The government of Nepal is in trouble. Nepal is ruled by King Gyanendra, who shared power with an elected legislative assembly until Feb. 1. On that day, King Gyanendra abolished the assembly, banned the legal political parties in the assembly and arrested their leaders and censored the media and Internet.

As of April 24, Nepal's King Gyanendra appears to be nearing his last days in power. Huge mass protests of hundreds of thousands of people are defying a shoot-to-kill curfew after 19 days of a general strike. Massive crowds are gathering on the outskirts of the capital, Katmandu, and attempting to move slowly into the city in the face of the Royal Nepal Army shooting into the crowds. Presumably the protesters are trying to get to the center of Katmandu to the Royal Palace, which was cordoned off a couple days ago with barbed wire and military troops.

On June 11, King Gyanendra left Nepal's royal palace for the last time. He was forced out of power by a powerful revolutionary movement. A new Nepali government is now being formed through a Constituent Assembly, led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Reporting to Congress Sept. 11, General David Petraeus confirmed what most in the anti-war movement have long been saying: The U.S. has no intention of getting out of Iraq anytime soon – unless it is forced to.

Newark, NJ – On Aug. 25, almost 44 years to the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech to between a quarter and a half million people, the Peace and Justice Coalition, an alliance of more than 120 peace and justice organizations, will march in Newark, New Jersey.

Asheville, NC – After several months of investigation into the University of North Carolina-Asheville (UNCA) budget situation, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) met with Chancellor Anne Ponder to address students’ grievances against the administration. The statement, What We Want & What We Believe , was presented by an SDS delegation of students and community members on May 1, International Workers Day.

In March, U.S. antiwar activist and Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Kosta Harlan attended a historic international solidarity conference in Italy with leaders of the Iraqi resistance ( see “Voices of the Iraqi Resistance,” Fight Back!, March 2007). Since returning to the United States, Harlan has traveled to college campuses and cities across the South, speaking to hundreds of students and antiwar activists about the Iraqi resistance. He spoke at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Chapel Hill, and Charlotte; at Winthrop University in South Carolina; at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and at community centers in Winston-Salem and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

An Interview with Cherrene Horazuk

In recent months the U.S. Department of Justice has sent threatening letters to the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), which works in solidarity with grassroots social justice movements and the left in El Salvador. The government is accusing CISPES of being an 'agent of a foreign power' – specifically of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the leftist political party in El Salvador. This echoes the FBI's groundless accusations against CISPES in the 1980s, which led to a seven-year campaign of illegal U.S. government harassment against CISPES that the FBI later had to apologize for.

Saint Paul, MN – The city council here passed a resolution April 4 directing city personnel to ensure the right to political speech and civic debate during the Republican National Convention. The convention is scheduled to take place over Labor Day weekend, 2008.

Washington D.C. – On March 17, tens of thousands of people braved unseasonably cold weather and strong winds to march against the U.S. occupation and war in Iraq. This national protest marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and also commemorated the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 march on the Pentagon against the Vietnam War. The 1967 Pentagon march is widely seen as representing the shift 'from protest to resistance' against the Vietnam War. The March on the Pentagon this year also aimed to express the need for an escalation from protest to resistance in order to stop the U.S. war in Iraq.

Atlanta, GA – Georgians will mark the fourth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq by demanding, “Not one more death, not one more dollar.” Activities in various parts of the state will include delivery of petitions to congresspersons, a ‘constituent teach-in’ for Georgia’s U.S. senators and numerous street demonstrations, faith vigils and campus actions.

Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on the murder of Bishop Alberto Ramento.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Jose Maria Sison. Sison is a leading figure in the movement to free the Philippines from United States domination. The Bush administration has falsely accused Sison of ‘terrorism’ and is trying to criminalize the Filipino people’s fight for national liberation.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement in defense of Jose Maria Sison. Sison is a leading figure in the movement to free the Philippines from United States domination. The Bush administration has falsely accused Sison of ‘terrorism’ and is trying to criminalize the fight of the Filipino people for national liberation.

The Amado Kadena, a local union of National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU) affiliated to the militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), attained a landslide victory in the certification election, March 27, at the food processing company Dole Phils in Polomolok, South Cotabato.

Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines about the wave of repression launched by U.S.-backed President Arroyo.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Pilipino human rights organization KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. A wave of violence, organized by the U.S-backed government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), has been aimed at that country's progressive movement.

Trade union leader Rolando ‘Ka Rolly’ Mariano, 53 years old, was fatally shot by three unidentified men atop a single motorcycle. Mariano was aboard a minivan on his way to work Oct. 7 in San Fernando village in Victoria, Tarlac.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Sept. 23 statement from the main trade union federation in the Philippines, the KMU (May 1st Workers’ Center), concerning the assassination of one of its leaders, Diosdado Fortuna. The government of U.S.-backed Pilipino President Arroyo is responsible for a wave of human rights violations.

A campaign for the release of political prisoner Donato ‘Donat’ Continente has been announced by BAYAN, an alliance of progressive Pilipino organizations. Background information on this critical case appeared in the summer 2002 issue of Fight Back!