Again fire; again deaths; and again the process of forgetting the firing of life. Fire and deaths, at least 52 laborers, in the Narayanganj-food-production factory is now news; and international news agencies have already disseminated the news of the murderous incident. So, there’s no scope to hide and deny; and no scope to claim that such reports tarnish image. The[Read More...]
The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick legalized French control over the western third of the island of Hispaniola – a Spanish asset – under the name of Saint-Domingue. The colony proved to be a valuable spigot of wealth. In 1789, Saint-Domingue supplied two-thirds of the overseas trade of France and was the greatest individual market for the European slave trade. It[Read More...]
Official celebrations have been taking place throughout China to mark the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Xi Jinping and other leaders of the ruling CPC pretend that there is an unbroken chain from the founding congress of the party in July 1921 to the present-day CPC. Theirs is a story of the CPC realizing its mission[Read More...]
Because if they do not, then we are doomed to fail to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 (for which only 104 months are left). The clock is ticking but governments from around the world, who are convening at the United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF) seem to be regurgitating old timid commitments and shying away[Read More...]
Free speech has long been a cornerstone of American society. The US Constitution guarantees that no one shall be prosecuted for expressing his or her opinion. However, within the past few years the situation has completely changed. Recently, one of the United States’ oldest public figures – the legendary leader of the American Civil Liberties Union Ira Glasser, who for[Read More...]
In the backdrop of globalisation, liberalisation, increasing privatisation, and the role of multinationals, transnationals, WB, IMF and WTO etc. particularly in the Neo-colonial phase of imperialism the nationality question has assumed significant and very interesting dimensions. Nationality question came to the fore as a politico-economic movement with the emergence of bourgeois democratic revolution in Europe. Thus the nationality question was[Read More...]
Carlos Lazo and a small band of Cuban Americans are on a 1,300-mile pilgrimage from Miami to Washington, D.C., to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Despite the blistering summer heat and occasional death threats (including a trucker who tried to run them off the road), the marchers persist. Lazo’s group is called Puentes de Amor, Bridges of Love, and[Read More...]
A study has found that nearly all French people are contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury, and that exposure levels are higher than in other European countries. A RFI report said: France’s national health agency Santé Publique France said smoking and the consumption of fish and seafood products had contributed to the findings, published recently. The presence[Read More...]
We are more than a year and half into the pandemic and this momentous time period has laid bare our vulnerabilities as a global society. The way coronavirus disease has been fought, has brought an enormous shift in our lives. Pandemic protocols, restrictions and lockdowns gave us a glimpse of the world suspended in time. The pandemic is far from[Read More...]
Fifty years ago, on June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon stood before the White House press corps, staffers at his side, to announce “a new, all-out offensive” against drug abuse, which he denounced as “America’s public enemy number one.” He called on Congress to contribute $350 million for a worldwide attack on “the sources of supply.” The first battle in this new[Read More...]
