(2021-12-11). Assange extradition 'an attack on us all'. greenleft.org.au The British decision to extradite Julian Assange is an attack on us all, argues Socialist Alliance Senate candidate Kamala Emanuel.
(2021-12-11). Public-Private Collaboration Will Define New Era for Cities. moderndiplomacy.eu At the World Economic Forum's inaugural Urban Transformation Summit, which closed on Wednesday, global leaders underscored the need for increased public-private collaboration to capitalize on new infrastructure funding and tackle growing urban challenges around the globe. "Our cities and our communities are changing right before our eyes. Digitization is transforming urban economies, public health and …
(2021-12-11). India's community health workers' struggle for recognition. roarmag.org 
Asha worker marking the finger of a baby girl after administering a polio vaccine in Delhi, India. June 28, 2021. Photo: PradeepGaurs / Shutterstock.com | This essay is published in collaboration with Public Services International | | Over the last year-and-a-half, one of the most visible groups of workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in India have been the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), a cadre of community health workers appointed by the National Health Mission (NHM). These hitherto invisible women were seen not only going hou…
(2021-12-11). Fifty-five immigrants killed, over 100 injured in Mexico truck crash. wsws.org The catastrophic accident in southern Mexico came as Washington renews its "stay in Mexico" policy and the Mexican government collaborates in the repression of migrants.
(2021-12-11). Insect and Hydroponic Farming Could Boost Food Security and the Circular Economy. moderndiplomacy.eu Insect and hydroponic crop farming, for both human food and animal feed, have the potential to increase access to nutritious food, while creating millions of jobs, improving the climate and the environment, and strengthening national economies, according to a new World Bank report 'Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa: The New Circular Food Economy'. "The …
(2021-12-11). Venezuela: VP Delcy Rodríguez Presents 2022 Budget to National Assembly. orinocotribune.com The Executive Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, emphasized this Friday, December 10, that 2022 will be the year of the recovery of the bolívar as Venezuela's national currency. | During the presentation of the budget and annual plan 2022 before the National Assembly (NA), Rodríguez affirmed that strengthening the bolívar as the national currency will be the center of the economic actions of the national government next year. In this regard, she pointed out that the government is refusing to dollarize the economy. | "We come from the year 2020, a year of pandemic, but 2021 has also been a year of pande…
(2021-12-11). [Editorial] Preventing violence against women: beyond 16 days. thelancet.com 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual, global civil society campaign calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, ended on Dec 10. This year, the 30th anniversary of the event, carries particular poignancy. Violence against women and girls, already at high levels before COVID-19, has risen markedly during the pandemic and increased in severity, according to Oxfam. Government responses to the pandemic included lockdowns, suspension of social services, and economic hardship, many of which had the consequences of placing women at increased risk of violence, w…
(2021-12-11). The Heat: 20th Anniversary of China at WTO. america.cgtn.com 
20 years of China's presence at the World Trade Organization. We examine its legacy and impact. And later, an important economic meeting in China that sets benchmarks for 2022.
(2021-12-11). "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset" zcomm.org Calls Mount to Cancel Debt & Halt Wealth Transfer to the Rich…
(2021-12-11). US consumer prices rise 6.8 percent, near 40-year high. wsws.org The average family faces $4,000 more in annual expenses than one year ago.
(2021-12-11). Should we start rethinking urban agriculture and food provisioning? moderndiplomacy.eu With rising global environmental effects and food production and consumption security challenges, establishing sustainable and resilient food systems will necessitate innovative methods, technologies, techniques, and procedures. Food production systems, particularly those in cities, have experienced significant innovation and improvement in recent years. Distributed food production systems and urban agriculture are becoming more prominent as a …
(2021-12-11). Protesting BlackRock's support for Adani. greenleft.org.au A protest called on United States multinational investment management corporation BlackRock not to fund Adani. Coral Wynter reports.
(2021-12-11). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand. wsws.org Indian ordnance factory workers hold national strike; Odisha state childcare workers demand higher wages; Australian plasterboard workers locked out; New Zealand rail union calls off strike.
(2021-12-11). Socialist Equality Party to continue campaign against Australia's anti-democratic electoral laws. wsws.org Whether the SEP is registered or not, the party will stand candidates in the looming federal election to take out to the broadest possible audience the fight for socialism and the overturn of capitalism.
(2021-12-11). New variant, same problem: Joint U.S.-China solidarity book tackles COVID. workers.org 
The continuing U.S. COVID crisis was predicted in a book published a year ago. "Capitalism on a Ventilator," a unique anthology by 50 progressive commentators — written even before the vaccines were rolled out — explained why the much anticipated vaccines alone could not solve the soaring COVID death rate . . . |
(2021-12-11). Youth mental health issues in the US have skyrocketed during pandemic. wsws.org The US Surgeon General reports that symptoms of depression and anxiety have doubled.
(2021-12-10). Super serious news reporting: notes from the Edge of The Narrative Matrix. mronline.org 
Hi I'm a very serious news reporter. The Russians are controlling our thoughts with Facebook memes and scrambling our brains with invisible ray gun attacks. In other news, capitalism is working fine and our wars defend freedom and democracy. The government never lies. Here's Bob with the weather.
(2021-12-10). Inside The Secretive World Of Union Busting. popularresistance.org While union membership has risen slightly since 2018 thanks to some major organizing wins, and public approval of unions is at its highest level since 1965, labor has a lot of ground to make up. Union membership plummeted from 20.1% of American wage and salary workers in 1983 to just 10.8% in 2020. One of the biggest reasons for that decline is the use of well-funded, aggressive campaigns by employers to fight off unions, conducted largely through expensive union avoidance consultants and lawyers. In 2019, it was estimated that companies spend at least $340 million per year on such consultants and often engage in…
(2021-12-10). Starbucks Workers United scores first-ever union win at big coffee chain. peoplesworld.org 
BUFFALO, N.Y.—Starbucks Workers United broke a significant barrier on December 9 with the first-ever worker win at the big retail coffee chain. Workers at the Elmwood store in Buffalo voted 19-8 to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, the National Labor Relations Board officer announced. The union also won 15-9 at a second store, but there …
(2021-12-10). Australian Labor Party helps government ram through another anti-democratic electoral law. wsws.org The latest bipartisan bill deepens the attack on basic democratic rights made when the two ruling parties joined hands in August to rush through party deregistration laws.
(2021-12-10). Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Celebrate Starbucks Workers' Historic Union Victory. truthout.org 
Progressive lawmakers are celebrating after Starbucks workers in Buffalo triumphed over nearly insurmountable odds to form the company's first-ever union on Thursday, a sign that the reawakening U.S. labor movement is growing stronger. | Workers at
(2021-12-10). Illegal bets add up to 1.7 trillion dollars each year. moderndiplomacy.eu Up to $1.7 trillion is estimated to be wagered on illicit betting markets each year, according to a new report released on Thursday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The publication, the first-ever Global Report on Corruption in Sport, asks for an urgent, unified and international response to fight malpractice and fraud across the sector. The ground-breaking new report was issued to coincide with …
(2021-12-10). Washington, DC transit system announces it will keep defective train cars out of service for the rest of 2021. wsws.org The emergency removal of over half the transit authority's rail cars in October has exposed the dangers which the region's political establishment had been willing to expose the public to in order to keep the economy running.
(2021-12-10). Corporate monopoly, other factors hamper workers economically. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—Why can't workers get ahead? Economically, that is. Median wages for the broad U.S. middle class have been virtually stagnant for at least 40 years, adjusted for inflation, even as productivity has galloped ahead. The median for the bottom 20% has actually dropped. Meanwhile, the rich, especially the top tenth, have reaped the rewards. That …
(2021-12-10). Minister Plasencia: Capitalism is in Crisis and We are Called to Change Course. orinocotribune.com 
This Thursday, December 9, Venezuela's Minister for Foreign Affairs Félix Plasencia inaugurated the World People's Congress for Peace, which was organized to present proposals that can counteract the current challenges facing humanity and the planet in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. | "We met to discuss the need to deepen the guarantee of political, economic and social rights of humanity, for the welfare of the peoples," said Venezuela's top diplomat at the beginning of the conference, which is held online. | Plasencia stated that it is necessary to "change course" in the face of the new challenges arising i…
(2021-12-10). Will Billions More Vaccination Shots Stop Continual Economic and Social Decline? dissidentvoice.org 
Like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other imperialist organizations, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) recently announced that the forecast for global economic recovery will be revised downward in light of the Omicron virus variant that emerged a few weeks ago .1 Predictably, the OECD claimed that "a swifter roll-out of …
(2021-12-10). Africa Free Trade Area, likely spur for growth and development. moderndiplomacy.eu With productivity-boosting measures, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement could reduce poverty and inequality while spurring sustainable and inclusive growth, according to a report launched on Wednesday by the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD. The Economic Development in Africa Report 2021, underscores the importance of infrastructure financing that helps link up urban …
(2021-12-10). Cambodia Is Now Living with COVID-19: World Bank. moderndiplomacy.eu Cambodia's real GDP growth is projected to reach 2.2% this year, impeded by slow growth in services including tourism, and in construction, and real estate. While, other traditional growth drivers, especially the garment, travel goods, footwear, and bicycle manufacturing industries, as well as agriculture, are underpinning the economic recovery, according to Living with COVID-19, the …
(2021-12-10). Video: #Yes, It's a "Killer Vaccine": Michel Chossudovsky. globalresearch.ca The unspoken truth is that the novel coronavirus provides a pretext to powerful financial interests and corrupt politicians to precipitate the entire World into a spiral of mass unemployment, bankruptcy, extreme poverty and despair.
(2021-12-10). Hundreds facing removal in Huntsville public housing complex. liberationnews.org 
Butler Terrace, a low-income public housing complex in Huntsville, Alabama will be demolished to make way for middle-income apartments.
(2021-12-10). Venezuelans turn to dollars to combat hyperinflation. america.cgtn.com 
With Venezuela gripped by hyperinflation, the use of dollars has emerged as an alternative to overcome the lack of bolivar bills and to protect the income of citizens.
(2021-12-10). Labour brands investigation a 'mockery' as standards adviser demands clarification from PM. thecanary.co 
Lord Geidt demanded clarification from No 10 after an Electoral Commission investigation into the refurbishment of Boris Johnson's flat raised concerns the prime minister may have misled the standards adviser. Downing Street did not deny suggestions Geidt had been angered by the watchdog's report raising doubts about Johnson's denial that he knew a Tory peer was behind donations for the works costing more than £112,500. | Labour has called for the ministerial standards adviser to reopen his investigation into the funding of the lavish renovations over "inconsistencies" between his report and a damning ru…
(2021-12-10). "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset": Calls Grow to Keep Student Loan Moratorium. truthout.org 
Image Credit: The Intercept | As calls grow for Biden to extend the moratorium on student debt, we speak with the Debt Collective's Astra Taylor and feature her new film for The Intercept, "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset," animated by artist Molly Crabapple. The $15 trillion in U.S. household debt is "a form of wealth transfer" from the poor to the rich, Taylor says. "People are in debt by design." | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. | AMY GOOD…
(2021-12-10). Reopening Issues Are Still a Big Factor Driving Inflation In November. cepr.net Overall, reopening issues are still a big factor in inflation. Energy prices in the CPI are lagging world prices, and are almost certain to be sharply negative (lowering inflation) in December.
(2021-12-10). VIDEO: Corporate Media's Inflation Lies. dailyposter.com 
(2021-12-10). Court Ruling Threatens Eviction Of Landless Workers Movement Camp. popularresistance.org Valinhos, Brazil – The camp was created on April 14, 2018 and named after Rio de Janeiro socialist city councilwoman Marielle Franco who was murdered a month before. Since then, the residents have transformed the abandoned land into a thriving community that provides housing for the residents, a school, a community kitchen, and produces agroecological products and handicrafts. They now face eviction after a court ruling that clearly favors real estate speculation and generating profit for its investors over the social and legal right to housing and agrarian reform. | On 23 November, the Sà£o Paulo Court of…
(2021-12-10). Why Thousands Of Serbians Have Been Rallying Against Rio Tinto And The Government. popularresistance.org For two weekends in a row, thousands of demonstrators across Serbia have blocked major roads and brought the country to a standstill, concerned their land, water and air risk being exploited. They're angry over what they're calling a looming ecological disaster, and accusing the government of attempting to pass laws that would allow foreign investors to seize land, and disregard environmental regulations.
(2021-12-10). Why Thousands Of Serbians Have Been Rallying Against Rio Tinto. popularresistance.org For two weekends in a row, thousands of demonstrators across Serbia have blocked major roads and brought the country to a standstill, concerned their land, water and air risk being exploited. | They're angry over what they're calling a looming ecological disaster, and accusing the government of attempting to pass laws that would allow foreign investors to seize land, and disregard environmental regulations. | The most famous name among those investors is Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto, which plans to build Europe's largest lithium mine in the Jadar Valley near the western city of Loznica. | The Serbian govern…
(2021-12-10). Organizing isn't Just Some Romantic Idea, it's Practical Steps and Action! anchor.fm In this episode I talk about the fact that what we need today across the world has already been tried, built, and able to grow in many places around the world; we need to only learn. Communists, socialists, and Marxists all over the world have been building revolutions and mass organizations for centuries. Our objective? Organize the people. But that's not just some slogan, that is a necessary step towards building a New World. If the people are an educated as to what's oppressing them, that they're exploited and HOW, and if they don't learn who their comrades in that fight are, then they lose time and time again…
(2021-12-10). Growth of the class struggle in Australia highlights need for rank-and-file committees. wsws.org A small but significant increase in industrial action points to mounting social and political opposition in the working class.
(2021-12-10). La cumbre de democracia de Biden es un buen momento para debatir la 'Bill of Rights Socialism'. peoplesworld.org 
La democracia estadounidense está en peligro. Solo hay que seguir las noticias de los últimos años para darse cuenta de la peligrosa situación en la que se encuentra este país. El ejemplo más obvio y dramático fue la insurrección del 6 de enero, cuando una turba de partidarios de Donald Trump irrumpió en el Capitolio …
(2021-12-10). The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union — Lessons for Socialists. liberationnews.org 
The Russian Revolution in 1917 brought the Bolsheviks to power. For the first time in history the working class seized and held state power. What was the experience of the Soviet Union? How did it change global politics in the 20th century? What did socialism achieve and what caused the Soviet Union to fall in 1991?>
(2021-12-10). The Kathleen Stock affair: Identity politics versus socialist politics and democratic rights. wsws.org After dominating life on campus for years, identity politics has produced two results: the machinery for anti-democratic crackdowns which can now be taken over by the government and the right, and a growing resentment against what calls itself "progressive" politics that greases the right's wheels.