World

On last Tuesday, 13 December, two Senegalese street vendors, Samb Modou and Diop Mor, became the most recent victims of fascism on the streets of Europe. They were shot by a right-wing extremist, Gianluca Casseri, at the local market of Piazza Dalmazia in Florence, targeted simply because of the colour of their skin. Three more of their Senegalese compatriots were gravely wounded in a killing spree which continued in the popular tourist market of San Lorenzo close to the Duomo in the city centre.

Amnesty International today urged states to act on a UN report confirming that Syrian security forces committed crimes against humanity during their violent crackdown on demonstrators this year.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry’s report, released in Geneva yesterday, called on the Government of Syria to launch “independent and impartial investigations of these violations and to bring perpetrators to justice”.

Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy has spent the past week in Gaza, and has been writing about his experiences for Politico. Read his account of days one and two here and here, and of the final two days of his trip below.

Day two of Paul Murphy's trip to Gaza. Find his account of day one here.

The vigorous protests in Tahrir Square against Egypt's interim military rulers express the serious concerns of many Egyptians over the process of post-authoritarian change. Alina Rocha Menocal maps the problems of democratic transition and suggests how they can be overcome.

Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy arrived in Gaza yesterday as part of a delegation of parliamentarians and others to view the effect the Israeli siege is having on life there. We'll be publishing daily updates on his trip over the coming week.

Day 1: Finally in Gaza!

There is a nasty underbelly to Greece's new 'national unity' government in the form of the three junior ministers and one minister from the ultra-right-wing LAOS party. By Yanis Varoufakis.

Norman Finkelstein is one of the world's foremost scholars on the Israel-Palestine conflict. He is the author of, most recently, Beyond Chutzpah, which systematically documents the realities of Israel's human rights record, and This Time We Went Too Far, an analysis of Israel's assault on Gaza in 2008-9.

Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy has released a statement describing his experience of imprisonment in Ramla’s Givon prison. Murphy was one of the crew on the Freedom Waves flotilla intercepted in international waters by Israeli security forces on 4 November as it sought to breach the naval blockade of Gaza. He was imprisoned for 7 days by the Israeli authorities after the flotilla was intercepted and redirected to the port of Ashdod.

Seven Irish human rights activists due home in Ireland from Israel this afternoon were prevented from boarding their flight out of Ben Gurion airport this morning by Israeli armed guards. The activists had been detained by Israeli authorities after their ship, the MV Saoirse, which was sailing with the Freedom Waves flotilla, was intercepted by Israeli soldiers on 4 November as it sought to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.