(2022-04-18). European Central Bank paints bleak picture of economy. wsws.org The ECB resisted pressure to follow the lead of the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, as well as other central banks, to lift interest rates in response to the global surge in inflation…
(2022-04-18). How can Sri Lanka's economy be turned around? peoplesdispatch.org In the second part of this interview, Ahilan Kadirgamar, senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, explains how strengthening the public distribution system, a wealth tax, and focusing on agriculture, the rural economy and the food system are vital.
(2022-04-18). China's economy posts steady growth in Q1. ecns.cn China's economy got off to a steady start in the first quarter of 2022 despite an increasingly complex international environment and resurgences of COVID-19 cases at home.
(2022-04-18). Sri Lanka's economic crisis is decades in the making. peoplesdispatch.org Ahilan Kadirgamar, senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, explains the roots of Sri Lanka's economic crisis. He talks about the decades of policies that have led the country to where it is today, the impact of the pandemic, and the blow farmers suffered with the decision by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government to ban chemical fertilizers.
(2022-04-18). University of Illinois at Chicago grad student workers strike against poverty wages. wsws.org UIC graduate student workers are opposing the university's efforts to use them as a cheap labor force.
(2022-04-18). Social consequences of the Corona crisis in Austria. indybay.org Two million Austrians suffer income losses from the Corona crisis. Good news comes today from New Zealand (half-price transit), Finland (affordable apartments for the homeless) and Great Britain (four-day work with five-day pay). This good news is reported by Scoop.me.
(2022-04-18). Australian elections: Behind mudslinging and diversion, Labor and Liberals pledge stepped-up attacks on the working class. wsws.org Alongside the banalities of the official campaign, the major parties are waging a parallel campaign aimed at convincing the ruling elite that they are best placed to enforce sweeping attacks on the working class.
(2022-04-18). Mayo Clinic, Rochester branch of NAACP seek mentors for RISE for Youth program. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org This summer, 40 high school and college students will be the first participants in RISE for Youth, a strategic collaboration between Mayo Clinic and the Rochester branch of the NAACP. The program is designed to help Black and underrepresented students find pathways to success in education and employment. "Not all students have the same opportunities to realize their full potential," says Dr. Anjali Bhagra, medical director of Mayo Clinic's Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion….
(2022-04-18). University of California Campuses Rally in Support of UC-wide "UC Green New Deal" indybay.org Students, faculty, and staff who are part of the UC Green New Deal Coalition, along with members of environmental organizations, campus Sustainability Offices, and concerned individuals on all ten UC campuses, conceived of the idea of an "Intercampus Earth Day" to draw inspiration from each other and to share resources and events that promote more climate awareness and climate action. Nine UC campuses are rallying on Earth Day to promote climate action. Several campuses, in addition to their rallies, have more elaborate plans, like UC Merced's Shakespeare in Yosemite and UC Santa Cruz's full day of Climate Teach-…
(2022-04-18). Friday 4/29: 4/29 Stop Privatizing Oakland! Day Of Action By Teachers & ILWU Longshore Workers. indybay.org Oakland teachers will be striking and joining with ILWU longshore workers on April 29 against privatization and closures of Oakland schools and the privatization and destruction of the Port Of Oakland by the Mayor and Democratic Party City Council supported by the leadership of the Alameda Labor Council and Alameda Building Trades. There will be a rally at 2PM at Oscar Grant Plaza and march through Oakland.
(2022-04-18). DPRK slams U.S. for orchestrating efforts to tighten financial sanctions against | Pyongyang. news.xinhuanet.com The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has slammed the United States for orchestrating efforts to tighten financial sanctions against Pyongyang.
(2022-04-18). UN roots for enhanced data collection to fix food security crises in Africa. xinhuanet.com The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will avail financial resources and technical expertise to help African countries collect data on agriculture that is key to addressing food security crises in the continent, an official said on Monday.
(2022-04-18). China mulls tighter oversight of derivatives trading. ecns.cn Chinese lawmakers are considering a draft law to tighten oversight of derivatives trading to guard against financial risks.
(2022-04-18). Strike wave in Northern Ireland against below inflation pay offers. wsws.org Sections of workers involved in or preparing strikes include Translink bus workers, local authority classroom assistants, waste and recycling workers and school bus drivers, fast food delivery workers, university lecturers and construction machinery workers at Caterpillar.
(2022-04-18). China's industrial capacity utilization rate at 75.8 pct in Q1. ecns.cn China's industrial capacity utilization rate came in at 75.8 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, down 1.4 percentage points from the previous year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.
(2022-04-18). SEP and IYSSE holds plantation workers' demonstration to fight for socialist policies. wsws.org The protest attracted widespread public interest with some young people deciding to join in and many bystanders offering encouragement.
(2022-04-18). New York City parent victimized by Child Services denounces government after daughters contract COVID-19 at school. wsws.org A New York City parent spoke to the World Socialist Web Site about conditions in the largest school district in the country during the current COVID-19 surge.
(2022-04-18). Video: PES calls for active boycott of French presidential elections. wsws.org Alexandre Lantier, national secretary of the Parti de l'égalité socialiste, explains the call for an active boycott of the second round of the French presidential elections.
(2022-04-18). Sri Lankan SEP/IYSSE to hold picket and public meeting to fight for socialist perspective in the mass anti-government protests. wsws.org The SEP supports the demand that the president resigns but goes further in advancing a socialist program of action for the working class to defend its social and democratic rights.
(2022-04-18). Revolutionary bases' growth to get a boost. ecns.cn As China set in motion an agenda to narrow social inequalities and regional growth gaps, the nation's top policymakers have given priority to a special type of regions－areas where the Communist Party of China built up its revolutionary cause before founding the New China.
(2022-04-17). President of Mexico Questions US Interest in Venezuela and Support for Guaidó. orinocotribune.com 
On Wednesday, April 13, during his daily morning conference, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) commented that the United States has now shoved self-proclaimed "interim president" of Venezuela Juan Guaidó aside, after previously having given him full support. Now, the government of President Joe Biden is changing its stance and seeking the help of the government of Venezuela headed by President Nicolás Maduro. | AMLO remarked that, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US has sought the help of Venezuela in order to solve its domestic oil supply and demand. | Y donde queda el pe…
(2022-04-17). Comicomment: U.S. profiteering from Ukraine crisis. ecns.cn U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday his administration will provide Ukraine with an additional 800 million U.S. dollars' worth of military.
(2022-04-17). Ukraine has asked G7 for $50 billion to cover budget deficit. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 17 (MNA) — Ukraine has asked G7 nations for $50 billion in financial support and is also considering issuing 0% coupon bonds to help it cover a war-linked budget deficit over the next six months.
(2022-04-17). Chinese economy may grow 5.9 pct this year: Credit Suisse economist. ecns.cn An economist of Credit Suisse Group AG expects China's gross domestic product to grow 5.9 percent, higher than the 5.5 percent target set by the world's second-largest economy, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
(2022-04-17). Egypt Decides to Save Itself from Hunger on its Own. journal-neo.org 
Video reports on national TV channels and the Internet about half-empty supermarket shelves in the US and Western Europe are causing widespread nervousness about the world's food security prospects. Despite warnings from Moscow, no one in Europe took into account that with the introduction of provocative Russophobic sanctions, designed to cripple the Russian economy, essential …
(2022-04-17). China promotes work resumption in Shanghai to smooth industrial, supply chains. ecns.cn China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has dispatched a work team to virus-hit Shanghai to promote the resumption of manufacturing activities and smooth industrial and supply chains.
(2022-04-17). Chinese assets attractive despite Fed rate hike pressure. ecns.cn Chinese assets are still attractive to investors despite pressure from interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, China's top banking regulator said Friday.
(2022-04-17). China to cut reserve requirement ratio. ecns.cn China's central bank on Friday said it has decided to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for financial institutions from April 25 to support the development of the real economy and reduce comprehensive financing costs.
(2022-04-17). Panama: Social Movements Reject Blinken's Visit (Persona Non Grata). orinocotribune.com 
Social movements in Panama have expressed their repudiation of the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. | After the US State Department confirmed Blinken's visit to Panama during April 19 and 20 to attend a regional meeting on migration, the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (FRENADESO) declared the head of the State Department "persona non grata." | Blinken will participate in the Ministerial Conference on Migration and Protection, which is expected to be attended by foreign ministers and defense ministers of a number of Latin American and Caribbean nations to discu…
(2022-04-17). COVID-19: The Poor People's Pandemic. popularresistance.org Soon after the first pandemic wave subsided, COVID-19 turned from the "great equalizer" to a poor people's pandemic in the United States, shows a recent report published by the Poor People's Campaign (PPC). The report brings a detailed analysis of how the pandemic affected poor and low income communities in the US, asking if their experiences are being taken into consideration at all, regardless of whether we are looking at pandemic response or post-pandemic re-building. | The Poor People's Pandemic Report is focused on the data and lived experience of people in the 1,000 poorest counties in the US, shining a lig…
(2022-04-17). Bank of Canada hikes interest rates, as soaring inflation squeezes workers' incomes. wsws.org Prices are now rising faster than at any time in the past 30 years, with food, energy and housing costs leading the way.
(2022-04-17). Move To Unionize Tour Could Rewrite How Theater Industry Operates. popularresistance.org On April 12, the New York Times broke the story that the theater actors union Actors' Equity Association is, for the first time in over 20 years, attempting to unionize a workplace. Inspired by recent wins at Amazon and Starbucks, actors and stage managers on the non-union national tour of the musical Waitress are moving to unionize after being contacted by Equity, as the union is known in the theater industry. This attempt represents one of the biggest developments in labor organizing within the theater industry in years and has the potential to largely rewrite the way that the theater industry operates. | This…
(2022-04-17). Labor fetish and anti-semitism. indybay.org "Work makes you free" was written above the gate of the Auschwitz death camp. How did the Nazis come up with that? Isn't work something meaningful, something good? What does it have to do with Auschwitz, of all places? A great deal. Because work and meaningful activity are, contrary to popular belief, two different things.
(2022-04-17). Prison Guards in Illinois Used Prison Labor to Raise Money for Golf Tournaments. truthout.org A recent investigation into the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) revealed that prison guards there have been using incarcerated individuals to wash their personal cars, give haircuts and shine shoes at fundraisers to benefit the prison staff — in other words, they have been using the labor of incarcerated people for their own personal gain. | One senior IDOC staff member admitted to state-employed investigators that these fundraisers were "bad optics." | "It's really hard for me to just honestly stomach the idea," he told an investigator, that "employees benefit from offender labor." | This informa…
(2022-04-17). No Extradition Of Julian Assange! Rally At US Justice Dept Washington DC. indybay.org Supporters of Julian Assange rallied at the US Department of Justice in Washington DC on April 11, 2022 to demand an end to the extradition process of Julian Assange and his immediate freedom.
(2022-04-17). Lockdown parties, tax dodging and war mongering: Tory blitz on British working class continues. peoplesdispatch.org People in the UK are facing a severe cost of living crisis marked by skyrocketing energy and food prices, along with a crisis of governance marked by cronyism, incompetence and duplicity…
(2022-04-17). Experts see home prices staying on a stable path. ecns.cn Prices of new and pre-owned homes in 70 Chinese cities continued to stabilize in March by and large－and industry experts credited the trend to a series of measures taken in recent months.
(2022-04-17). DPRK slams U.S. for orchestrating efforts to tighten financial sanctions against | Pyongyang. news.xinhuanet.com The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has slammed the United States for orchestrating efforts to tighten financial sanctions against Pyongyang.
(2022-04-17). Gross Negligence In For-Profit Prison Health Care. popularresistance.org By law, people in prison have a right to get the health care they need. In the late 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court decision Estelle v Gamble set the standard for medical rights of prisoners. But prison authorities are being criminally negligent in not providing adequate health care to incarcerated people. | As the jailed population ages, 40% have chronic health conditions. The cost of providing health care has skyrocketed and local, state and federal governments have contracted with for-profit prison health care companies as a way of tightening their budgets. | Private companies give a per diem rate for basic and…
(2022-04-17). Georges Abdallah joins one-day hunger strike for political prisoners in Turkey. samidoun.net 
On Saturday, 16 April, Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for over 37 years despite being eligible for release since 1999, announced a one-day hunger strike in support of Sibel Balaàß and Gà∂khan Yildirim, two political prisoners in Turkish jails. Both have been on an open-ended hunger strike — …
(2022-04-17). The Parapolitical Hypothesis. libya360.wordpress.com Apparatchik Smashing the whole system, "striking at hidden nests, connections, connivances, and plans," requires actionable knowledge of the mechanisms with which resistance is destroyed. Whereas communist revolution is the product of proletarian class consciousness, conspiracy is the product of bourgeois class consciousness. Understanding the latter makes possible the former. In 1972 Walter Rodney, describing the…