Lead story

Egypt turning away from US?

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

The Egyptian army is continuing its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood with waves of arrests across Egypt. General Sisi’s government has proclaimed a state of emergency and Cairo and many other cities are now under a dusk to dawn curfew. And much to the relief of the Syrians the “interim” government has closed the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood office in Cairo and ordered these supporters of the Nato-backed rebels to leave the country.

Read the full story here >> [ Egypt turning away from US? ]

Green MP arrested as Balcombe fracking protests grow

CAROLINE Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton, was arrested last weekend at Balcombe during mass protests against explorative drilling by the energy firm Cuadrilla which is seeking deposits of shale gas with a prospect of using the controversial fracking technique to extract the gas.

Read the full story here >> [ Green MP arrested as Balcombe fracking protests grow ]

Editorial

Lobbying Bill: An outrageous attack on freedom of speech

THE TUC has rightly condemned proposed legislation that purports to curb payola lobbying that could easily be used to ban national demonstrations and block any union’s political campaigns. The Con-Dem Coalition’s proposed new law will restrict the campaigning activities of trade unions and other groups in the 12 months before a general election which could even and even criminalise next year’s TUC Congress.

Read the full story here >> [ Lobbying Bill: An outrageous attack on freedom of speech ]