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.
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Ryan Mallett-Outtrim & Laura Gilbie
The self-immolation of five activists in January briefly brought international attention to growing unrest in Morocco, evidenced by the mass demonstrations that began a year ago.
It is in the capital, however, where political rallies have become something of a permanent fixture.
Three times a week, the well-tended boulevards of the Moroccan capital are overrun with dissatisfied tertiary graduates, demanding jobs.
The rallies can last for up to six hours.
In a fit of petulant anger, the US government lashed out on January 25 against the outcome of Nicaragua鈥檚 recent presidential election. The leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front's (FSLN) Daniel Ortega was easily re-elected president and the FSLN won a majority in the National Assembly.
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.
Supporters of a proposed deal between Nyoongar people and the WA state government say that it has the potential to 鈥渃lose the gap鈥 between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Yet opponents say the deal is no good.
The article below has been translated by Federico Fuentes. It first appeared in the Latin America-wide magazine America XXI
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鈥淲e support the right of self-determination of the habitants of the Falkland Islands [Malvinas]; what the Argentines having been saying recently is, in my opinion, much more similar to colonialism, because these people want to continue being British and the Argentines what them to do something different.鈥
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.
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.
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 .
Mike Crook, Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Sandgate in the March 24 Queensland state elections, released the statement below on February 10.
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The Socialist Alliance pledges its full support to the Queensland mining unionists engaged in industrial battle with Australia's biggest corporation, BHP Billiton.
The company is now in line to make a full-year profit almost equal to that of the four big Australian banks combined.
By now we all know that the rich get richer under capitalism. But many are astounded at the incredible pace this takes place.
Last week it was reported that Australian billionaire James Packer celebrated a in his casino investment in Macau. Great reward for making totally unproductive, indeed socially and morally destructive, investments.
Queensland coalminers will strike for a week from February 15 to step up the longstanding dispute with BHP Billiton over safety, wages and conditions.
The company's seven coal mines in Queensland will be closed down after 15 months of negotiations broke down between the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) and management.
The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) operates the mines. It is likely to lose up to 1 million tonnes in forgone or deferred production. The value of the coal production lost will total $200-300 million.
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