News from around the world

The Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa – Mindanao (RPM-M) condemns the barbaric killings and senseless destructions of properties in the Islamic City of Marawi, Mindanao. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inspired group led by the Maute family and their armed followers tried to put up a diversionary armed attacks in several strategic areas in Marawi City to help the Abu Sayyaf leader (Isnilon Hapilon) escape the raid and dragnet by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

For seven months, a popular protest movement has been growing in the Rif region of northern Morocco, culminating in a rally of tens of thousands of demonstrators in Al-Hoceima on 18 May. This movement is rooted in the popular mobilization that took root in the region from 20 February 2011, reflecting in Morocco the dynamics of the uprisings throughout the Maghreb and the Middle East. It was relaunched in October 2016 when the young fisherman Mouhcine Fikri was crushed to death in a rubbish truck in Hoceima.

Farooq Tariq posted this on Thursday 25 May.

Many signatures have been received in just 48 hours, coming from many countries. The call was published Tuesday night and this morning in Pakistan, receiving a big echo. The Supreme Court meets tomorrow Thursday. Baba Jan’s lawyers are calling for the postponement of the meeting to be able to better defend him. We continue to collect signatures. [Pierre Rousset]

Solidarity activists are raising their voices against the assassination on May 10 of Miriam Elizabeth Rodríguez Martínez, a human rights activist in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas well known for holding the authorities to account after the murder of her daughter. The following open letter calls on state and federal authorities in Mexico and the U.S. government to ensure the safety of those who stand for human rights.

On the very day of the presidential election, 69 activists – including Alain Pojolat, leading member of the NPA, Palestinian solidarity and anti-fascist activist – have been banned from certain districts of Paris, thus preventing them from participating in the first demonstration against the announced anti-worker policies of newly-elected president Emmanuel Macron.

The NPA has issued this statement.

Jay Naidoo, the first General Secretary of COSATU spoke at the launch of the new trade union federation, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) in late April. Below we print his speech.

Brazilian cities went into partial shutdown on Friday 28 April as the country observed its first general strike in more than two decades.

Over 200 scholars from local and overseas universities have signed a joint statement criticising the prosecution of Hong Kong activists for their leadership role in the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests.

“We are alarmed and outraged,” the statement read. “We strongly oppose the Hong Kong government’s decision to charge these scholars and activists for their non-violent fight to realize Hong Kong people’s right to universal suffrage.”

The IIRE is raising funds for the English translation of Livio Maitan’s Per una storia della IV internazionale: la testimonianza di un comunista controcorrente. In this book, Livio Maitan (1923-2004) relates his experience of being a revolutionary communist during the second half of the 20th Century. Written by a leading member of the Fourth International and lifelong Marxist, the book is both testimony and an analysis of a 50-year period of great turmoil in Italian and international politics.