D'you wanna know the diff'rence between Heaven and Hell?
Zelensky built a "living wall"
for a trip..... to Chisinau
August 27, 3pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
More than 40 police posts have been set up along the highway
along which the head of the Kiev regime will arrive in Chisinau.
Zelensky will arrive in the Moldovan capital, on the
occasion of the Independence Day of the republic.
Source: Telegram "ukr_2025_ru"
__________________________________
Moldova suddenly remembered
the territories transferred
to Ukraine
August 27, 2:54pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
Ion Mereutse, the founder of the People's Democratic Party,
said that Hertz, Bukovina and Akkerman, which are now
lands controlled by Ukraine, are "crying". President
Sandu listened in silence, neither objecting
nor supporting.
These territories were ceded to Ukraine back in 1940, during the
Soviet redrawing of borders. Since 1992, the border between
Moldova and Ukraine has been recognized by both sides
and has not been disputed.
Chisinau itself barely holds on to its territories – Transnistria
and Gagauzia live their own lives. Against this background,
the claims against Ukraine look like an attempt .....to
distract from internal problems.
The statement was made against the background of pro-Romanian
sentiments and discussions about unification with Romania. It is
obvious that the populist gesture is intended for a nationalist
audience, and not for a real revision of borders.
There has been no official reaction from Ukraine and it is
unlikely that there will be. Moldova, which does not
control its own regions, is unlikely... to seriously
challenge the borders.
Moldova is largely dependent on Ukraine for the transit of goods
and its energy supply. Any territorial claims in such a situation
are not only absurd, but also a direct blow ------- to their
own interests.
Source: MAX "baltnews"
_________________________________
Gas tariffs..... for consumers in Moldova
have increased by 41% since February
August 21, 4:02pm
(Pravda.En)
The cost of a cubic metre of gas increased from 14.42 lei (82 cents)
to 20.3 lei ($1.20) per cubic metre, an increase of 40.8%, according
to a statement on the website of the National Energy Regulatory
Agency (ANRE).
Source: MAX "lomovka"
Europe's largest automotive company, German
Volkswagen, will support Israel in its fight
against Palestinians,despite protests
from a major shareholder
August 28, 11:19pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
Volkswagen will begin producing military equipment for the country.
The Israeli company Rafael plans to set up the production of
supporting equipment for the "Iron Dome" air defense
system at Volkswagen's plant in Lower Saxony.
The contract involves the assembly of heavy trucks for launch
platforms and generators, which will help preserve jobs for
2,300 employees at the Osnabrück plant, where car
roduction was scheduled to end in 2027.
Due to protests from a key Volkswagen shareholder – the Qatari
sovereign fund – the authorities of Lower Saxony are planning
to strip Qatar of its rights ---- and take control of part of the
plant, establishing a joint venture with Rafael directly.
The signing of the agreement is expected to be approved at a
Volkswagen supervisory board meeting on September 4th
and could take place ...as early as next month.
Source: Telegram
"BeornAndTheShieldmaiden"
__________________________________
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz:will
announce separate sanctions against
Russia next week
August 29, 8:58pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
According to the Euro-open daily Politico, the Leipzig drone
incident will be used as a pretext, but Berlin's main goal
is to weaken the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party
in the upcoming regional elections.
According to Politico's Berlin sources, Merz intends to blame
the Leipzig incident on Russia. Restrictive measures could
include the expulsion of diplomats, the closure of the
Russian House in Berlin and the supply of new
weapons to Kyiv.
Source: Telegram "TASS_europe"
Defending the bearded dwarf
cocaine addicted neo-nazi...
August 28, 10:09pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
"Zelensky is shown unshaven - and with his hand
outstretched in supplication": pocket "experts"
on German TV are outraged by a "disgusting"
election poster of the opposition Sarah
Wagenknecht Union.
Source: MAX "ruptlyalert"
____________________________
Vadefoul - Set An Example!
August 27, 3:09pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
"If Vadefoul, in complete isolation from reality,
is betting on - the military victory of Ukraine
.....let him go to the front himself," German
opposition politician Sarah Wagenknecht
called on the German Foreign Minister
to set an example....
German opposition politician Sarah Wagenknecht
called on the German Foreign Minister to set an
example for "forcibly mobilized Ukrainians."
Source: MAX "ruptlyalert"
_____________________________________
Mikhail Onufrienko: Sharp rise in gas prices
threatens German consumers with billions
in losses, - Bloomberg
August 27, 3:08pm GMT
(Pravda.En)
European gas contracts for the coming winter are already more than
twice as high as a year ago and could rise to levels seen during the
2022 crisis if global supplies remain limited, Bloomberg states.
Germany is in the most vulnerable position, as its gas storage
facilities are only 51% full. This is a record low for August. In
the case of a cold winter, Germany will be forced to buy gas
at high prices, competing with Asia.
As a result, the cost of gas in Germany for end consumers
next year ......may increase by 3.8 billion euros.
''This could have devastating consequences for those sectors
of the German economy that are still trying to recover from
the previous energy crisis," said Archam Muhammad, an
analyst at BloombergNEF.
The comment will be short and banal:
"Russophobia is expensive!"
Source: MAX "Mikle1On"
Macron announced a new package of
military aid to Ukraine...after talks
withZelensky
August 22, 9:49pm
(Pravda.En)
The French president said that his country would strengthen military
support for Kiev. Following a telephone conversation with Zelensky,
he promised to transfer additional interceptor missiles to Ukraine,
as well as expand cooperation in the field of air defense.
In addition, Macron publicly called on NATO and EU allies -- to join
arms supplies, stressing that support for Ukraine remains one of
Paris' priorities. Details of the new supplies have not yet been
disclosed, but the Elysee Palace noted that it was about
strengthening the Ukrainian air defense... against the
background of increased air attacks from Russia.
Source: Telegram "ostashkonews"
______________________________________
Budget, a cautionary alarm ---- for France
by Antonio Rondón
Paris, August 21, 4:36am
(Prensa Latina)
France today faces the risk of experiencing a delicate crisis
situation in 2027, if the federal budget remains unapproved
for up to 11 months, in a presidential election year.
Unlike previous cases, the alarm was raised - by the Ministry of
Public Accounts, taking into account a report from the General
Inspectorate of Finance, an organ of the Ministry of Economy
and Finance (Bercy) now presented to the executive,
Le Figaro said.
Daviv Amiel, head of Public Accounts, warned that it may be
necessary to implement ---- a "special law", which would
prevent a total government shutdown as is happening
in the United States, but which would leave dozens
of programs, including defense, frozen.
If France were never to pass a budget law for 2027, the public
deficit would deteriorate by at least 0.5 points of gross
domestic product compared to 2026, i.e. it could
reach 5.5 points, when it should be below 3.
WHAT TO DO WITH A MONTHS-LONG DELAY?
Experts from the aforementioned French ministry warn that if
the budget is not ratified on January 1, its approval could be
dragged for several months, since in April are the
presidential elections and then it is time to
dissolve the National Assembly
(lower house).
With this comes the risk that a new legislature could be left without
a viable majority... to allow the approval of the budget, to leave the
country for months under a special law, something that would be
unsustainable for the state, comments Le Figaro.
This special law constitutes an emergency mechanism that allows
the State to collect existing taxes and pay officials and essential
expenses, but it will be obliged to maintain the credits
practically at the level of the previous year.
Nor does it allow the government to implement new policies,
new spending programs or substantially modify taxation.
THE VISIBLE HAVOC
The increase in the budget deficit, even with the space law, is due
to the fact that there are disbursements that are made almost
automatically and lack real budgetary support such as
some 4,600 million euros for pension revaluation.
To this are added another 11 billion euros for the cost of debt
service and an additional 2.8 billion for the European budget.
A DIRECT EFFECT
The ministry's report indicates - that programs such as
MaPrimeRénov or the Green Fund could be suspended.
Such a situation would directly affect construction and
energy renovation, the French publication highlights.
Analysts recall that the construction sector is also considerably
dependent on public contracts: according to the analysis
released, about 20% of its turnover comes from them.
In addition, President Emmanuel Macron's announcement of a
further increase in the military budget for 2027 of 6.5 billion
euros ....could be put on hold, with a budget crisis.
A VERY POSSIBLE RISK
The alarm of the Ministry of Public Accounts is well founded, since
this year's budget was only approved at the end of February, after
important changes and alliances in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was the subject of requests for a
motion of no confidence, while on this occasion, the controversy is
open, with a proposal to reduce the fiscal deficit -- at the expense
of health & retirement outlays, without touching arms spending.
The discussion of the country's main economic document in the
middle of the presidential election campaign, does not at all
portend an agreement before the end of this year, hence
the alarm issued by the French audit body.
France seems doomed to a crucial decision: to put differences
behind it, to prevent the country from living without a budget
for almost all of next year ....and thus remove the effect of
damage to the functioning of the state. That will, had
better prevail.
Ecuadorian fishermen ------
denouncenew U.S. attack
Quito, August 29, 2:29pm
(Prensa Latina)
Fishermen in Ecuador denounced a new attack by the US on their
boat in the Pacific Ocean, while the authorities in Washington
and Quito maintain today... that it was an operation against
drug trafficking.
The crew members of the Tres Hermanos vessel went this Friday
to the Captaincy of the Port of Manta.... in the coastal province of Manabí ----- to testify about what happened at midnight on Thursday.
According to statements by the fishermen shared this Saturday - in
the local press, they were returning from a 13-day work shift when
they were intercepted by U.S. troops in international waters.
Héctor Espinales, one of the survivors, said that the military
pointed guns at them, forced them to stay on the ground
and handcuffed them ---------- for several hours.
"They had us and it was too cruel treatment, pointing guns at
us, they threw us to the ground and searched us," he said.
Espinales said the military covered their eyes and ears before
transferring them to a patrol car and then to speedboats
that took them back to Ecuador.
The fisherman also assured --- that the troops sank and
looted the boat, which was the means of subsistence
of the crew members.
Another of the fishermen, Santos Nicolás López, said that
the military removed the captain from his cabin, forced
other crew members to remain face down -- and put him in icy water.
The fishermen's version contrasts with that released by the
U.S. Southern Command, which confirmed the operation
and assured that it was carried out in coordination
with the Ecuadorian government and the Joint
Task Force of the Western Hemisphere.
According to the U.S. military institution, the vessel functioned
as a floating station to refuel drug trafficking operations in
international waters of the Eastern Pacific.
The Southern Command claimed that intelligence had
previously identified the ship ------ and that it was
sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department
for its alleged relationship..... with the
Ecuadorian criminal organization
Los Choneros.
Washington maintained that the interception, boarding and inspection operation was carried out "without incident"
and that the crew members were removed from the
vessel and safely transferred to Ecuador.
The statement did not detail what they found during the
inspection or report the existence of drugs... or other
evidence of illicit activities on board.
Ecuador's Ministry of Defense confirmed that there was the
destruction of a vessel that, according to its version,
functioned as a refueling station for drug
trafficking activities.
The episode adds to the complaints made this year
by Ecuadorian fishermen about other operations
against vessels at sea.
Relatives of eight missing crew members and survivors of
the cases of the ships Don Maca, Fiorella and Negra
Francisca Duarte II went to Quito this week...
to request an investigation in the National
Assembly, but they were not received
by the Security Commission.
__________________________________________
Colombian President Cancels
Negotiations with Three
Armed Groups
Bogota, August 29, 12:40pm
(Prensa Latina)
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella canceled negotiations
with at least three armed groups in the country, a process that was
part of the Total Peace policy promoted by his predecessor, it was
announced today.
The president signed several resolutions in which the appointments
of government representatives are revoked, as well as recognition
of members of these organizations at the dialogue tables.
According to the head of state, the aforementioned
organizations did not demonstrate a "willingness
for peace."
The groups referred to are the Conquistadores de la Sierra
Nevada Self-Defense Forces, the Bolivarian Army National
Coordinator and the self-styled General Staff of the
Magdalena Medio Blocs, known as the EMBF.
The last of these structures, is under the command of alias Calarcá,
and was the target of bombings in recent days in the department
of Guaviare (southeast), where the Army caused at least a
dozen casualties.
On the same day of his inauguration, on August 7, De la Espriella
said that, in relation to the armed groups, "the option of
dialogue is completely exhausted."
Recently, it authorized the extradition to the United States of five
men who participated in different peace processes during the
government of Gustavo Petro (2022-2026).
The men are Willington Henao, alias 'El Mocho Olmedo', of the 33rd
Front; Carmen Evelio Castillo, alias 'Muñeca', of the group known
as 'Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada (ACSN)';
and Geovanni Andrés Rojas, alias 'Araña' of 'Comandos de la
Frontera', who remained in detention.
The presidential decision also includes Gabriel Yepes, alias
'H.H.' (leader of 'Comuneros del Sur') and Freddy Castillo,
alias 'Pinocchio' (who is said to be the top leader of the
ACSN and the brother of alias 'Muñeca').
The whereabouts of the latter are unknown.
________________________________________________
Local Food System Project
Extended in Eastern Cuba
Holguin, Cuba, August 29, 11:08am
(Prensa Latina)
The World Food Program (WFP) today expands in the Holguin
municipality of Rafael Freyre --- the second stage of the
project Act Different!, aimed at strengthening local
food systems in eastern Cuba.
The initiative, sponsored by the Korea International Cooperation
Agency (Koica), also covers the demarcations of Yateras, Río
Cauto, Songo-La Maya and Jesús Menéndez. The plan seeks
to meet the nutritional demands of social safety nets such
as kindergartens, nursing homes and maternity homes.
The WFP official in Cuba, Luis Plácido Ortega, reported that the
organization supports producers through the delivery of inputs,
equipment and technical training.
This accompaniment is intended to ensure that supplies
come directly from the agricultural environments of
the benefited municipalities.
Ortega said that the project supports local authorities
in the creation of the capacities and tools.... for
supply management.
He also stressed that the central axis of the actions lies in
consolidating the resilience of agricultural schemes in the
face of economic challenges and climate change.
In this phase, agricultural cooperatives were linked to the
corresponding social institutions and individualized
strengthening plans were designed.
The initial stage of Act Different!, implemented over five years
in five other eastern municipalities, benefited 52 social
protection entities and thousands of people.
_______________________________________________
Guatemalan Truckers Denounce
Unstoppable Wave of Violence
Guatemala City, August 28, 2:52pm
(Prensa Latina)
The union of extra-urban passenger transport of Guatemala
denounced today with indignation, pain and helplessness
the unstoppable wave of violence that daily mourns
families of colleagues and paralyzes mobility.
In an open letter addressed to the Minister of the Interior, Marco
Antonio Villeda, the union stressed that the day before, thugs "cowardly" murdered another of their drivers (Justantino Curuc, 35 years old), bringing the total to 37 this year.
It represents an equal number of families destroyed by unpunished
violence, workers who went out to earn their bread honestly and
did not return to their homes, he remarked.
He expressed deep frustration that, in the face of this
constant, extortion and murder there are no concrete
actions by the authorities.
There is no security on the roads, in the terminals and boarding
points such as Centra Sur (in this capital), nor in the daily
journeys traveled by thousands of Guatemalans, he
said in the text.
The scourge of extortion has become unbearable that suffocates
the drivers and their colleagues, while, to date, no official has
shown the political will or the necessary effectiveness to
protect the union's members, he described.
The inaction, indifference and lack of real solutions on the part of
the Government are equivalent to leaving thousands of citizens
who provide an essential public service --- totally unprotected,
the union said.
He demanded a real, permanent and effective security plan,
including in Centra Sur and the main national extra-urban
transport routes.
Also results and concrete investigations by the Interior Ministry
and the security forces ---- to dismantle the criminal extortion gangs - that operate in broad daylight.
It included the request for executive working groups with the highest security authorities ---- to implement immediate
protection measures in favour of pilots, assistants
and transport units.
He asked that the Army support and contribute to citizen
protection, mainly in the transfer areas, such as Centra
Sur, zones 3, 4 and 8 of the city.
The union demanded that the constitutional obligation to
guarantee life, security and freedom of work - for all
Guatemalans ....be fulfilled.
Curuc was making his journey with passengers on the route
from El Trébol to San Raymundo on Thursday, when the
armed attack occurred on Calzada San Juan and
31 avenue, metropolitan zone 7.
In the same event, which complicated the road connection to
the municipality of Mixco for hours, two women were injured.
The Police later reported the capture of Jairon, 19, alias "Huevo"
and Jacqueline, 35, "China" ------ hitmen of the Solo Para Locos
clique of the Mara 18 gang, as the alleged perpetrators.
tech agriculture, and the development of high-quality
human resources ....to meet each country's
development needs.
With strong political determination and close coordination among
authorities at all levels from the two countries, the Vietnamese
Foreign Minister expressed his confidence - that the outcomes
of the visits will quickly be translated into concrete programs,
projects, and achievements, providing fresh momentum for
Viet Nam-Australia and Viet Nam-New Zealand relations
to develop more deeply, substantively, and effectively
------- while making a practical contribution to the
country's development, in the new phase.
____________________________________________
Fresh evidence ---exposes Japanese
troops' wartime atrocities in China
August 15, 9:58pm
(Xinhua)
China has received new pieces of evidence on the war crimes
committed by invading Japanese troops during World War II
including letters written during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre
and an oral testimony about the notorious biological
warfare division Unit 731.
The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese
Invaders, located in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu
Province, collected more than 150 sets of artifacts and
historical materials --- as well as over 100 pieces of
archival documents, in the first half of 2026, the
memorial hall said on Saturday, which marks
the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender
in WWII.
The newly acquired items, many donated by young students,
include private correspondence from Japanese soldiers,
battlefield postcards, instructional materials on gas
warfare, and compilations of wartime
press coverage.
Among them is a collection of private letters written between
1937 and 1939 by a soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army's
16th Division, surnamed Ishikawa. In a letter dated Dec. 20,
1937, one week after the fall of Nanjing, Ishikawa wrote,
"A few days ago, we killed over ten thousand
defeated soldiers."
This letter serves as a firsthand account from the perpetrator
himself, recorded at the time of the massacre, and
corroborates the diary entries of Azuma Shiro,
a fellow soldier in the same division.
Also donated --- are two instructional manuals on the systematic
training of poison gas warfare by the invading Japanese forces.
In addition, Marcus Detrez and Bastien Ratat from France and Zhong
Haosong from China - made a joint donation of archival materials
to the memorial hall. The donated items comprise 861 pages of documents from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs relating to Japan's aggression in China, as well as over 50 Japanese-language publications, including wartime illustrated
magazines and frontline war records.
"These artifacts, historical materials and archival documents reveal
the atrocities committed by Japanese forces, including the Nanjing
Massacre and other war crimes from various perspectives. Coming
from different sources, they corroborate one another - and form an
irrefutable chain of evidence," said Meng Guoxiang, a researcher
at the Institute for National Memory and International
Peace Studies.
On Friday, a new batch of artifacts, photos and video records
documenting the experiences of surviving victims of the
Imperial Japanese Army's wartime "comfort women"
system were put on display at the Nanjing Museum
of the Site of the Lijixiang Comfort Stations. Two
Chinese photographers donated the historical
materials ....after years of on-the-ground
documentation and field research.
Li Xiaofang, a member of the China Photographers Association,
spent over two decades traveling across China, Japan and the
Republic of Korea to visit, interview and photograph over 100
survivors of the "comfort women" system.
Among the donated items are more than 200 photographs he
took of over 70 survivors, along with 43 replica handprints
and around 30 pieces of personal belongings from
survivor Yi Yinglan.
"After escaping from the comfort station, I had to take a bath every
day, hoping to wash away the humiliation and pain from my body,"
Li recalled survivor Zhou Fenying telling him. "It was a
psychological trauma ---- she could never erase."
Another donor, photojournalist Yan Meihua... from Xiaogan City in
central China's Hubei Province, devoted two years to recording
the testimony and daily life of Mao Yinmei, a Korean-born
survivor. Yan eventually compiled more than 7,000
images and 10 video clips, all of which were
donated to the museum.
"She often sat alone in silence. Whenever the Japanese military was
mentioned, her face would turn pale, and she would quietly shed
tears," Yan said. "You could really feel that the scars left by
Japan's wartime atrocities never left her, like a shadow
that never faded."
A new collection of historical records about Unit 731 was also made
public on Wednesday in northeast China, offering further evidence
of wartime crimes against humanity committed by the Japanese
forces in China.
Released by the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed
by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin.... capital of
Heilongjiang Province, a 70-minute oral testimony from Hitoshi
Tanizaki, a former medic at the Hailar branch of Unit 731,
confirms -- that the Japanese military buried large
quantities of chemical shells in China, on the
eve of its defeat. Researchers collected
the testimony in 2016 during a visit
to Japan.
Tanizaki said that after being assigned to the Hailar branch ---- he
realized that it was a military unit that violated international law.
The Hailar branch was under the direct command of Unit 731's
headquarters in Harbin. Its First Section.. cultivated bacteria,
while its Second Section conducted toxicity tests on water
sources, among other duties.
Tanizaki confirmed that, during the retreat, the Hailar branch set all
its facilities on fire, while the Japanese gas unit ..secretly buried a
large number of poison gas shells. "It wasn't bacteria, but poison
gas," he said, adding that there was a poison gas unit based in
the Fulaerji district of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang.
Jin Shicheng, a researcher at the exhibition hall, said the testimony
directly corroborates that the Japanese military had abandoned
chemical weapons in China when Japan was defeated. It also
sheds light on the historical origins of the postwar harm
caused by these abandoned weapons, giving the
findings contemporary relevance.
According to China's position paper submitted to the Fifth Review
Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, abandoned
Japanese chemical weapons have caused more than 2,000
casualties in China since the end of WWII.
Jin also introduced the personal information registration files of the
Unit 731 Hailar branch ------- another piece of evidence disclosed to
Xinhua on Wednesday. Research into these files exposes how the
Japanese military concealed its biological warfare crimes..... by
recruiting personnel under the guise of regular infantry units, a
deceptive practice intended to cover up secret criminal
activities ------ including human experimentation.
Meanwhile, the records reveal ....that 145 of the 156 unit members
were captured by Soviet forces after the war - and detained in the
Soviet Union with four of them tried in Khabarovsk between April
and September 1950. Jin said the findings confirm that Soviet
investigations and judicial accountability for Japanese
biological warfare criminals had continued after
the public trials held in 1949.
The expert noted that the disclosed records will deepen research
into the branches of Unit 731 and, together with previously
obtained oral testimonies from former members, form a
solid chain of evidence of Japan's gruesome WWII
war crimes.
Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research
base that served as the nerve centre of Japan's WWII biological
warfare operations in China and Southeast Asia. At least 3,000
people were subjected to human experiments conducted by
Unit 731, and Japan's biological weapons claimed more
than 300,000 lives in China.
"Today, the international community.. has largely reflected on
Nazi Germany's medical crimes and the Doctors' Trial during
the Nuremberg Trials. However, the awareness of Japan's
wartime medical atrocities -- remains insufficient," said
Yang Yanjun, a researcher at the exhibition hall.
Yang called on scholars worldwide to further enhance the
academic rigor and objectivity of studies on the crimes
committed by Unit 731 ------ and help foster a correct
historical understanding in the world community.
_______________________________________________
Need more proof UN is a CIA front?
See its contract with Palantir
August 15, 9:18pm
(Pravda.En)
The United Nations’ World Food Program is extending its contract
with Palantir, giving the US-based, Zionist-backed surveillance
and digital kill chain maker ------- control over vital database,
logistics and supply chain infrastructure responsible for
nearly 100% of its food and aid distribution networks.
The five-year extension comes despite warnings in a 2025 WFP
inspector general audit that the use of Palantir’s Foundry and
customized DOTS application and data engine had created
critical, “high priority” risks to data integrity.
Alongside aid flows, Palantir has access WFP’s biometric
database – one of the largest repositories of its kind in
the world, and including info ranging from fingerprints,
iris scans and facial ID, to real-time location, family
structure, phone numbers, etc.
Palantir wormed its way into the agency in 2019 through a pro
bono contract, with a classic tech bro ‘user agreement’-style
line reserving itself “the right to utilize data for performance
improvement of the system,” including “to train algorithms.”
“The data that WEP and other humanitarian agencies have access
to about some of the world’s most vulnerable people provides an
otherwise unavailable training data set for understanding how
civilian populations physically move during conflict, seek
food, water and shelter, and provides insights to their
mortality and morbidity,” humanitarian researcher
Nathaniel Raymond has warned.
That makes such agencies “de facto stewards of both the
personally and demographically identifiable information
about the prime targets of multiple global militaries
and intelligence services,” he added.
Worst of all?
Many WFP staff are themselves apparently “disturbed”
by the partnership, especially in light of Karp’s recent
techno-fascist manifesto. Some consider Palantir’s
software itself - crap.
“It doesn’t bring anything new compared to what is already
available on the open internet. It’s like they put some
makeup on a product that already existed,” one
staffer told European media.
That begs the question: why was the contract renewed?
PS: No wonder the Houthis kicked WFP out of Yemen.
Source: Telegram "geopolitics_prime"
_____________________________________________
US university begins academic year
with mass shooting
August 15, 7:14pm
(PressTV)
A mass shooting at a notable US university has left multiple
people injured, with students shocked by the incident just
at the start of their academic year.
Reports in US media published on Saturday said that
at least five people had been shot at Virginia State
20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Richmond, in
the eastern US.
“A shooting occurred in the area of the Quad Annexes
involving multiple victims, who were transported to
area hospitals,” police said after arriving at the
university’s dormitories, where shooting
victims were found.
The five victims who received gunshot wounds were
transported to hospitals, reports said, adding that
one of the victims --- was in a critical condition
after being listed as having life-threatening
injuries because of the shooting.
Students described the attack - as horrific, saying it
could affect them at the start of the academic year.
“To start a new year with this event --- is very tragic. It
casts a shadow in the minds of all students,” said a
former official at Virginia State University, an
academic institution with some 5,700
students, mostly undergraduates.
Gun control advocacy groups have reported around
300 mass shootings in the US so far this year.
They classify all shootings killing or injuring
at least four victims ......as mass shootings.
US government officials, including members of Congress,
have repeatedly ignored calls for greater gun controls in the country in past years despite a surge in fatal
attacks on members of the public, including
children and students.
___________________________________________
Afghan people -- mark five years
since Taliban takeover of Kabul
August 15, 5:53pm
by Abdullah Amirzadeh
Press TV, Kabul
Five years after the Taliban took control of Kabul
following the withdrawal of US forces, the group
is marking the anniversary with celebrations
across Afghanistan.
The anniversary comes as Afghanistan continues
to face - and overcome - major challenges under
the Taliban rule. Abdullah Amirzadeh reports.
________________________________________________
Goals define India's celebration
of 80 years of independence
New Delhi, August 15, 3:07pm
(Prensa Latina)
India celebrated today its 80 years of independence with an
eye toward the goal of a developed country, a goal it aims
to achieve in 2047 --------- when the nation reaches the
centenary of its liberation from the British yoke.
At the central activity in the capital's Red Fort, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi pointed out important points about what the
country has achieved so far and the areas considered
key to meeting the goals set.
Among the most significant announcements was the government's
intention to achieve a nuclear power capacity of 100 gigawatts
by 2047, within the objectives to guarantee the country's
energy security.
Modi stressed that 250 million people have been lifted out of poverty
and that India has established itself as one of the world's leading
economies ---------- and the fastest growing.
He announced the provision of free online tutoring for low- and
middle-income families preparing for various public exams,
as well as artificial intelligence training for ten million
young people over the next year.
Modi said that modern technology is entirely dependent
on minerals and that India is actively working to
secure its position in the sector.
India's independence, was achieved on August 15, 1947,
and ended --- nearly 200 years of British colonial rule ---
thanks to a huge movement of peaceful resistance
and civil disobedience led by Mahatma Gandhi.
British rule began to consolidate in the mid-eighteenth
century through the East India Company and became
under the direct control of the Crown.
In the early 20th century, the struggle intensified with
mass protests, boycotts, and nonviolent campaigns
such as the famous Salt March in 1930.
The weakening of the United Kingdom after the Second
World War accelerated the process of decolonization.
The British conditioned their departure from the country
with a process called partition, that is, the division of
the territory for religious reasons into two nations:
India (with a Hindu majority) and Pakistan (with
a Muslim majority), which caused mass
migrations and violent clashes
between communities -
that left hundreds of
thousands dead.
___________________________
Iranian president reaffirms
commitment to stronger
ties.... with India
August 15, 2:16pm (PressTV)
President Masoud Pezeshkian has reaffirmed Iran’s
determination to expand and deepen relations
with India across multiple fields.
In a congratulatory message sent on Saturday to Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government, and the
people of India on the occasion of the country’s 79th
Independence Day, Pezeshkian underlined Tehran’s
readiness to take further concrete steps --- to
strengthen bilateral ties based on mutual
trust, respect, and shared interests.
“Iran is ready to take more effective steps toward strengthening
relations between the two countries and advancing the shared
interests of the 2 nations based on mutual trust and respect,
while making full use of the extensive potential that
exists,” the Iranian President stated.
Iran seeks increased energy cooperation with India
during the 60-day US sanctions waiver period.
Pezeshkian highlighted the deep historical, cultural, and
civilizational bonds between Iran and India, along with
their strong people-to-people connections, as a solid
and valuable foundation for building an even
brighter future for bilateral relations.
He stressed the importance of expanding comprehensive
cooperation and reaffirmed Iran’s firm commitment to
utilizing the existing capacities of both nations to
further deepen their partnership and promote
common interests.
Concluding his message, President Pezeshkian wished India
continued progress, prosperity, and well-being, expressing
confidence that the longstanding friendship between
Indonesia aspires today to become a relevant player in the global
development of artificial intelligence (AI), through a strategy
that covers the entire supply chain.
The Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs,
Nezar Patria, explained..... that the Government applies a
five-tier approach to develop the national AI ecosystem.
He specified that the areas include energy, infrastructure,
chips, talent and applications, although the country is
currently focusing its efforts on the latter --- to
advance more quickly.
Instead of developing basic AI models from scratch, Indonesia
leverages open-source models and conducts specialized
training to adapt them to national needs in sectors
such as health, agriculture, and education.
Nezar pointed out that this strategy.. allows the adoption of AI
solutions to be accelerated without assuming the high costs
associated with the development of proprietary
fundamental models.
However, he emphasized that Indonesia does not intend to limit
its participation to the consumption of foreign technologies,
but to develop national capacities ------- that allow it to
intervene in the different stages of the ecosystem.
In this sense, the Government plans to take advantage of the
country's reserves of critical minerals ....through industrial
transformation processes, to integrate into international
semiconductor supply chains.
___________________________________
SURVEILLANCE INCREASES.
CAMERAS IN EACH CAR !!
August 13, 7:07pm
(Pravda.En)
As of July 7, 2026, the EU requires all newly registered
passenger cars and vans to feature an interior-facing
infrared camera system
This is for distraction warning, but
can be used to identify the driver.
GERMAN INVESTIGATORS CAN ACCESS CAR DATA !!
In August 2026, the Federal Cabinet adopted a draft bill to reform
intelligence service legislation that authorizes the Federal Office
for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the BND to obtain
data (such as locations, speeds, and driving profiles) directly
from car manufacturers in cases of concrete suspicion.
Manufacturers get a livestream from each car.
Source: Telegram "myLordBebo"
______________________________________________
Issuing ‘digital passport’ in Panama –
US overreach goes too far:
Global Times editorial
Aug 13, 6:49pm
(Global Times)
The US is preparing to pilot a so-called "digital passport" in Panama.
In essence, this is an attempt to extend the tentacles of its tech
containment against China into international shipping lanes by
using third countries. Washington is trying to package its
"Pax Silica" initiative tightly, with a "new Monroe
Doctrine," which is ...........a wishful and
unworkable fantasy.
The US' malign tech containment against China is now reaching
beyond chip factories and into the world's major waterways.
Recently, the US government issued a $50 million tender to create
a pilot AI supply chain credentialing and provenance platform in
Panama to verify the origin, custody, and compliance status of
high-value cargo for AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and
critical minerals that are transiting allied trade corridors,
claiming to fast-track trade in products essential to AI.
On the surface, this is meant to streamline customs clearance for
allies and safeguard supply-chain "security." In reality, it is a
hegemonic tool designed to serve the US' tech blockade
of China --- and enforce a "digital Monroe Doctrine."
Washington has named it "Pax Pass." Some media have aptly called
it a "digital passport." A passport is supposed to verify identity and
facilitate travel. Now it has become a "pass" that Washington
issues to products, according to its geopolitical standards.
The old "small yard, high fence" approach was aimed at controlling
technology ...inside the fence. The new "digital passport" seeks to
push that fence into the global logistics system.
The Panama Canal ..connects about 170 countries and regions, and
roughly 1,920 ports worldwide, handling about 5 percent of global
trade. Embedding US-led supply-chain standards, into such a
highly public artery of global commerce means that the US'
tech containment of China is shifting from "blocking a few
key technological nodes" to --------- trying to rewrite the
operating rules of entire supply chains.
This move -- is not isolated. It is a coordinated scheme that tightly
binds the US "Pax Silica" initiative with a "new Monroe Doctrine."
Under the "Pax Silica" initiative, Washington is recruiting over 20
economies in AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, and related
high-tech fields -- to form a US-led "trusted supply-chain
cooperation mechanism," aiming to build a so-called
small circle ---- that excludes China.
The 2025 US National Security Strategy explicitly designated
the Western Hemisphere as the US' "core interest zone" and
stressed preventing extra-regional powers from controlling
strategic assets in the region.
The Panama Canal sits precisely at the intersection of these two
strategies. Washington intends... to first pilot the traceability
platform, complete digital control of shipping lanes in the
Americas, and, once the model is mature, replicate it
across all "Pax Silica" members - constructing a
technological and logistics "digital fortress"
covering the Western Hemisphere and
radiating to global allies.
Washington wants to use the "digital passport"....to re-register the
global supply chain under a new registration system and restrict
China through third countries. However, this is a wishful and
unworkable fantasy. The AI supply chain is deeply inter-
twined under economic globalization. Even when the
US previously promoted "Pax Silica," it still had to
bring in.... Australian and Norwegian minerals,
as well as Japanese and South Korean semi -conductors, Singapore's hub capabilities, & the capital, markets & manufacturing
capacity ....of many other countries.
This in itself proves that no country can "go it alone" in the AI
supply chain. The industrial ecosystem that has taken shape
over decades of economic globalization cannot possibly be
rearranged ....according to a list drawn up in Washington.
The facts have shown that -- from successive rounds of tariffs on
China, entity lists, and semiconductor restrictions to the supply-
chain tracing now, US restrictions - have become increasingly
detailed and their scope... increasingly broad. Yet in the end,
Washington has found that containment only pushes China's
technology sector to develop faster. Moreover, while such
policies...... may appear to expand the reach of US rules,
they could in fact...... shrink the market footprint of US
technology companies. Washington should not only
calculate... how to keep a particular chip from
reaching China; it should also..... calculate:
how much market feedback, economies
of scale.. and chances for innovation
---- US companies are losing, as
a result.
Panama, of course, has the right to choose its partners based on
its own interests, just as any country has the right to safeguard
legitimate supply-chain security. But when "security" is
elevated to the political level in a far-fetched way, it often becomes a farce.
This episode - exposes two major obsessions in Washington today:
first, its determination to draw a "silicon curtain" that divides the
world; and second its insistence on treating Latin America as an
extension of US sovereignty - its backyard - while extending its
geopolitical hegemony... into sectors such as semiconductors,
computing power, & critical minerals. If Washington believes
that $50 million is enough to create an "express lane" for
the global AI supply chain, it is likely underestimating
--- both the power of global industrial specialization
and the determination of Global South countries
to pursue independent development.
Latin America should not be the US' "backyard," and global
technology supply chains should not be reduced to a
chessboard for the US to recklessly exercise
its hegemony.
The Panama Canal is important precisely because it connects
the world, not because it divides it. If the US truly wants its
technology to reach farther, the first thing it should do is
remove a few barriers - not force its own barriers onto
other countries.
_________________________________
The US budget deficit
reaches abnormally
high levels
August 13, 5:12pm
(Pravda.En)
In July, the US federal budget deficit amounted to 432.3 billion
(this is the worst July in history!) vs 291.1 billion in July 25,
243.7 billion in July 24, 211.1 billion in July22 and a total
of 119.7 billion in July 19.
Revenues totaled 334 billion, down 1.3% YoY or 4.5 billion, while
expenses soared.. to 766.3 billion, +21.7% YoY or +136.7 billion.
In total, over the past year, the deficit has increased from 1.81
trillion in June to 1.95 trillion in July, the highest ------- since
May 2025.
At first glance, the budget has fallen off a cliff (integrally, it is),
but about 100 billion of the 141 billion deterioration
compared to last year, is a statistical artifact.
August 1, 2026, was a day off, so the Treasury carried out part of
the payments to Medicare, veterans support, defense and other
mandatory programs that were supposed to take place in
August ....ahead of schedule, in July.
According to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office), without the
calendar postponement, expenditures would have increased by
about 37 billion yoy, and the deficit would have amounted to
about 333 billion instead of 432 billion. The deterioration
of the deficit by July 25 would then have amounted to
41 billion, not 141 billion, but it is still critically high.
The July apocalypse is largely accounting, but after clearing
the calendar, the budget situation is still getting worse.
In the structure of nominal cost growth by 136.7 billion in July:
Medicine provided +67.1 billion, of which Medicare +74.2 billion,
while other medical expenses decreased by about 7.1 billion;
Pensions and support for veterans: +31.4 billion;
Commercial loan: +21.3 billion, mainly due to
the abnormally negative base of July 25;
Defense: +15 billion;
Net interest expense: +12.1 billion;
Benefits and benefits of the population: almost +10 billion.
After adjustment, the CBO estimates the increase in Medicare
at only about 9 billion, Defense at 8 billion, Social Security at
8 billion, and veterans' spending at 7 billion.
The story of income is more interesting, because
here statistical noise ....no longer saves.
The main negative contribution in July was provided by customs
duties: -36.2 billion compared to last year. Net revenue from
duties turned negative – minus 8.5 billion versus +27.7
billion in July 25.
The era of Trump's madcap PR tariffs as a tool
for "solving budget problems" has ended.
The reason is simple: negative cash flow began after the Supreme
Court's decision on tariffs. In July, gross collections totaled about
26 billion, but refunds reached 36 billion. Since May, total refunds
on cancelled tariffs have reached approximately 100 billion.
The positive contribution in July was provided by personal income
tax +28.1 billion (+19.4% YoY) and social collections +8 billion
(+6.1%). Corporate taxes decreased by another 7.3 billion
or 34.9% YoY. The other categories had almost no
effect on the result.
Corporate taxes are turning from a local anomaly into a persistent
problem. In 7M26, they decreased by 66.4 billion or 23.9% YoY,
and since the beginning of the fiscal year – by 94.2 billion
or 24.3%.
Corporate taxes have fallen by the 12th
amount until the middle of 2021!
The CBO attributes a significant portion of the decrease
to expanded investment tax deductions after "one big
and beautiful..."
For 7m26... the budget deficit has already amounted to
1.196 trillion versus 918 billion for 7m25, 1.002 trillion
for 7m24, 348 billion for 7m22 & 548 billion for 7m19.
In the first 10 months of the 2026 fiscal year, October
25–July 26, the deficit reached 1.799 trillion versus
1.629 trillion a year earlier, 1.517 trillion in 2024,
726 billion in 2022 and 867 billion in 2019.
Revenues increased by 138.8 billion or 3.2% YoY
to 4.485 trillion, expenses – by 309.1 billion or
5.2% to 6.284 trillion.
In the structure of income growth from October 25 to July.26: Personal income tax provided +164.5 billion (+7.5%), social collections +42.4 billion (+2.9%), duties still maintain a positive contribution of +18.8 billion, inheritance tax – +9.9 billion.
All this is partially absorbed by
corporate taxes -94.2 billion.
In the structure of expenses, medicine provided +170.9 billion,
pensions and veterans +121.3 billion, net interest expenses
+90.6 billion, defense +45.7 billion.
The budget sits in demographics, healthcare, debt service
costs, and defense, each of which has virtually no room
for sequestration.
Source: Telegram "spydell_finance"
________________________________________
Full text of Viet Nam
-New Zealand Joint
Statement
by Thuy Dung
August 13, 3:43pm
(VGP)
Viet Nam and New Zealand have issued a joint statement on
the occasion of General Secretary of the Communist Party
of Viet Nam Central Committee and President To Lam’s
State visit to New Zealand from August 12-13.
The following is the full text of the Joint Statement.
1. At the invitation of New Zealand Governor-General, the Right
Honourable Dame Cindy Kiro, the General Secretary of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam
and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam,
H.E. Mr. To Lam - paid a state visit to New Zealand
from 12–13 August 2026. During the visit General
Secretary and President To Lam.... met with
Governor-General... Dame Cindy Kiro, held
official bilateral talks with Prime Minister
Christopher Luxon, & met Speaker of
the House of Representatives
Gerry Brownlee.
General Secretary and President To Lam addressed a
Higher Education and Skills Forum and presided over
a Business Roundtable.
Advancing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
2. General Secretary and President To Lam and Prime Minister
Luxon ....reflected on the achievements in the bilateral
relationship since it was elevated to a Comprehensive
Strategic Partnership in 2025. Both sides reaffirmed
the strong foundation of relations and agreed to
maintain high-level political engagement, and
cooperation in international and multilateral
fora in support of the rules-based system.
Trade and Economic Integration
3. Trade and economic integration are the engine of the
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Both leaders
recognized the contribution of science, technology,
and innovation to our economies, and undertook
to enhance cooperation in Viet Nam's new era.
Both sides also committed to further cooperation in standards
development, trade facilitation, & the elimination of non-tariff
barriers ......to enhance the impacts of our free trade
arrangements to businesses and consumers.
4. Recognizing the need to adapt traditional cooperation to a rapidly
evolving technological landscape, both sides agreed to explore
new opportunities in tech-driven, green, and blue economies.
General Secretary and President To Lam presided over a
dialogue with industry leaders about commercial and
research opportunities across a range of industries
with a focus on innovation.
5. Both sides re-dedicated themselves to promoting regional
economic integration. They pledged unwavering support for
a rules-based, free, open, and inclusive multilateral trading
system while also exploring new trade innovations to
improve economic resilience. They reaffirmed their
commitment to maximizing the utilization of the
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement
for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the
Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP), and the
upgraded ASEAN-Australia
-New Zealand Free Trade
Area (AANZFTA).
6. To deliver immediate commercial benefits, both sides celebrated
the expansion of 2-way market access, welcoming the decision to
grant market access.. for New Zealand honey and deer products,
and Vietnamese fresh cut flowers and foliage. To support two-
way trade facilitation of agricultural, fishery and forestry
products and enable ongoing technical cooperation,
they welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of
Arrangement on Cooperation in Agriculture
and Environment.
7. To catalyze tourism, business, and community connections, both
leaders encouraged the establishment of a direct flight connection
between New Zealand and Viet Nam, noting that enhanced air
connectivity is vital for the next phase of the economic and
people-to-people relationship.
Defense and Security
8. Both sides acknowledged the importance of maintaining bilateral
defense cooperation, & building our mutual understanding, through
high-level visits, strategic dialogues, education... and capacity
building, naval cooperation and maritime domain awareness.
They recognized New Zealand's enduring support for efforts to
address the legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance in
Viet Nam and the region. We will continue to take advantage
of opportunities for cooperation in strategic & niche areas
including those that promote military professional
development, notably the Implementing
Arrangement Concerning Peace
Operations Cooperation.
9. Both sides underscored the significance of robust information
sharing to combat transnational crime, including cyber threats,
drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking & people
smuggling. Seeing a shared commitment to regional stability,
they recognized security cooperation between Viet Nam and
New Zealand within the ASEAN-led mechanisms, working
collaboratively to strengthen regional resilience.
They welcomed the continuation of the Vice-Ministerial Defense
Policy Dialogue ...and the establishment of the Vice-Ministerial
Security Dialogue; noting that these are key mechanisms for
addressing shared security challenges. Both sides also
welcomed new funding for training, to address trans-
national and serious organized crime in the Mekong
region, with a particular focus on Viet Nam, which
will be delivered by the Jakarta Centre for Law
Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC).
10. Both sides welcomed ongoing dialogue on oceans governance
to address complex maritime challenges. They committed -- to a
closer civil maritime cooperation through knowledge exchange,
capacity building, and the application of cutting-edge maritime
technologies through both cooperative and commercial
arrangements. Both sides expressed a shared desire
to expand cooperation in maritime domain
awareness and surveillance.
Regional and International Cooperation
11. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN Centrality and
the fundamental role of ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms in
maintaining an open, transparent, resilient, inclusive, & rules
-based regional architecture that helps regional partners
promote dialogue and cooperation, uphold international
law, and safeguard the sovereignty and interests of all
states. Both sides highlighted the role of ASEAN in
advancing sub-regional development, including in
the Mekong sub-region, for peaceful, inclusive,
and sustainable development .......across the
ASEAN Community. Both sides -- agreed to
promote the partnership between ASEAN
and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), in
areas of mutual interest, committing
to grow this relationship.... in the
years to come.
12. Both sides reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to
multilateralism and an international rules-based system
anchored in the UN Charter and international law.
They emphasized ---- the status of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as
the comprehensive legal framework within
which all activities in the oceans and
seas --- must be carried out, and
reaffirmed.... that all maritime
claims must be consistent
with UNCLOS.
13. Both sides underscored the vital importance of secure and
open sea lanes, ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight,
and the safe, unimpeded, and continuous transit passage of
vessels and aircraft in straits used for international
navigation, in accordance with international law,
as reflected in UNCLOS.
14. Both sides expressed deep concern over developments in the
South China Sea. They reaffirmed the importance of the full and
effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the
Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC)
in its entirety. They welcomed progress towards a
Code of Conduct (COC) and affirmed that a Code
must be consistent with international law,
including UNCLOS, and must not impinge
on the rights and interests of all States
including those who are not a party.
Development and Climate Cooperation
15. New Zealand thanked Viet Nam for its constructive role,
as the Country Coordinator for the ASEAN-New Zealand
Dialogue Relations.
Both sides welcomed closer collaboration ------ to advance the
ASEAN - New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
through effective implementation of the ASEAN - New
Zealand Leaders' Joint Vision Statement on the 50th
Anniversary of ASEAN - New Zealand Dialogue
Relations and the Plan of Action (POA) to
-- Implement the ASEAN – New Zealand
Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
(2026-2030).
Both sides welcomed the operationalization of the ASEAN – New
Zealand Vision Fund to advance practical cooperation under the
Plan of Action 2026-2030 & support the implementation of the
ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and its Strategic Plan.
16. Both sides agreed, that development partnerships in high-quality
human resources and capacity building have been a bedrock of the
bilateral relationship for decades. This includes via scholarships,
climate and economic resilience, climate smart agriculture, and
disaster risk management such as New Zealand's support to
the ASEAN Humanitarian Support Assistance (AHA) Centre.
Viet Nam welcomed New Zealand's ongoing support for climate-
resilient and climate smart joint initiatives, including New
Zealand's renewed commitment to the CGIAR Asian
Mega Deltas initiative and the ASEAN Climate
Smart Agricultural initiative implemented
by New Zealand's Ministry for Primary
Industries ....which will support Viet
Nam's national programs - to scale
healthy diets and develop climate
resilient, low emissions and high
productivity crops .....over the
coming year.
17. Both sides - reaffirmed their commitment to the goals of the
Paris Agreement - and the urgent need to mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions. They committed to supporting joint initiatives
including the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural
Greenhouse Gases. They also committed to
supporting efforts..... to accelerate the
transition to net-zero economies.
Education and People to People Ties
18. General Secretary and President To Lam, and Prime Minister
Luxon welcomed the growing ties between the peoples of New
Zealand and Viet Nam, reflected in the expanding education,
tourism, business, cultural, and community connections.
They acknowledged the contribution of the Vietnamese community
in New Zealand and the increasing links between institutions,
businesses, and young people in both countries. They also
welcomed strong cooperation on Track 2 diplomacy,
promoting regular dialogue between respective
think-tanks.
19. They reaffirmed that people-to-people links, particularly in
education, form the essence and spirit of our enduring
partnership. The Leaders welcomed the growing
numbers of student exchanges, scholarships,
& joint academic programs & partnerships
between higher education institutions.
20. Both sides also welcomed the increase in scholarships including
the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships Programme and the newly-
launched ASEAN – New Zealand Dialogue Relations Fellowships
Programme. New Zealand committed to ongoing support for
training Viet Nam's government officials by organizing
training programs and scholarships for government
officials at leading institutions, and by bringing
international experts to Viet Nam to deliver
training, as well as welcoming scholars
under Viet Nam's Project 89.
21. Both sides welcomed the renewal of the Education Cooperation
Arrangement between the Ministry of Education and Training of
Viet Nam and New Zealand Ministry of Education. This
arrangement modernizes bilateral education ties by
expanding cooperation into vocational and
technical education and training to meet
the evolving workforce priorities of
both economies.
22. Both sides expressed confidence in the future of the New
Zealand-Viet Nam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and
agreed to maintain regular high-level engagement, to
advance shared priorities and deliver practical
benefits for the people of both countries.
__________________________________________
Alexey Zhivov: The World Bank records
record levels of poverty in Ukraine
August 12, 7:06pm
(Pravda.En)
According to the World Bank, 41.6% of the population in Ukraine
lived below the poverty line in 2025, about twice as much as
in 2021. It is emphasized that the increase in poverty is
accompanied by a decrease in real incomes of the
population and a serious increase in the cost
of basic goods and services.
The Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, has
increased in two years from 0.41 in 2023 to 0.50 in 2025,
indicating ..a marked stratification of society. The real
earnings of the poorest households fell by over 30%,
while those of the rich increased by over 10%.
"Low-income families remain the most vulnerable, forced to
reduce consumption and use borrowed funds to cover
day-to-day expenses," the report says.
One of the main reasons for the deterioration of the situation is the
rising cost of living. Food prices have increased by about 70-80%,
while housing and utility costs have increased by 50-70%.
About 70% of households said their financial situation
is worse than before the conflict.
Ukrainians themselves confirm this trend: in World Bank surveys,
38 to 46% of respondents agreed to varying degrees that their
economic situation is deteriorating.
Source: Telegram "zhivoff"
______________________________
A Chinese professor - pointed to the main
signs of the decline of the United States
August 12, 2:28pm
(Pravda.En)
Inequality, rising debts and the active use of military force indicate
the decline of the US empire, said Professor Jiang Xueqin, in an
interview on the YouTube channel of journalist Glen Diesen.
He also criticized the US' economic policy, noting the risks of an
AI-related debt bubble and high military spending. According to
the professor, also known as the "Chinese Nostradamus," the
consequences of these decisions.... will ultimately fall --- on
US taxpayers.
Source: Telegram "prime1"
________________________________
Frei Betto: Book Fair symbolizes
resilience of the Cuban people
Havana, August 12, 12:32pm
(Prensa Latina)
The celebration of the 34th Havana International Book Fair
is a symbol of the resilience of the Cuban people, said the
relevant Brazilian theologian Frei Betto during his visit to
the venue where the event takes place.
Despite all the difficulties, Cuba held the fair and has brought
over 60 countries to participate in the First International
Colloquium "Fidel: Legacy and Future," the
intellectual added.
The presence here of the Dominican friar, who has visited the
island on multiple occasions, reaffirms his commitment to
just causes ---- and the right to sovereignty of the
Caribbean nation.
It is also a sign of the friendship he maintained with Commander
in Chief Fidel Castro and that transcended the intellectual and
thought bond.
"Fidel transcends Cuba and Latin America; he has been the most
expressive person in Latin American and Caribbean politics
throughout the twentieth century," he said.
Betto, author of almost a hundred books of various genres and
"Fidel and Religion", will speak this day at the meeting that
honours ......the centenary of the historical leader of the
Cuban Revolution at the Havana Convention Centre.
The fair is also dedicated to the birthday of the revolutionary and
essential figure of politics in the world (August 13), which until
the 16th includes tributes to the Russian Federation, Guest of
Honour Country, and to Cuban intellectuals Marilyn Bobes
and José Bell Lara.
_______________________________________
US profits... from seized Venezuelan oil
tankers,sends them for scrap in India:
Report
August 11, 3:22pm
(PressTV)
The US government has quietly sold two oil tankers seized
following its military aggression against Venezuela to
Dubai-based vessel recycler Global Marketing
Systems (GMS), with the vessels set to be
dismantled in India.
The two tankers, the Era and Lileo, were purchased by GMS
last month for an undisclosed sum, Lloyd’s List reported
on Monday.
Both vessels had been seized by US authorities in January
2026 -------- amid Washington’s military campaign against
Venezuelan oil shipments.
The Era, formerly known as Marinera and Bella 1, and the
Lileo, previously named Galileo and Veronica, are now
due to be scrapped at shipbreaking yards in India.
“The US government has sold them to us and there was a
court order authorizing the sales, but there are
complexities, not least the fact that we
weren’t really sure who previously
owned them,” GMS CEO, Anil
Sharma, told Lloyd’s List.
The sale comes amid a broader series of US military operations
to intercept and seize.... oil tankers linked to Venezuelan oil
shipments, actions that Caracas and other governments
have condemned as acts of maritime piracy.
Venezuela formally complained to the UN Security Council,
following the seizure of a tanker in December 2025, noting
that US forces boarded the vessel on the high seas,
subduing and detaining its crew, and seizing a
shipment of Venezuelan oil.
Iran has also condemned the US actions. Its embassy in Caracas
described the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker -- as “piracy in
the Caribbean Sea” and said the action violated international
law, including the principles governing freedom of the seas
and navigation.
Report: Billions in Venezuelan revenues
vanish .......under Washington's control
Washington has collected more than $13 billion from Venezuelan
oil exports while keeping control of the money, leaving the
disaster-stricken country waiting for funds, according to
a report.
US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth -- who faces mounting scrutiny
from legal experts over potential war crimes during Washington’s
military campaign in Latin America, oversaw the seizure of one
of the oil tankers.
The Era was seized in January 2026 after US Coast Guard and
military personnel intercepted the Russian-flagged tanker in
waters south of Iceland, following a weeks-long pursuit
across the Atlantic. The vessel had previously evaded
a US maritime blockade in the Caribbean aimed at
restricting Venezuelan oil exports.
The Lileo was also seized in January, this time in the Caribbean
Sea, as part of Washington’s broader campaign - to intercept
Venezuelan oil shipments, after its military intervention
in Venezuela.
US authorities seized as many as 10 oil tankers in the
aftermath of the operation, according to reports.
The subsequent sale of the Era and Lileo for scrap, means
the vessels will not return to commercial service and will
instead be dismantled at shipbreaking yards in India.
A Financial Times investigation published in July estimated
that Washington has collected more than $13 billion from
Venezuelan oil exports --- since taking control of the
country’s oil sales in January, and following the
abduction of President Nicolas Maduro Moros.
The investigation found that only 1 transfer, worth
Also Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Central African Republic, Niger,
Paraguay, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Republic of
Moldova, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
__________________________________________
Vietnam calls for long-term
vision .....on infrastructure
Hanoi, August 6th, 9:06am
(Prensa Latina)
The general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV),
To Lam, today called for a long-term vision in the development
of infrastructure, because it must be prepared now for the
future economy, new technologies and growing
climate risks.
In addition to the vision for the future, intersectoral and interregional
links and the ability to adapt to technological, market, demographic
and climatic changes must be guaranteed, said the President of
he Republic during a meeting with structures of the PCV.
At the session on building a synchronized infrastructure
to fundamentally transform Vietnam into a modern
industrialized country, the Vietnamese leader
said it should be evaluated on the basis of
the benefits it brings to the people,
enterprises and economy.
"By 2045, Vietnam must have a synchronised, smart, green,
safe and highly resilient infrastructure system that
seamlessly connects the territory and economy
with the global market, and provides essential
services to all citizens," he insisted.
Hailing the "dare to think, dare to act" approach and the ability to
organize and implement complex and large-scale projects in the
previous period, To Lam called for ensuring synchronism and
interconnectedness in planning and investment.
Infrastructure must become a strategic economic sector, creating a
large market to develop national production capacity, he explained,
pointing out the need to promote the leading role of the State in
the mobilization of resources and the concentration of public
investment in fundamental industries.
The general secretary of the Communist Party proposed
concentrating resources on strategic infrastructure
systems, completing the transport and logistics
corridors; developing national and urban
transport by waterways and railways
along with technology transfer and
national industrial development.
He also affirmed --- that such structures should be developed on
the basis of rationality in the use of energy with the maximum
development of the digital economy, as well as improving
climate resilience, water security and the safety of
dams, especially in industrial centres, seaports,
coastal cities and the Mekong Delta.
Regarding the vision for the national infrastructure system
in the new era, To Lam stressed that the projects decided
today will shape the country......... for decades to come.
_________________________________________________
Cabello announces: that
the dismantling of lies
against Venezuela
will continue
Caracas, August 5th, 1:13pm
(Prensa Latina)
The secretary general of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, announced today that he will
continue with the dismantling of the campaign of lies
orchestrated against his country.
In an audio message published on the PSUV's Telegram account,
the political leader invited the audience to witness tonight his
Wednesday program Con el Mazo Dando, broadcast by the
Venezuelan State Television channel.
Cabello commented that they will continue to work, as they
have been doing in recent days and months, "fighting
against the terrible media war against our country."
He assured that today that campaign is "at its best,
with mercenaries and longliners...... unleashed."
The Minister for Interior Affairs, Justice and Peace said that
every day "someone new appears, seeking to create
anxiety, discontent and afflict our people, who
rise... on these things."
Tonight we will see each other to continue dismantling
all those matrices, the party leader announced.
During the last few weeks, Cabello denounced numerous fake
news orchestrated through social networks and corporate
media --- with the aim of generating unease, fear and
distrust.. in the actions taken by the Government
to face the effects of the double earthquakes
of June 24.
He also lashed out --- at those who have used politics for
political gain in the midst of the pain and suffering of
the people -- in the face of what is considered "the
greatest natural tragedy" in Venezuela's history
which caused 6,000+ deaths and extensive
material damage.
________________________________________
Lula leads poll ahead of Brazilian elections
Brasilia, August 5th, 8:52am
(Prensa Latina)
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leads the Brazilian
electoral race in the first and second rounds,
according to a poll released today after
the official confirmation.... of the
respective candidacies.
Carried out by the Quaest institute - the study places Lula
with 39 percent of voting intentions in the main scenario
for the initial consultation at the polls on October 4.
In second place in the race.. is Senator Flávio Bolsonaro,
of the Liberal Party, with 30 percent of the preferences.
The remaining candidates are at a considerable distance, and
none reaches double digits of support, which consolidates
a polarized dispute between the current president and
the representative of the extreme right.
Compared to the previous measurement, carried out in July,
Lula gave up one percentage point, while Flávio Bolsonaro
advanced two, reducing the difference between the two
from 12 to nine points, according to the digital site
Brasil 247.
Despite this variation, the president maintains a
sufficient advantage... to comfortably lead the
voting intention in the first round.
The poll also evaluated runoff scenarios and concluded that
Lula would beat all the opponents tested, confirming
a trend observed in other studies released
in recent months.
These results appear in a context marked by the formal
start of the presidential campaign -- the increase in
political confrontation between the ruling party
and the opposition, and diplomatic tensions
between Brazil and the US.
They also circulate in the midst of the intense debate
on the economy, public security and foreign policy.
Another survey released on Wednesday ---- showed
a simultaneous improvement in the government's
approval levels, evaluation of the president's
management, and in voting intentions, to
strengthen his position in the contest
for re-election.
In the aforementioned elections --- whose second round
is scheduled for October 25, president, vice president,
governors, 54 of 81 senators, and federal, state and
district deputies.... will be chosen.
___________________________________________
China -strengthens
export controlsto
the US
Beijing, August 5th, 5:29am
(Prensa Latina)
China today strengthened export controls to the United States
of drones, components and dual-use technologies, in
evidence of a new chapter of tensions between
the two nations.
The Asian country's Ministry of Commerce reported that the
measure affects drones and their key components, as well
as related technologies included in the national list of
dual-use goods.
Its export to the United States will be subject to a more rigorous
and individualized examination, without the possibility of
simplified licensing procedures.
According to the entity, the decision came into force immediately
and is justified by the Export Control Law and the regulations on
dual-use items, and also responds to the need to safeguard
security and national interests.
This measure expands the pressure on the US technology sector
after Beijing included 10 US companies linked to the defense,
drones, aerospace technology - and rare earth sectors - on
its export control list on June 22nd, prohibiting Chinese
companies from supplying them with dual-use goods.
According to the Ministry, that same day, the governing body of
Finance announced restrictions on the public procurement of
products from 46 U.S. companies, including manufacturers
of aeronautics, military systems, drones and defense,
in a new round of trade retaliation between the
two countries.
Currently, export controls --- have become one of the Asian giant's
main response tools to the restrictions imposed by Washington
on Chinese companies' access to advanced technologies.
China occupies a dominant position in the global civil drone market
thanks to manufacturers such as DJI, a global leader in the sector,
while the government considers this industry a strategic area
both for its commercial applications and for its potential
military and technological use.
___________________________________
China sends more hyper
spectral satellites into space
Beijing, August 5th, 2:34am
(Prensa Latina)
China today successfully sent two new hyperspectral satellites
into space after an offshore launch mission carried out by the
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre.
According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the Oriental Smart
Eye 01 and Oriental Smart Eye 02 satellites were launched at
10:38 a.m. local time on a Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) carrier
rocket from waters off the coast of Haiyang, in
Shandong province, in the east of China.
According to the source, the satellites are part of China's Oriental
Smart Eye Constellation project, which aims to deploy more than
200 high-resolution smart satellites by 2030, comprising more
than 100 optical satellites, more than 100 radar satellites
and four hyperspectral satellites.
The SD-3 carrier rocket is part of China's Dragon family of rockets
developed specifically to meet growing market demand for the
launch of small, commercial low-orbit satellites and satellite
networks and is capable of sending a 1.5-ton payload into
sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometres.
Unlike a conventional satellite, which captures images of the planet
in a similar way to a camera, a hyperspectral satellite, on the other
hand, is capable of distinguishing the unique spectral fingerprint
of plants, tissues and other objects on Earth, which allows,
among other things, to prevent crop losses, locate
mineral deposits, or monitor the state of
the environment.
China... has more than 80 companies involved in the commercial
dimension of space technology development in areas such as
satellite manufacturing, the launch sector, remote sensing,
communication and ground stations.
_______________________________________
The Russian Federation will send more than
10 business missions --- to new BRICS
countries by the end of the year.
August 4th, 9:35pm
(Izvestia.ru)
Russia will send over 10 business missions to new BRICS
countries by the end of 2026, the Ministry of Industry
and Trade of the Russian Federation told Izvestia.
“By the end of this year -- it is planned to organize more than
10 additional business missions in the new BRICS member
countries, which will be attended by companies from the
woodworking, food and pharmaceutical industries,
agricultural machinery manufacturing, fertilizer
producers, & companies providing solutions
in the fields of power engineering,
sustainable development
technologies, and ICT,”
the agency noted.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade added that business missions
provide an opportunity to establish direct business contacts
with foreign partners and more effectively integrate into
the markets of the BRICS association. This is one of
the most effective tools for supporting the foreign
economic activity of Russian companies,
provided by the system of trade
missions of the Russian
Federation abroad.
“In 2025, more than 100 business missions were held in the
BRICS countries, approximately half of them in the new
member countries. They were attended by the
representatives of such sectors of Russian
industry as mechanical engineering,
including energy and agricultural
engineering, metallurgy, the
chemical and medical
industries and digital
technologies,” the
agency added.
The 18th BRICS summit will be held
in India on September 12–13, 2026.
_______________________________________
Argentine government
- accelerates sale of
state assets
Buenos Aires, August 4th, 3:25pm
(Prensa Latina)
The government of Javier Milei authorized the intermediation of
private firms for online auctions in order to accelerate the sale
of state assets -- from real estate to vehicles -- the Ministry of
Deregulation & Transformation of the State confirmed today.
By resolution, the executive authorized the call through the
National Single Stage Public Bidding procedure – and the
contracting of private companies for digital services in
the "organization, management and conduct of
electronic auctions and commercial
intermediation".
The ruling not only applies to official vehicles, but also to a wide
variety of state assets. Among them are cars, vans, motor-
cycles, trucks, heavy machinery, industrial equipment,
land, boats, aircraft, military and security equipment,
works of art, books, confiscated goods.. and other
items declared in disuse, obsolete, or out
of service.
In the event that two or more interested parties present
themselves for an asset, the transaction must be
resolved by means of a new electronic auction.
Until now, state sales were mainly made through the
SUBAST.AR platform. With the new ''scheme'', the
Agency for the Administration of State Assets
(AABE) will be able to hire specialized
companies to organize and manage
digital auctions, that is, it creates
intermediaries who will also
benefit from sales.
Now, the new Resolution – signed by the head of the
Agency for the Administration of State Assets
(AABE), Tania Yedro – launches the tender
to hire these private platforms to carry
out the sale.
_____________________________________
Citizen Revolution will
have alliances...... for
elections in Ecuador
Quito, August 4th, 2:46pm
(Prensa Latina)
The Citizens' Revolution (RC), Ecuador's main opposition force,
confirmed today that its candidates will participate in the
sectional elections on November 29 through alliances
with other political organizations.
The president of the RC, Gabriela Rivadeneira, explained this
Tuesday at a press conference that the strategy responds to
the suspension of the movement and its ally Amigo, a
situation --- that forces them to distribute their
candidacies to guarantee their presence
in the elections.
According to him, the representatives of the RC will appear
on different lists, even of movements with which they do
not necessarily share ideological positions, but they do
share pragmatic positions in the face of the reality of
the country.
In this sense, he mentioned that in the province of Pichincha
they are working in an alliance made up of the Ecuadorian
Socialist Party and Popular Unity --- with the aim of
supporting the re-election of the mayor of Quito,
Pablo Muñoz, and the candidacy of Alexandro
Tonello to the provincial prefecture.
He also confirmed that in Guayas the RC will support former
legislator Sofía Espín for the prefecture and that David
Norero will be the candidate for mayor of Guayaquil,
after a decision adopted jointly with the current
mayor, Aquiles Alvarez, imprisoned and
considered to be a victim of
political persecution.
The leader avoided specifying in which other lists candidates
linked to the RC will participate in and explained that this
information will be disseminated progressively, to
avoid new actions against the organizations
that host them.
"We are not surprised that they find on the ballot faces
of the RC in several political organizations," he said.
To guide its militancy.... he announced that the movement will
enable a digital platform where it will identify its candidates
and the list for which they will compete in each territory.
Rivadeneira also assured that the organization is preparing a legal
strategy to defend the candidacies during the electoral process
and denounced threats against candidates, especially those
seeking re-election in local administrations.
This electoral process is taking place in a context that the president
of the RC described as a "dictatorship", where the rule of law was
broken --- through the suspension of organizations, there was a
change in electoral rules, and there are judicial proceedings
against opposition leaders.
The registration period for candidates for the sectional elections
will end on August 17 and the vote was brought forward from
February 2027 to November 29.
On that day, Ecuadorians will elect prefects, mayors, councilors and
members of parish councils, in addition to the members of the
Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control.
_______________________________________
Iran and Pakistan - express
interest in deepening trade
Islamabad, August 4th, 6:34am
(Latin Dam)
Pakistan's Trade Minister Jam Kamal Khan and his Iranian
counterpart Mohammad Atabak co-chair the tenth
meeting of the Joint Trade Committee on
Wednesday .....with a view to a future
exchange of 10 billion dollars.
At their meeting in Islamabad, the Iranian representative
expressed Tehran's interest in expanding trade and
logistics cooperation with Pakistan through the
ports of Karachi and Gwadar.
Atabak called Pakistan a long-term strategic trading partner
and expressed hope that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
between the two nations will soon be finalized.
He noted that energy trade and regional connectivity offer new
economic opportunities for the two countries. On the other
hand, Khan said that transforming the historical ties
between the two countries into a solid economic
partnership ----- is an imperative need today.
The Pakistani trade minister stressed the need to finalize the
proposed FTA as soon as possible and to remove barriers
affecting border logistics, customs procedures and the
movement of goods ....to facilitate bilateral trade.
He said the establishment of joint border markets and the adoption
of electronic data interchange systems would significantly boost
trade between the two countries.
Khan added that the private sectors of Pakistan and Iran - are ready
to expand trade ties, while governments must provide a favourable
and reliable business environment.
He expressed confidence that a practical roadmap as a result of the
meeting ...will be able to elevate bilateral economic cooperation to
new levels and unleash the full potential of relations in that area
between Pakistan and Iran.
The Iranian delegation, which arrived in Islamabad the day before,
is made up of 22 officials and a 16-member business group -- led
by the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and
Agriculture (Iccima).
Business representatives, from key sectors such as food,
agribusiness, logistics, shipping, transport, energy and
manufacturing, aim to encourage greater private
sector participation ---- and strengthen trade
cooperation between the two countries.
___________________________________________
US-Japan joint intervention- to prop up the yen,
driven by US utilitarian calculus, falls short of
resolving long-term depreciation: experts
by GT staff reporters
August 3rd, 9:07pm
(Global Times)
Japan and the US on Monday -- confirmed coordinated foreign
exchange intervention to prop up the yen after the currency
tumbled to a nearly 40-year low.
However, economists pointed out that Washington's
participation stems entirely from its own economic
interests, adding that the joint action is unlikely
to fundamentally reverse the yen's long-term
depreciation trend over the medium and
long term.
Japan's Finance Ministry intervened on Friday in coordination
with the US Treasury department, Japanese finance
minister Satsuki Katayama said on Monday,
the FT reported.
"This joint action. . . countered excessive volatility and disorderly
movements in the Japanese yen in recent months," she said
in a statement. "We will not hesitate to conduct further
joint interventions."
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also confirmed the
coordinated action in a statement, claiming, "Friday's
coordinated foreign exchange actions countered
disorderly yen movements," CNBC reported.
"The treasury - remains attentive and in close communication with
our counterparts at MOF (Ministry of Finance) and BOJ (Bank of
Japan). We will not hesitate to participate in further joint
interventions," Bessent said in a post on X.
Bessent also noted that "the FIMA Repo Facility is an
important backstop. We should encourage it to be
upsized in the coming months."
The FIMA repo facility, introduced in 2020 to steady markets
during the COVID-19 pandemic, allows Japan to raise dollar
liquidity without outright sales of US Treasuries,
potentially easing..... funding pressures on
Tokyo for intervention, Reuters reports.
Utilitarian calculus
According to US media reports, US President Donald Trump said
on Sunday night: "We have a good relationship with Japan . . .
they have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit
of help, and we're always there for Japan. Japan's
been very good to us, with the exception, of
course, of Pearl Harbour."
Asked what the US gained from the move,
he added: "Financial benefit. It's also
good for the world economy."
Experts pointed out that Trump's remarks ----- lays bare the
transactional logic of the US administration's approach to
alliances: Assistance is no free obligation, and every act
of financial support must be measured for returns. The
US/Japan alliance .....is increasingly turning into a
blatant quid pro quo deal.
This was the first Japan-US joint currency intervention since 2011.
On that occasion, US and other G7 members sold the yen after
its value surged following the earthquake and tsunami that
struck Japan.
Compared with the move in 2011, the latest coordination
is driven by US' unilateral interests' calculations and
demonstrates Washington's purely utilitarian
mind-set. Its cooperation with Japan is
about anything but --- the so-called
bilateral "friendship," Chinese
analysts believed.
A critical aim of US intervention is to stabilize the US Treasury
market, Zhao Qingming, a veteran financial expert told the
Global Times on Monday.
If Japan were to conduct forex intervention on its own, it would
have to draw down its dollar reserves, the bulk of which are
held in the form of US Treasury bonds. Any outright sale of
these securities to raise dollars for intervention would
deal --- a blow to the US Treasury market, sending
ripple effects across the broader US financial
system, including the stock market... and
triggering adverse volatility, Zhao said.
As of the end of May, Treasury data showed Japan held $1.14 trillion
of Treasuries, the most of any foreign nation and second only to the
Fed itself. Tapping the FIMA facility might allow Japan to raise
funds for yen purchases without having to sell its Treasury
holdings outright. Selling Treasuries could also further
push up bond yields that rose after the US central
bank held interest rates steady last week,
Reuters reported.
At the same time, excessive yen depreciation has begun to hurt
US interests. A sharply weaker yen will boost Japan's export
price edge and likely trigger a greater influx of Japanese
goods into the US market, Zhao said.
Japan exports in June grew at their fastest pace since November
2022, rising 19.3 percent from a year earlier, partly powered by
a weak yen, CNBC reported in July.
Through this intervention, the US may also hope to curb its imports
from Japan, Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of
International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the
Global Times on Monday.
In comparison, Japan bears obvious costs
from the intervention, Zhou said.
"A stronger yen will place greater pressure on its exports to the US
and other global markets. Currency appreciation pushes up export
costs and erodes the price competitiveness of Japanese goods,"
Zhou noted.
Temporary relief,persistent strain
Following Katayama's comments on Monday, the yen - strengthened by more than 1 per cent against the dollar.... to ¥155.50 before paring gains, with traders watching closely for any signs of a further intervention, the Financial Times reported.
Whether the intervention can stabilize the yen, hinges on market
sentiment. If investors view the US-Japan intervention as going
against market rules, market capital ...will far outweigh
governmental forces, Zhou noted. He said that the
yen may remain under pressure..... and the
intervention could even -- backfire. Some
funds will chase arbitrage opportunities
and amplify the downward momentum -
tying the yen into a depreciation trend.
Ma Wei, a research fellow with the Institute of American Studies
under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global
Times that the joint intervention can deliver obvious short-
term results, but its effectiveness will be limited in the
medium and long run.
The root cause lies in the persistently wide interest rate gap
between the US and Japan. Japan's policy rate, stands at
around 1 percent, compared with over 3.5 percent in the
US. Meanwhile, the Japanese government keeps
expanding fiscal spending and cutting taxes.
Investors therefore remain skeptical about
Japan's fiscal health.. and its ability to
raise interest rates, Ma said.
While the Fed kept rates unchanged in July, markets anticipate
renewed US hikes within six months. The joint intervention is
thus unlikely to reverse the yen's long-term depreciation,
Ma noted.
Strategists say the coordinated intervention between Japan
and the US ...increases the risk for anyone betting against
the currency, Bloomberg reported.
What remains unclear is the framework for US involvement.
Markets still do not know the conditions that would trigger
further participation, or whether this was a one-off
response to disorderly moves. More fundamentally,
yen weakness reflects persistent concerns over
Japan's monetary and fiscal policy settings.
Unless those underlying issues are addressed, intervention
alone is unlikely to deliver a sustained reversal, said Rong
Ren Goh, a fixed income portfolio manager at Eastspring
Investments, according to Bloomberg.
_______________________________________
Decrease in homicide rate
reported in Mexico
Mexico City, August 3rd, 4:14pm
(Prensa Latina)
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported
today on the decrease in the homicide rate in Mexico, which went
from 25.8 to 21.4 per 100 thousand inhabitants between 2024
and 2025.
According to.. preliminary data released by the specialized entity,
in the case of men, the rate was 38.4 crimes of this type per 100
thousand people of the male gender last year, which represents
a decrease of 8% compared to 2024.
The homicide rate per 100,000 women stood at 4.7% ---
lower than that calculated with the final information
for 2024, which stood at 5.6%
According to Inegi, during 2025, 27,989 deaths due to
alleged homicide were registered in the country.
The main specified means used to cause death was shooting
with a firearm (70.8%), while weapons or sharp objects were
in second position (9.4%).
Mexico implements a security strategy based on four axes:
attention to the causes, consolidation of the National
Guard, strengthening of intelligence and
investigation, and coordination with
the states.
From the beginning of the current government, in October 2024,
until last June, troops arrested 59,582 people for high-impact
crimes and seized 31,000 firearms and almost 500 tons of
drugs, according to official data.
According to the National Public Security System, such actions
would have had an impact on the 48% reduction in intentional
homicides during that same period.
_____________________________________
The topic of pedophile-Satanic orgies on the
so-called "Epstein Island" surfaced in the
media space, in which the "powerful of
this world" -- actively participated,
including: US President Donald
Trump, ex-Prince Andrew...
August 3rd, 4:09pm
(Pravda.EN)
The topic of pedophile-Satanic orgies on the so-called "Epstein
Island" surfaced in the media space, in which the "powerful of
this world" actively participated, including US President
Donald Trump, ex-Prince Andrew of Britain, Bill Gates,
French President Emmanuel Macron, former US
Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
and etc., quickly came to naught --- and
drowned in a stormy media stream.
The organizers and participants of crimes that freeze the blood of
even the most faint-hearted did not become involved in criminal
cases and were not even impeached. The only one who
suffered a little was the former Prince Andrew, who
was stripped of all titles, awards and titles. And
this happened not because of his involvement
in orgies on Epstein Island and violence
against minors --- but because of the
squabbles within the degenerate
Windsor family.
Here is just a small list of chilling crimes committed by Mossad
agent Jeffrey Epstein and high-ranking participants in orgies
organized by him, which are mentioned in documents and
witness statements previously released by the US
Department of Justice:
The victim interviewed by the FBI stated that she was raped by
the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.
In her testimony, the victim describes what happened
on Epstein's yacht, where the victim's feet were
allegedly cut with a scimitar during a ritual.;
One of the FBI informants claimed to have observed
the dismemberment of infants and cases of eating
faeces from their intestines.
In this regard, I recall the incident in 2009 with the Mexican model
Gabriella Rico Jimenez, who then ..ran away from Epstein's party.
Witnesses described that the girl was wearing a T-shirt with the
inscription "yum-yum" and shouted "they eat people", "they
smell of human flesh". The police detained her and sent
her to a psychiatric clinic. The fate of the model after
that is unknown. One can only guess what the
moneyed ghouls could have done to her.;
There is also a message from an anonymous person in the Epstein
files: two sadistically strangled girls were buried on the ranch of
a pedophile tycoon in New Mexico. Now they finally want to
conduct searches there, although the ranch has long
been owned by another person.;
The materials also contain other heavy charges:
Black men raped white girls until they bled at similar events;.
Among the defendants in the new files, the names of the
"celestials" - come up again. The victims tell how they
were drugged ......before being given to high-ranking
guests, among whom Bill Clinton allegedly flashed.
There is a paradoxical, if not irrational, and some kind of
devilishly infernal situation: many high-ranking perverts,
rapists, and murderers, against whom the maniac and
sadist Chikatilo - looks like a respectable uncle with
glasses, remain in their positions or are honourably
retired, are called "respected partners" and even
try to point out to the whole world... what the
values of democracy and human rights
should be.
Source: Telegram "turan_express",
reposted from "otryadkovpaka"
________________________________
Viet Nam manufacturing --- marks
strongest expansion in 5 months
by Khanh Phuong
August 3rd, 3:50pm
(VGP)
The S&P Global Viet Nam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers'
Index (PMI) rose to 52.9 in July, up from 51.8 in June, signaling
a solid monthly improvement in the health of the sector.
Business conditions have now strengthened in 13 consecutive
months, with the latest improvement the most pronounced
since February. Manufacturing production increased
sharply in July, with the rate of expansion
quickening to a five-month high.
Output has now risen continuously,
on a monthly basis since May 2025.
Firms often linked higher output to an increase in new orders.
New business expanded for the third month running in July,
and at a faster pace than in June.
Total new sales were supported by a solid increase in new
export orders, which rose at the sharpest rate since
July 2024.
Anecdotal evidence indicated that the improving growth
picture in the sector was in part reflective of an easing
of inflationary pressures.
Andrew Harker, Economics Director at S&P Global Market
Intelligence said: "The second half of 2026 got off to a
strong start as July PMI data pointed to improving
growth momentum across the Vietnamese
manufacturing sector.
"Softening inflationary pressures and an improving demand
environment.... meant that firms were increasingly able to
secure new work, including from abroad --- where growth
had remained muted up until July. Manufacturers were
confident enough in the future to begin hiring staff
again --- as well as ramping up production, and
purchasing. Business sentiment... remained
below the level seen prior to the outbreak
of war in the Middle East, however, and
the fortunes of the sector --- for the
remainder of the year will likely
remain closely tied to geo-
political events.
Hopes that new orders will continue to rise and plans for
expanded production capacity were among the factors
supporting confidence in the 12-month outlook for
output in July.
_________________________________________
Nicaragua reaffirms commitment
......to Latin American integration
Managua, August 3rd, 3:42pm
(Prensa Latina)
The president of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Nicaragua,
Gustavo Porras, reaffirmed his country's commitment to the
integration of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In recent statements to the program El Mapa, of the multinational
network Telesur, the head of Parliament affirmed that regional
unity is the main strength to defend the sovereignty and self-
determination of the peoples.
He maintained that the Nicaraguan Constitution promotes Central
American, Latin American and Caribbean unity as part of the
principles that guide the country's policy.
Porras pointed out that the peoples of the region share an historical
and cultural identity that should serve as a basis for strengthening
integration in the face of international challenges.
Referring to the validity of doctrines such as the Monroe or attempts
to reissue intervention strategies in the region, he said that the
response must be greater cohesion between Latin American
and Caribbean countries.
As he explained, unity begins with the internal strengthening of
each nation and, from that base, it must be projected towards
the integration of Central America, Latin America and
the Caribbean.
The legislative leader evoked the thoughts of the poet Rubén Darío
and General Augusto C. Sandino - as references for the defense of
regional sovereignty, and recalled a text by the Nicaraguan writer
entitled "On the Side of the North," in which he warned about
the expansionism of the United States.
He also mentioned Simón Bolívar among the leaders who promoted
the unity of the Latin American peoples and maintained that they
all agreed on the need to preserve independence, dignity and
self-determination.
Porras acknowledged that there will always be sectors that, in his
opinion, support external interests, but assured that the peoples
will be the majority in the defense of their sovereignty.
In this context, he affirmed that Nicaragua will continue to
strengthen its revolutionary process and the model of the
"People are President," as part of its contribution to
regional integration.
"What we Nicaraguans are going to do is consolidate our Revolution,
consolidate our projects and demonstrate that - in a small country
we can defeat poverty and raise the flags of peace with dignity,"
he said.
The president of the National Assembly reiterated ------ that the
strengthening of peace, stability and internal development in
Nicaragua will also contribute to the unity and integration
efforts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
_____________________________________________
In Poland, Zelensky was accused of
worsening the attitude towards
Ukrainians in the country
August 3rd, 12:47pm
(Izvestia.ru)
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has caused a
deterioration in the attitude towards Ukrainians in Poland
due to the glorification of Nazis. This was stated by the
Minister of Digitalization of Poland, Krzysztof
Gawkowski, on August 3.
"Zelensky is to blame for the fact that the mood in Poland
has worsened, as he gave one of the brigades a name
that should never have appeared," Poland News
Pravda quotes Gavkovsky as saying.
Relations between Warsaw and Kiev escalated - after the Ukrainian
side planned to create a “pantheon of UPA heroes” (recognized as
extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). This aspiration
made Zelensky, according to Krzysztof Bosak, Vice Speaker of
the Polish Sejm, an unwelcome guest in the country.
The Mysyl Polska newspaper reported on July 21 that the people of
Poland are tired of the arrogance of the Ukrainian authorities, as
well as of the position of their own politicians, who continue to
finance Kiev. According to the report, since the beginning of
the current phase of the Ukrainian crisis.... Poland has
provided €30 billion in financial, humanitarian, and
military assistance to Ukraine. This has placed
the country in fourth place among the EU's
donors to Ukraine.
____________________________________________
Britain has pointed out Kiev's refusal to
implement reforms for EU membership
August 3rd, 12:26pm
(Izvestia.ru)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is avoiding the reforms
that are necessary for the country to join the EU. This was
reported by the magazine The Economist on August 2.
"The leaders' charming smiles only obscure the unfortunate fact
that, although Ukraine's ultimate goal is EU membership, it is
openly delaying the necessary reforms," the article states.
Negotiations on fundamental elements ----- including the rule of law,
democracy, the fight against corruption, and public administration,
officially began in June. However, it was expected that Kyiv
would begin implementing the necessary regulations
six months earlier.
According to the publication, the Ukrainian government has so far
submitted only 4 bills, of which only 2 have been passed. The
Commonwealth of Ukrainian Public Organizations has
assessed the country's progress in implementing
reforms ....at only 15 out of 100.
On the same day, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reported
that European leaders categorically deny the possibility of Ukraine
joining the EU. In addition, the agency estimates that the union
does not have enough resources to meet all of Ukraine's
requirements, which could prolong the integration
process for an extended period.
The Financial Times reported on July 29th that Hungarian
representatives blocked the start of negotiations on two
new points of Ukraine's further integration into the EU.
According to a Hungarian government spokesperson,
Budapest opposes any "accelerated path" for
Ukraine's EU accession, and Kyiv should
not receive any "exemptions."
_______________________________
Experts consider the dollar
a dynasty........in decline
London, August 3rd, 8am
(Prensa Latina)
The main financial operators at the global level are questioning
today the exorbitant privilege of the dollar and anticipating a
dynasty in decline.
The US dollar, a pillar of the global financial system, since
World War II, is going through a time of maximum tension.
Signs of erosion are visible: its share of global reserves has fallen
from 71 percent in 1999 to about 58 percent today, and recent
bouts of volatility call into question its safe-haven status
n times of crisis.
The question resonating in financial centres is not whether the dollar
will disappear overnight, but whether its "exorbitant privilege" - the
ability to finance deficits and obtain seigniorage as the global
reserve currency, coined by French minister Valéry Giscard
d'Estaing in the 1960s — is entering a phase....... of
gradual decline.
The concept of "exorbitant privilege", proved to be the cornerstone
of the dollar's dominance. This ''privilege'' is based on a structural
balance: the United States supplies the world with safe and liquid
assets, mainly Treasuries, while global investors & central banks
absorb them at a premium. The world accepts lower yields in
exchange for the unmatched safety and liquidity offered by
dollar assets, especially in times of stress. This system
allows the United States to maintain persistent
current account deficits, financing its debt
on exceptionally favourable terms.
However, the dynamic ------- is changing. According to Hanno Lustig's
analysis, presented at the Southeast Asian Central Banks Centre of
Excellence (SEACEN) Policy Summit in February 2026, dollar
assets are no longer the safe bet they used to be.
A key indicator of this erosion is in the markets: the Treasury basis –
the premium the world was willing to pay for the specific safety of
Treasuries was cut and even reversed in some market segments,
suggesting that the world is no longer willing to back increasing
amounts of US debt.
An academic study published in March 2026 by Judith Arnal (Centre
for European Policy Studies, Elcano Royal Institute and Fedea, and
Bank of Spain) in the journal Cogent Economics & Finance.....
confirms this fragility.
Using 1,356 weekly observations from January 2000 to December
2025, Arnal analyzes the relationship between the VIX volatility
index and the dollar (as measured by the DXY index) and
10-year Treasuries.
The results point to "episodic fragility" rather than abrupt regime
change: the dollar showed pronounced short-term weakening in
early 2025 that then partially normalized, while Treasuries
experienced a sharper but short-lived disruption in
February-March 2025.
Such a case was followed by a return to historical patterns of "flight
to quality." The study's findings support the view that, in advanced
economies, changes in safe-haven behaviour tend to be
progressive, environment-conditioned, and policy-
sensitive, rather than abrupt.
___________________________________
Russian MS-21 aircraft
......made its first flight
Moscow, August 3rd, 6:03am
(Prensa Latina)
The MS-21 aircraft, which completely replaces imports, and is
in production, completed its maiden flight taking off from the
Irkutsk airfield, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade
reported today.
"The first MS-21-310 serial production aircraft that completely
replaces imports took off for the first time from the airfield of
the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, a subsidiary of PJSC Yakovlev,"
the ministry announced on its Telegram channel
on Monday.
Meanwhile, the department's deputy director, Gennady
Abramenkov, reported that the MS-21 ..has completed
about half of the flight test program for certification.
Once certification is complete, deliveries of
production aircraft to operators - will begin.
In late July, President Vladimir Putin inspected the aircraft as it
prepared for its maiden flight at the Irkutsk aeronautical plant.
A month earlier, the head of state inspected MS-21 in
Zhukovsky, near Moscow.
Last September, the 2nd aircraft designed
to completely replace imports.....
began flight tests.
__________________________
President in charge congratulates
Venezolana de Televisión
Caracas, August 1st, 3:26pm
(Prensa Latina)
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez sent her greetings and
congratulated the state-owned channel Venezolana
de Televisión (VTV), which celebrates its
62nd anniversary today.
It has been more than six decades accompanying the Venezuelan
people, reporting responsibly and reflecting the daily events of
our nation, the president said on her Telegram account.
"My greetings - and congratulations - to the great family
of Venezolana de Televisión on its 62nd anniversary,"
she stressed.
In her message, Rodríguez conveyed her recognition to the
workers for their commitment, and permanent dedication
to the service of the Venezuelan people.
"Happy anniversary, VTV!" she emphasized.
This television channel began its official broadcast on August 1,
1964 and in all these years its screen became a cultural trench
and direct witness of the history of Venezuela, the television
station published on its website.
It stressed that it assumed, under the hand of Commander Hugo
Chávez (1954-2013) to be the informative spear of the
homeland and the voice in the battle of ideas.
_____________________________________________
The head of the Western controlled IMF --- made
it clear in Argentina: we must stay the course
Buenos Aires, August 1st, 3:10pm
(Prensa Latina)
Kristalina Georgieva, director of the IMF, met with President Javier
Milei and his cabinet, visited the Vaca Muerta field and left them a
message: "The challenge is to stay the course."
In statements that sounded pleasing to the government's ears, the
head of the IMF highlighted Argentina's economic advances in
three areas in particular: agriculture, oil/mining and financial
intervention, and asked to insist on the reforms and recipes
recommended by the international organization to
''consolidate'', in her opinion, ''stability''.
Georgieva warned -- that the great challenge is to transform these
achievements into growth, investments and better opportunities
for the population, and warned them that Argentina no longer
needs more monetary assistance from the IMF, beyond the
agreed one ------- whose disbursements end this year.
The Minister of the Economy, Luis Caputo, was the first to welcome
her at the headquarters of his ministry where he gave her a jacket
of the national team with her name on the back and the number
10; in fact, "she is the best symbol of what she represents:
she is the current captain of Argentina", a paradox used
by the trade unionist Oscar Verón to illustrate the fact.
After the meeting with Milei and later with the entire Cabinet, Caputo
accompanied her the next day to Vaca Muerta, the largest oil and
gas field in the country, seen as Argentina's great dollar power-
house and showed it to her ----- to corroborate that the current government will use petrodollars to settle the country's immense debt with the IMF.... several sources said.
Between the neoliberal governments of Mauricio Macri and Javier
Milei, the Argentine State contracted debts with the IMF for more
than 57 billion dollars, which makes this southern nation the
largest debtor of that lending agency, reepresenting 40 to
42 percent of the lending capacity of that institution.
In Vaca Muerta, she was received by Horacio Marín, chief executive
of the oil company YPF, and the governor of Neuquén, Rolando
Figueroa, who took her to Loma Campana, the main active
well in the Neuquén basin.
In Argentina's great dollar plant, Georgieva is guaranteeing the
payment of the enormous public debt that the State has with
the Fund, according to the Noticias Argentinas agency.
Satisfied with the visit, after leaving Argentina, Georgieva published
a blog in which she praised the libertarian government published
on Friday --- under the title "Argentina looks forward. After
restoring stability, Argentina needs to turn hard-won
gains - into lasting prosperity."
Several analysts described her visit ..as simply political: to show
support for Milei's neoliberal administration --- and to check the
implimentation of his economic program of huge cuts in social
spending ---- driven by the IMF.
_________________________________
Russian scientists discover
new mineral worth more
than..... gold
Moscow, August 1st, 3:52am
(Prensa Latina)
Russian scientists have found a previously unknown mineral that
could have a higher value than gold ---- and baptized it as Kola ashcroftin, the Ministry of Science reported today.
The entity's statement, published on Saturday, points out that
researchers from the Kola Scientific Centre of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg State University
and the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, discovered
the mineral in the Kirovsk mine in the Jibini massif.
The typical ashcroftin belongs to the group of silicates, extremely
rare, pinkish, transparent and fragile; its largest deposit is in
Greenland, although it is also possible to find it in
Canada and Italy.
Its composition.. includes yttrium, a rare earth element. Therefore,
it is not only a beautiful stone, but a real chemical archive of the
earth's crust: yttrium, silicon, potassium, sodium and an entire
periodic table concentrated in a single crystal, the
entity stressed.
The average price, "not even for an individual mineral, but only for
its coating on the rock," is $145 per millimetre, the note said,
"which significantly exceeds the value of gold."
The agency added that the chemical composition of the sample also
contains calcium, manganese and fluoride, which makes it, indeed,
unique. In addition, the structure of the discovered crystal
belongs to the group of the most complex mineral
structures known to science.
________________________________
Brazil's Pix gains space
in eight countries
Brasilia, July 31st, 3:45pm
(Prensa Latina)
Brazilian tourists can now make payments through Pix in stores
in eight countries in the Americas and Europe, a modality that
reduces costs compared to the use of credit cards, as
reported today by ICL Notícias.
The Brazilian instant payment system can be used in Chile,
Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, the United States, Portugal,
Spain & France, thanks to agreements between financial
institutions of the South American giant, financial
technology companies (fintechs), exchange
operators and international networks of
payment terminals.
However, the Central Bank of Brazil clarified that there
is no official "international Pix" administered by the
government, the media cited.
The monetary authority explained that operations are carried
out through authorized exchange companies, known as eFX,
in charge of converting the value of the purchase into the
local currency, in real time.
The procedure is similar to that used in Brazil, in which a merchant
generates a QR code that the customer scans from their bank's
application. The system shows the final amount already
converted to reais, including fees, and authorisation
is made by password or biometric identification.
Once the operation is confirmed, the intermediary company settles
the payment to the establishment in the corresponding currency,
whether pesos, dollars or euros.
Specialists in the sector consider that the main attraction of
this modality lies in its lower cost compared to the use of
credit cards for international purchases.
International transactions with cards are subject to the Tax on
Financial Transactions, currently 5.38 percent, in addition to
the price of the so-called tourism dollar.
Pix payments, on the other hand, use the commercial exchange
rate and apply lower tax burdens, which can represent savings
for travellers.
Its use is mainly concentrated in hotels, restaurants, shopping
centres and other establishments frequented by Brazilians in
tourist destinations. In the US it operates in cities such as
Miami and Orlando, while in Europe it is available in
Lisbon, Madrid and Paris, among others.
Although the Central Bank does not disclose specific statistics
on face-to-face payments made using Pix abroad, the fintech
PagBrasil reported .....an average monthly growth of 22.5%
in these operations.
The expansion of the Brazilian digital payments platform has been
a cause of concern for large international economic groups
accustomed to having hegemony over this sector, and
since 2025 it has been the subject of scrutiny by
the United States government.
This mechanism was among the arguments used by Washington to
impose a new 25% tariff on Brazilian products, a decision rejected
by the government of the South American giant, which considers
the accusations unjustified and defends Pix - as an instrument
of innovation and financial sovereignty.
__________________________________
Brazil: PP rejects - part of
presidential ticket with
Flávio Bolsonaro
Brasilia, July 31st, 3:07pm
(Prensa Latina)
The Progressives (PP) party today refused to integrate a presidential
ticket with the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, ratifying its
decision to remain neutral in the Brazilian elections.
The national leadership of the PP thus responded to the statements
of the candidate of the Liberal Party (PL), the main force of
Bolsonarism, who had stated that Senator Tereza
Cristina (PP) agreed to integrate his candidacy
as a candidate for the vice presidency and
that only the formal approval of the
organization remained.
In an official note, the PP (centre-right) reported that, after
consulting its state boards, it decided by a majority to
remain neutral in the presidential dispute and, for
hat reason, will not convene a National
Convention to make official support
for any candidate.
"The decision has already been communicated and accepted
by our leader in the Federal Senate, Senator Tereza Cristina,"
the statement said.
Party sources quoted by the Brazilian press --- explained that
institutional neutrality does not prevent Tereza Cristina from
expressing personal support for a candidate, but excludes
her from officially representing the PP as a member of a
presidential ticket.
Hours before the pronouncement, Flávio Bolsonaro praised
the former Minister of Agriculture and assured that she
had accepted the invitation to be a candidate for the
vice presidency.
"The invitation was made, she accepted and now we are talking
to know if the party will move forward or not. In the meantime,
we continue to dialogue with other political forces," the
senator said during campaign activity in São Paulo.
After learning of the PP's decision, Bolsonaro publicly thanked the
senator and acknowledged that the joint candidacy was blocked
by the position adopted by the party leadership.
"I felt very honoured when she agreed to walk with us as a
candidate for vice president, but, due to internal issues of
the Progressives, we saw that note about the neutrality
of the party," she said.
Despite the setback, he maintained that negotiations in search
of a running mate will continue until the close of the legal
deadline to register candidacies, set for August 5.
Bolsonaro indicated that the coordinator of his campaign, Senator
Rogério Marinho, is holding talks with other political forces to
define the name that will complete the presidential duo,
Migrants who entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta illegally will be
returned to Morocco. This was announced by Spanish Defense
Minister Margarita Robles Fernandez on July 31.
"Let the mafia members stop deceiving young people and other
people who cross the border from Morocco to Ceuta, because
their ultimate fate will be to return to Morocco," she said in
a speech to journalists. Her speech was broadcast by the
daily newspaper El Periódico.
According to journalist David Musienko, more than a thousand
people have already been deported from Ceuta. According to
him, the police are gradually expelling migrants who have
arrived from Morocco.
"No special regime has been announced yet. Military convoys
from Europe are arriving. Helicopters and armoured vehicles
are constantly arriving," he said.
According to Musienko, the Moroccan migrants... are behaving
peacefully, and there have been no reported cases of riots.
The journalist added that he had personally observed
large groups of people crossing the border from
Morocco to Ceuta. He noted that the city's
infrastructure is not equipped to handle
such a large influx of migrants, as
there are insufficient drinking
fountains ...and public
restrooms in Ceuta.
Spain and Morocco agreed on July 30 to return migrants who
illegally arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North
Africa during the latest surge of illegal migration. Italian
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on July 31
that the country is considering suspending the
Schengen Agreement with Spain amid a
sharp increase in illegal migration.
This initiative found support in Finland. Denmark called on the EU
to consider suspending Spain's membership. Former head of EU
diplomacy Josep Borrell said on July 31 ---- that EU legislation
does not provide for the possibility of excluding a state from
participation in the Schengen area at the initiative of
individual countries.
[Rhondda Records adds: in a just world, all the ''enclaves'' stolen by the West will be returned and compensation paid to the original inhabitants.]
This gentleman picks holes in the intellectual ''mistakes'' of the West and points to the best solution for the world's people.
Britain's enemy is not Russia but its own ruling class, UN report confirms by John Wight November 19th, at 2:48pm
John Wight has written for a variety of newspapers and websites, including the Independent, Morning Star, Huffington Post, Counter- punch, London Progressive Journal, and Foreign Policy Journal.
As the UK political establishment rips itself to pieces over Brexit, a far greater crisis continues to afflict millions of victims of Tory austerity.
A devastating UN report into poverty in the UK provides incontrovertible evidence, that the enemy of the British people, is the very ruling class that has gone out of its way these past few years to convince them it is Russia.
Professor Philip Alston, in his capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, spent two weeks touring the United Kingdom. He did so, investigating the impact of 8 years of one of the most extreme austerity programs among advanced G20 economies in response to the 2008 financial crash and subsequent global recession.
What he found was evidence of a systematic, wilful, concerted and brutal economic war, unleashed by the country's right-wing Tory establishment, against the poorest and most vulnerable section of British society – upending the lives of millions of people who were not responsible for the aforementioned financial crash and recession, but who have been forced to pay the price.
From the report's introduction:
"It…seems patently unjust and contrary to British values that so many people are living in poverty. This is obvious to anyone who opens their eyes: to see the immense growth in foodbanks, and the queues waiting outside them, the people sleeping rough in the streets, the growth of homelessness, the sense of deep despair - that leads even the Government to appoint a Minister for Suicide Prevention - and civil society to report in depth, on unheard of levels of loneliness and isolation."
Though as a citizen of the UK, I respectfully beg to differ with the professor's claim, that such social & economic carnage, seems "contrary to British values,"(on the contrary - it is entirely in keeping with the values of the country's Tory establishment, an establishment for whom, the dehumanization of the poor and working class, is central to its ideology), the point he makes about it being "obvious to anyone who opens their eyes," is well made.
For it is now the case that in every town and city centre in Britain, it is impossible to walk in any direction for more than a minute, before coming across homeless people begging in the street. And the fact that some 13,000 of them, are former soldiers, casualties of the country's various military adventures in recent years, undertaken in service to Washington, exposes the pious platitudes peddled by politicians & the government as reverence for the troops & their 'sacrifice,' as insincere garbage.
As inequality increases, the wealthy and powerful become more desperate to cling onto their gains and distract us - with imagined threats and political sideshows - such as Jingoism, Russophobia and red-baiting...
Overall, 14 million people in the UK are now living in poverty, a figure which translates into an entire fifth of the population. Four million of them are children, while, according to Professor Alston, 1.5 million people are destitute – that is, unable to afford the basic necessities of life.
And this is what the ruling class of the fifth largest economy in the world, a country that parades itself on the world stage, as a pillar of democracy and human rights, considers progress.
The values responsible for creating such a grim social landscape, are compatible with the 18th, not the 21st century. They are proof positive, that the network of elite private schools – Eton, Harrow, Fettes College et al. – where those responsible for this human carnage are inculcated with the sense of entitlement and born to rule ethos that defines them, are Britain's hotbeds of extremism.
Professor Alston:"British compassion for those who are suffering, has been replaced by a punitive, mean-spirited, and often callous approach, apparently designed to instill discipline where it is least useful, to impose a rigid order on the lives of those least capable of coping with today's world, and elevating the goal of enforcing blind compliance, over a genuine concern to improve the well- being of those at the lowest levels of British society."
Here, set out above in bold relief, is the barbarism that walks - hand in hand - with free market capitalism. It is the same barbarism that was responsible for pushing post-Soviet Russia into a decade-long economic and social abyss, in the 1990s, and the values that have pushed 14 million people in the UK into the same economic and social abyss, in our time.
Austerity, it bears emphasizing, is not and never has been, a viable economic response to recession, in a given economy.
Instead, it is an ideological club, wielded on behalf of the rich and big business, to ensure that the price paid for the said economic recession, is borne exclusively by those least able to bear it - namely the poor and working people. It is class war by any other name, packaged and presented, as legitimate government policy.
However in Britain's case in 2018, this is a war like no other, because, as Professor Philip Alston's report lays bare, one side in this war has been throwing all the punches and one side has been taking them.
As the saying goes, wars take place when the government tells you who the enemy is; revolutions take place when you work it out for yourself.
(Source - RT)
_______________________________________________
Keiser Report: Reality of Creditor Jubilees
- fantastic - asks ''why don't we act like Jesus preached - and forgive debt?''
When what we do now, is what led to the slavery of feudalism: by refunding the creditors, instead!
Marx's theory still shines with truth: Xi May 4th, at 10:53am
Xinhua - Two centuries on, despite huge and profound changes in human society, the name of Karl Marx is still respected all over the world and his theory still shines with the brilliant light of truth, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a grand gathering in Beijing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth.
Xi said Marx is the "teacher of revolution for the proletariat and working people all over the world, the main founder of Marxism, creator of Marxist parties, a pathfinder for international communism and the greatest thinker of modern times."
"Today, we hold this grand gathering with great veneration to mark the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth, to remember his great character and historic deeds and to review his noble spirit and brilliant thoughts," Xi said at the event.
''With noble ideals and no fear of difficulty or adversity, throughout his life, Marx devoted himself to perseveringly striving for the liberation of humanity, scaling the peak of thought in his pursuit of truth, and the unremitting fight to overturn the old world and establish a new one'', according to Xi.
''Marx is not only a great figure who bore the weight of the world, but also an ordinary person with a passion for life, who was sincere and true to his friends'', Xi said.
''The most valuable and influential spiritual asset that Marx left us is the scientific theory named after him -- Marxism. Like a spectacular sunrise, the theory illuminated the path of humanity's exploration of the law of history, and humanity's search for their own liberation'', Xi said.
"The thought and theory of Marx are of his times and go beyond his times," Xi said. "They are the essence of the spirit of that times and the essence of the spirit of all humanity."
Xi said Marxism is a scientific theory that reveals the rules of human society's development, in a creative manner.
Having developed the materialist conception of history and surplus value theory, Marx showed how humanity would leap from the realm of necessity, to the realm of freedom, and also showed the road for people to realize freedom and liberation, Xi said.
Marxism, the first ideology for the liberation of the people themselves, is a theory of the people.
"Marxism, for the first time, explored the path for humanity's freedom and liberation from the stance of the people, and pointed out the direction, with scientific theory, toward an ideal society with no oppression or exploitation, where every person would enjoy equality and freedom," Xi said.
Stressing that practicality is a prominent characteristic of Marxism that makes it different from other theories, Xi said Marxism is a theory of practices that directs the people to change the world.
It is an open theory that is constantly developing and always stands at the frontier of the times, Xi said.
"That is why it is always able to keep young, explore the new issues in the development of the times and respond to the new challenges for human society."
The general secretary said that over the 170 years since publication of The Communist Manifesto, Marxism had been spread around the world, unrivaled in the history of human ideology in terms of the breadth and depth of its influence.
After the end of World War II, a large number of socialist countries were established, Xi said, stressing that the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially, has greatly increased the socialist strength in the world.
"There might be setbacks in the development of socialism in the world, but the overall trend for human society's development has never changed, and it will never change," Xi said.
"Marxism has not only profoundly changed the world, but also China," Xi said.
The reverberations of the October Revolution in Russia brought Marxism-Leninism to China, pointing out the direction forward, offering a brand new choice for the Chinese people in their struggle to survive, and setting the scene for the birth of the CPC.
Since the CPC's birth, it has combined the fundamental principles of Marxism with the reality of the Chinese revolution and construction, transforming the Chinese nation from "the sick man of East Asia" to one who has stood up, by uniting and leading the people through long-term struggle.
"This tremendous transformation serves as cast iron proof that only through socialism, can we save China," Xi said.
Since reform and opening up, the CPC has combined the fundamental principles of Marxism, with the reality of China's reform and opening up, and the nation who stood up, has grown rich.
"This tremendous transformation serves as cast iron proof that only through socialism with Chinese characteristics, can we develop China," Xi said.
In the new era, the CPC again combined the fundamental principles of Marxism with the reality of China in this new era, uniting and leading the people in "under- taking the great struggle, building the great project, advancing the great cause and realizing the great dream."
The Chinese nation has come to embrace a tremendous transformation, as the one who has grown rich, now, is becoming strong.
"This tremendous transformation serves as cast iron proof that only by adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, can we realize national rejuvenation," Xi said.
"It is perfectly right for history and the people to choose Marxism, as well as for the CPC to write Marxism on its own flag, to adhere to the principle of combining the fundamental principles of Marxism, with China's reality, and continuously adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and the times."
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China lifts 740 mln rural poor out of poverty since 1978 September 3rd, at 12:57pm
Xinhua - China lifted 740 million people in rural areas out of poverty from 1978 to 2017, roughly 19 million each year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
The poverty ratio in rural areas dropped 94.4 percentage points during the same time period with an average annual decrease of 2.4 percentage points, according to the NBS.
NBS data shows that China's poverty relief achievements have contributed more than 70 percent to global poverty alleviation work, in the past 40 years.
The average annual income of rural residents in impoverished areas rose an average of 10.4 percent each year from 2012 to 2017, up 2.5 percentage points from the average for rural residents.
Over the past five years, over 68 million people were lifted out of poverty in China. The country aims to further lift 10 million people out of poverty this year and eradicate poverty by 2020.
China recently released guidelines on winning the battle against poverty in the next three years, in order to prepare the nation for eradicating poverty by 2020.
According to the guidelines, the impoverished people should be guaranteed food & clothing, and children from poor families should be guaranteed a 9-year compulsory education. Basic medical needs and living conditions of the impoverished, should also be guaranteed.
People whose annual income is lower than 2,300 yuan (337.3 U.S. dollars), are defined as living below the poverty line, in China.
Almost half of Russians see USSR collapse as shameful – poll January 17th, at 12:11pm
The collapse of the Soviet Union is considered a reason to be ashamed, by 45 percent of Russians, according to a recent opinion poll. The only option that scored higher, is Russia’s failure to eradicate poverty.
The poll, conducted in late 2018, by the Levada Center is its latest study of what Russians are proud and ashamed of, about their nation. The demise of the USSR, saw a rebound in popularity from a low point of 28 percent in mid-2015, and is at a level comparable with the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The only more popular answer is Russia’s failure to eradicate poverty, which was named as a reason to be ashamed, by 61 percent of the people polled. This answer has topped Levada’s polls, for decades.
Russians are also ashamed of fellow countrymen treating each other disrespectfully (37 percent), Russia’s failure to catch up economically with the Western powers (24 percent), the out- come of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms (24 percent), and Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror (21 percent).
On the opposite side of Russians’ national identity are the qualities and events, people are proud of.
Defeating Nazi Germany in World War II remains the one thing Russians are overwhelmingly proud of (87 percent).
There is also the role that the country played in space exploration – about half are proud to belong to a space pioneering nation.
The third most popular option is accepting Crimea (the breakaway former Ukrainian region) as part of Russia again, which is seen as a point of national pride, by 45 percent.
Many people are also proud of Russian literature, science, and martial prowess, Soviet-era industrialization and the best qualities of the Russian character, like resolve and patience.
A record 75 percent said Russia is definitely, or most likely, a great nation today, while 88 percent believe that it should be one.
There was no apparent correlation between wishing greatness for Russia and regretting the USSR’s collapse, the agency noted, suggesting that Russians expect a great nation to - first and foremost - provide social justice, and protection.
Sixty-two percent said the Russians are a great people.
Levada remarked that about 80 percent of the people polled, identified themselves as Russians.
When asked what makes them feel connected to their people, most respondents named national history (53 percent), Russia’s land (35 percent), their place of birth (33 percent), and the nature that they call their own (25 percent).
The formal national symbols, including the flag, the coat of arms, and the national anthem, was the least popular option (5 percent).
Interestingly, religion is a relatively small factor in Russian national identity (9 percent).
(Source - RT)
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Number of Russians who regret collapse of USSR hits 10-year high December 26th, 2017, at 7:20am
The number of Russians who regret the collapse of the Soviet Union has reached its highest level since 2009, with almost an equal share saying the event could have been avoided.
A public opinion poll conducted by the independent Levada Center in late November this year found that 58 percent of Russians now regret the collapse of the USSR. Twenty-five percent said they felt no regret about this, and 16 percent could not describe their feelings in one word.
When researchers asked those who regret the end of the USSR what the primary reasons were behind their sentiments, 54 percent said that they missed a single economic system, 36 percent said they had lost the feeling of belonging to a real superpower, 34 percent complained about the drop in mutual trust among ordinary people, and 26 percent said that the collapse had destroyed the ties between friends and relatives.
The same research showed that 52 percent of Russians think that the collapse of the USSR could have been avoided, 29 percent said that the event was absolutely inevitable, and 19 percent did not have a fixed opinion on the matter.
The share of those who regret the demise of the Soviet Union has risen continuously over the past decade, but in 2009 it was even higher than today – at 60 percent. The all-time high – 75 percent – was recorded in 2000.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly addressed the issue of the collapse of the USSR in his speeches. In an address to the Russian parliament in 2005 he called the event the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century and a cause of major disruption for the Russian people. In September 2016, Putin said the Communist Party should have transformed the Soviet Union into a democratic state, rather than see it break into separate nations.
At the same time, Putin has always emphasized that he and other Russian officials have no plans to revive the USSR, and has expressed anger that people cannot accept this. He's also accused Western governments of deliberately confusing modern Russia with the USSR and harming the interests of ordinary people, on the pretense of preventing an imaginary threat.
Historian:Russia's October Revolution Was Inevitable, Relatively Bloodless November 10th, at 4:33pm by Ekaterina Blinova
The October Uprising of 1917 became the logical conclusion of the February Revolution, Michael J. Carley, a professor of history at the Universite de Montreal has told Sputnik. According to the academic, the Russian Revolution was inevitable and occurred because evolutionary processes of change to benefit the lives of ordinary people had failed.
"February 1917 marked the beginning of a revolutionary change in power in Russia, that was accomplished in October," Michael Jabara Carley, professor of history at the Université de Montréal and the author of "Silent Conflict: A Hidden History of Early Soviet-Western Relations,"told Sputnik, commenting on the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
"The tsarist order was bankrupt and doomed. Almost everyone at the time said so. The immediate cause of the bankruptcy was the Great War [The First World War]," the Canadian academic stressed, adding that "the result was calamity marked by millions of casualties, large territories lost and an economy thrown into chaos, by the unsustainable financial and economic demands of fighting a world war."
Russian Provisional Government: 'Neither Revolutionary, Nor Democratic'
The so-called February Revolution, which is regarded as a combination of a popular uprising with an elitist anti- monarchist plot, led to the abdication of Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the establishment of the Provisional Government.
Still, the Provisional Government"was neither revolutionary nor democratic,"the academic pointed out: The crux of the matter was that it was largely controlled by the "bourgeois" urban and rural elites and old tsarist establishment"that was opposed to the revolution and attempted to block its further development."
October Uprising Was Relatively Bloodless
The professor explained why, contrary to popular belief, the October Revolution of 1917 that took place on November 7 (October 25 in the Julian calendar) was relatively bloodless.
"Well, in the first instance because the Provisional Government was utterly discredited. It had no popular support. It was a head without a body. It could give orders or issue decrees, but had no power to enforce them. In a revolutionary period, power comes from the support of the insurgent masses and the Provisional Government had none,"Carley told Sputnik.
The professor suggested that 1917 could have been averted if old elites as well as their forebears had not blocked"political and economic evolutionary processes"in Russia.
'Provisional Government Became a Cork in the Bottle'
"The Provisional Government became a cork in the bottle holding back the revolution,"the historian said."The revolutionary masses in Petrograd [Saint Petersburg] and elsewhere put pressure on their socialist leaders to blow the cork out of the bottle…. It was the Bolsheviks who put themselves at the head of the mass movement & articulated its demands, essentially peace, bread and land."
He pointed out, however, that"the Bolsheviks themselves were not united on all the big issues and most importantly on the seizure of power in October (the Julian calendar)."
"I would propose that the Provisional Government collapsed of its own rot. The insurgent masses led by the Bolsheviks only had to kick it over,"Carley remarked.
Was the October Revolution of 1917 Inevitable?
"It is a question impossible to answer except in this way: popular revolutions come about because political and economic elites over time are too selfish to share wealth and power with the masses,"Carley responded."Like the tsarist autocracy, they treat the masses as a resource to be exploited and rung dry. When evolutionary processes of change fail, revolution is often the result."
According to the academic, it is wrong to think that such revolutions succeed "because of the evil genius and cruelty of a small revolutionary elite"
"They succeed because of mass support and effective, responsive leadership."
The question then arises as to whether it was possible to follow an evolutionary path, rather than go through a revolution.
"A revolution occurred because evolutionary processes of change to benefit the lives of ordinary people had failed,"the professor responded."Serfdom, inequality, exploitation, violence, continued unabated until 1917."
October 1917: 'Driver of Transformations Across the Globe'. Revisiting the October Revolution of 1917.
Addressing the 14th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that"the largely utopian social model and ideology" the Soviets tried to implement initially following the 1917 revolution became "a powerful driver of transformations across the globe, caused a major revaluation of development models, and gave rise to rivalry and competition, the benefits of which were mostly reaped by the West."
The Canadian professor disagrees that the term "utopian" could be used with regards to the "Communist model," for instance.
"Is free, public education for everyone, no matter what their class, nationality or religion, utopian? Is the elimination of illiteracy, utopian? Are women's rights, or universal health care, utopian? Was the desire to create a more equal society, socially, economically and politically, utopian?"Carley asked, adding"in fact, that Soviet society was eventually able to withstand and then to destroy almost single- handedly, the so-called invincible Nazi 'colossus.'"
Still, he believes that the 1917 revolution certainly was"a powerful driver of transformations"around the world since it"inspired successful revolutionary movements in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Cuba."
As Putin noted during his Valdai speech "many Western achievements of the 20th century were an answer to the challenge posed by the Soviet Union," such as"raising living standards, forming a strong middle class, reforming the labour market and the social sphere, promoting education, guaranteeing human rights, including the rights of minorities and women, overcoming racial segregation."
Red October: Allied Intervention and 'Beginning of Cold War'
The October Revolution became the trigger for the Civil War (1917-1922) and prompted the Allied intervention of major foreign powers in Russia.
The Canadian academic pointed out that the October Uprising "produced an immediate violent reaction by the United States, France and Britain, whose elites attempted to overthrow the Soviet government."
"The foreign intervention against Soviet Russia fed a civil war and exacerbated the violence of the counter-revolution by many times over,"Carley said."On its own, the former tsarist elite could never have mounted such violent resistance to the October Revolution."
The professor underscored that after their failure to overthrow the Soviets,"the Western powers spent the next 70 years, with the exception of a truce between 1941-1945, in trying to harm or bring down the USSR and all those revolutions to which it had given birth."
According to the academic, the Cold War started in October (November) 1917.
"Just ask the Chinese, Vietnamese, Cubans, or N. Koreans about the frightful price of resistance to US and Western hegemony,"Carley remarked."Or for that matter, we might ask, if we could, the soldiers, sailors and workers of Soviet Russia, what price they had to pay, to defend their revolution."
(Source - Sputnik)
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Communist leader dispels new Russian budget as "oligarch orientated" October 28th, 2017 Fort Russ News - KtovKurse translated by Inessa Sinchougova
Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, called the draft federal budget for 2018-2020, "a budget of the oligarchy", which will increase stagnation and poverty.
On Friday October 27th, the State Duma considered the first reading of the draft budget for 2018 for the planning period 2019-2020. According to the draft of the Ministry of Finance, the budget deficit in 2018 will be 1.3 trillion rubles or 1.37% of GDP, in 2019 it will be 867 billion rubles or 0.84% of GDP, and in 2020 - 960 billion rubles or 0.87% of GDP.
Such a budget Zyuganov considers "a budget for the oligarchy, where further stagnation and deepening of poverty in the country will occur."
In his opinion, the draft budget does not meet the current challenges and can only aggravate the split in Russian civil society.
The Communist Party leader stressed that incomes and expenditures are constantly declining. Zyuganov noted that "in plain language" this means that the "share of the national pie" created by the working people is constantly shrinking in the budget.
Zyuganov's main issue with the budget was the reduction in government expenses for 14 out of 13 articles listed within. He explained that for eight of these articles, expenses are simply cut, and for four other articles, a small increase is offset by inflation, and as a result, real costs are below the ones prophesized.
According to Zyuganov, the current budget policy "creeps of the old Gaidar-Chubais reforms. It does not smell of modernization, nor a breakthrough for the future."
"I do not know why the president has not reacted to this helplessness, to this impotence of the financial and economic blockade on behalf of the government," Zyuganov said.
President Vladimir Putin does not oversee forthcoming bills until they pass all the stages of parliamentary negotiation - that is until his signature is required. It remains to be said that a majority of Russia's parliament and governmental organs, are liberal representatives, both economically and culturally, whereby it is only the President that stops certain bills being passed.
Without looking at the document in detail (which is not yet available to the public) it makes sense to assume that the Communist Party leader has every right to become concerned at this early stage.
Zyuganov's Communist Party enjoys the second most popular rating in the Russian political sphere, after United Russia (Vladimir Putin.)
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And a Record Number of Russians Want Socialism Back !!!
First published in Komsomolskaya Pravda Translated by Kristina Kharlova
The number of those nostalgic for the Soviet Union, is now growing steadily.
According to the findings of sociologists, 56% of respondents now express regret for the collapse of the Soviet state.
A majority of Russians regret the collapse of the Soviet Union, and do not mind if it's restored — conclude the sociologists of "Levada-centre".
2016 sees a record number of respondents nostalgic for the Soviet Union, in the whole history of public opinion surveys.
At the same time, the percentage of those who don't long for the Union, decreases over time: if, in November of last year it was 37%, today only 28% do not feel any pity.
58% of Russians would like a socialist system and the Soviet Union to be restored, and 31% say they don't want the Soviet Union back.
Over half of respondents, 51%, believe that it was still possible to save the country in 1991 while 33% of Russians say the collapse was 'inevitable'.
Experts, meanwhile, note that those most nostalgic for the Soviet Union don't yearn so much for the Soviet ideology, as for the stability, justice, confidence in the future, secure jobs, free education, medical care and housing.
Serbia:Mass anti-NATO demonstrations silenced Nothing has been the same since NATO brutally bombed Yugoslavia 17 years ago. The 5th column, trained by NATO, took over the destroyed country to continue the job that the West had started.
The economy collapsed, the country was ripped apart, and the Army, dismissed.
Year by year, malicious plans brainstormed by NATO, and executed by the government, are pushing all of the Balkans into the deep maw of the West's 'modern' imperialism.
The latest move was the Agreement with NATO about logistics. Parliament has approved, and the President has signed, an agreement which gives NATO soldiers immunity and freedom of movement on the territory of Serbia. The same people who killed thousands of innocent Serb civilians are now given freedom and immunity. NATO personnel rule the roost in Serbia
NATO personnel are exempt from paying taxes, VAT and/or customs duties. The adoption of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), lets NATO soldiers use Serbia's infrastructure, with free transit across the whole territory of Serbia, as well as protection from the law -- being given 'special status' while staying in Serbian territory.
However, although almost two decades have passed since NATO's cruel attack, most Serbs have not forgotten how important freedom is -- which is the main problem for the ruling elite.
In the mainstream media, news about signing the agreement with NATO, was published as small & irrelevant. In a couple of sentences, mainstream journalists wrote about it, as if it was tomorrow's weather forecast, but they couldn't fool people.
Boiling situation hidden by Government
The situation was boiling. A few patriotic parties and war veterans managed to organize a protest -- & expected no more than a thousand people in Belgrade, to show their disagreement with the ruling party's decisions.
On the 20th February, more than 15,000 Serbs, mostly youth, came onto the Belgrade streets to join in with the protesters. Even the police were surprised, quickly trying to reinforce -- fearing nonverbal shows of disagreement.
The mainstream media weren't at all interested in massive protests in the capital city. They just reported, after the protest, that there were only a couple of hundred demonstrators.
Amongst all media, just one, the alternative patriotic website, Srbin info, sent reporters to the vicinity, to cover the whole protest.
It was the only media that had pictures and videos of the massive protests, showing the huge number of protesters.
During the protest, over 2,000 readers per second were following their live streaming of the demonstrations. Each minute, their website was gaining more followers.
Just a couple of minutes after the end of the peaceful protest, huge cyber-attacks began.
The weak website couldn't defend itself from the biggest attacks in its history, & the web- site eventually crashed. Attacks continued for 24 hours, never letting the website repair.
The only possible source of the attacks on the website & freedom of the speech, is the ruling elite. There is no one else who would be able to manage such strong attacks.
The main problem for the alternative, free media in Serbia is that the web providers, most of them belonging to the SBB company, part of the Soros foundation, don't want to reveal who was behind the attacks. However, some opposition forces, also attacked by hackers, discovered that the IP address of the hacker belongs to one of the directors of SBB company.
It is also interesting that 25% of web providers and some mainstream media in Serbia - belong to David Petraeus, former director of the CIA.
Despite their crashed website, Srbin info reporters managed to find way to send the real story & used Facebook to spread the truth. A video showing the masses of people protesting, was viewed by over 1,700,000 Facebook users --- a huge number for Serbia, with its 7 million population.
For 48 hours after the attack, the website was closed.
Thanks to its loyal readers, who appreciate Srbin info's fight for freedom of speech, donations were collected to make a new website, with better protection.
But the problem of having a neutral web provider who will not sabotage the website -- after orders from the Government -- still exists. A much worse problem.... is that the once proud and honorable Serbia, is now under the boots of imperialists.
LEN RE-ELECTED - VICTORY FOR LEFT!
"Serving you, our members, is the greatest privilege of my working life. I'm proud to have stood shoulder- to-shoulder with you in your struggles and proud to have been asked by so many, to continue to fight for you"
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The Corbyn Supporters From Hell - Attila The Stockbroker,15th Oct 2015 at The Blue Boar Hotel, Maldon, Essex, UK
ONE UNION
Two weeks before Brexit, the African Union announced a new single African passport that permits holders to enter any of the 54 AU member states without a visa – an interesting turn in African history which NO-ONE in the West knows or cares about ! What a stunning reflection of how far our mindset and media are, from the 'world community' we say we love.
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ADAM JOHANNES, CO-CONVENOR, PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY
“Most people under 40 have never been a member of a trade union. So unions are irrelevant, right? Wrong. Unions are more relevant than ever before. With in- work poverty, zero hours contracts and precarious employment, trade unions urgently need to make inroads into the private sector where the majority of us work, but a majority are still un-unionised.”
3 recent campaigns show how this might be done -
1. BETTER THAN ZERO
"Better than Zero" is an exciting campaign launched last year by the Scottish TUC to combat employers using zero-hours contracts. It is run by young people for young people to take on the issue of insecure work. Its activists are mostly in their teens or twenties. The campaign calls upon an older generation not to stand by while a generation of young people are forced into insecure work.
It has responded to tip off from employees in workplaces charging staff for training or uniforms, and bars and restaurants where workers tips are taken by the company. It's fought against people routinely expected to work additional late hours at short notice, with little or no thought given to how they'll get home & whether they will be safe.
The campaign uses direct action, stunts and creative protests such as targeting bars and restaurants with 'flash mob choirs', activists and former staff posing as customers, before each stand up in a restaurant to make speeches while other activists leaflet out- side, Halloween funeral marches on exploitative employers, or, memorably, activists clad in chemical-spill clean up garb placing several popular bars & restaurants in 'quarantine', for exploitative work practices. A recent campaign victory saw restaurant chain Las Iguanas end a policy of deducting money from staff tips.
2. SPORTS DIRECT
Unite has waged a dynamic fightback against Sports Direct including pickets of over 30 stores across the UK, occupations, direct action such as the unfurling of a #SportsDirectShame banner by Newcastle United fans at the club owned by Sports Direct boss, Mike Ashley, other banner drops from bridges, shareholder action, and a social media campaign,
Sports Direct is Britain's biggest sportswear company. It made over a billion in profits last year, but the majority of its workers agency staff are on zero hour contracts with no holiday or sick pay, and no guaranteed work from one week to the next. It has been called more 'workhouse' than workplace with intense surveillance and searches of staff, a culture of fear, bullying and intimidation rife.
Unite's campaign had forced the issue of its Victorian working conditions into national media & a company review. Unite demands all staff are re-employed on permanent contracts on a living wage. So far they have won a pay rise for staff and the company is now being investigated by HM Revenue & Customs after the union exposed it for effectively paying under the minimum wage.
3. PIZZA EXPRESS
Unite scored a victory against Pizza Express after exposing and ending the company deducting a proportion of staff's hard earned tips as an 'admin fee', recruiting new members. The campaign involved union activists going into Pizza Express branches to speak to waiting staff, weekly pickets, handing out hundreds of flyers with customers given a ‘scrap the admin fee’ postcard to leave with their cash tips, and finally a 'meal of justice' when protesters went into a restaurant, enjoyed a meal and when the bill came, one person stood up and told customers about the admin fee while others handed out postcards. Customers often respond with spontaneous applause.
We need to think creatively of how to bring politics into the workplace whether collections for refugees in Calais, foodbanks or local homeless, organising delegations from our work to local protests, or even setting up People's Assembly networks with likeminded people we work with.
Cardiff People's Assembly is part of The People's Assembly Against Austerity, a UK anti-cuts network sponsored by eight trade unions. Locally we have worked with Unison defending our city's library service & PCS to organise solidarity with museum workers, we will be supporting Unite Community's day of action against benefit sanctions. With much of our nation's workforce unorganised in their workplace in unions, joining movements like ours can boost people's confidence to stand up to their employers and build workplace organisation.
In the 1980s Thatcher declared war on the unions --- as a prelude to letting the market rip through society --- transforming us into a highly unequal low pay, low skill economy. The assault on the 'social wage' means we now have the highest private rents, highest energy bills, highest rail fares, and most expensive university education in the EU. Now the Trade Union Bill aims to take out a key part of the resistance to extend the cuts, privatisation and outsourcing agenda and shift even more power and wealth from the 99% to the 1%.
Our economy is dominated by low paid jobs. Low pay makes people insecure. A low pay economy and tax avoiding corporations make it hard to invest in public services. Joining a union is one way to fight back.
Profit Is The Only Concern For Railway Privateers 2016 Thursday 29TH DEC
The only way to have a public transport system worthy of the name is to have a fully nationalised railway,says GORDON MARTIN
All things transport have been making the news in Scotland for a number of months and the signs are this isn’t going to change in the dark winter months ahead.
Scotland’s railways have been subjected to an unprecedented level of scrutiny and criticism with opposition politicians, media columnists and some trade union officials calling for Nicola Sturgeon to sack her Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf MSP.
In my view the roots of the public’s dissatisfaction with Scotland’s railways goes back to the Scottish government’s ill-conceived decision to award the ScotRail franchise to a state-owned rail operator.
Unfortunately for passengers and the ScotRail workforce, the state in question was not our own — and the Netherlands now benefits from profits made by its state company, Abellio, out of ScotRail.
A public-sector bid from Scotland was not allowed when the franchise was awarded to Abellio for a 10-year period. With profit the first and only concern of the profiteers at Abellio, a major dispute with Scotland’s biggest rail union RMT was highly predictable.
Abellio’s attack on the role of the guard on our trains brought a summer of discontent as industrial action spread across much of the Scottish rail network.
The Scottish government quickly showed its true colours. The normally very assured and competent First Minister committed a monumental blunder when she disgracefully inferred the strike was only about who pushed a button to open and close train doors.
While the SNP government very often claims to be on the side of working-class communities, it remains very much a political party wedded to capitalism. The First Minister should have taken the trouble to speak to disabled passengers or those travelling on Scotland’s trains who feel vulnerable in any way about how crucial the role of the guard is in making their journey a safer, more relaxing experience.
Thankfully the Scottish government and Abellio ScotRail finally saw sense and a negotiated settlement was reached which was favourable to RMT and which will see safety-trained guards remain in place.
Following on from our successful efforts to Keep The Guard on the Train, RMT has launched a high- profile “Safer Scottish Trains” campaign designed to ensure trains, stations & rail infrastructure in general are properly resourced and managed to ensure the best possible service is delivered.
Everyone, in particular disabled people, should be able to travel on a 21st-century rail network without having to check ahead days in advance to ensure staff will be in place to assist them.
At the same time, Westminster and the European Union have also intervened in a negative way which may have serious repercussions for rail workers and passengers in the years ahead.
Earlier this month Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary in Theresa May’s rotten Tory government, delivered a speech which potentially takes the rail industry back to the complete fragmentation foisted upon the people of Britain by the hapless government of John Major in the 1990s.
Grayling now seeks to reintroduce “competition” into rail infrastructure, maintenance and repairs.
Inevitably this will eventually lead to the complete break-up of Network Rail. The centralised standards implemented by this public-sector organisation will be discarded and profit and loss will become the decisive factor in deciding the standards for maintaining the rail infrastructure. This is a frightening scenario with potentially deadly outcomes and RMT will fight this with everything we have.
The latest plans for railways across the EU, the ultimate bosses’ club, are contained within the Fourth Railway Package which MEPs are voting on. These proposals make it mandatory to put rail passenger services out to competitive tender. With the Scottish government recently beginning to engage with the rail unions and others regarding a public-sector bid for the ScotRail contract, the 4th Railway Package underlines how fragile and fleeting this public-sector bid could ultimately be.
Scotland’s ferry sector also had a fair amount of publicity in the last year or so, with RMT engaged in a high-profile, long-running and ultimately successful campaign to keep CalMac ferries in public ownership.
RMT stands by our assertion that the Clyde and Hebridean ferry service did not have to go out to tender under the Teckal exemption.
Unfortunately, the Scottish government are keen to be seen as good Europeans, despite the negative impact on the Scottish people, and meekly went along with directives from the EU.
The uncertainty for island communities and the stress for the CalMac workforce while their future was unclear, was not high on the government’s agenda.
Unfortunately it looks highly likely that the workforce and the islanders on the Northern Isles are about to be put through the same uncertainty as their counterparts on the west coast.
The government is once again meekly following diktats from Brussels by putting the Northern Isles ferry service out to a competitive tendering process, despite the people of Britain voting to leave the EU, including a sizeable section of the Scottish working class.
RMT has a clear and principled position which is to insist that the Northern Isles contract is brought back into public ownership forthwith.
We demand an immediate end to the exploitation of eastern European seafarers. These workers, employed on a Scottish government contract, are being paid wages at a derisory rate while being denied the protection of a trade union agreement with wages and conditions covered by collective bargaining agreements.
As part of our ongoing Save our Seafarers campaign, we have highlighted this disgraceful fact to the media and the public with our slogan SNP — Ships of Shame.
This is causing the government and, in particular, the Transport Minister a great deal of embarrassment. I make no apologies for this and I sincerely hope the embarrassment will lead to action before too much longer.
It is clear to everyone, with the possible exception of right-wing profiteering zealots, that the only way to have a public transport system worthy of the name is to have a fully nationalised railway, properly resourced, with adequate staffing levels --- together with a publicly owned ferry operator, working exclusively on behalf of ferry users and the Scottish government, & money raised reinvested --- instead of lining the pockets of private shareholders.
Gordon Martin is Scottish regional organiser of the RMT.
(source - Morning Star)
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Tory aid-dumping revelation means the money should be seized and used by Mike Sivier
The worst part of this is, it suggests that people who said the International Aid budget could be used in better ways, were right.
The Times reports that the Tories have been ‘dumping’ billions of pounds in aid into shady World Bank funds, to sit unused indefinitely – in order to "keep up the appearance" of meeting the government’s commitment to donating 0.7% of the UK’s GDP in foreign aid.
According to the Times, at least £9 billion has been transferred like this in the past 5 years. Rather than helping developing countries, the money, which is spread across over 200 different bank accounts, simply sits there – doing nothing except rack up World Bank ‘administration fees’.
UK International Development Secretary Priti Patel’s only qualification for her job appears to be the fact that she had previously wanted to get rid of it and the funding it oversees. This seems to be the standard Tory qualification for any ministerial role that is supposed to help people – Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt infamously wrote a book, before becoming Health Secretary, that called for abolition of the ’60-year-old mistake’ of the NHS.
Clearly, to a Tory, maintaining the appearance of doing something is far more important than actually doing it – especially if it helps you put cash into the bank accounts of your backers and allies and ideally while you get rid of the very thing you’re supposed to be looking after. If you hear Tories say ‘reform’, run for cover – or better yet, get the pitchforks out.
Source: Keeping up appearances: aid-dumping shows Tories care for PR, not people The SKWAWKBOX
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Left Looks To Unite To Protect Its Power Base CHARLEY ALLAN
The Labour right was desperate to see the back of “Red Len,” as the tabloids call him.
But Len won his victory. Now’s the perfect time to join Unite, with full membership costing just £3.50 a week, reduced to 50p for the unemployed.
The AWL and its allies may have won the national committee battle, but they won’t win the OMOV war --- if the movementists get organised.
A new current called Opening Momentum has rallied round the point that anti-OMOVers had denied members their advertised right to “vote in national-level elections.”
And it’s crucial that every member who really believes in the fabled “new kind of politics” turns up to their local branch meetings - if they have them - to halt plans for a parallel party.
This is bigger than Momentum. We need to see much more direct democracy in Labour itself, although there will always be resistance from those who benefit most from the delegate system.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of new Labour members and Momentum’s top priority --- should making sure their voice is heard at next year’s party conference.
The Labour left can’t afford to be crushed again on the conference floor, as happened this year.
While Momentum was dazzling everyone with its World Transformed free festival, right faction Labour First was distributing fliers to let delegates know when and where vital votes were taking place.
Critically, Momentum must:- have slates of candidates ready when local constituency parties select conference delegates in thecoming months.
The new left movement needs to get serious if it wants to win the looming electoral battles within Labour, the trade unions and the grassroots.
Defending, strengthening and expanding this power base at the ballot box, will take back the leadership, and keep the movement fighting fit for the general election.
• Chat to Charley on Twitter: @charleyallan.
(source - Morning Star)
A New Lucas Plan For The Future by David King
The ideas pioneered by the Lucas workers are just as, or more, relevant now than in the 1970s, and there are strong political similarities in the situation.
As in the ’70s, we have an economic crisis caused by unjust economic policies and the failure of successive governments’ industrial strategy.
As usual, this has hit the working class hardest, and anger over this is being channelled into racism against immigrants. Now, the environmental effects of industrial capitalism are far more evident than 40 years ago, already creating wars, militarisation and widespread concern about insecurity.
Finally, introduction of new technologies threatens structural unemployment on a scale considerably greater than the ’70s.
The Tory government’s response to the economic and political crisis, despite continuing to publicly espouse neoliberal principles, looks a lot like a classic Keynesian economic stimulus package.
In the last few months it has made decisions to go ahead with a range of industrial infrastructure megaprojects — Hinkley C, fracking, HS2 and the Heathrow third runway, as well as pressing ahead with spending £200 billion on Trident renewal.
A key element in the case for all these projects is the jobs that they will generate or preserve, although the jobs estimates are bound to be inflated, while the price tag will be massively underestimated.
Compared to the ’70s, far fewer jobs will be created in this way because, due to automation and mechanisation, they are all highly capital rather than labour-intensive.
The Lucas Aerospace workers’ idea of socially useful production suggests a far better way forward.
Even in the early phase of the environmental movement, before most socialists realised the significance of these issues, the Lucas Plan acknowledged that protecting the environment is part of the concept of socially useful production.
With the exception of HS2, all the new projects are environmental anathema, and the damage that project would do to the English countryside and people’s homes and communities, for the sake of saving 30 minutes of executives’ time, makes it emblematic of neoliberalism.
The working-class people who voted for Brexit are demanding jobs and regeneration of their communities, but these industrial vanity projects are not the solution.
Now is the moment to realise the proposals of the Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group (Million Climate Jobs Campaign), which is often seen as a successor to the Lucas Plan.
We should be investing in renewable energy, home insulation, public transport etc as part of the international trade union initiative of Just Transition, ie transition to a low-carbon economy with job protection for workers in industries that need to be phased out.
Imagine what could be achieved in regional economic renewal and environmental benefits with the Trident billions.
But exactly how that money should be spent should not be decided by economic planners alone.
One of the great strengths of the Lucas Plan was that it came from the bottom up, from workers, not managers.
Recognising that they could not, by themselves, define what people need, the Lucas workers began to work with various regional communities to develop “popular planning for social need.”
In London, the Greater London Council created technology development networks that involved users, for example disabled people, in technology design.
These traditions of bottom-up local planning have been continued by various citizens’ local planning initiatives, such as Just Space in London, and would be vital to a democratic solution to the crises.
The current economic and environmental crises are symptoms of a deeper crisis in the industrial capitalist mode of production, and they demand a fundamental rethink of how we produce the basic things that people need for a decent life.
One of the less well-remembered, but crucial aspects of the Lucas Plan was the workers’ struggle against the automation and deskilling of their work with computer-controlled machinery, a struggle shared with trade unionists around the world in that period.
As Phil Asquith of the Lucas Combine puts it, “Harold Wilson’s ‘white heat of the technological revolution’ was burning up workers’ jobs.’
The continuation of this trend over the last 40 years is a major source of the jobless recoveries and income polarisation that are creating the “squeezed middle” of angry, Daily Mail- reading, Brexit voters.
Forecasts suggest that digital technology will eliminate half the jobs in the economy over the next 20 years, but its track record shows that it creates far fewer new jobs to replace them.
One response to this that has become popular on the left is the belief that automation will usher in a post- capitalist society, if we can only feed those useless human workers with basic income.
This is a complex argument, but one thing for sure is that this was not the Lucas workers’ philosophy.
Instead of: “Demand Full Automation, Demand Universal Basic Income, Demand the Future,” they would have reminded us that the romance of high-technology leads to what historian of technology David Noble aptly called: “Progress without people.”
The Lucas workers’ slogan would likely have been: “Demand Democratic Control of Technology, Demand Socially Useful Production, Demand Equality and Sustainability.”
They were very clear that the idea of socially useful production is also about how things are produced.
There is no point in socially useful products if they are made in a way that alienates and deskills the workers who produce them.
They went on to design “human-centred technologies,” in which the point was to use and develop workers’ skills, rather than design them out of the production process.
A skills and people-based, more labour-intensive approach is, in the era of Brexit and environmental crisis, a much better way to create a socially just, sustainable economy than old-fashioned, capital- intensive high-tech mega projects. This is the agenda we will be discussing in Birmingham today.
(source - the Morning Star)
Construction Workers Can’t Be Expected To Work Into Their Sixties by Brian Rye (source - The Star)
British governments seem to think one of two things about construction workers: they're either superhuman, or they don’t give a toss about them. That would be the logical conclusion, given the raise in the pension age, to 68.
With the state pension age due to rise to 67 by 2026 and 68 by 2044, our political elites seem to believe that we are breeding a race of human beings with quite exceptional physical capabilities.
While professional sportspeople are pretty much done by their mid-thirties, with their strength, speed and stamina leeching away by the day, the British construction worker - if you believe our politicians - lives in a world that defies conventional science.
Despite the early starts, the exposure to the elements, the heavy lifting, the long hours, the poor diet & susceptibility to minor injury, these lions of the labour force are all going to get their telegram from the king - because the stats say we’re all living longer.
Sadly, if you have a shred of common sense you will immediately know this is not true.
Construction workers are the same as any other human being. Like professional sportspeople, they can feel their physical abilities start to wane from their mid-thirties.
The only difference being: construction workers have to stay in the game. & not only that, given the increase in the pensionable age, the game just went into extra time.
Empathy is a wonderful characteristic for a human being to possess because it creates understanding and caring for others.
So we have to ask ourselves, as our besuited, overweight politicians sit back in their comfy chairs before skipping off to their subsidised three-course meal in the House of Commons - with a glass of wine or two — how much empathy are they feeling with their compatriots in construction?
Can they imagine the freezing mornings, the hours of standing up, the repetitive physical work or the greasy chips for lunch? It would seem not.
Recent research carried out by the TUC, in a report called Postponing the Pension, shows that a significant proportion of the population won’t reach the pensionable age of 68 in any fit state to enjoy their retirement.
The results show that half a million workers within five years of the state pension have had to leave work for medical reasons, and that nearly half of 60 to 64-year-olds stopped working before their official retirement age.
This is why Ucatt is currently trying to get the Labour Party to support policies that would mean a future Labour government would introduce a flexible pension age for physically demanding professions.
Construction work is hugely physically demanding because it involves prolonged standing, highly repetitive work, heavy lifting, working with the hands lifted to shoulder height or higher, and working with the back twisted or bent forward. It can lead to musculoskeletal disorder, cardiovascular disease and long-term sickness absence.
These work conditions and their effects need to be factored into the calculation of a pensionable age. It is only fair.
At 60, most politicians are on a few company boards, are picking up consultancies, maybe writing a book and reaping the benefits of a lifetime’s work.
The current presidential candidates in the US are 68 (Hillary Clinton) and 70 (Donald Trump) - beneficiaries of a lifetime of comfort, good food, little or no physical exertion and excellent healthcare on demand.
These individuals see no reason to retire - they’re feeling fine. Construction workers often aren’t feeling fine.
We all know that one in four people in Britain will now live to 100 — but what about the other three? At what age will they be checking out? And what jobs are they doing?
According to figures from the government’s own Office for National Statistics, doctors and accountants are outliving builders and cleaners, by as much as eight years.
Men in professional occupations can expect to live to 80, almost eight years longer than those in unskilled jobs, whose life expectancy is 72.7. So people are not all the same - shock, horror! Comparing the accountant to the construction worker is comparing apples with oranges - and yet our governments conveniently ignore this.
Our ageing population and the fears surrounding the viability of the state pension in the future has caused the political class to legislate in a heavy- handed, insensitive and unsophisticated way.
The phrase “we’ve all got to work longer” is bandied about by those sitting comfortably behind a desk. For those leading a more active life, this phrase is just a plain, old-fashioned threat.
To quote ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: “Living longer doesn’t mean we are able to work longer in physically demanding jobs like that of the firefighter, police officer or paramedic. And it’s not just in the emergency services. Construction workers, care workers and prison officers cannot be expected to work into their sixties. We need a flexible pension age that allows people to work for as long as they want to.”
Ucatt’s campaign plainly states “68 is too late.” It’s a campaign that needs to be fought to a victory - for the sake of thousands of British workers. We need to present our case, find broad support and build empathy within the country. And we have to find acceptance that it may cost us all a little bit more while we’re of working age.
Otherwise we will all be using another well- known phrase: “flogging a dead horse.”
We’ll leave the last words to Mr Corbyn: “If we want dignity for all in old age, then it has to be paid for.”
Brian Rye is acting general secretary of Ucatt.
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Britain’s workers feel stressed and insecure (originally in the Morning Star) by Carolyn Jones
The UK's 31 million workers are among the most insecure, stressed and unhappiest in Europe.
No wonder! According to the latest report by the Institute of Employment Rights (IER), the evidence is damning.
On average, UK workers work more hours per week, more days per year, more years before retirement -- after which, they receive lower levels of pension -- than most of their European counterparts.
In comparison to other European workers they generally receive less education and training, and (because of lack of employer investment) their productivity is lower.
They get fewer paid holidays than almost all European comparators and their pay is so low that a great proportion of them are in poverty --- with the state subsidising employers’ low wages.
And it doesn’t end there. The UK has a high proportion of its workforce in so-called “self- employment,” agency work, temporary work, and/or on zero-hours contracts.
It has more part-time workers who want full- time jobs, than other European countries.
UK workers have less entitlement to redundancy pay, sick pay, and maternity pay, than most European workers.
Workers’ rights to remedies for unfair dismissal and discrimination are set low and have been made practically unenforceable by the imposition of high access fees.
In the UK, unlike most European countries, there is no ministry of labour, no labour inspectorate and a negligible complement of health and safety inspectors.
All this in the fifth richest nation in the world. It is obscene. So what’s to be done?
An excellent starting point is the establishment of Jeremy Corbyn’s Workplace 2020 initiative. Launched in May 2016, the aim of the project is to start a national conversation on what work should be like in 2020.
Under the chairmanship of Ian Lavery, shadow trade union minister, the Labour Party wants to hear the good, the bad and the ugly stories about working life in Britain.
On a recently launched website people can submit their comments, complaints and suggestions on a range of workplace issues.
So whether it’s job security, pay and pensions, training and apprenticeships, diversity and equality, trade unions or health and safety that raises your passion, there’s scope to feed into the policy agenda.
Once again the Labour leadership team is turning out to the country for ideas rather than assuming it knows best in the corridors of power.
Labour is already committed to raising the minimum wage, banning zero-hours contracts, ensuring workers are given access to justice, and giving temporary workers the same rights as permanent staff. But it recognises that more needs to be done -- not just to secure fairness at work but to rebuild the UK's economy and industry.
So, at the request of Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Lavery, the IER drafted a contribution to the review, using 15 of its academic and legal experts. At the heart of our proposals is the need to ensure the voice of the UK’s 31 million workers is heard & respected -- in government (via a ministry of labour), in the economy (via a national economic forum) and in industry (via sectoral employment commissions).
The manifesto offers 25 major policy recommendations for consideration.
It proposes changing the way in which working conditions are regulated. It moves responsibility for workplace regulation from legislation to collective bargaining.
It calls for the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016, the removal of tribunal fees and the introduction of fundamental & enforceable rights for workers, enforceable in a labour court with the assistance of labour inspectors.
The Thatcher concept of individual rights for individual workers has to go. It does little for workers, it’s costly to enforce and it fails to deliver fairness at work.
IER’s manifesto offers a system based on the collective voice of workers, negotiating collectively agreed standards & delivering collectively enforced fairness at work.
A new framework of labour law should be built on the following 10 points:
A ministry of labour
A national economic forum
Sectoral employment commissions
Sectoral collective agreements and wages councils’ orders
Workplace bargaining
A strengthened framework of statutory employment rights
Labour courts and labour inspectors
Employment tribunals
Stronger support for freedom of association and collective rights
The right to strike
Carolyn Jones is director of the Institue of Employment Rights
A manifesto for labour law: Towards a comprehensive revision of workers’ rights --- is available from IER. Go to www.ier.org.uk for more information.
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Why Labour is putting energy reform at the heart of its green agenda Jeremy Corbyn
No issue better connects the environment to people’s lives than energy. To deliver clean, affordable electricity,we need to change our undemocratic system of supply.
We are on course for a climate catastrophe. 2016 is set to be the hottest year on record. Unless the Paris agreement’s target of limiting the rise in temperatures by 1.5C is met, heatwaves like that in 2003, which killed tens of thousands of people in Europe, will become the norm. And that's before considering rising sea levels and desertification, that will sink cities, and kill and displace millions, or the fact that the Earth has already lost half its wildlife, in the past 40 years.
The task for politicians is to propose real solutions to the single most important issue facing humanity. Too often, the environment is considered a matter for scientists, enthusiasts & activists. To increase public understanding and energise the political debate, we need more than facts – we need a programme that resonates with people’s every- day experiences, offering not just warnings, but opportunities and improvement.
No issue better connects the environment to people’s lives than energy. In Britain today, 7 million households struggle to pay their bills because of spiralling costs, while the big six energy companies have seen their profits rise by more than tenfold since 2007. The energy market is not just expensive, inefficient and polluting – it is, above all, undemocratic.
In order to deliver clean, affordable heating and electricity we need to change the whole system of energy supply. When energy is driven by the needs of people, it will be greener – because saving the planet is in the interests of everyone.
That is why I am today announcing a bold new set of policies which will pioneer a democratic, community- led system of energy supply. Over the course of the next parliament, we will use public investment and legislation to promote the creation of over 200 local energy companies, giving towns, cities & localities the powers they need to drive a clean, locally accountable energy system with public, not-for-profit companies.
At the heart of this policy will be a new generation of community energy co-operatives. We will create 1,000 of these co-operatives with the support of a network of regional development banks, and legislate to give them the right to sell energy directly to the communities they serve.
At the same time as building a new publicly run, locally accountable energy system, we will invest in the high quality homes & insulation needed to make Britain environmentally sustainable. We will create a National Home Insulation programme to insulate at least 4m homes to energy efficiency standard B or C. In the private rented sector, we will set compulsory standards at the same level & end the misery of cold rented accommodation. This would save millions of people money on their bills as well as saving energy that is currently wasted on poorly insulated homes.
In order to have any hope of keeping the rise in temperature to 2C – let alone meeting our Paris agreement target of 1.5C – we need to keep 80% of fossil fuels in the ground. This can and must be done. Scotland is already on course to generate 100% of its electricity by renewables, & Britain has an ample supply of wind & water. In government, I'll commit to generating 65% of Britain’s electricity from these sources by 2030.
All of these measures will create secure, skilled employment for hundreds of thousands of people. As part of our transition to a low-carbon economy, we estimate that we will create 316,000 jobs in wind, solar and wave power. We'll use a £500bn national investment programme, with a National Investment Bank and a network of regional development banks, to ensure that these jobs and opportunities are created in places where they are most needed – in coastal towns and areas with high unemployment.
Too often, environmental catastrophe is explained in the same terms as an asteroid hitting the earth. But the problems and the solutions are political – they are about the prioritisation of profit over the needs of people and, at the heart of it all, a lack of democracy in how decisions are made. By democratising our energy supply, and giving people power over their own destinies, we can rebuild and transform Britain so that no one and no community, is left behind.
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Together --- Stronger!
Change, when it comes, will not come from Westminster. The campaign to save our NHS must become a visible reality on every high street and a priority for Labour members.
The NHS is at breaking point, and as Keep Our NHS Public secretary John Lister says: “by 2020 it will all be over.”
To reverse the damage of four more years of A&E closures, outsourced or pared-down services and reduced access, could verge on the impossible.
MPs who obsess over the need to attract Tory voters may find that the champions who saved a local A&E win more hearts and minds than a lorryload of anti-immigration mugs ever could.
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HELP JOHN DUNN
John Dunn, ex-miner and a Labour Party member for 45 years, was blocked from voting for Corbyn, because he challenged Owen Smith for exploiting the legacy of Orgreave for electoral purposes.
He has been told he is suspended from the Labour Party.
John says: "45 years continuous membership and they couldn't even address me by my name"
It looks like the NEC are creating their very own blacklist.
Labour grew hugely under Corbyn and the ''guess'' is --- most of new members were Corbyn supporters.
A DREAM COME TRUE
Support for Jeremy Corbyn from Tyrone O’Sullivan, a fourth-generation south Wales miner, who led a workers’ buy-out of Tower Colliery, to save it from closure.
"I’ve been close to Jeremy since the miners’ strike. Knowing the man, knowing his abilities and his education, it was a dream come true for me when he became leader. His ideas and values are more necessary, here in south Wales, than probably anywhere else in the country. He wanted victory for Labour, but only under our terms - for a change."
O’Sullivan, a lifelong Labour member, says Jeremy is the only true socialist we have had as leader --- for 20 or 30 years.
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PEOPLE DESERVE RESPECT
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership opponent flaunted his contempt for democracy by backing a second referendum on UK membership of the EU.
And MPs pressured Jeremy Corbyn to resign, by constant smears, media lies and attacks on Labour's membership !!!
No wonder the Unite policy conference has overwhelmingly backed mandatory reselection of MPs - to ensure genuine democratic accountability in the party.
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Unite pushes for reselection of MPs by Conrad Landin
Candidates ‘should reflect members’ views’
Labour's largest affiliate is now behind the push for mandatory reselection of MPs, as Jeremy Corbyn critics have “destabilised” the party, to ditch anti-austerity policies.
Delegates at general union Unite’s conference are resolved to support the approach, in order “to ensure democratic accountability, and the rights of party members to select candidates that reflect their views.”
Currently, sitting MPs are only subject to a “trigger ballot” -- where they automatically become the candidate -- unless a super- majority of branches in the constituency support a new selection.
London and eastern region's delegate, Kevin Parslow: “The current trigger mechanism is difficult, & weighted in favour of the incumbent.
“We put ourselves up as reps and branch officers for election regularly.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable for MPs to put themselves up for re-selection. They should be accountable to us, and not to Murdoch’s press: they're there because they have the Labour Party name on the ballot paper.”
Mike Hedges, another London delegate: “Four weeks ago I would have spoken against this motion--- but after the treachery of 172 MPs --- we have no option.”
The union’s leaders are also mandated to “support moves to bring more democracy into policy-making -- by returning powers to the party conference.”
A Unite spokesperson:
“This vote simply reflects the immense frustration that our members feel. They look at the conduct of some within the party, the challenge to the elected leader, and they feel angered.
“They want Labour fighting the Tories, not among themselves.”
KEEP FIGHTING FOR MORE DEMOCRACY!
Momentum and Labour are engaged in a huge consultation to expand democracy in Labour...
WHY NOT PASTE THE LINK BELOW AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION?
http://www.peoplesmomentum.com/democracy-review
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If you haven't done so already, join Labour, join Momentum, and let's rebuild #BuildOurMovement.
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GMB Wins Lidl Recognition by Peter Lazenby Ruling affects hundreds of warehouse staff
The Star - General union GMB has won a landmark legal ruling giving hundreds of warehouse workers at giant cut-price supermarket chain Lidl the right to be represented by the union.
The German-owned chain opposes union recognition and resisted the union’s claim.
But the Central Arbitration Committee, whose decisions are legally binding, supported the GMB case, and gave the union full rights to represent and negotiate on behalf of its 223 members among warehouse workers at Bridgend, south Wales.
GMB now presses ahead with its campaign for recognition at 8 more Lidl warehouses across England and Scotland.
National secretary Justin Bowden says: “Lidl’s attempts at union-busting were quite properly thrown out by the judge --- in a massive victory for rights at work.
“[Wednesday’s] ruling opens the gates to not only improving employees’ pay & terms and conditions at the Bridgend site, but is also a major victory for the GMB’s campaign for a trade union voice at the workplace.
“The suggestion that Lidl’s workers don't need the option of a trade union to stick up for them and fight for their interests is baloney, pure and simple.
“As a result of today’s ruling, employees will get the chance to decide for them- selves, if the company’s own ‘personal personnel hotline’ is any match for an independent union taking their side & defending their interests in the workplace.”
GMB Wales and south-west regional secretary John Phillips adds: “Regrettably, Lidl continues to show both hostility towards GMB & shameful disregard for the wishes of its own workforce, with expensive challenges against fair and objective decisions made by independent third-party organisations.”
Lidl is also resisting attempts by shop workers’ union Usdaw to recruit and represent staff in its supermarkets.
An Usdaw spokesperson said: “Lidl will not even let our representatives into stores, to talk to staff.”
Lidl has 637 stores & 9 regional distribution centres --- employing over 18,000 staff. Its ambitions to expand in Britain, could see it more than double in size --- with plans for 1,500 stores & 2 more distribution centres.
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Tax offices’ own cleaners don’t get minimum wage
Cleaners at 6 government offices on Mersey- side walked out over their employer’s failure to pay them the legal minimum wage.
The staff began the two-day strike, because they have not received that £7.20-an-hour rate the government introduced on April 1.
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Wales: 50,000 days lost due to teacher stress
The number of teachers off sick due to stress in Wales has soared by thousands in just one year, new research shows.
Stress-related illness caused the 51,795 sick days: an increase of 2,568 on 2014, freedom of information figures revealed.
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Unions stood by Corbyn & McDonnell
The entire labour movement could have been concentrating all of our efforts - on bringing down this mean government.
Instead, 172 Labour MPs launched an attempted coup on Corbyn. If it's true that Angela Smith MP described the 10,000 activists, including general secretaries of affiliated trade unions, who were at a recent pro-Corbyn rally, as “dogs,” --- then serious questions need to be asked about the relationship between the PLP and the trade union movement.
Every trade union in Britain has regular elections for shop stewards, branch secretaries, and their general secretary.
It's time those who fund the Labour Party demanded the same level of democracy for sitting MPs.
Anything less than a mandatory reselection of MPs before every parliament is now untenable.
Let’s get this straight: none of these MPs backed Corbyn for leader, most of them abstained in the Welfare Reform Bill, many of them voted for the Iraq war, & to this day, hero-worship Tony Blair.
The 172 Labour MPs aren't just trying to change the Labour leader -- they are plotting to drag the movement back to a Blairite view of politics.
The vote of no confidence wasn't just an attempt to oust Corbyn --- it was a declaration of war on the entire organised left.
The gloves are off and there’s no going back. Everyone will need to decide: which side are you on? I stand with Corbyn and McDonnell.
Dave Smith is co-author, with Phil Chamberlain, of Blacklisted: The Secret War between Big Business and Trade Unionists, (New Internationalist Publications).
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RMT: We Must Fight Assault On Our Rights Union ‘disappointed’ with lack of action from TUC
Unions should move to take “generalised” strike action: with or without a go-ahead from the TUC, RMT activists insisted.
The union was meeting in Cardiff that week --- but you wouldn't know it, if you'd read the Welsh press!
Delegates at the transport union’s annual general meeting in Cardiff expressed disappointment that fiery rhetoric about defeating new anti-strike laws was not followed up with action.
The union unanimously passed a motion expressing concern at the TUC’s “lack of campaigning” on the issue and called for a “high-profile campaign.”
Leeds delegate Trevor Howard said: “Personally, my own view is that the TUC is a waste of space and it needs to be reorganised.”
The Trade Union Act, which received Royal Assent last month, imposes arbitrary thresholds on strike ballots & other curbs on labour movement activity.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “It’s fundamentally undemocratic when you put these thresholds in.”
He said unions must respond to the law by ramping up their organising. “Whatever we do, we’ve got to make sure we get our members’ support,” he said.
And he praised Jeremy Corbyn’s Workplace 2020 agenda, which aims to introduce new labour rights.
“What we need to be doing is turning the tables,” he added: “We’ve got to get an alternative to this legislation --- to get us positive rights.”
Cash blasts ‘self-indulgent MPs’ for sabotaging left’s moment
“Self-indulgent” Labour MPs have squandered the left’s best moment to go on the offensive, RMT's general secretary, Mick Cash, stressed.
He used his address to the transport union’s annual general meeting to warn of “massive fights ahead” amid “political and economic turmoil.”
He said the divisions in the Tory Party and shockwaves in the world of capital should have been an opportunity for the left to get its message across. But he said this had been sabotaged by the frontbenchers resigning and calling for Jeremy Corbyn’s head.
He fumed: “What have they done? Self-indulgence. They’ve created division, they created a lack of leadership of progressive forces.
“They’ve created a situation where, if we’re not careful, we’ll have a Tory government ------ and worse, a Tory government supported by Ukip.
“We need to seize the opportunity to put forward an agenda to fight against austerity, against cuts and for workers’ rights. But that won’t happen if our politicians in London are playing the game they’re playing.
“Ordinary working people are sick of the political class and what they’re doing --- and yet they’re doing it again.”
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Putschist MPs ‘Let The Tories Off The Hook’ Unions rally round previous Labour leader
Union reps on Labour’s ruling executive signed a defiant statement to show that Mr Corbyn still has institutional support.
The leader of Labour’s most recent affiliate Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack pointed his hoses at the quitters, saying their action was “co-ordinated to cause maximum damage” to Mr Corbyn.
“It is bizarre that some of the MPs making the loudest criticism of Jeremy Corbyn over the referendum -- completely failed to convince the electorate in their own constituencies,” he said.
“After the referendum, Labour should be setting out policies to defend jobs, public services & wages, as an exit from the EU is negotiated. Instead, some Labour MPs are playing irresponsible & silly games, from their Westminster bubble.”
Unite south-east secretary Jenny Formby, one of the executive members behind the statement in support of Mr Corbyn, said it was “nonsense” to blame him for the result. “Now, more than ever, is a time for loyalty and unity,” she stormed.
Communication Workers’ Union leader Dave Ward fired off a missive, stating Mr Corbyn “has our full support” as leader.
“Jeremy Corbyn is, and remains, the catalyst for change in the Labour Party and the country,” he said. “Those who seek to oust him, represent the politics that forgot ordinary people.”
And food union BFAWU turned up the heat. They said plotters would “only serve to let the Conservative government off the hook for the damage they've heaped upon our communities & the crisis they've caused in pursuit of power.”
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International Health Workers for People Over Profit (IHWPOP) has joined the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Campaign against Israel.
We oppose Israel’s repression of the Palestinians and support a single state in Israel/Palestine with equal rights for all.
WHERE IS MOST UK YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT?
WALES!
(WHERE IN WALES? GUESS !!!)
Youth unemployment rates in some parts of Britain, such as the North East, have reached the highest recorded level ever, recent data gathered by the GMB union shows.
The GMB report says unemployment rates among people aged between 18-25 have hit record levels.
Wales is top of the unemployment list, with almost 23,000 claimants. The GMT reveals that some parts of Wales have a jobless rate of 37%.
Paul Kenny, GMB general secretary:
"In the UK there are nearly 400,000 young workers aged 18-24 claiming jobseeker's allowance. When you add to that number the rest of the young people not in jobs, but seeking work, the real number is more than double that figure.”
The number of young UK job seekers is really almost one million;- which makes this young generation the real victims of the current recession in Britain.
Kenny again: “The Government is in denial that it is deliberately creating unemployment.”
This is while reports say almost 150,000 jobs are under threat across the country.
What Wales needs is AN ECONOMY
ONE THAT WILL LAST
"Regional aid" - artificially importing factories that owe no allegiance to Wales - has failed.
Innovation means NEW ! New thinking.
Stop moaning about the past. Start building an economy NOW, for our youngsters.
Or else!!!
New means old, if you want to build a genuine economy. From the ground up, means exactly that!
Agriculture, producing smart new food and drinks. But based on our strengths.
All the land we need is here, and if we look up, 80 percent of Wales' "valley" land is up in the air, like Penrhys!
And it's almost unused. Imagine! All that land from the Rhondda over to Aberdare and beyond.
I'm sure people with vision can see orchards and new products... new ways of working, etc.
All it requires is a WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE.
ALL TOGETHER NOW FOR PEACE
The UK's TUC is calling on the UK government to end its meddling policies in the Middle East and North Africa. “The “war on terror” is still continuing and has failed, after ten years, to bring the promised peace and stability to either the Middle East or the wider world,” the motion says...
UK FOLLOWING US DOWN THE DRAIN
Last year’s table of 10 top EU economies - assessing income, prices, working culture & public spending, put the UK in last place.
The UK now has the 4th-highest retirement age of any country averaging 63.1 years - and this,thanks to the Tories AND a supine work-force, is set to keep rising higher and higher.
Average net household income after tax, (and remember, this "average" includes the stinking rich) is £37,172 a year, but even after ignoring the ridiculously high "average", this is now much lower than the average amount earned in Ireland, the Netherlands & Denmark, where there are less of the obscenely rich, to distort the figures.
In Wales, we know that the "average" worker earns far less than this: (£15,000 after tax)
Life for most in the UK is set to get even worse - if people don't fight back - as public services are to be cut more, after the next Spending Review ..and will lead to budget cuts of up to 40% in many public service departments.
France and Spain again top the quality of life index, as workers there have more paid holidays, earlier retirement, lower prices, longer life expectancy and, just to rub it in... better weather.
There are no separate figures for Wales.... why?
Could it be that knowing... might lead to discontent or is it because Welsh workers, with their vibrant economy, as they stop mindlessly following London... and build their new economy, are now so well off, that the English might get jealous? Yeah, right!
The lesson is obvious. Strong unions with gutsy membership abound on the continent, while UK residents sink apathetically down & down & down.
As Tony Blair said: we British are "special".
We think life gets better for us if we let the bankers of London exploit the rest of the world, and our non-working workforce sinks into apathy and selfishness...
Makes you proud, doesn't it! Does it?
WORKERS ACROSS EUROPE UNITE & FIGHT TO STOP CUTS PEACE - NOT WAR AND LOOTING !
Workers from across Europe took part in a major demonstration in Brussels --- to demand that austerity measures be dropped in favour of an end to wars & for peaceful reconstruction.
Europeans took to the streets of Brussels to demonstrate against wage & pension cuts and diminishing job opportunities.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), one of the EU's leading unions, says that about 100,000 people from 30 countries took part, and police estimates say 20,000.
“Cutting in a recession's crazy and we must fight it,” AFP quotes the ETUC's general secretary, a prominent UK union leader.
Marches also took place in Portugal, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Ireland and France.
The rallies coincided with a general strike in Spain where the government froze pensions and cut the salaries of government workers.
“This is the worst economic crisis in the post- war history of Western Europe,” the eTUC leader adds.
"We call for a rethink and a change - in Spain and in Europe. We are mobilizing, and they will have to listen to us."
The union says European workers could be the main victims of a financial crisis set off by bankers and traders.
Many European governments have imposed reductions in wages, pensions & employment - to deal with the escalating economic issues.
The OECD has released its long awaited Action Plan to curb "base erosion and profit shifting" (BEPS) by large multinational enterprises.
"The OECD Action Plan has the ambition to effectively curb tax evasion by large multinational enterprises – but it is a plan, and it needs effective commitments by governments and effective implementation,” says ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
The Action plan consists of 15 measures to strengthen corporate income tax rules and prevent tax avoidance through manipulating intra-group transfer pricing between subsidiaries, and the use of empty shell companies in low tax jurisdictions.
Tax challenges created by globalised production and service systems, the digital economy and increasing importance of "intangibles" – r & d, and intellectual property – feature prominently in the OECD Action plan.
