On Tuesday 14 October, a human tide once again flooded the streets of Brussels. No planes departing or arriving at the airports, schools closed, businesses at a standstill, public transport paralysed; only the trains were running, with increased traffic to transport demonstrators to Brussels. The mobilisation called by the united trade union front (FGTB socialist, CSC Christian and CGSLB liberal) and numerous associations (OXFAM, Greenpeace, Network for the Fight Against Poverty, development (…)

With 98.6 per cent approval ratings and 8.3 million YouTube subscribers, West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi has become Indonesia's most popular politician. His devoted followers call him bapak aing - “my father” - and some believe he is the reincarnation of a mediaeval Sundanese king prophesied to end an age of crisis. He speaks of socialism and communal land ownership, opposes mining on spiritual grounds, and positions himself as defender of indigenous tradition against ecological destruction. (…)

Addameer for Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association has been closely following the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons on Monday, 13 October 2025. As part of the first phase of the agreement to end the war on Gaza, 1,968 Palestinians were released, including 250 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment or high sentences, and 1,718 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, among them two women and 15 children. The occupation authorities forcibly deported 154 of (…)

The Indonesian National Police's response to the August 2025 protests was one of overwhelming force. They arrested more than three thousand individuals across the country accused of involvement in or inciting riots. According to colleagues I reached out to, this crackdown continues quietly. Surveillance has yet to stop. Moreover, this crackdown extended beyond physical detention into the realm of ideas. In a move that perfectly encapsulates panic over thought, the police conducted a (…)

Shialbari residents urged to evacuate; blaze under control after 27hrs Firefighters spraying water on the still-burning chemical warehouse in Mirpur. The photo was taken at 8:00am yesterday. Photo: Palash Khan The massive fire that swept through a chemical warehouse and an adjacent garment factory in Shialbari of the capital's Mirpur was brought under control yesterday — 27 hours after it broke out. However, with toxic fumes still billowing from the site, the area remains highly (…)

The Bangladesh Krishok Federation (BKF) expresses deep sorrow, strong condemnation, and outrage over the tragic fire and explosion at a chemical factory in Mirpur, Dhaka, on 15 October, which claimed the lives of 19 workers. Workers' organizations and civil society across the country have joined in mourning and protest. They have stated, “This is not a sudden accident, but the outcome of mismanagement, impunity, and an exploitative industrial system.” In a joint statement, BKF said, “Every (…)

Logically, feminist and LGBT movements in Indonesia should be allies as they have much in common. Both fight for gender and sexual equality, and face a common enemy, patriarchy. Both are considered Western imports and greatly disturb religious conservatives who view them as toxic and incompatible with Indonesian values. In 2016 several high ranking government officials, from Vice President Jusuf Kalla to Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil, spewed out inflammatory, hate-filled statements against (…)

Dhaka, 16 October 2025 : A rally and human chain were held today in front of the National Press Club, Dhaka, jointly organized by the Bangladesh Krishok Federation (BKF), the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), and UBINIG, to mark “World Food Day vs. World Food-less Day. The central theme of the event was : “To ensure the right to food, climate justice, and sovereign agriculture, unjust tax systems, debt-driven policies, and corporate capture must be stopped.” The (…)

Ce Français a participé à la flottille Global Sumud, opération de solidarité avec le peuple palestinien organisée par Waves of Freedom. Après une enquête de Mediapart et StreetPress sur les publications de son porte-parole, le collectif se dit « catastrophé » et annonce l'exclusion du militant. Mustafa Çakici était l'un des porte-parole de la délégation française de la flottille Global Sumud. Après son expulsion par Israël, le 7 octobre, il est rentré en France dans le même avion que (…)

Résultat électoral important pour Antonella Bundu et la liste « Toscana rossa ». le système électoral toscan, voulu par le Parti démocrate (PD) , empêche l'entrée de la gauche au conseil régional. Les cercles toscans de la Gauche Anticapitaliste (Sinistra anticapitalista) expriment leur vive satisfaction pour le résultat électoral obtenu par Antonella Bundu, candidate à la présidence régionale pour la liste « Toscana a Sinistra ». Il s'agit là d'un événement significatif qui ne revêt pas (…)

Imaginez le Premier ministre indien en Père Noël : récemment, à la veille de Navratri, un festival d'une semaine qui précède les grandes fêtes hindoues de Dussehra et Diwali, Narendra Modi a annoncé une réduction de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA) sur une longue liste de produits de consommation courante. Désormais, le beurre, le ketchup, les pizzas végétariennes, le dentifrice, l'après-rasage, les lave-vaisselle, le ciment et d'autres produits sont entre 3 et 12 % moins chers. « Vous (…)

Lorsque plus de 50 syndicats indonésiens se sont réunis à Jakarta le 5 octobre 2021 pour créer le Partai Buruh (Parti du Travail), cela semblait marquer un moment historique : des travailleurs organisant leur propre véhicule politique pour défier un système oligarchique qui avait supprimé leurs droits. Pourtant, dès sa création, le parti incarnait une contradiction. Dirigé par des bureaucrates syndicaux ayant des antécédents de collaboration avec les élites, le Parti du Travail promettait (…)

When more than 50 Indonesian labour unions gathered in Jakarta on 5 October 2021 to establish the Partai Buruh (Labour Party), it appeared to mark a historic moment: workers organising their own political vehicle to challenge an oligarchic system that had stripped away their rights. Yet from its inception, the party embodied a contradiction. Led by union bureaucrats with histories of elite collaboration, the Labour Party promised working-class independence whilst its president courted the (…)

In late August, the smouldering protests that have flared up across Indonesia for most of the year reached a new crescendo. Thousands took to the streets, both in Jakarta and other cities across the island archipelago, calling for social justice and institutional reform. Indonesia's popular uprising began with a mobilisation on 25 August in response to the government's decision to grant parliamentarians a housing allowance amounting to ten times the country's minimum wage — at a time when (…)

En août 2025, l'Indonésie a connu un soulèvement populaire d'une ampleur inédite. Des milliers de manifestants sont descendus dans les rues pour dénoncer les privilèges scandaleux accordés aux parlementaires, la violence policière et les politiques d'austérité qui appauvrissent la population. Cette révolte s'inscrit dans une vague de contestations qui secoue le pays depuis 2019, alimentée par la mainmise croissante des oligarques sur le système politique. Malgré la répression brutale qui a (…)

Les manifestations du mois dernier ont renversé le gouvernement népalais et mis en lumière la manière dont les investissements chinois ont alimenté la corruption, la dette insoutenable et la crise générationnelle. La chute du gouvernement népalais le mois dernier, déclenchée par des manifestations sans précédent de la jeunesse, a levé le voile sur des décennies d'influence chinoise qui ont étouffé les aspirations d'une génération, alimenté la corruption et réduit l'espace démocratique (…)

Western sanctions introduced on 1st October against the Serbian oil company NIS, due to majority Russian ownership and suspicion that part of the profits are being used to finance the war in Ukraine, represent a turning point in Belgrade's foreign policy. Although President Aleksandar Vučić continues to emphasise a policy of “non-alignment” through refusing for Serbia to join Western sanctions against Russia, the reality is far more complicated. Recent events show that the space for balance (…)