By Claudia Otto and Inke Kappeler Nationwide strikes in Germany — among its worst in decades — are causing huge disruption at the country’s airports, on public transport and at its largest port Monday. The walkouts have been called by two major transport unions in Europe’s biggest economy. Ver.di, one of the unions, has demanded a 10.5% pay raise for… Read More Huge strikes in Germany disrupt flights and trains
Farmers and labourers from various states across the country converged at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on April 5 for the Mazdoor-Kisan Sangharsh rally in protest against the Union government’s alleged apathy towards them. The rally was held under the aegis of leftwing trade bodies, the Centre of Trade Unions (CITU), All India Kisan… Read More Photos: Thousands at the Kisan-Mazdoor Sangharsh Rally in Ramlila Maidan on April 5
Visitors to Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar, Kashmir, do not see the toil by low-paid workers that lies behind the spectacle Adil Rashid in Srinagar An explosion of colour – and long queues of traffic – marked the opening of Asia’s largest tulip garden in Srinagar, Kashmir. Over the next month, thousands of people are… Read More Indian workers and a million-tulip show
Angelique Chrisafis The depth of the domestic crisis facing Emmanuel Macron can be measured by the growing university barricades and packed student assemblies where angry young people have gathered in recent days to intensify protests and help teenage high-school pupils blockade their lycées. As long as the country’s youth largely stayed away from the two months of trade-union-led… Read More Students’ role in French protests shows depth of anger towards Macron
Sitting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a humble port town is home to one of the world’s most remote post offices, which holds mail for yachters from all corners of the globe. Fernando Teixeira and Izabela Cardoso The Azores islands, an archipelago in the centre of the Atlantic Ocean that makes up an… Read More Horta on Faial: one of the world’s most extraordinary post offices (see video)
Paris Commune: The revolt dividing France 150 years on Over 150 years after the Paris Commune, rival passions flare over how to remember the city’s brief and much-romanticised experiment in power to the people. The first act of the city’s famous insurrection came on 18 March 1871, when crowds stopped troops from requisitioning cannons parked… Read More March 18, 1871: Revolt of the Paris Commune; March 18, 1921: The Bolsheviks crush the Kronstadt sailors’ rebellion against tyranny
Strikes escalate and MPs call for protection as interior minister warns protesters against wreaking havoc Angelique Chrisafis in Paris Refinery strikes have escalated in France as the interior minister spoke of protesters wreaking havoc across the country and some MPs called for police protection, amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the pension age without… Read More French anger spreads after Macron forces pension age rise
Macron uses special powers to force through plan Proposed changes to France’s pension system, which have provoked huge protests and strikes since the start of the year, were due to be voted on in parliament on Thursday, in a decisive moment for Emmanuel Macron. However, at the last moment he pulled the vote and used special… Read More Why are pensions such a political flashpoint in France?
How the US dollar shapes geopolitical power Herman Mark Schwartz What does the US dollar’s continued dominance in the global monetary and financial systems mean for geo-economic and geo-political power? In a recent article, Yakov Feygin and Dominik Leusder question whether the United States actually enjoys an “exorbitant privilege” from the global use of the USD… Read More The Dollar and Empire
Bharat Bhushan One in four suicides in India is committed by a daily wage worker. Farmer suicides come way down the list, below the self-employed, salaried, unemployed, students, business and private sector suicides. Yet, unlike farmers, suicides by daily wagers do not grab media attention. Bharat Bhushan writes. On February 14, the Ministry of Labour… Read More Daily wage worker suicides unlikely to end soon
After the truth-shower 