SOUTH AFRICA

Fedusa secretary-general implicated in shady PIC deal

Dennis George is alleged to have scored nearly R1-million in a BEE deal bonanza spun out from the tainted PIC-Ayo deal through his sole directorship of Difeme Holdings. enca.com/

Invest in clean technology to counter the siege on the coal industry, Mantashe implores

The Minister said coal would remain a critical part of the country’s energy mix for the foreseeable future, in line with South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan. miningweekly.com/

Austrian contractor Strabag pulls out from N2

Austrian building company Strabag told Austrian media that they pulled out on Wednesday from Sanral’s mega-bridge project at Mtentu river. The project has been blocked by the Jama community in inland Amadiba since 22 October last year—Amadiba Crisis Committee statement, 4 February 2019. facebook.com/amadibacrisiscommittee/

Green Part of South Africa: State capture is high treason

“State Capture amounts to a ‘silent coup’ of the South African government. This alone is sufficient grounds for bringing high treason charges. Through State Capture, the true decision-makers were not democratically elected people, as required by the Constitution. This is in all respects equivalent to the overthrow of the government of the Republic.” polity.org.za/

INTERNATIONAL

Trump’s Brilliant Strategy to Dismember U.S. Dollar Hegemony

The end of America’s unchallenged global economic dominance has arrived sooner than expected, thanks to the very same Neocons who gave the world the Iraq, Syria and the dirty wars in Latin America. They have driven European and other nations to create their alternative financial institutions. counterpunch.org/

Media Silent as Syrian Forces Finally Defeat ISIS, Finding Cache of Made In USA Weapons

When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria began to dominate headlines in 2014, it was made out to be the most horrifying, ruthless terrorist group in existence—now any coverage the group receives tells a story of defeat, and the discovery of American weapons and equipment has gone virtually unnoticed. thefreethoughtproject.com

British Anti-Nazi League: how fascists can be beaten

Spurred on by the rise of Islamophobia, anti-refugee brutality and the victories of Trump and Bolsonaro, neo-Nazis have entered the mainstream in places where it once seemed unthinkable. Time to take those crazy baldheads bowling. redflag.org.au/

Fascisms Old and New

The rise of Bolsanaro in Brazil, Trump in the US, and the far right throughout Europe has the word “fascism” on everyone’s lips. But that rising Right is distinct from twentieth-century fascism in key ways—An interview with historian, Enzo Traverso, author of The New Faces of Fascism. jacobinmag.com/

Million-strong ‘People’s Brigade’ in India pledges to oust right wing forces

Indian garment workers earn R2 an hour

Child labour and forced labour are rife in India and wages are regularly suppressed. Research by the University of California found that women and girls from the most marginalised communities toiled for next to nothing an hour in homes across India. oneindia.com/

Mswati’s “Vision 2022” dream goes up in smoke

“For about a decade that skunk of a king has been yapping in every forum he gets that he once had a dream that Swaziland would be a first world country by the year 2022. To that end, he has been trying to force everyone to believe in this dream of his”—Communist Party of Swaziland. facebook.com/

VENEZUELA

Venezuela and the Left

Venezuela is in crisis, and Trump’s saber-rattling is making things worse. Our response should be guided by three principles: non-interventionism, self-determination, and solidarity with the oppressed. jacobinmag.com/

Sanctions of Mass Destruction: America’s War on Venezuela

America’s largest export used to be manufactured goods made proudly in America. Today, America’s largest export is the U.S. dollar. Any nation like Venezuela that threatens that export is met with America’s second largest export: weapons. counterpunch.org/

English-language media outlets frequently ignore local polls done inside Venezuela, and if they do report on them, they tend to publish the results of polling firms run by pro-opposition figures. grayzoneproject.com/

What Are the Causes of Venezuela’s Economic Crisis?

Venezuela boasts the largest oil reserves of any country in the world. Yet today it is facing the worst economic crisis in its history. Why? historyhit.com/

Twelve Step Method to Conduct Regime Change: The Fifth Newsletter

What is happening to Venezuela is nothing unique. It faces an onslaught from the United States and its allies that is familiar to countries as far afield as Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The formula is clichéd. It is commonplace, a twelve-step plan to produce a coup climate, to create a world under the heel of the West and of Western big business. thetricontinental.org/

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

How the Murders of Journalists in the Middle East Are Brushed Aside

Why is the killing of one Arab journalist more equal than the killing of other Arab journalists? Why, for example, is the fate of Saudi Jamal Khashoggi of infinitely more pressing importance than the fate of Yaser Murtaja who was shot dead in Gaza?. counterpunch.org/

The Myth of the U.N. Creation of Israel

There is a widely accepted belief that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 “created” Israel, based upon an understanding that this resolution partitioned Palestine or legitimised the declaration of the existence of the state of Israel. This belief has no basis in fact as a review of the resolution’s history and an examination of legal principles demonstrates incontrovertibly. foreignpolicyjournal.com/

NEW TECHNOLOGIES / NEW FORMS OF LABOUR

With ‘nothing less than fate of the Internet’ at stake, federal court told why FCC’s attack on net neutrality so dangerous

At the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, “one of the most important cases in internet law history” is being heard. The Federal Communications Commission is being challenged for its 2017 gutting of net neutrality. commondreams.org/

China’s internet tech industry under fire for intense demands on employees

ENVIRONMENT

‘A Red Screaming Alarm Bell’ to Banish Fossil Fuels: NASA Confirms Last Five Years Hottest on Record

Storage of nuclear waste a ‘global crisis’ as stockpile reaches 250,000 tons

Nuclear waste is piling up around the world even as countries struggle to dispose of spent fuel that will remain highly toxic for many thousands of years. An analysis of waste storage facilities in seven countries with nuclear power revealed that several were near saturation, Greenpeace said. japantimes.co.jp/

Colonization of the Americas killed so many people that Earth cooled down when abandoned land became overgrown and sucked carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Researchers estimate the arrival of Europeans in 1492 caused roughly 56 million deaths by the year 1600 due to disease, conflict, and slavery, which, in turn, resulted in the reforestation of landscapes that were left abandoned. dailymail.co.uk/

THEORY

Prof Issa Shivji: Social responsibility of intellectuals in building counter-hegemonies

Prof Shivji in his keynote address at the launch of African Humanities Programme books at the University of Dar es Salaam, highlighted the role of intellectuals as producers of knowledge and universities as sites of knowledge production. sautiyaujamaa.wordpress.com/

HISTORY

When workers ran the city: the 1919 Seattle general strike

When Jamaica led the postcolonial fight against exploitation

In 1972 the socialist left swept to power in Jamaica. Calling for the strengthening of workers’ rights, the nationalization of industries, and the expansion of the island’s welfare state, the People’s National Party aimed to overturn the old order under which Jamaicans had long labored. bostonreview.net/