Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, has not ended. Israel
has continued to bomb Palestinians with impunity, killing at least 422
in Gaza ....since the so-called truce. It is also attempting to starve
many thousands more to death --- tightening restrictions on the
NGOs trying to deliver life-saving aid to Palestinian civilians.
Meanwhile Israel is escalating violence against Palestinians in
the West Bank. In the last few days it has assaulted students
at Birzeit university, firing live ammunition - injuring over 40.
As our politicians and media turn away from Palestine, it’s more
important than ever that we continue to march to demand our
government take action to end the genocide.
Will you join us at 12 noon in Central London on Saturday 31st
of January --- to march for Palestine?
Join the march for Palestine
On 6 January Israel bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in Al Mawasi
--- killing a 5 year old girl and her uncle. This is just the latest act of
genocidal violence by Israel against Palestinians, since October
2023, violence that has barely slowed down since a truce was
declared by Trump and Netanyahu in October 2025.
Despite Israel’s continuing violence -- the British government is
refusing to stop arming Israel and continues to provide it with economic, diplomatic and military support.
Since the truce was declared..... it barely even acknowledges Israel’s
violence at all.
We cannot allow this to continue. Join us ---- on Saturday 31 January as we march for Palestine in London -- to ramp up the pressure on our government to take meaningful action --- to end the genocide.
Join the march for Palestine
Instead of taking action to end its complicity in genocide, the British
government has decided to clamp down on the right to protest, in a
desperate attempt to protect itself from scrutiny. The government
has introduced a draconian proposal in Parliament that if passed
-- will give police the power to effectively ban protests based on
their ‘cumulative impact’. This is a deliberate attempt to
suppress our protests in support of Palestine.
We need to show up in the biggest numbers possible to show
that we won’t allow the government to silence us.
Join the march for Palestine
See you on the streets!
Gabriel
PSC Communications officer
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
AN URGENT MESSAGE ----------- FROM PALESTINE SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
I’m writing with an urgent update on the situation of
two imprisoned activists associated with Palestine
Action. Heba Muraisi is on day 67 of her hunger
strike, and Kamran Ahmed is on day 60.
They are protesting - over the repressive and inhumane
conditions of their detention, and Britain’s complicity
in Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.
Their health has been deteriorating rapidly and
they are now at grave risk of death. Every
hour their situation grows more severe.
Despite public outcry, the government has as yet refused to meet
with the families or legal representatives of the prisoners.
John McDonnell MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in Parliament
demanding that the government urgently meet with their
representatives. Join us in writing to your MP to call
on them to sign EDM 2573 in urgent support of
the hunger strikers.
Write to your MP: Sign EDM 2573
Email your MP: Take urgent action for the hunger strikers
John McDonnell MP has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament,
demanding that the government urgently meet with the legal
representatives of the pro-Palestine activists who are
currently on hunger strike in prison.
Tell your MP to urgently sign Early Day Motion (EDM)
2573, calling on the Secretary of State for Justice,
David Lammy, to take immediate action to meet
with representatives of the hunger striking
prisoners, uphold their human rights
and meet their demands.
Heba, Kamran and the other activists ---- who have been on hunger
strike are facing trial for allegedly taking action to prevent arms
manufacturers from shipping weapons to Israel, which has
been conducting a genocide against the Palestinian
people, on top of its ongoing illegal occupation
and apartheid. It is those responsible for the
deaths of over 70,000 Palestinians and the
British politicians and companies arming
Israel who should be brought to justice.
Instead, Starmer’s government has chosen to target
those who dare to protest against genocide.
One day, history will condemn all those who enabled
this horrific genocide, as well as those responsible
for repressing those who dissent. Please email
your MP and ask them to take a stand
on the side of justice.
Write to your MP: get them to Sign EDM 2573
Email your MP: get them to Sign EDM 2573
in Solidarity,
Stella, PSC Campaigns Officer
Gas reserves in Germany have fallen
to an all-time low. What are the
consequences?
by Oleg Artyukov
January 12th, 8:25am
(Pravda.ru)
As of now, the storage capacity is about 48.3 percent, which is
significantly lower than the figures for the same period not
only in recent years, but also in the crisis-ridden year of
2022, when the country's energy system faced
severe strain.
This fact alone indicates structural problems in the approaches
to ensuring energy security in the largest economy of the EU.
The situation began to take shape in the autumn. By the start of
the heating season, the level of storage capacity in Germany
was only about 75 percent, which is considered insufficient
by the standards of previous years.
With harsher temperatures in December, the country could face
a real threat of gas shortages, especially given its high
dependence on imports.
The January cold snap ---- only accelerated the process of gas
extraction from UGS facilities, and the rate of their depletion
was higher than average. If the dynamics of the previous
year were to continue, by the end of March, the reserves
could theoretically approach critically low levels, at the
level of a few percent of the storage capacity.
Officially, the German authorities and representatives of the
energy sector are urging calmness, pointing to moderate
global gas prices and the possibility of compensating
for the shortage through external purchases.
The growth of liquefied natural gas imports plays a significant role
in these estimates. Over the past two years, Germany has rapidly
commissioned LNG terminals in the North and Baltic Seas, which
has diversified its supply, reducing its reliance on pipeline gas.
In the official logic, it is the flexibility of the LNG market that should
now replace the traditional role of underground storage facilities
as a key tool for insuring against disruptions.
However, such optimism raises serious questions. First, LNG
remains a more expensive and volatile resource compared
to long-term pipeline supply contracts. Its availability is
directly influenced by global market conditions,
competition with Asian markets, and
logistical factors.
Secondly, relying on imports instead of building up reserves makes
the country vulnerable to force majeure events, from accidents at
terminals and gas pipelines to weather anomalies & geopolitical
crises. Even a short-term disruption in infrastructure can trigger
price spikes -- and domestic market tensions.
Criticism of Germany's and the EU's energy policy is increasingly
focused on the fact that strategic planning has been replaced
by politically motivated decisions.
The abrupt abandonment of stable gas sources, primarily pipeline
gas, was accompanied by declarations about the reliability of
the market and its ability to adapt quickly.
In practice, it turned out that without sufficient reserves,
the system operates ......at the limit of acceptable risk.
The lack of a pan-European strategic gas reserve exacerbates
the problem: each country acts within its own capabilities,
which undermines the idea of EU energy solidarity.
It is noteworthy that.. despite official statements about stability,
there are increasingly frequent proposals to create special gas
reserves for emergencies, following the example of Austria.
These are reserves that are not part of the market and are
intended exclusively for use in the event of accidents,
terminal shutdowns, or a sharp reduction in imports.
The mere discussion of such measures, indicates
that the current model is vulnerable.
In a broader context, what is happening reflects a systemic crisis
in the EU energy strategy. The policy of accelerated energy
transition, combined with the abandonment of reliable
and relatively cheap energy sources --- has led to
increased costs, instability, and a dependence
on external markets.
Germany, which positions itself as a leader in the green
transformation, finds itself in a situation where energy
security is increasingly being ensured not through
long-term solutions, but through favourable
market conditions and the hope.... of
avoiding extreme scenarios.
In the context of ongoing geopolitical instability,
this approach is risky and requires serious
reconsideration at both the national
and pan-European levels.
Marine Le Pen declares herself
hopeful about an appeal
against conviction
January 12th, 2:28pm
(Prensa Latina)
French deputy Marine Le Pen, leader of the party identified with
the extreme right National Rally (RN), said today, that she
hopes to win the appeal ------ against a conviction for
embezzlement, which disqualifies her politically.
It will be a new jurisdiction, with new magistrates, so the matter will
start from scratch and I hope to convince you of my innocence, she
testified on the eve of the start of the process at the Paris Court of
Appeals on the case.
On March 31, 2024, the still RN candidate for next year's presidential
elections was sentenced to four years in prison, two of them firm,
under an electronic bracelet, and five disqualifications for the
diversion of public funds.
The complaint was related to a fraud system to embezzle between
2004 and 2016 money intended for assistants to legislators in the
EU ''Parliament'', A crime for which.... several of her comrades....
were found guilty.
Le Pen, who lost the runoff of the last two French presidential
elections, in 2017 and 2022, alleges her innocence and
pins her hopes of competing at the polls for the
Elysée again, this time -- as a favourite.
All the polls place her and her political dauphin, the young
president of RN Jordan Bardella ----- at the top of voting
intentions for the first round of next year's elections.
Bardella would be the deputy's replacement if the
justice system decides to maintain the sentence.
RN has gained popular support in recent years, despite its anti-
immigrant discourse and nationalist stances, although Le Pen
has softened positions and distanced herself from the far-
right National Front founded by her father, Jean-Marie
Le Pen, a precursor party to the current one.
In the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, Macron defeated the
57-year-old politician by appealing to the French to form a bloc
capable of preventing the arrival of the extreme right to
power, an initiative that will surely be taken up by
the candidate who reaches the second round
in next year's voting.
A bill to annex Greenland has been
introduced in the United States
by Pavel Khrushchev
January 12th, 8:06pm
(Gazeta.ru)
U.S.Republican Representative Randy Feeney introduced a bill
in Congress to consider the possibility of Greenland joining
the United States as a state. The document - is published
on the website of the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to the text of the document, the bill, if passed,
could empower the US President (Donald Trump) to take
the necessary steps to organize the island's accession.
Prior to this, White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt
said that Trump.. has made his position on Greenland
very clear — he wants the United States to acquire
the island.
On January 12, Trump said that the United States of America
would get Greenland --------------- "one way or another."
On January 8, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced
his meeting with representatives of Denmark to discuss
various issues, including the possible purchase of
Greenland. The negotiations are expected to
take place this week.
__________________________________
Medvedev --- proposed an alternative
to Trump's annexation of Greenland
Medvedev: Greenlanders Can Vote to Join Russia
by Alexey Pochtaruk
January 12th, 7:36pm
(Gazeta.ru)
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry
Medvedev, ironically suggested that if the President of
the United States Donald Trump does not take action,
the population of Greenland may express a desire to
join the Russian Federation through a referendum.
The Russian politician wrote about this on the
Max platform.
"Trump needs to hurry. According to unverified information, a
sudden referendum may take place in a few days, in which
the entire 55,000-strong population of Greenland - may
vote to join Russia. And that's it! No new stars on
the flag. Russia .......will have a new, 90th,
constituent entity," Medvedev wrote.
Trump has previously expressed interest in the United States
acquiring the island, citing its strategic importance. He has
avoided ...giving a direct answer to the question of the
priority between Greenland and maintaining NATO,
and has also not ruled out... the possibility of
using force to gain control of the island.
The governments of Denmark and Greenland - have protested
against such intentions, and emphasized the need to respect
their territorial integrity. The EU has also considered options
for responding to a real threat from the United States.
Greenland, which was a Danish colony until 1953, maintains ties
with Denmark, but since 2009, it has enjoyed extensive
autonomy, including the right to self-governance and
with Arctic countries & international organizations,
it provides data support and public goods for
Arctic research, demonstrating the role of
a responsible major country.
Second, these claims are marked by an obvious Cold War mentality
------ and ignore China's position as a supporter of multilateral
governance in the Arctic. In addition to the territories and
lawfully administered maritime areas of the eight Arctic
states - including Canada and Denmark - the Arctic
also encompasses the high seas and the
international seabed area.
States that do not enjoy territorial sovereignty in the Arctic, nonetheless lawfully possess rights in the Arctic Ocean's
high seas, including scientific research, navigation,
overflights, fishing, and the laying of submarine
cables and pipelines --- as well as rights to
resource exploration and development
in the international seabed area.
In its participation in multilateral mechanisms such as the Arctic
Council and the International Arctic Science Committee, China
has consistently worked to improve cooperative frameworks,
opposed geopolitical security confrontation, and advocated
global governance. As one of the countries closest to the
Arctic Circle on land --- China's rights and freedoms to
carry out activities in the Arctic in accordance with
the law --- should be fully respected.
During the Cold War, the Arctic Ocean was a "forward frontline" of
strategic confrontation between the two major countries - the US
and the Soviet Union. Nuclear submarines from both sides lay
hidden beneath the Arctic ice cap - making the region one of
the key theatres for sea-based strategic nuclear deterrence.
Since entering the 21st century, the Arctic has once again become
a focal point of geopolitical security competition. Some countries
have extended their jurisdiction northward toward the North Pole
through so-called "blue grabbing" actions, accelerated military
deployments, and stoked bloc confrontation, all in a bid to
compete for regulatory authority and discursive power
in Arctic affairs. Such moves are bound to cause
concern in the international community.
In 2024, the US released a new Arctic strategy that frames China-
Russia cooperation in the Arctic as a "threat," which in essence
serves as a pretext for its own expansion in the Arctic region.
This is extremely detrimental to security and development
in the Arctic region. It not only hinders climate and
ecological protection, but also --- obstructs
humanity's collective efforts to develop
and utilize Arctic resources and
shipping routes.
The US' hype about a so-called "China's Arctic threat" is, in essence,
an attempt to confuse the public ........and conceal its own military
expansion, unilateral resource extraction, & pursuit of hegemony
in the Arctic. By invoking the "China threat" narrative, the US
seeks to create excuses and shift attention for its ambition
toward Greenland, with the real aim of turning Greenland
into a strategic forward base against China and Russia,
serving the strategic interests of "America First."
There is no evidence whatsoever to support claims of "Chinese
economic plunder" or a "military presence." On the contrary,
China's capital, technology, markets, knowledge and
experience in recent years ------- have played a
constructive role in Arctic development.
China is an important stakeholder in Arctic affairs. For many years, it
has not only been a participant in Arctic multilateral governance but
also a contributor to the region's sustainable development, a role
widely recognized by the vast majority of Arctic states - as well
as non-Arctic countries. China's activities in the Arctic adhere
to international treaties and general international law,
including the UN Charter, the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea ---- and
the Treaty concerning the Archipelago
of Spitsbergen.
These activities follow the principle of "neither overstepping, nor
being absent" in its engagement in Arctic affairs. The "Polar Silk
Road," which China advocates building jointly with all parties,
is becoming a widely welcomed international public good.
China's Arctic policy is clear and consistent: to understand,
protect, develop and participate in the governance of the
Arctic, in accordance with the basic principles of
"respect, cooperation, win-win results and
sustainability."
This clarity & resolve stem from China's deep understanding
of the nature of Arctic affairs, but also, from its sense of
responsibility as a major country. The Arctic - is not
anyone's private garden. Its future concerns the
well-being of Arctic and non-Arctic countries
alike, and of all humanity --- and should be
safeguarded jointly, by all stakeholders.
__________________________________________
China, EU agree on price undertaking guidance
for Chinese EVs; a positive example ------ for
resolving trade dispute via consultation:
expert
by Yin Yeping
January 12th, 1:53pm
(Global Times)
China and the EU have agreed on price undertaking guidance for Chinese battery electric vehicle makers, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Monday, marking a significant step forward in resolving the two-year-
long dispute.
Chinese industry analysts and business representatives said the
latest move underscores the fact that the world's two major
economies are capable of resolving trade disputes through
consultation and dialogue, setting a positive and much-
needed example at a time when the global economy
is facing a rising trend of unilateralism and
protectionism, marked by high tariffs.
And at a time of heightened global trade tensions, when certain
countries frequently resort to punitive tariffs as a form of
economic coercion - this latest move by China and the
EU is particularly noteworthy in itself... as it seeks to uphold order in a multipolar world through
dialogue, experts said.
According to the statement released by China's MOFCOM on
Monday, China and the EU have conducted multiple rounds
of consultations in the spirit of mutual respect, and both
sides believe it is necessary to provide general
guidance on price undertakings for Chinese
exporters ...exporting battery electric
vehicles for passengers to the EU -
thereby enabling them to address
relevant concerns in a way that
is more practical, targeted, &
consistent with WTO rules.
The EU issued the Guidance Document on Submission of Price
Undertaking Offers, in which the EU acknowledges that it will
assess each price undertaking offer against the same legal
criteria in an objective and fair manner... following the
principle of non-discrimination and in accordance
with relevant WTO rules, said the MOFCOM.
The progress fully reflects the spirit of dialogue and the outcomes
of consultations between China and the EU. It shows that both
China and the EU have the ability and willingness, to properly
resolve differences through dialogue and consultation under
the framework of WTO rules, and maintain the stability of
automotive industrial and supply chains in China, the
EU, and the whole world, the MOFCOM said.
This is conducive not only to ensuring the healthy development
of China-EU economic and trade relations, but also to
safeguarding the rules-based international trade
order, according to the ministry.
The EU Commission's statement reads that the guidance
covers various aspects to be addressed in a possible
undertaking offer, including the minimum import
price, sales channels, cross-compensation,
and future investments in the EU.
This document is intended to provide guidance to Chinese
exporters that may consider price undertaking offers (UT
offers) for exports of battery EVs for passengers to the
EU, which are currently subject to countervailing
duties, said the EC.
Case history
The EU launched in October 2023 an anti-subsidy investigation into
the imports of Chinese EVs after Ursula von der Leyen, president
of the EU Commission, alleged in September 2023 that imported
Chinese EVs would flood Europe and distort the auto market,
an allegation the Chinese authorities have firmly denied.
Chinese commerce ministry and officials have on various occasions
clarified that Chinese EV manufacturers' rapid development is a
result of constant tech innovations, a well-established supply
chain system and full market competition, rather
than subsidies.
In October 2024, the EU decided to impose definitive hefty
countervailing duties on Chinese EVs for a period of five
years --- which has sparked strong opposition, with
China calling the move "unfair, unreasonable
and unobjective."
In April 2025, the Chinese and EU technical teams had commenced
engagement on negotiations on EV pricing commitments after
China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and the EU
Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security
Maros Sefcovic held a talk via video
on April 8.
According to a statement after the video talk, the two sides agreed
to start consultation on issues concerning market access at an
early date, and immediately start negotiations.... on EV pricing
undertaking, as well as issues related to bilateral investment
cooperation in the auto sector, the Xinhua News
Agency reported.
Constructive step
The EV trade dispute had persisted for more than two years, with
China and the EU having engaged in prolonged, highly intensive
consultations. The process characterized as repeated back-
and-forth, in itself ----- underscores the complexity and
sensitivity of the matter, Tu Xinquan --- dean of the
China Institute for WTO Studies at the University
of International Business and Economics in
Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday,
noting that the trade issue directly
involves the core interests and
concerns --- of both sides.
"The core principle emphasized in the guidance document is the
principle of non-discrimination, which is itself one of the core
principles of the WTO. This reflects the respect shown by
both China and the EU.. for multilateral trade rules, as
well as for the rules and spirit of the WTO," Tu said.
The latest outcome reached between the two sides not only sets a
positive example for the resolution of China-EU trade disputes, but
also provides an important reference for handling other potential
trade issues that may arise between the two sides in the future,
Shi Xiaoli, director of the WTO Law Research Center at the
China University of Political Science and Law, told the
Global Times.. on Monday.
At present, China and the EU still face certain trade issues. However,
with such an example and model in place, future trade frictions
are more likely to be resolved through bilateral consultations
conducted on the basis of WTO rules, said Shi.
Moreover, this is inherently a shared interest of both China and the
EU. China and the EU still have broad room for cooperation in EVs
and the broader new energy field, which is beneficial to both
sides, particularly for the EU ------ which is promoting green
transformation. "Properly addressing differences will not
only support industrial development, but also help
advance new energy technologies so they can
more quickly and effectively contribute to
tackling the global challenge of climate
change," Shi said.
Greater outcome
The latest outcome has also drawn attention from industry groups,
which welcomed the results between China and the EU and
highlighted their broader significance in setting a positive
example of resolving disputes through consultation
rather than economic coercion - especially at a
time when unilateralism and protectionism
are on the rise in the world, exemplified
by US tariffs.
For example, the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU)
said that as China and the EU are two major global economies,
this joint decision carries significant bilateral relevance as
well as a positive global demonstration effect, which the
Chinese chamber highly appreciates.
"It not only supports the healthy and stable development of China-EU
trade, investment, and bilateral relations, but also sends a clear and
strong signal to global markets ----- that both sides remain firmly
committed to managing differences through dialogue and
consultation, and to jointly upholding a rules-based
multilateral trading system and an open global
economy," the chamber said.
CCCEU further noted that it believes that this constructive outcome
will significantly boost market confidence, provide a more stable
and predictable environment for Chinese EV manufacturers and
related supply-chain companies operating in Europe, and
promote deeper cooperation between China and the EU
in market development, technological innovation, and
other areas. This result - is expected to inject fresh
momentum - into China-EU collaboration on green
transition and industrial development, benefiting
both sides and the wider global economy, said
the chamber.
Also on Monday, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and
Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) said that
acting in the spirit of mutual respect and dialogue, China and
the EU have ---- through multiple rounds of consultations,
successfully steered the case toward a "soft landing."
Properly resolving the EU's anti-subsidy case against Chinese EVs
reflects the shared expectations of stakeholders across the
China-EU EV industry chain. It will help promote the
security and stability of the relevant industrial
and supply chains --- safeguard the overall
China-EU economic & trade relationship,
& uphold the rules-based international
trading order, said the industry group.
Tu said the approach contrasts sharply with that of the US,
which often relies on unilateral discriminatory measures,
while China and the EU have addressed the issue
through bilateral consultations..... under a
multilateral, rules-based framework
guided by non-discrimination.
This sets a positive example for resolving China-EU trade
disputes --- and may offer a reference for how major
economies may handle future trade issues,
said the expert.
_____________________________________________
Nobel Committee:Machado Will Not
Be Able to Give Her Peace Prize
to Trump
January 10th, 7:59pm
(Izvestia.ru)
Venezuelan opposition politician Maria Corina Machado will not
be able to present her Nobel Peace Prize to US President
Donald Trump. This was announced by the Norwegian
Nobel Committee.
Machado previously told Fox News.. that she was willing to
give the award to the US leader for capturing Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro.
“Once the Nobel Prize has been announced, it cannot be
withdrawn, distributed --- or transferred to others. The
decision is final and remains in force at all times,”
the committee said, in a statement.
Machado has previously said that a military escalation
is the “only” way to remove Venezuelan leader
Nicolás Maduro from power.
Maduro himself - called her a “witch”.
_______________________________________________
Argentina: Chubut ----- on fire,
government's ''adjustment''
fuels them
January 10th, 7:29am
(Prensa Latina)
About seven thousand hectares of native forest, areas of incredible
natural beauty in the Patagonian province of Chubut, have been
consumed by a raging fire that today threatens to spread to
populated areas, local sources warned.
Faced with this tragedy, environmental organizations point out
against the budget underexecution and the cut of funds by
Javier Milei's government for forest fire administration
and combat programs.
The fire that broke out on Monday in Puerto Patriada - the Chubut
town of El Hoyo - spread to Epuyén, and remains very active
today, reported the Provincial Fire Management Service,
which warned at the same time that the incident can
adopt extreme and unpredictable behaviour.
The flames got completely out of control in the last few hours and
their advance forced local authorities to completely cut National
Route 40 between Epuyén and El Hoyo. Several families had to
be evacuated, while brigade members work ----- to combat
active outbreaks.
The governor of Chubut, Ignacio Torres, confirmed the preventive
evacuation of eight families from the Coihue area, near Epuyén,
given the imminent risk that the fire will reach populated
sectors. In total, since the beginning of the fires,
over 3,000 people have been evacuated,
most of them tourists.
Given the devastating fires in that Andean area, the opposition is
trying to approve the Igneous Emergency in Congress, aimed at
putting a limit --- on the terrible official combination of climate
denial and the adjustments to the fire prevention and
combat systems.
Opponents denounce: that the administration cut the budget to
combat forest fires by more than 70 percent and, furthermore,
does not execute much.... of what was planned.
Paula Marussich points out in Página12 that deputies from
Unión por la Patria presented a project to declare a Fire,
Environmental and Socio-economic Emergency
in the region.
The initiative – he adds - that reaches Chubut, Río Negro, Santa
Cruz and Neuquén, appears as an urgent but insufficient
palliative in the face of a lethal combination -- that is
repeated: government climate denial, systematic
budget under-spending ------- and real estate
interests moving behind scorched earth.
In the Senate, legislator Martín Soria also promotes the
declaration of the environmental, economic and
housing emergency in those four provinces.
According to the opposition, during the two years of Javier Milei's
government, the National Fire Management Service was
systematically defunded: in 2024 it was executed,
in real terms, 81 percent less than in 2023;
in 2025, 70.8 percent less; and the
2026 Budget will consolidate —
if fully executed — a real
cut .....of 70.7 percent
compared to 2023.
The corollary – Marussich warns - is the official intention to repeal
the Fire Management Law, modified in 2020 -- which prohibits the
modification of land use on burned lands, in order to discourage
intentional fires and protect ecosystems, preventing fires from
becoming a tool for real estate and productive speculation.
___________________________________________
Russian capital records the
heaviest snowfall in
56 years
January 10th, 3:34am
(Prensa Latina)
Yesterday, Moscow recorded the largest snowfall in 56 years,
with 42 percent of the accumulated monthly precipitation,
the prominent specialist of the Phobos meteorological
centre, Evgeny Tishkovets, reported today.
The impressive snowfall in central Russia brought a record amount
of snow that paralyzed land and air traffic, and in Russia's capital,
the main weather station in the VDNJ, 22 millimetres (if
measured in water) were recorded, or 42 percent of
the monthly norm, the meteorologist said.
He pointed out that in this way, on January 9, the 1976 record was
broken, when the Russian capital recorded 12.9 millimetres of
precipitation in the form of snow.
Tishkovets also said that the total was literally one millimetre away
from equaling the daily record for January, in force since 1970.
Moscow has not experienced a snow Armageddon like this
in the middle of winter ---- in the last 56 years,
he emphasized.
In the Moscow region, meteorologists recorded an unprecedented
amount of rainfall in Kolomna and Mozhaisk. In New Moscow, in
Vnukovo, 32 millimetres of snow fell, and in the region the
snow record corresponded to Dolgoprudni ---- with
33 millimetres.... which represents 62 percent
of the all-January norm, Tishkovets added.
_______________________________________________
UN calls for respect for international
law --------- after Trump's statements
January 9th, 7:55pm
(Vesti.ru)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on countries
to respect the international law that they have created.
This was stated by his representative, Stephane
Dujarric, in response to US President Donald
Trump's statement that he did not need
such laws.
"His(Guterres. – Ed.)reaction is to double his message to all
member states about the need to respect the international
law they - have created,"Dujarric said during a briefing,
his words are reported by RIA Novosti.
Trump has previously said that his power is limited not by international law, but only by his morality and his reason.
Markets reported today that silver and gold are headed
for impressive gains ------- this end of the year.
They indicate that precious metals fell on this day, but - at
the same time they are on the way to the aforementioned
gains, led by the historic jump of 140 percent in silver
and the largest annual rise in gold in over 40 years.
Spot gold fell 0.4 percent this Wednesday to $4,329.12 an ounce,
reaching a low of more than two weeks, after having reached a
historical peak of four thousand 549.71 dollars on Friday.
U.S. gold futures for delivery in February were
down one percent at $4,340.9 an ounce.
However, traders say that perhaps towards the end of the first
quarter of 2026 we could see gold test five thousand dollars.
It certainly appears that the type of catalysts that animate gold,
especially over the course of the past year, have become
self-sustaining, said Tastylive's Ilya Spivak.
For its part, spot silver declined 5.6 percent to $72.2 an ounce,
after reaching an all-time high of $83.62 on Monday. Silver has
gained more than 140 percent so far this year, far surpassing
gold, and on track ----- for its best year ever.
_________________________________________________
Dollar - heading towards
its biggest annual drop
December 31st, 7:55am
(Prensa Latina)
The dollar rose slightly today but is heading for its biggest
annual drop since 2017, financial operators indicated.
They reiterated this Wednesday, that the US currency rose
slightly, but was heading for its biggest annual drop since
2017, as interest rate cuts, fiscal concerns and erratic
US trade policy boosted currency markets in 2025.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US
currency against six other major currencies, stood at 98.35,
adding to Tuesday's gains.
The index fell 9.4 percent in 2025, while the euro rose 13.4 %
and the pound 7.5. Other European currencies also
rebounded this year, when the Swiss franc
rose 14 percent and the Swedish krona
20 percent.
_________________________________________
President of China - sends message
of unity and development for 2026
December 31st, 7:13am
(Prensa Latina)
The president of China, Xi Jinping, stated today that the country
closed the XIV Five-Year Plan with economic, technological and
social advances, and he transmitted a message of unity and
development on the eve of 2026.
During his New Year's speech, he noted that in 2025, China
overcame difficulties and met its main development goals.
He indicated that the gross domestic product reached around
140 trillion yuan (about 19.4 trillion dollars) this year, with a
sustained strengthening of the economy, science, the
defense and comprehensive capacity of the country.
The president stressed that innovation drove high-quality development,
with advances in artificial intelligence, domestically produced chips,
space exploration, energy infrastructure and military equipment.
He highlighted that environmental protection and the improvement of
social well-being, advanced constantly, with greater job guarantees,
support for families with children and improvements in services
for older adults.
Xi recalled the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory in
the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression
and the Anti-Fascist World War, as a relevant event of the year.
In foreign policy, he stated that China maintained an open stance, he
mentioned the Global Governance Initiative proposed by him during
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin and
underlined national commitments to climate change.
The head of state reiterated support for the principle of “one country,
two systems” in Hong Kong and Macau, and assured that national
reunification...... is an inevitable historical trend.
Xi added that in 2026, the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, China
will push for high-quality reform, opening-up and development,
with the aim of moving towards common prosperity.
«The road ahead is long and we advance with a firm step. Let's show
the courage to gallop and whip, stimulate the vitality of thousands
of horses, maintain constant motivation, work together for
dreams, work hard for happiness ------ and turn the great
vision into a beautiful reality», he said in his message.
In this way, Xi reviewed the hot topics that occupy the
news agenda in the Asian giant such as economic
planning, socialist modernization objectives,
national rejuvenation, reunification (in
reference to the situation in Taiwan)
and the development of science,
technology and innovation.....
as pillars of growth.
______________________________
MSME Sector: India saw
further enhancement
in 2025
December 31st, 12:02am
(Prensa Latina)
India paid special attention in 2025 to the micro sector, small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) considering it crucial in the
economic and social development program active today in
the South Asian nation.
For the Indian authorities, that area plays an important role in
generating meaningful employment with low capital costs,
support for large industries as auxiliary units and in
promoting industrialization in rural and
disadvantaged areas.
With this approach, the Ministry of MSMEs, in collaboration with
its various organizations and institutes, pioneered initiatives to
promote the growth and development of the aforementioned
economic organizations, which covered rural industries,
coconut fibre producers and khadi, a traditional
hand-spun and woven natural fibre fabric.
In this sense, various programs continue to be implemented that
provide credit support, technological assistance, infrastructure
development, training, etc, as well as measures to improve the
competitiveness and market access of micro, small and
medium-sized companies, according to an article
from the government entity itself.
In 2025, campaigns began, memoranda of understanding
were signed with other countries to strengthen bilateral
cooperation, & multiple new programs were introduced.
Among the main results, the Indian Ministry highlighted the
salary increase for artisans dedicated to khadi and the
signing of a memorandum of understanding with the
National Small Industries Corporation Limited
to create an ecosystem that facilitates
greater market access through
a comprehensive approach
to government.
This year, a representation of Khadi institutions from the North-
east Region participated in the event «Celebrating North East
India Festival», held in Seoul, South Korea, from November 6
to 8, 2025, with the purpose of promoting the brand
«Khadi India» ---- globally.
On the other hand, the coconut sector registered
significant progress during 2025 in its exports.
The Coco Board carried out promotional programs throughout the
country, while facilitating the participation of entrepreneurs
in international exhibitions, to improve access to the
global market.
During the year, 166 new coconut exporters were registered, new
technologies such as a machine for producing fine blended
coconut yarn were also developed --- and research
collaborations were established --- on the life
cycle of key products ---------- compared to
synthetic and conventional alternatives
----- for the environmental benefits.
____________________________________
They dedicate ---- a photographic exhibition
to Fidel Castro for the anniversary of ICAP
December 27th, 6:32pm
(Prensa Latina)
A photographic exhibition alluding to international solidarity with
Cuba and its architect, the historical leader of the Revolution,
Fidel Castro, was inaugurated here today for the 65th
anniversary of the Cuban Institute of Friendship
with the Peoples (ICAP).
At the opening of the exhibition, installed at the Fidel Castro
Centre in the capital, 250 activists and representatives of organizations.. and movements of solidarity with the Caribbean nation from 32 countries attended this ICAP commemoration.
The first vice president of the organization, Noemí Rabasa,
highlighted the imprint of the statesman who created a
global network of solidarity with the Antillean island
and turned friendship between peoples ---- into a
fundamental pillar of the Cuban Revolution.
“The images — Rabasa explained — reveal the essence of
diplomacy ‘people to people’, led by the Commander in
Chief, who spoke with world leaders, intellectuals
and, above all, with simple people inspired by
the example of resistance of the Cuban
revolutionary process”.
He added that the photographs capture “the essence of an
unbreakable will to resist: Fidel Castro's firm gaze in the
face of adversity, the gesture of combat in the face of
injustice, the serene fortress........... that defies all
obstacles and represents the will of its people
------- in the face of the aggressions of its
historical enemy”.
During the day, a commemorative stamp was issued for the 65th
anniversary of ICAP, which will be celebrated on December 30.
The institution has raised its voice along with hundreds of
countries, to demand the end of the blockade imposed
by the United States against Cuba and in support of
the just causes of other nations.
In this context, the book by journalist Ileana García entitled
The solidarity of the people always with Cuba was also
presented, which, according to the president of ICAP,
Fernando González, “it constitutes a testimony of
the fraternal embrace between peoples who
share dreams, pains and hopes”.
“In its pages beats the hearts of thousands of men and women
who, in more than 150 countries, have taken up the Cuban
cause, have resisted alongside us and --- in the most
difficult moments, they were our encouragement
and strength”, González stated, during the
presentation of the text.
This Tuesday's day, which began with a panel on the
internationalist thought and action of the historical
leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, concluded
with a cantata for the anniversary, performed
by Cuban troubadours ....with outstanding
participation in ICAP activities.
___________________________________________
Diverse characters among candidates.......in the Peruvian elections
December 27th, 5:10pm
(Prensa Latina)
From former soccer players to an imprisoned police officer
and a clandestine politician for more than a year, as well
as dozens of parliamentarians investigated, seek to be
elected to various positions in the April 2026
general elections.
Among the 35 candidates for the Presidency is former soccer
goalkeeper George Forsyth --- from the Somos Perú party, of
the current transitional president, José Jerí, who assures
that he will stay out of the race.
Forsyth participated in the 2021 elections, for the short-lived
Victoria Nacional party, and led the polls but declined in the
final stretch of the campaign and finished in eighth place.
Another candidate for head of state is the leader of the leftist
Peru Libre Party (PPL), Vladimir Cerrón, in hiding for more
than a year, a situation for which ---- he claims to be a
victim of the politicization of justice that accuses
him of corruption crimes, part of which, after
several years, have been dismissed.
Among the 34 candidates for the Presidency is also the television
comedian and extreme right-wing Carlos Álvarez, nominated by
the little-known País para Todos party.
Two other retired footballers who became part of the national team
of that sport, Paolo Maldonado and Julio Rivera, are running for
Parliament, the first by the far-right Fuerza Popular (FP) party
- the second by the centre-right Alliance for Progress (APP).
The relatives of political leaders deserve a separate chapter, such
as the mother of the presidential candidate Vladimir Cerrón,
candidate for the second vice presidency for the PPL,
for which he was elected president.
Isaac Humala, father of former nationalist president Ollanta and
former military man Antauro, a radical nationalist, is running
for a seat in the list of the Together for Peru (JP) party.
Five relatives of imprisoned former president Pedro Castillo are
also JP candidates for Parliament; his brothers Irma and José
Castillo, as well as his adopted daughter Yenifer Paredes,
sister of his wife Lidia, in asylum in Mexico, and her
nephew, Cledin Vásquez.
The most serious case is that of former Police Commander Raúl
Prado - preventively imprisoned for the accusation of leading a
death squad made up of police officers who murdered alleged
criminals in the northern city of Trujillo, and he reported
them as having fallen in ''a confrontation''.
Prado is running for the Un Camino Diferente party - and had
Santiváñez's candidate as a lawyer, before he was minister,
cargio maintained ---- that Prado and the agents who
supported him were innocent and, as revealed
by the press, ordered that the State pay the cost of his defense.
Businessman César Cataño, accused of being a member of
a judicial corruption network made up, according to the
Public Ministry, of judges, and prosecutors, also
aspires to Parliament for the Progresemos
party, of businessmen and
other characters.
On the lists of candidates for Parliament there are also 88 of
the 130 current legislators, decades of them investigated
for various reasons, which is strange, because the polls
verify a forceful and majority rejection of the current
congressmen by the population..
______________________________________________
Russian army took six cities
in Donbas in the last day
December 27th, 2:38pm
(Prensa Latina)
The Russian Armed Forces today took control of six cities in the
Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions, according to the Chief of the
General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov.
The also first deputy minister of defense and army general informed
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited the joint command
centre of the troops this Saturday, that among the cities
occupied by the advance of the group of troops
was the strategic city of Guliái Pole in the
province of Zaporozhye.
Gerasimov also reported that the assault units of the Russian Dniepr
group of forces in their offensive operations in the direction of
Zaporozhye, took the city of Stepnogorsk and completed the
destruction of enemy formations in Primorskoye
and Lukyanovskoye.
Likewise, to the head of state, the Commander of the Centre troop
group, Valeri Solodchuk, said: ''I inform you that Russian units
extended their control in the area of the special military
operation to the towns of Volnoe and Rodinskoe,''
also in Donetsk.
Solodchuk further reported that north of the Krasnoarmeisk
(Pokrovsk)-Dimitrov agglomeration, the forces of the 9th
Motorized Rifle Brigade took the city of Rodinskoe
and the settlement of Volnoe.
The senior military official also said that Russian units stormed the
city of Dimitrov in the Donetsk People's Republic, and added that
the fifth motorized rifle brigade of the 51st army, in cooperation
with the 1435th motorized rifle regiment of the second army,
completed the destruction of Ukrainian units --- in the city
of Dimitrov.
Solodchuk informed the head of state that, for its part, the Centre group
occupied Artiomovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, adding that it
is an important village, key to the future offensive towards the north,
in order to surround the enemy's strategic defensive line, which
extends along Konstantinovka, Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk
and Slaviansk.
When listening to the reports of the uniformed officers, Putin
congratulated the troops and stressed that Russia will
achieve all its objectives during the special military
operation by military means if the Kiev authorities
do not wish to end the conflict peacefully.
Regarding the taking of Dimitrov, the Russian president said
that it is an important step towards the total occupation
of the Donetsk People's Republic.
_____________________________________
‘Trump witnessed killing, disposal of
Epstein victim’s infant,’ released
files show
December 26th 11:08pm
(PressTV)
The recently-released tranche of additional documents tied
to Jeffrey Epstein include remarks by a woman identifying
as one of the victims of the late disgraced financier and
convicted sex trafficker, in which she refers to Donald
Trump as a witness to the killing and disposal of the
body of her infant.
The US Department of Justice released the documents
numbering tens of thousands, which include FBI tips
and complaints implicating Trump, on Wednesday.
Reports emerging on Friday across various outlets, including
the UK edition of an US online newspaper The International
Business Times, pointed to inclusion in the documents
of an FBI intake form dated March 3, 2020 recording
a complaint from the unnamed woman.
The complainant said she had been trafficked at age 13
in the early 1980s and described an incident in 1984
involving the killing of her newborn child aboard
a yacht in Mona Lake, Michigan.
According to the document, the woman said her uncle
had carried out the killing and disposed of the body
in the water.
The filing lists Trump as a witness to the incident.
The latest tranche of documents was made public under
the Epstein Files Transparency Act -- a bipartisan law
that requires the release of all unclassified federal
records related to Epstein.
The DOJ has acknowledged missing a congressionally
mandated December 19th deadline, and said the
disclosures will continue in stages ---- citing
alleged legal review requirements and
victim protections.
Other documents in the latest release
reference Trump’s past social
interactions with Epstein.
A January 2020 email from an unidentified prosecutor
stated ---- that flight records showed Trump flew on
Epstein’s private jet multiple times in the 1990s,
including on flights where Epstein associate
Ghislaine Maxwell was also present.
Maxwell is now serving a 20-year federal prison
sentence - for sex trafficking-related offenses.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking
charges and was later found dead in his Manhattan
jail cell; his death was ruled a “suicide.”
The newly-released files also include photographs,
emails, court filings, and tips ....referencing
numerous high-profile figures, many of
whom have denied any involvement
in Epstein’s crimes.
The staggered release has drawn criticism from lawmakers
and victims’ advocates, who argue the DOJ has been slow
and inconsistent in complying with the transparency law.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, has threatened further
action if deadlines continue to be missed, while Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, has denounced the
department for mishandling the disclosures.
_____________________________________________
Moscow says West uses sanctions
...to cling to its fading dominance
December 26th, 5pm
(PressTV)
Russia has said that the collective West uses its sanctions
against other countries .....to cling to its fading dominance.
Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday the collective
West is attempting to maintain its "slipping dominance"
through unilateral coercive measures; however,
in a multipolar world, this just won’t fly.
She stressed that collectively imposing punitive measures
against other countries --- is solely within the authority of
the United Nations Security Council.
She said the practice of applying unilateral sanctions encroaches
upon its exclusive prerogatives. "Everyone knows that the
collective West frequently resorts to this, primarily
motivated by geopolitical interests."
Zakharova described unilateral coercive measures by the West
---------- as an obstacle to international peace and justice.
"Unilateral coercive measures represent a serious obstacle to
establishing a just and equitable multipolar world order,"
she said.
"They constitute one of the primary instruments of the collective
West's neocolonial policy. Their objective is clear: to cling to
slipping dominance, to deprive the global majority of the
right to independent political choice, and to hinder
their economic, technological, and industrial
development," she added.
Zakharova slammed the propaganda spread by the countries
trying to frame such coercive measures as a "peaceful
means of resolving disputes," asserting that such
claims do not withstand scrutiny.
"It is widely acknowledged that unilateral coercive measures,
by obstructing the full socio-economic development of
countries in the Global South and East, undermine
the resolution of crisis situations,"
Zakharova said.
"Their indiscriminate application violates fundamental human rights
and freedoms, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable
populations, as has been repeatedly condemned in resolutions
of the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council,"
Zakharova added.
Zakharova emphasized that the Group of Friends in Defense of the
UN Charter, which includes Russia, is at the forefront of the
struggle against such unilateral sanctions.
"We are convinced that within the genuinely fair multipolar
architecture of international relations --- to which we all
aspire, there is no place for coercion or neocolonial
hegemony," she said.
"Together with our partners - responsible members of the global
majority - we will continue to combat all these vestiges of the
shameful colonial era," she added.
US Department of Treasury officials have admitted that the US-led
Western sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine war have
"failed" till now, and are “unlikely" to knock Russia out in
the future.
___________________________________________
China sanctions 20 US firms, executives
over massive arms sales to Taiwan
December 26th, 4:11pm
(PressTV)
Beijing has imposed sanctions on 20 US defense-related
companies and 10 executives, following Washington's
announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan.
In a statement released on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry
stated that these sanctions are in response to the companies'
involvement in supplying arms to the island, pledging to take
“resolute and forceful measures ------ to steadfastly defend
national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.”
The sanctioned companies include Northrop Grumman Systems
Corporation, L3Harris Maritime Services, and Boeing, while
Anduril Industries founder, Palmer Luckey, is among the
sanctioned executives.
As a result of the sanctions, these companies are prohibited from
conducting business in China, and the executives are barred
from entering the country. Additionally, their assets in
China --- have been frozen.
The US arms sale package, valued at approximately $11 billion,
has sparked a strong backlash from China, which asserts that
these sales contravene diplomatic agreements between the
two countries.
The Chinese foreign ministry emphasized, “The Taiwan question, is
at the very core of China’s interests and a critical red line in China
-US relations,” warning that any individual or company engaging
in arms sales to Taiwan ----- will face consequences.
Analysts note that Taiwan represents a significant flashpoint in
US-China relations, potentially escalating into military conflict.
Beijing maintains sovereignty over Taiwan, and under the “One China”
policy, most countries recognize this sovereignty, refraining from
establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan’s government.
While the US.. claims to uphold this principle, it has supported
Taiwan’s anti-China stance and provided military assistance,
which contradicts its stated policy.
During a November phone call, Chinese President Xi Jinping
reiterated to his US counterpart, Donald Trump, that
Taiwan's “return to China” - is integral to the
postwar international order.
Beijing has frequently emphasized that the issue of Taiwan
is a red line for both the Chinese government and people.
Relations between Beijing and Washington ---- are already
strained over trade, technology, and human rights issues.
These developments come as Taiwan has recently
strengthened military ties with Israel, a close
US ally.
Taiwan’s growing ties with the Israeli regime –– backed by
the US and highlighted by President Lai’s outreach to the
AIPAC lobby –– reflect a deepening strategic alignment,
aimed at countering China.
Taiwan's deputy foreign minister made an unpublicized visit
to Israeli-occupied territories, seeking increased military
cooperation, which has reportedly received approval
------- from Washington.
__________________________________________
Leo XIV regretted that those who
believe in peace --- are ridiculed
December 26th, 11:02am
(Prensa Latina)
Pope Leo XIV lamented today that those who believe world peace
is possible are often ridiculed and even accused of favouring
enemies, says a statement.
During the Angelus prayer, pronounced today from the window of his
study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father expressed,
before thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square, his
conviction that in the world there are “those who put peace
before their own fears ------- those who serve the poor
before themselves”.
Then hope arises, and it makes sense to celebrate despite
everything, said the Supreme Pontiff, who stressed that
“in today's world of uncertainty and suffering, joy
would seem impossible”.
“Those who believe in peace today --- are often ridiculed,
marginalized from public discourse and often accused
of favouring adversaries and enemies”, the Bishop of
Rome stated during the Angelus that he prayed this
Friday on the occasion of the feast of St Stephen,
deacon and first martyr of the Catholic Church.
At the Christmas Mass held last Wednesday at 10:00 local time
in the Basilica of Saint Peter, the pope emphasized that
“peace is born among ruins - that cry out for a new
solidarity, it is born from dreams and visions”.
“When the fragility of others pierces our hearts, when the pain
of others destroys our unbreakable certainties, then peace
already begins”, stated Leo XIV.
Later, in his Christmas Message..... delivered at 12:00 local time
on December 25...... before giving the traditional Urbi et Orbi
Blessing in the Vatican Square, he demanded a
responsible search for peace, through
dialogue and reconciliation, to put
an end to the conflicts that
afflict humanity.
“If each of us, at all levels, instead of accusing others, would
recognize, above all, their own faults and at the same time
put themselves in the place of those who suffer - and be
in solidarity with the weakest and most oppressed,
then the world would change”, the
pontiff reaffirmed.
In this sense, “each of us can and must do our part
to reject hatred, violence and confrontation, and
practice dialogue, peace and reconciliation”,
added Pope Leo XIV, in his exhortation.
_________________________________________
Copper closes near all-time high
on Shanghai Stock Exchange
December 25th, 9:45am
(Prensa Latina)
The most active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures
Exchange (SHFE) closed today with a rise of one percent,
at $13,732 per ton due to a rebound in Chinese demand
and the weakness of the dollar.
The red metal was trading at an all-time high of 96,750 yuan
per ton in Shanghai, and the same happened with the
London Stock Exchange benchmark, which reached
a peak of $12,282, very close to the $12,300 mark.
According to experts, the indicator of Chinese appetite for
units of copper transported by sea (called the Yangshan
metal premium) has increased since the beginning of
December and reached its highest level at the end
of September, at $55 a ton, after remaining
below $40 since mid-October.
Separately, investors are betting on further interest rate cuts
by the Federal Reserve next year, which would lead to
continued weakness in the dollar.
In other base metals in the SHFE, aluminum rose 0.29 percent;
lead gained 1.05; zinc fell 0.6; while nickel lost 1.22, ending a
six-day bull run; and tin subtracted by 1.18 percent.
Factories today in Argentina - operate at 60 percent,
the worst record since 2002, and since Javier Milei
assumed the Presidency with his policy focused
on finances, one company closes per hour and
394 people lose their jobs per day.
And at the same time, multinationals close their companies
and leave the country, while foreign direct investment
closed in the red --------- for the first time in 22 years.
Data from the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA)
reflect a net outflow of 1,521 million dollars from January to
November 2025, a result that has no precedent..... in the
statistics that began being measured, in 2003.
This reversal contrasts drastically with the historic behaviour of
the region and signals a profound change in the dynamics of
external capital. The phenomenon is explained by a wave
of business divestments that ranges from the energy
sector to mass consumption, including tele-
communications and banking, says
Luciana Glezer in a comment
for LaPolíticoOnline.
BCRA figures show the magnitude of the change: while the annual
average of FDI from 2016 to 2019 reached 3,000,235 dollars, that
number fell to 953,000,000 in the 2020-2023 pandemic period.
Now, in the first 11 months of 2025, the trend was not only
interrupted ------------- but completely reversed.
The energy sector was a pioneer in this wave
of outflows, Glezer illustrates, and expands:
At the end of 2024, large international oil companies began to
divest their assets in the Vaca Muerta fields. ExxonMobil
transferred all its interests to Pluspetrol in a transaction
estimated at $1.7 billion. The Malaysian Petronas
considered withdrawing from the La Amarga
Chica block and abandoned the liquefied
natural gas project that it shared with
the Argentine company YPF.
France's TotalEnergies studied transferring its concessions
in northern Neuquén, while Norway's Equinor sought
buyers for its assets in Bandurria Sur and Bajo del
Toro Norte. Shell ...began selling its stations in
the country.
In the automotive sector, several companies reduced their
presence or recently left, such as Mercedes-Benz, which
sold its local car plant to an Argentine group although it
continues to produce trucks, and Nissan, which
stopped manufacturing - to focus on importing
from Mexico.
These departures add to a general exodus of multinationals,
motivated by economic volatility, with companies like
Renault also adjusting their production, although
they have not completely left, and Peugeot
is on a mandatory holiday, and says... it
will reopen in January.
In less than two years, there are now 16 multinationals that
have confirmed their departure from the country and
several more are negotiating to divest assets,
including Burger King, Paramount and
Carrefour ......among the most
emblematic names.
And while transnational companies are running aground, the national industry is going through a severe crisis - and the government doesn't have an industrial program ...to rescue it.
From November 2023 --- to September 2025, 19,114
companies closed, according to official statistics
from the Superintendent of Occupational Risks.
That drop ---- translated into a loss, of just
over 264,000 registered jobs.
That volume of closures is equivalent to 29 companies per day,
or 1.2 closures per hour. And the loss of formal employment
averages 394 people per day, that is, about 16 closed
positions per hour.
____________________
G1: A replica of the Statue of Liberty ----
collapsed in Brazil due to strong winds
December 15th, 10:29pm
(RT.ru)
A replica of the Statue of Liberty...... fell
due to strong winds in the municipality
of Guaiba in southern Brazil.
"The area.... was immediately fenced off in accordance
with all safety protocols, and the construction team
is expected to begin dismantling the structure in
the next few hours," according to the
news portal G1.
According to G1's information --- the statue fell
from its pedestal and was severely damaged.
No one was injured.
The total height of the sculpture
and its pedestal, was 35 m.
____________________________________
Foreign Ministry: Russia and India
Discuss Visa-Free Group Tourism
December 15th, 10:14pm
(RT.ru)
State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia,
Yevgeny Ivanov, said that Moscow and New Delhi are
discussing visa-free group tourism.
"We are working in all areas. Visa-free group tourism is
being discussed for India," TASS quoted the diplomat
as saying.
At the same time, Ivanov noted that visa abolition is being discussed with a number of other countries.
In early December, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
said that Russia and India are working on abolishing
visas for group tourist trips.
On December 1st, Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, signed a
decree on visa-free entry for Chinese citizens to Russia.
Tourists from China will be able to visit Russia, for up
to 30 days without a visa until September 14, 2026.
The visa-free regime for Russian citizens
traveling to China came into force on September 15.
______________________________________
Panama and Colombia advance ---- in
electrical interconnection project
December 15th, 4:49pm
(Prensa Latina)
Representatives of Panama and Colombia agreed here today to
accelerate the work of the bilateral electrical interconnection
project, with broad benefits - for the communities and region.
In the second inter-institutional meeting at Palacio de las Garzas
(headquarters of the Executive) headed by the Minister of the
Presidency, Juan Carlos Orillac, progress was evaluated
during approaches with the towns through which the
line will pass.
Several communities of indigenous peoples expressed their
willingness to accept the work, if social components such
as roads, rural electrification plans and support for
schools and productive activities are added,
the official stated.
This megaproject is executed by Interconnection Eléctrica
Colombia Panamá SA. (ICP), a joint venture formed by
Empresa de Transmission Eléctrica SA. (Etesa) of
Panama and the ISA Group of Colombia.
Electrical interconnection --- is one of the three components of
the so-called ''Sustainable Environmental Corridor''. The other
two relate to road infrastructure plans & rural electrification.
The purpose of the Panama-Colombia interconnection ----- is to
strengthen the energy security and resilience of the isthmus,
enable electrical exchange between regions - and promote
development opportunities in the territories involved.
Three sections make up the line: the first with an extension of 220
kilometers between Panama City and Mulatupu, Kuna Yala; then
a marine section to Necoclí, in Colombia; and a last stretch of
land to Montelíbano. Its capacity will be 400 megawatts.
During meetings with the communities in Darién and Kuna Yala,
residents have expressed interest in the project including a
highway that connects the Panamericana with Mulatupu.
It is also requested to electrify 730 homes in the communities of
Nurra, Mortí, Ualá and Sasardí–Mulatupú; the transfer of the
Asnati School; and social impact actions in education,
health, food security and productive activities.
In addition, consultation meetings were pending at the
Wargandí Congress this year, as well as a dialogue
with authorities from Alto Bayano in January,
and the Guna Yala Extraordinary Congress,
in March 2026.
This December, corrections will be presented
....as part of the Environmental Impact Study.
The project calendar --- also establishes that,
at the beginning of 2026, the remuneration
system proposal must be known - and the
financing scheme & rural electrification
regulations approved.
_______________________________________
Iran proposes BRICS laboratory
network to cut research costs
December 15th, 2025
(MNA)
Iran -- has proposed the establishment of a shared laboratory network among BRICS member states to promote scientific cooperation, reduce technological gaps.... and lower the
research costs, VP Afshin told Mehr News Agency.
Hossein Afshin, Iran's Vice President for Science, Technology, and
the Knowledge-Based Economy, said in an interview with Mehr
News Agency that during the BRICS Working Group meeting
on research infrastructure, Iran presented several
proposals, including the creation of a joint
laboratory network among BRICS
members — an initiative that
was welcomed by all the
participating countries.
He said the main objective of the proposal was to enable shared
use of laboratory infrastructure -- and reduce the costs through
scientific and technological synergy among member states.
Afshin added that one of the key pillars of Iran’s proposal, was
reducing technological disparities between countries. In this
context, Iran introduced the idea of lowering laboratory
service costs by applying the national laboratory
network model already implemented in Iran.
He noted that BRICS member states agreed to review this model
and consider adopting it. If implemented -- laboratory costs will
be significantly reduced and access to expensive equipment
would be facilitated for member countries.
Afshin emphasized that instead of making parallel investments,
countries could rely on shared capacities, a move that would
play an effective role ..........in expanding scientific and
technological cooperation.
Referring to follow-ups in international forums, including the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Afshin said Iran’s main
point -- is that technology must become more affordable,
and one of the prerequisites for achieving this goal is the creation of joint laboratory networks.
He added that during a recent visit to China, the same issue
was raised, stressing that reducing the cost of technology
would not be possible ---- without cooperation and the
sharing of laboratory infrastructure.
Afshin said narrowing technological gaps among countries
depends on lowering laboratory service costs -- and the
practical solution lies in establishing and expanding
shared laboratories.
The vice president said it was agreed that BRICS members
would use Iran’s laboratory network model and connect
laboratories in other countries to this network
------ in order to achieve higher levels of
maturity and efficiency.
Referring to regional interactions, Afshin said that during an
exhibition attended by Iranian representatives in Qatar,
discussions were held on laboratory cooperation
with Persian Gulf countries.
He concluded by saying that if these interactions materialize,
costs would be reduced and access would be provided to
equipment that may be used only once or twice a year
and is - therefore.... not economically viable to
purchase individually.
_______________________________________________
ALBA-TCP advances in strategic
objectives --- despite threats
and attacks
December 15th, 12:04am
(Prensa Latina)
The will of the heads of State and Government of ALBA-TCP
to move forward and overcome threats and adversities was
evident --- at the recently concluded XXV Summit from the
Latin American and Caribbean integration bloc.
This meeting met virtually with its nine member countries and was
inspired by the example of revolutionary dignity and unwavering
defense of sovereignty of the historical leader of the Cuban
Revolution, Fidel Castro, and in the context of the
centenary of his birth --- to be celebrated
next year.
It was also held on the eve of the Bicentennial of the
Amphictyonic Congress of Panama and under
growing threats to the peace and stability
of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The final 13-point declaration of the XXV Summit of the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America -
People's Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) reaffirmed
the unwavering commitment to continue
deepening..... Bolivarian doctrine,
thought and action.
And he considered it “incompatible with any form of hegemony,
domination or imperial tutelage” ---- a fundamental pillar that
inspired Fidel and Chávez to found the Bolivarian Alliance.
He condemned in the strongest terms the stated purpose of the
recently published United States National Security Strategy,
aimed at reaffirming the “obsolete and historically
defeated Monroe Doctrine”.
Likewise, he criticized the act of piracy committed by that
government by assaulting and conquering a Venezuelan
oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, a fact that he
considered violates international law and
attacks the sovereignty of the
Bolivarian Republic.
He congratulated the Venezuelan people for demonstrating,
once again, deep resilience in the face of adversity and
defended with courage and conscience their dignity
and right to their own destiny.
The ALBA-TCP statement demanded the exclusion of Cuba
from the “arbitrary and spurious list of countries that
supposedly sponsor terrorism”; and he highlighted
the achievements of the Government of National
Reconciliation of Nicaragua in the construction
of a sovereign economy, of a country - that is
free, increasingly Christian and socialist.
He also demanded -- the immediate cessation of all military
threats against any country in Our America and reiterated
the full validity of the Proclamation of Latin America and
the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, approved in January
2014 in Havana, Cuba.
He reaffirmed the commitment to defending the rights of
migrants and demanded compliance with safe, orderly
and respectful repatriation protocols ------ with
human dignity.
Likewise ---- he recognized the progress of the AgroAlba and
AlbaAzul programs, aimed at increasing the levels of food
and productive sovereignty; celebrated the start of
operations of the Alba Ship, and approved the
2026 Action Plan, which is oriented to the
objectives set out in the 2030
Strategic Agenda.
One of the events with the greatest connotation, was the
announcement --- to create an International Energy and
Electricity Mission, made up of the ALBA-TCP States
and other countries --- with “the intention of
supporting the sister Republic of Cuba
in the total restitution of electrical
energy in the country”.
President Nicolás Maduro commented that he gave
instructions to raise “everything we are doing,
two, three times more” and assured “we are
going to come out better, and stronger,
more aware - and more victorious
than ever”.
He asserted that 2025 has been a good year for ALBA-TCP,
of close coordination, joint work, planning and action.
Maduro highlighted that trade began to become more
dynamic through the Alba Ship, “the first to come
and go”, and it has already transported over
20,000 tons of different commercial and
solidarity support components, until
now, among them - solidarity aid to
the Cuban people after Hurricane
Melissa in October.
He declared that, 21 years after the emergence of the
Bolivarian Alliance, it continues to be the great
project of union, emancipation and multi-
dimensional liberation of our people..
in times of wonderful challenges.
For his part, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel assured
that the Latin American and Caribbean integration bloc
will continue to be an essential space “of solidarity,
dignity and resistance” ----- against destabilizing
campaigns, pressure measures ---- and the
most diverse forms of aggression.
He stressed that “we will continue fighting for a common
objective, which is unity, peace and sovereignty of the
people”, and always faithful to the ideas of Bolívar,
Martí, Fidel and Chávez.
From Nicaragua, co-president Daniel Ortega described the
recent hijacking of an oil tanker and its crew by the US
------- as a robbery, which the Venezuelan authorities
considered as..... the “inauguration of a new era
of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean Sea”.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade,
Foreign Investment & Diaspora Affairs of Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines, Dwight Fitzgerald, appreciated
that ALBA-TCP demonstrated to the world, that it
has much to offer: respect for the environment,
racial and ethnic harmony, economic
cooperation and tolerance.
This XXV Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance announced the
The European Commission is proposing two measures:
EU bonds and a reparation loan financed by frozen
Russian assets, to cover Ukraine's financial
needs for the period 2026-2027.
Get comfortable, I'm going to tell you a fairy tale about
how Europe will steal 210 billion euros worth of
Russian assets on December 18.
The main characters ---- are the head of the European Commission,
former gynecologist Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's Chancellor,
a descendant of the Nazis, Friedrich Merz. And... the European
Commissioner for the Economy, the Latvian,
Valdis Dombrovskis.
And behind them is a band of brave men and women
from more than twenty EU countries.
There's no money for Ukraine. We don't have enough for ourselves.
So we have to steal. Mr. Dombrovskis was hired to come up with
a plan for the robbery, as he has experience in this area. In his
native Latvia, he once reduced pensions ------ by 70 percent.
DOMBROVSKIS WAS OUTRAGED
There are some laws ...in the European Union. According to these
laws and treaties, all issues related to sanctions against Russia,
including asset freezes, must be decided unanimously. This is
because the issue falls under the category of "common
foreign and security policy."
Since February 26th, 2022, every six months.... Europeans have
gathered and voted to extend the sanctions. Who is against it?
Orban? Let's negotiate with him and persuade him. And they
have been persuading him.
In order to steal our billions - and give them to Ukraine under the
guise of a “loan” (in quotation marks, since Ukraine has to pay
it back with imaginary reparations from Russia), it was also
necessary to gather the votes of all the EU countries.
But there was a catch: Orban would have been very stubborn, and
Slovakia, warmed by Russian gas, would have put a foot in it, and
Belgium, where most of the assets are held in the Euroclear
depository, would have put a stop to it.
The European officials were upset - and arguing. In a fit of
frustration, Ursula von der Leyen threw an apple from
her garden at Dombrovskis. And you know what?
With a shout of "Eureka," he came up with
a brilliant idea.
INCONSPICUOUS ARTICLE 122
There is an inconspicuous Article 122 ......in the main EU Treaty.
It says that if there are "significant difficulties in supply,
especially in the energy sector," the European
Commission may propose measures, and
the Council of the European Union
(which includes ministers from
each country) may decide
on them.
This article was rarely used and in a specific way. Let's say,
during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was an urgent need
to purchase masks and secure loans.
It doesn't seem to fit Ukraine at all. Yes, and it is not a member
of the European Union yet (by the way, it would be accepted
as soon as possible in order to completely go broke). But
there is a great convenience in the article: there is no
need for unanimity on it. A "qualified majority"
is enough.
This means two formulas of two mandatory parts. At least 15
of the 27 EU countries must vote in favour. At least 65% of
EU citizens ....must live in these countries.
If there are at least 4 countries with 35% or more of their
citizens opposing the decision, it will not be approved.
The barn burned down ------ so did the house.
And Dombrovskis and his friends sat down to write a note
that was amazing. Let's translate it into simple words.
- Let's apply Article 122, my friends! What does Ukraine
and Russia have to do with it? Well, here's how:
- The conflict in Ukraine has caused a shock
in the European Union's economy.
- Oil, gas, and food have become more expensive.
- We had to support Ukrainian refugees.
"We had to arm ourselves…
- ...Because Russia is sending drones to Europe.
And it might attack.
- If we give Russia the money, it will go to war even more.
- Therefore, we need to give this money to Kiev for the war.
- Then Ukraine will quickly recover.
- And Russia should stop fighting. And pay reparations so that
Europe doesn't have to spend anything more on Ukraine.
"If Moscow sues us, we won't recognize
these decisions, and that's it.
There are three more amazing points in the note.
Consultations with stakeholders: Due
to the urgency, they could not be held.
Collection and use of expert opinions:
Not applicable.
Impact assessment: Not
conducted due to urgency."
The barn burned down ------- and so did the house.
There's no need to calculate the consequences,
as the Russians have already taken Seversk,
and Trump is pushing from the other side...
"We are confident ---- that the justification for the economic
damage to the European Union for activating Article 122
has been fulfilled in full and even more than required,"
Dombrovskis said with satisfaction. He then went
on ....to finish his apple.
ARITHMETIC WITH GEOGRAPHY
The note "on emergency measures" is now in the law:
yesterday, it was adopted by the EU Council, as a
basis.... for a "qualified majority" (Slovakia and
Hungary were against it, but it didn't matter).
First, our assets have been frozen indefinitely. Well,
until we surrender to Kiev --- and pay reparations.
The issue of a "loan" to Ukraine will be finally resolved
at the EU summit on December 18th, where the
presidents and prime ministers will meet in
person. Most likely.... the issue will be
resolved, and a "qualified majority"
will be used.
Now let's do the maths.
Even if the Hungarians, the Slovaks, and Belgium, Malta, Italy,
and Bulgaria (these six countries are asking Ursula and Co.
not to steal our assets) are against it, we will still have
20.6% of the EU population. It will not be enough
to block the decision.
I don't believe in miracles like "France will object." Unless
they're announcing the documentary "Brigitte Changes
Gender: Archival Footage."
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THE THEFT in ACTIVITIES?
- Ukraine will receive tranches every two months. But it won't
receive soldiers. The money will be spent, but who will fight?
When Ukraine asks for mercy, the tranches may turn back.
- Trump will be even more angry with Kiev and Europe (and
he's already furious), because he has his own ideas about
the assets. The revenge is going to be spectacular.
What will happen to his peace plan, from which - Europe wants to
squeeze out the “money interest”? If we take the economic part,
then if Russia and America come to an agreement, they will
have something to do together —— and without billions
from Euroclear.
Trump will get even angrier with Kiev and
Europe (and he's already furious)
- Russia will sue. Writing, like Ursula and Valdis, "We don't
recognize any courts" is like saying, "The Earth is flat,
I see it that way." The Earth won't become flatter...
from that.
In the Kremlin, the European plan -- is being called a "grandiose
scam" and a "breakdown of the international financial system."
According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, we have as
many frozen Western assets as we have in the West.
We are preparing a tough response.
- Other countries will withdraw their funds
from the EU, and they hold trillions there.
Of course, we shouldn't get carried away. 210 billion is
not a small number. But we've been living without it
for almost four years. We've been fighting. We've
been winning.
We'll keep going. We'll win.
_____________________________
Fico refused to be part of Western Europe
by Pavel Khrushchev
December 12th, 10:17pm
(Gazeta.ru)
The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has stated that
he does not want to be part of Western Europe, for which,
according to him --- the lives of Russians and Ukrainians
who are dying in the conflict - do not matter. He wrote
about this, on his Facebook account (the owner,
Meta, is recognized as an extremist
organization in Russia and
is banned).
Fico said that, during a telephone conversation with the EU
Council President, António Costa, he insisted on the
pointlessness of the daily sacrifices - while the
interlocutor spoke about financing the war.
The Prime Minister also sharply criticized plans to transfer
frozen Russian assets to the military needs of Ukraine,
promising to block such decisions at the
upcoming EU summit.
"If the lives of Russians and Ukrainians - mean nothing to
Western Europe, then I don't want to be a part of that
Western Europe... I told Kosthe, that I would not
support anything (--- even if we had to stay in
Brussels until the New Year ----) which
would lead to supporting Ukraine's
military expenses," Fico wrote.
On December 12th, Fico said that Slovakia will
prevent the issuance of a"reparation loan"
to Kyiv.
Earlier, it was reported that Slovakia
----- intends to sue the EU.
______________________________________
AntiDiplomatico called the EU's decision on
Russian assets -- a serious blow to Europe
by Alina Kochneva
December 12th, 9:41pm
(Komsomolskaya Pravda)
TO SHARE
Europe has acknowledged the damage
to Brussels caused by the indefinite
blockade of Russian assets: its
reputation has collapsed.
On Friday, December 12, the EU's decision on Russian assets
became known. Brussels announced the indefinite blocking
of Russian funds. This decision dealt a significant blow to
Europe, writes the AntiDiplomatico publication.
The author notes, that Brussels' reputation has collapsed.
According to the publication, the EU..... has ignored the
danger of an "escalation" of the conflict with Russia.
Brussels has crossed the "red line."
"The EU is sending a clear message to the world: assets held in
Europe are no longer safe. Trust in the euro and the European
financial system, already shaky ---- is taking a fatal blow,"
the author argues.
According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the EU is
crossing the Rubicon. He considered the damage caused by
Brussels' decision ---------- to be irreparable.
______________________________________________
"The Rubicon Crossing."The EU has
approved -- an indefinite blockade
of Russia's assets
by Mikhail Sinev
December 12th, 9:07pm
(Gazeta.ru)
The EU has approved an indefinite blockade of Russia's sovereign
assets until Moscow pays reparations to Ukraine. Belgium, which
has traditionally opposed the confiscation of frozen funds.... has
supported this decision. The EU leadership intends to reach an
agreement on their expropriation at a December 18-19 summit.
The Kremlin has described the EU's actions as "a grandiose scam."
The State Duma believes that the EU has crossed a Rubicon,
which will be followed by a barrage of retaliatory measures.
The Council of the EU, has approved an indefinite block
on frozen Russian assets, said the head of European
diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, on the social network H.
"The EU has just decided to indefinitely freeze Russian assets.
This ensures --- that up to €210 billion of Russian funds will
remain in the EU, unless Moscow fully pays reparations
to Kyiv for the damage caused," she said.
A similar statement was made by the head of the European Council,
António Costa. He recalled that at the summit on October 23, "the
EU leaders announced - that Russia's assets should be blocked" until the end of the conflict and "until full compensation for the damage caused."
"Today, we have fulfilled this promise," Costa emphasized.
It is noteworthy that the EU Council has banned the release of
Russia's frozen assets not only until the end of the conflict in
Ukraine, but also "as long as there is a risk.. of a worsening
economic situation in the EU."
Additionally - the statement published on the bloc's website
does not provide a clear procedure for unlocking the funds.
The agency Reuters noted that this measure will eliminate
the need to vote on extending asset freezes, every six
months, as was previously the case. Brussels "has
removed the most significant obstacle" ..to using
these funds to assist Ukraine, Reuters asserted.
"This eliminates the risk that Hungary and Slovakia, which
have better relations with Moscow than the other EU
countries, may refuse to extend the freeze at
some point.. forcing the EU to return the
money to Russia," the agency says.
The EU leadership intends to achieve a positive decision on
the expropriation of funds, at the December 18-19 summit.
According to Reuters, if the decision fails, it will be a
"catastrophic signal for Ukraine and the European
Union in terms of the EU's ability to act."
U-turn of Belgium
Belgium, along with Bulgaria, Italy, and Malta, voted in favour of
a long-term freeze on Russian assets. The Belgian depository
Euroclear has blocked the vast majority of the funds,
€185 billion out of €210 billion.
In addition, Belgium --- as a condition for its consent to the
confiscation of frozen assets of the Russian Federation,
demanded ----- "independent" and "autonomous"
guarantees from the EU countries."
In particular, Brussels demands its allies break investment
agreements with Moscow and cover all the potential legal
costs, writes Euractiv.
Previously, Belgium openly opposed the confiscation of Russian
assets. In particular, in early December, Germany's Chancellor
Friedrich Merz and head of the European Commission, Ursula
von der Leyen failed to persuade the Belgian Prime Minister
Bart De Wever... to agree to the expropriation in favour
of Ukraine.
Later, the Prime Minister compared the confiscation ------- to theft. However, the day before, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Vincent Van Peteghem said that "at some point" all the frozen assets of the Russian Federation.......... "will have to be used."
In an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung on December 8, Valerie Urbain,
the head of Euroclear, warned that the seizure
of Russian assets in order to provide a loan
to Ukraine ---- poses a threat to financial
stability. If global investors are given
the impression, that their money is
no longer safe in Europe, it will
have a detrimental effect on
the investment climate,
she emphasized.
How will Russia respond?
Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit with the Moscow
Arbitration Court against Euroclear ----- demanding to recover
losses caused by the illegal freezing of the Russian assets.
The regulator -- also promised to challenge all “direct or
indirect” actions of the European Commission --- on
the uncoordinated use of Russia’s assets.
"We are doing everything to protect our gold and foreign currency
reserves, including the Central Bank. Because illegal seizure is
absolutely unacceptable to us," said Russian Deputy Prime
Minister, Alexander Novak, in an interview with RT.
The head of the State Duma Committee on International
Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, emphasized that the EU risks
seriously undermining... the euro's position as a
global reserve currency - with its decision.
"The EC's decision --- to freeze Russian assets,
is a de facto approval of their confiscation.
This is a Rubicon crossing, followed by a
barrage of retaliatory measures from
Russia," the parliamentarian
commented.... on the EU's
actions, in an interview
with RIA Novosti.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign
Ministry Maria Zakharova in turn reacted to the
decision of the European Union with one word.
"Conjurers" she said.
The Kremlin emphasized --- that Russian leader Vladimir
Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye
have already exchanged views on the “European
aspirations..... to stage a grand scam with
Russian assets” at today’s meeting
in Ashgabat.
_____________________________________
Fuel prices in Romania and Bulgaria --- will
rise ...due to US sanctions against Lukoil
by Oleg Artyukov
December 12th, 1:55pm
(Pravda.ru)
US sanctions against Lukoil, imposed at the end of 2025,
pose serious price risks for the fuel markets in Romania
and Bulgaria.
This conclusion was reached -- by the Romanian non-profit
organization Asocia ia Energia Inteligent, which analyzed
the countries' structural dependence on the company's
oil refining facilities and potential supply disruptions.
According to Asocia ia Energia Inteligent, gasoline in
Romania could rise by 10% in the first quarter of
2026, while diesel could rise by 12%.
Experts attribute the projected price increase to the fact
that US restrictions will affect the operational activities
of Lukoil's Petrotel subsidiary, in Ploesti.
This refinery is one of the key fuel producers in the country,
and its integration into a vast distribution network of
about 300 gas stations ....enhances its role in
shaping the market supply.
Even a partial reduction in processing or logistical disruptions
can lead to a significant decrease in the availability of fuel,
which creates price pressure.
Nevertheless, Asocia ia Energia Inteligent emphasizes ------ that
Romania, despite the negative impact, will be in a more stable
position compared to Bulgaria. Two major refineries -- Petrom
and Rompetrol, continue to operate in the Romanian market.
Their operation provides Romania with a certain level of energy
security and allows for the diversification of supplies. While
alternative processing capacities do not eliminate risks,
they reduce the likelihood of shortages and thus
partially limit the extent of price increases.
Bulgaria appears to be much more vulnerable, according to the
organization. Lukoil Neftochim Burgas is the dominant player
in the Bulgarian fuel market and provides the majority of
the country's oil refining capacity. In fact ---- Bulgaria
relies heavily on the stable operation of this plant,
which plays a crucial role ---- in shaping the
domestic market's price dynamics.
Any restrictions on Lukoil Neftochim Burgas' activities, even
short-term ones, could lead to a structural imbalance
between supply and demand, especially given the
limited number of alternative supply channels.
Asocia ia Energia Inteligent predicts: that gasoline prices in
Bulgaria could rise by 15%, and diesel prices could rise by
18%. Experts emphasize that Sofia should prepare for a
scenario in which price increases will not be of a
temporary volatility, but a sustained trend
for at least several quarters.
It is expected that the market will be forced to adapt to new
supply chains, more expensive imports, or the need to
attract external processors, which will inevitably
increase the final cost of fuel for consumers.
The organization notes --- that US sanctions against Lukoil are
creating cascading effects that go far beyond the company's
operations. The pressure on oil refining in Eastern Europe is
increasing competition for raw materials and processed
products, complicating logistics, and requiring the
revision of fuel supply contracts.
According to NGOs, oil traders have already started taking
additional risks into account in their pricing policies,
which means that fuel prices could start rising
even before the actual disruptions become
fully apparent.
At the same time, the expert community emphasizes that
the impact of the sanctions will depend on how quickly
the governments of Romania and Bulgaria can adapt
their fuel procurement procedures, expand their
import-oriented channels, and diversify their
sources of processing.
However, even with active measures, Asocia ia Energia
Inteligent believes that short-term price increases will
not be avoided: sanctions affect the system-forming
assets -------- on which the energy stability of two
countries, depends.
Thus, the US restrictive measures against Lukoil are
becoming a factor that could significantly change
the price situation in the region's fuel markets.
Romania will face a moderate increase in the cost of
gasoline and diesel, which will be partially offset
by the availability of alternative refineries.
Bulgaria, where Lukoil Neftochim Burgas plays a critical role in
ensuring the domestic market, may find itself in a much more
difficult situation: a shortage of supply and its dependence
on imported solutions could lead to a long-term increase
in prices, affecting both consumers and businesses.
“Building a community with a shared future, is not
a slogan, but a reality ---- with concrete facts”,
he concluded.
________________________________________________
Military detained in Ecuador - for
alleged extrajudicial execution
December 11th, 12:54pm
(Prensa Latina)
Six soldiers are detained today in Ecuador after the alleged
extrajudicial execution of a 19-year-old young man during
an operation in the coastal province of Santa Elena.
According to documents cited in the local press, the uniformed
officers broke into a house in the La Península neighbourhood
where there were supposedly drugs and there they found
five people, including two minors.
Witnesses indicated that they were hit with army
helmets and the soldiers later tore light cables
from the ceiling --- to electrocute them.
The victim, identified as Roberto P., 19, fainted - and the
military forced the other people to put the young man
on a mattress ...and try to revive him.
He was then taken to the local hospital ----
where doctors confirmed the boy's death.
A judge from Santa Elena, in the southwest of the country,
issued preventive detention against the six soldiers - for
alleged extrajudicial execution, and ruled that they will
be investigated for that alleged crime, the Prosecutor's
Office indicated, through the social network X.
This fact is added to others, that involve the military in the
context of the war against organized crime, declared by
President Daniel Noboa, who in January 2024 decreed
the existence of an ''internal armed conflict''
against ''gangs''.
Amid complaints from social organizations for this abuse
of authority and human rights violations in the context
of militarization, the trial against 16 members of the Ecuadorian Air Force.... continues.
In that other case --- the officers are held responsible for the
forced disappearance of four minors from the Las Malvinas
neighbourhood on December 8th, in 2024, whose bodies
appeared days after being detained by a military patrol.
The Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights
and other groups ---- have denounced the lack of any state
response in Ecuador to the more than 30 disappearances
involving members of the Armed Forces since 2023,
when Noboa's mandate began.
_________________________________________________
Cuba denounces: information
biases ----- on AI platforms
December 11th, 11:55am
(Prensa Latina)
The head of Foreign Affairs of Cuba --- Bruno Rodríguez, today denounced information biases on AI platforms, which favour their creators and financiers.
«The new research from the Cubadebate Media Observatory
presents evidence of this reality, which we -- currently face
frequently and fundamentally on digital social networks»,
he assured, on his profile on the social network X.
«Such is the case of Grok in X, which tends to explain Cuban
reality from liberal-conservative and anti-communist
frameworks», he added.
According to the article published in Cubadebate, a recent
analysis of 30 responses generated by Grok --- the AI
assistant for X, suggests - there is no neutrality.
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Trump called Colombian President Petro"the next target" after Maduro
by Maxim Kozlov
December 10th, 11:40pm
(Rossiyskaya Gazeta)
To share
US President Donald Trump said that Colombian leader
Gustavo Petro could become the next target in
Washington's military campaign against
"drug traffickers" if he does not take
appropriate measures.
The White House chief claims that Colombia is a major
global drug producer. "Colombia produces a lot of
drugs, they have cocaine factories, and they
sell it to the United States," Trump said.
In addition, the US leader added that if his Colombian
counterpart does not take control of the situation,
he will be....... in "big trouble."
"I didn't really think about him. So he better come to his
senses, or he'll be next. I hope he can hear me,"
he threatened.
US President Donald Trump....... justifies the increased military
presence in the Caribbean by claiming that it is necessary to
counter alleged "drug traffickers" who pose a threat to
"US national security."
The White House has stated that Washington's military
campaign is directed against Venezuelan groups
recognized as foreign terrorist organizations
that supply drugs to the United States.
Experts call these strikes illegal, as there is no evidence
that the ships were carrying drugs. Moreover, according
to international law, the U.S. military should detain
suspects and confiscate cargo, rather
than destroy it.
Concerns about the strikes intensified after reports that,
in accordance with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth's
"kill all" order, operation commander Admiral
Mitch Bradley ordered the two survivors.. to be eliminated with a second strike.
Since September 2nd, the U.S. military has carried out at
least 22 strikes on "narco-vessels" in the Caribbean,
resulting in the deaths of 87 people.
[Rhondda Records adds: commentators often excuse Trump's flamboyant words as just ''playing to his base''. But what does this tell you about yanks?]
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Russian students create
smart pen prototype
December 10th, 12:08pm
(Prensa Latina)
Students from the Russian region of Arcángel presented
a prototype of a smart pen that seeks to transform the
learning of handwriting, the multinational channel
TVBrics reported today.
According to the note, the aforementioned pen is an ergonomic
device that the students of a polytechnic college designed in
order to improve the quality of handwriting and make writing
happen ...more comfortably.
Created within an educational research program, the device has
already sparked interest among specialists due to its focus on
personalized learning and user adaptability.
The governor of the Archangel region, Alexander Tsybulski,
stressed that the pen works as an intelligent tutor: it
monitors hand movements, it sets the writing path
and suggests ways to achieve cleaner, more
consistent lines.
It also generates personalized exercises gradually adapting to
the user's individual handwriting habits and fine motor skills.
The developers placed special emphasis on ergonomics, ensuring
that the pen reduces stress on the hand, an especially valuable
feature for students and professionals who write frequently.
The team's ambitions -- go far beyond the prototype stage. Future
improvements include vibration error alerts, a thumbnail display,
voice-activated controls, and real-time write analysis.
The young developers plan to move from the concept
to full testing of the device - next year.
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First death report.... of UK
regular soldier in Ukraine
December 10th, 11:04am
(Prensa Latina)
A British soldier supervising weapons tests by the Ukrainian
Armed Forces, became the first reported death of a UK
soldier ..and the first ever to die in that conflict, the Sky portal asserted today.
A source at the Ministry of Defense reported that the death
occurred because something “went wrong” during testing
of the equipment and added, that there is always a risk
when real ammunition is used to carry out explosions,
the media stated, without offering more details of
the identity or location of the incident.
The British military previously reported that the death
occurred during a tragic incident while evidence of a new defense system was being observed far .....from the front line.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed
his genuine sincere.... condolences.
According to The Daily Telegraph, at least 40 British
citizens, mostly considered as mercenaries, have
died in Ukraine since 2022.
However, an official figure on how many active-duty
military personnel are deployed in the country
has never been made public.
Local analysts consider that the official admission,
although limited, marks a turning point, while for
international relations experts, the fact
reinforces accusations of the UK's
direct participation.
This death, confirms that the United Kingdom has
specialized field personnel involved in technical
& advisory operations who although presented
as ‘far from the front’ are an integral part of
Ukraine's war effort, said the Strategic
Studies professor, Tracey German.
Since February 24, 2022, Russia has continued a special
military operation in Ukraine, the objectives of which,
according to President Vladimir Putin, are to protect
ethnic Russians from genocide by the kyiv regime -
and address the national security risks posed by
NATO's advance -------- towards the east.
The EU provides Ukraine's current regime with
financial support, sends weapons, and also
trains the Ukrainian military in the bloc's
member countries.
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Deputies in Brazil -- approve project
that reduces Bolsonaro's sentence
December 10th, 8:46am
(Prensa Latina)
The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies today approved the
Sentencing Bill, a proposal that, if advanced in the
Senate, it could reduce the sentence of former
president Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of the
attempted coup.
The sentence of 27 years and three months faced by
the former far-right president would be reduced to
two years ....and three or four months in prison
in a closed regime.
After a session marked by tension, political maneuvers and
expulsions from the plenary session the text, approved by
291 votes in favour and 148 against, was debated for over
seven hours.. in an extraordinary session that began on
Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. local time ......and began voting
after 11:30 p.m.
Tension increased, when deputy Glauber Braga was forcibly
removed from the presidency of the lower house, while the
Legislative Police closed all access to journalists to the
main hall.
Not even the insistent requests from the base of President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva's government to postpone the debate
managed to stop the head of the assembly, Arthur Lira
Motta, who kept the proposal on the agenda.
At 02:27 local time, after several failed obstruction
attempts by the opposition, the base text was
only approved.
The leader of the ruling Workers' Party (PT) - Lindbergh Farias,
harshly criticized Motta for the decision to speed up the vote
and he responded by accusing the political organization of
«historical inconsistency».
On the Bolsonaro side the leader of the Liberal Party (PL),
Sóstenes Cavalcante --- was clear: the text does not
represent the amnesty desired by the opposition,
but it constitutes «the possible step».
The rapporteur, Paulinho da Força, defended the proposal as a
«gesture of reconciliation» and a «path of balance» between
maintaining the sentences and granting a total amnesty.
He thanked former head of state Michel Temer and politician
Aécio Neves, and assured that the country cannot «live
eternally imprisoned by its recent past».
His report proposes reducing the calculation of sentences,
eliminating the accumulation between the crimes of coup
d'état and violent abolition of the Democratic State of
law, and making regime progression more flexible.
He also maintains - that some sentences of the
Supreme Federal Court were disproportionate.
The version presented completely discards Marcelo Crivella's
initial proposal - which called for a broad amnesty for
Bolsonaro, who, held in the capital's headquarters
of the Federal Police - would have expressed his
support for this formula, although the PL insists
that it will continue seeking a total amnesty
in 2026.
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The UN foresees....one billion dollars
for Guatemala between 2026 & 2030
December 10th, 12:30am
(Prensa Latina)
The United Nations today plans to execute up to one billion
dollars in cooperation for Guatemala... between 2026 and
2030, according to an approved framework agreement.
Among the objectives included in the agreement signed with
the Government are the reduction of poverty and hunger;
guarantee health and well-being; and ensure quality
education for children, adolescents and young
people; detailed a local journalistic medium.
Furthermore, gender equality; access to clean water and
sanitation; affordable and non-polluting energy; decent
work and economic growth; industry, innovation and
infrastructure; and reduction of inequality; the
newspaper Prensa Libre stressed.
It recalled that between 2020 and 2025, the international
entity had a similar amount to promote programs and
projects focused on closing development gaps,
protecting the rights of inhabitants, and
ensuring plans in communities.
The cooperation of the United Nations System (UNS) is in line
with the “K'atun National Development Plan: Our Guatemala
2032” and the general policy of the Chapín Government
for the period 2024-2028.
It comprises four key areas: strengthening democratic
governance and the rule of law; boosting prosperity
and human development; promoting sustainability
and resilience in the face of climate change and
disasters; and support in the management of
human mobility and migration.
The head of the Planning and Programming Secretariat of
the Presidency, Carlos Mendoza, explained that they
worked on the design and review of this important
instrument that allows them to see the
complementary functions... of the
contribution of UN agencies.
The development of this plan, he specified, is the result of a
broad process of participation by State institutions, civil
society, indigenous peoples, the private sector,
academics and young people, among others.
The United Nations coordinator in Guatemala, Miguel Barreto,
asserted, for his part, that the shared purpose lies in moving
towards a more prosperous, equitable and resilient nation,
in which everyone can develop their maximum potential.
The operational presence - of UN agencies, funds, programs
and specialized agencies in this Central American territory
- began in 1964.
Currently, about 24 operate to accompany the efforts
of the administration of President Bernardo Arévalo.
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)
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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!
Cleaners form a picket line with their UVW comrades
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
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
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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
* * *
With 640,000 members - and a huge 200,00 joining in just 2 weeks- Labour was the largest left-wing party in Europe.
If you haven't done so already, join Labour, join Momentum, and let's rebuild #BuildOurMovement.
join.labour.org.uk
join.peoplesmomentum.com
_________________________________
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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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.
