Gilber Achcar kindly shares his translation of an al-Hayat article

[The following news items are summaries of weekly events that workers need to know. Unity is the Key.] Vermont Gov. James Douglas (R) has said he will sign a measure raising the state’s minimum wage to $7.25 an hour—a 25-cent boost—effective Jan. 1. At the federal level, congressional Republicans have blocked several attempts to raise the minimum wage, which has been frozen at $5.15 an hour since 1997.

"You should know that the workers of Venezuela and the people as a whole are participating in a process of change, we have been deeply affected by capitalism which is the cause of all the evils inflicted on our peoples, and now we are on the way towards socialism. US imperialism with Bush and the State Department will not be able to impose their will on us."

"What Africa needed from the G8 was a giant leap forward - all it got was tiny steps. The deal that has been announced falls way short of our demands. We have some aid, but not enough; some debt relief, but not enough, and virtually nothing on trade. Once again Africa's people have been short-changed," said Caroline Sande Mukulira, from ActionAid's Southern Africa programme.

When I sat down with Salam Ali in Chicago on the Fourth of July weekend to talk about the developments in Iraq over the past few months, he provided me with a few surprises. Ali is an international representative of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), living in exile in London. He was visiting Chicago to attend the 28th Convention of the Communist Party, USA, where he extended his Party’s warm greeting and friendship.

Dollarization, which is the official adoption of the U.S. dollar (USD) as the national currency has sometimes delivered a mixed signal to several Latin American nations. Globalization—the increased economic interdependence and integration of countries fuelled by the digital age—has led to intercontinental competition in the production of commodities and services. National currencies are no exception.

There are moments in history where you need a bit of irony to get you though and to keep you going. This week British imperialism unashamedly celebrated the Battle of Trafalgar, their defeat of the French and the consolidation of their empire across the globe. We will have the leader of that same imperialist tradition Tony Blair in a few days time striding across a green lawn lauding the great advance made by the contemporary imperialist powers to help the worlds poor, in the form of the miniscule debt relief.

With the tally of US war dead now at 1,841 and climbing, and thousands more wounded, Bush continues his attempt to con the US people by linking the Iraqi rebellion with the September 11th attacks.

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced yesterday an increase in payrolls by 146,000 for the month of June and a slight drop in the unemployment rate, the big media praised the growing economy. Unfortunately, robust job growth simply hasn’t returned to the US economy.

In recent weeks President Bush has given several speeches promoting Turkey as the type of democracy that Iraq and Afghanistan should strive to emulate. Mr. Bush even went so far as to state, “Turkey’s democracy is an important example for the people in the broader Middle East.” Turkey is far less repressive than many other Muslim countries. But it is a nation with such serious problems that it should not serve as a role model, even for fledgling Islamic democracies.

his past Sunday, July 3, represented a stunning indictment by Mexican citizens on how little President Vicente Fox’s government had progressed after five years in office, as the state of Mexico’s voters went to the polls to elect a Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) governor, Enrique Peña Nieto. Fox’s National Action Party’s (PAN) candidate, Rubén Mendoza Ayala, suffered a humiliating defeat in receiving an estimated 25 percent of the ballot, while Peña Nieto, won decisively with 47 percent.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush said that the U.S. will continue to deploy U.S. forces in Iraq, while admitting that activities in Iraq are difficult and dangerous.

President Bush’s Social Security privatization plan isn’t just aimed at retirees. Millions of beneficiaries of the program are the surviving family members of workers who are disabled or die before they reach retirement age. From the outset, Bush’s plans calls for deep cuts in survivors’ benefits in order to pay for his risky scheme.

Since the resignation announcement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, various reporters and pundits have concluded that whomever President Bush nominates will win confirmation. Last week, a reporter for The Washington Post told listeners of National Public Radio that since Republicans control the Senate, Mr. Bush’s nomination would be essentially guaranteed. However, if history is any indication, this is far from certain.

On July 11, nineteen-year-old Chicagoan Jennifer Suh and Trinidadian citizen Allison St. Brice, Suh’s 20-year-old Amherst College classmate, will board a yellow school bus on a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba – a criminal act under current US law.

The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) called on all friendly parliaments to exert pressure on the Israeli government and its parliament (the Knesset) to cease the construction of the Apartheid Wall, at the same times as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the acceleration of construction to wall off Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian population centers.

The Communist Party, USA condemns the series of bomb attacks today in London. We condemn all terrorist acts targeting civilians with violence, whether conducted by individuals, governments or groups.

"Are we going to repeat what happened in Rwanda?" asked UN Secretary-General Annan in a recent BCC documentary (July 3, 2005). Annan posed the question again: "Is [Darfur] going to be another Rwanda?" Asked about how history "would judge the international response [to Darfur]," Annan said: "Quite likely that we were slow, hesitant, uncaring, and that we have learned nothing from Rwanda."

It is probably safe to assume that few Americans know or care about their nation’s history of atrocities in Latin America. They neither know nor care about the death squads in Guatemala and El Salvador that were trained, funded, and equipped by the U.S., and which tortured and murdered thousands of alleged "communists and terrorists."

I am obliged to begin my speech by making an ascertation. The Cypriot parliament, in respecting the commitments undertaken in relation to the ratification date of the Treaty, has moved forward in an orderly way on the procedure despite the many important developments on the Constitutional Treaty.