US coal giant Drummond paid right-wing paramilitaries accused of murder and human rights abuses for protection of its Colombian operations, Colombiareports.com said on March 16.
The article said the information was revealed in secret diplomatic cables sent between 2006-2010 released by WikiLeaks to the Colombian paper El Espectador,
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The online journal is hosting a series of commentaries from left-wing groups and commentators from around the world on the crucial question of whether or not to support the US-NATO military intervention in Libya.
A popular rebellion is shaking the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad 鈥 and highlighting the hypocrisy of US policy in the region.
The protests of recent weeks spread further following Friday prayers on March 25. The Syrian regime responded with vicious repression that left at least 61 people dead, and with a belated promise of reform.
The bad news for Ohio鈥檚 350,000 public workers is that a new law bans them from striking 鈥 the good news is at least they will no longer risk jail for doing so.
A March 30 Reuters article said: 鈥淥hio鈥檚 legislature on Wednesday passed a Republican measure to curb the collective bargaining rights of about 350,000 state employees, and Governor John Kasich said he will sign it into law.鈥
The new law will ban unions from striking in support of public workers and limit workers鈥 ability to collectively bargain.
Secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks on March 15 show that former US ambassador to Nepal, James Moriarty, actively sought to destabilise Nepal鈥檚 peace process in order to prevent a Maoist rise to power.
The Maoist-led People鈥檚 Liberation Army waged a decade-long 鈥減eople鈥檚 war鈥 against Nepal鈥檚 centuries-old feudal monarchy. A people鈥檚 uprising in 2006 brought the monarchy down, opening the way for an elected constituent assembly in 2008.
About 500,000 people marched in London on March 26 against the British government鈥檚 program of huge spending cuts. Called by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the march drew people from every part of Britain 鈥 a splendid cross section of the country with numbers dominated by the working class.
The Australian government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government of Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
It permitted the forcible deportation of Afghan refugees 鈥 including children separated from their families 鈥 from Australia back to Afghanistan.
Refugee advocates have sharply criticised the MOU. They say it does not guarantee the safety of returned asylum seekers and point out that the Afghanistan puppet government is illegitimate and corrupt.
The largest anti-nuclear protests in German history were held on March 26. About 250,000 people marched in Germany鈥檚 four largest cities.
Under the slogan 鈥淔ukushima Warns: Pull the Plug on all Nuclear Power Plants鈥, more than 120,000 took to the streets of Berlin, 50,000 in Hamburg, 40,000 in Koeln and upward of 40,000 marched in Muenchen.
In state elections held the next day, the German Greens won a historic victory in Baden-Wuerttemberg. They will form Germany鈥檚 first-ever Green-led government.
They also tripled their vote in elections in Rheinland-Pfalz.
More than 100 people rallied outside the South Australian Parliament on March 25 in solidarity with the people of the Middle East.
The focus of the rally was the attacks on protesters by snipers in Yemen, the invasion of Bahrain by Saudi troops and the ongoing civil war and bombing in Libya.
People from various Middle Eastern communities waved flags and placards demanding an end to the military crackdowns.
About 30 people attended a rally in King George Square on April 1 to call on Western powers to stop the bombing of Libya. Adrian Skerritt, from the Stop the War Collective, told the rally: 鈥淭he main reason for intervention by the US and its allies in Libya is that the West cannot handle being sidelined by the popular revolutions which have swept the Arab world in recent months.
鈥淵et, the US has acted against Gaddafi because he is isolated in the region. They haven't intervened in Yemen or Bahrain, where the repression is just as severe, because they are client states of Saudi Arabia.
At the Bali Process summit held on March 30, immigration minister Chris Bowen and foreign affairs minister Kevin Rudd signed a 鈥渞egional framework to prevent people smuggling鈥 with 41 nations.
But they failed to bully East Timor into agreeing to an Australian detention centre on its soil.
Rudd said the agreement 鈥 ultimately intended to stop asylum seekers reaching Australia 鈥 鈥渞epresents a significant win鈥 for Australia. Bowen said it 鈥渓ays a framework for further bilateral discussions鈥 with East Timor.
Rob Stary, an Australian lawyer representing WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, spoke to the on February 4. In the interview below, Stary discusses the persecution of WikiLeaks and the failure of the Australian government to uphold Assange鈥檚 rights.
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