Politics

Plans to install surface-to-air missiles on the rooftops of buildings within 2 miles of London’s Olympic Stadium with 10 troops to operate them have been met with anger and disbelief by the buildings’ dwellers. The city prepares for a £1 billion full blown police and military alert to respond to possible terrorist attacks. Some pensioners refusing to pay the London-wide levy

Labor and immigrant groups were joined by Occupy demonstrators nationwide on Tuesday in May Day rallies for economic injustice and humane immigration reform. In New York City, a long day of separate actions converged in a rally at Union Square and then a march down to Wall Street, where the Occupy movement began last year.

Twenty-four hunger strikers from villages of the Tirunelveli District are on indefinite hunger striker and from 4th May, 2012 onwards, local women have proposed that they too will join the fast – following the scheduled talks with the Tamil Nadu Government 3rd May. They will demand the closure of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) permanently.

Many may feel satisfied to see the most ruthless media mogul of our times apologising for illegal activities such as hacking into private conversations, not just of the rich and famous, but also of murder victims’ relatives, just to sell more papers. He is not apologising, however, for the manipulation of the people to favour this or that politician, nor are the politicians.

Labor and progressive groups are preparing for a national slate of protests on Tuesday in what’s expected to be one of the largest May Day turnouts since the immigrant rights marches of 2006 and 2007. Occupy Wall Street is seeking a turnout of tens of thousands under the slogan of “General Strike. No Work. No Shopping. Occupy Everywhere.”

There is a lot of noise coming out of different quarters about the “imminent collapse” of the UN observer mission in Syria. “Dead on arrival,” says one American commentator. “Failure to uphold truce,” accused the White House and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, pointing fingers at the Syrian government. (See Al Akhbar website, link below)

Once again states parties, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations are meeting in Vienna to start another review cycle of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Unlike in 2007, however, we are returning to this first preparatory committee with a final document and an action plan adopted by consensus from the last Review Conference.

Tens of thousands of people across all Spain protested in the streets against the new education and health care spending cuts proposed by the government, as the country faces its second recession in three years.
Mariano Rajoy, announced recently a new proposal of tax hikes to come into effect during next year saying that “Spain needs deep structural change, not makeup.”

By Christoph Dreier, (WSWS*)

The Greek elections on 6 May will be contested by the greatest number of parties in any vote since the end of the military dictatorship in 1974. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that 32 of 36 registered organizations are permitted to participate. But despite the many parties on the ballot, workers have no voice in this election.

By Neena Bhandari

With India and Pakistan testing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles this April, close on the heels of North Korea’s unsuccessful test launch of a long-range rocket, a new report by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy says it is Asian strategic mistrust that is holding back nuclear disarmament.