiating with the government in power,” Skinner says. read full story / add a comment

In July 1914, the Shanghai Association of Anarchist Communist Comrades published its statement of principles, concluding with the resolution that, "the implementation of anarchist communism depends on the strength of our party. If we wish to increase our party's strength, uniting as a whole body and advancing together is our most important task today. Wherever they are, all our comrades should unite with those who share the same purposes and establish groups in free association.” The key member of this group was a Chinese anarchist known as Shifu who was to die a mere nine months later. Although the group carried on after his death, the core concept of this paragraph was never to be implemented. [Ελληνικά] [Italiano] [Nederlands] read full story / add a comment

The war has dragged on long after the public turned against it – but a rebellion in the US Congress could speed our exit read full story / add a comment

Nota de ALB -En línea con la entrevista que hicimos a Mariam Rawi, militante de RAWA, (http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/?q=node/13683) publicamos a continuación el texto de las charlas que durante estos días ha dado por varias ciudades del Estado, y que ella misma nos ha facilitado. read full story / add a comment

“You must come to Kathmandu with shroud cloth wrapped around your heads and flour in your bags. It will be our last battle. If we succeed, we survive, else it will be the end of our party.”

— General Secretary Badal of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
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Outside of a few events including the Long March and the Shanghai commune the development of the Chinese revolution is relatively unknown on the western left in comparison with the revolutions in Russia in 1917, Spain in 1936 or even the Paris spring of 1968. Those sections of that left influenced by or proclaiming themselves to be Maoist haven't helped that situation much. Their histories have tended towards simple tales focusing on the role of one man and collapsed a 100-year history of revolution into the events important to him. [Italiano] read full story / add a comment