In the early hours of Sunday 3 May, Venezuelan police and armed forces foiled an attempt by armed men to disembark in Macuto, La Guaira, 35km from the capital Caracas. In the ensuing clashes eight mercenaries were killed and weapons were seized, both from speedboats and stored on land. According to the authorities, the attack had the aim of kidnapping Venezuelan officials and sparking a military coup.

We are delighted to announce that Alan Woods' article, 'Beethoven: man, composer and revolutionary' has been published in Kurdish as a pamphlet by a literary and artistic organisation named "Nova Group".