(2023-05-20). Union calls off New York resident physicians' strike at last minute. wsws.org The Committee of Interns and Residents announced a tentative agreement that will maintain poverty wages for its members at Jamaica and Flushing hospitals, who work as many as 80 hours per week.
(2023-05-19). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific. wsws.org India: Tamil Nadu contract nurses protest; West Bengal public school teachers oppose poverty-level wages; Sri Lankan Inland Revenue Department workers strike over pay cut; Australia: Cleanaway waste collection workers New South Wales strike; NSW paramedics and patient transfer officers impose work bans.
(2023-05-20). G7: Indian Diplomacy in Overstretch. libya360.wordpress.com M. K. Bhadrakumar G7 Summit leaders at "working lunch" session, Japan, 19 May, 2023 The Foreign Secretary's special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Asia-Pacific tour (May 19-24) dovetailed skilfully into three summit meetings, and brings to mind an institution of the Middle Ages known as the "wandering minstrels". Wealthy people used to employ minstrels to entertain…
(2023-05-20). Patrick Lawrence: The Origin of the Specious. scheerpost.com 
By Patrick Lawrence / Original to ScheerPost "Why is our collective mood so sour? We are awash with material wealth, and technology provides us with unprecedented powers. But this veneer of well-being masks a deeper crisis. … Our institutions are crumbling, leaving us vulnerable and aimless. … How have we come to this condition?" These …
(2023-05-20). Comment] Offline: The case for global health. thelancet.com Global health has become fashionably unfashionable. The case against global health is strong. Global health is the invention of a largely white and wealthy elite residing in high-income, English-language speaking countries. The discipline claims to be concerned about the health of people living in low-income and middle-income settings. But the resources—human, infrastructural, and financial—underpinning global health are mostly concentrated in those countries already replete with power and money.
(2023-05-20). Pepe Escobar: US Empire of Debt Headed for Collapse. orinocotribune.com By Pepe Escobar — May 15, 2023 | Prof. Michael Hudson's new book, The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization's Oligarchic Turning Point" is a seminal event in this Year of Living Dangerously when, to paraphrase Gramsci, the old geopolitical and geoeconomic order is dying and the new one is being born at breakneck speed. | Prof. Hudson's main thesis is absolutely devastating: he sets out to prove that economic/financial practices in Ancient Greece and Rome — the pillars of Western Civilization — set the stage for what is happening today right in front of our eyes: an empire redu…
(2023-05-20). Fears Of Abandonment: Australia, Biden And Cancelling The Quad Visit. southfront.org 
Click to see the full-size image | Written by Dr. Binoy Kampmark. | Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden's cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States. | Students of US history would, or should have appreciated, the two phenomena that speckle the fiscal landsc…
(2023-05-20). Debt lawsuits would eliminate health insurance for Americans. plenglish.com Washington, May 20 (Prensa Latina) Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States will lose health insurance coverage if the Republican Party's demands on the federal debt negotiations are put into practice, an authorized source estimated.
(2023-05-20). Biden signals readiness to impose social cuts, work requirements in debt limit deal with Republicans. wsws.org The "crisis talks" are part of a heavily stage-managed, bipartisan operation, including a manufactured default deadline, to enable "progressive" Democrats to cover for Biden and vote for massive cuts while concealing the corporate interests and imperialist war aims that are being served.
(2023-05-19). Progressives angry over Biden consideration of Republican debt proposals. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—Congressional progressive Democrats are increasingly angry about Democratic President Joe Biden's apparent willingness to give in to Republican budget cuts in safety net programs as part of a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling. But they're also proposing alternatives to avoid that catastrophe for millions of low-income and working people who would be clobbered …
(2023-05-21). US Proxies Win Thai Elections — US-Chinese Tensions Set to Grow. orinocotribune.com By Brian Berletic — May 17, 2023 | In a development that will surely impact growing US-Chinese tensions, US-backed opposition parties have won Thailand's May 14, 2023, general elections. | A US-backed client regime taking power in Thailand will impact China's Belt and Road Initiative, threaten bilateral trade and tourism, and perhaps even undermine regional security. This is particularly so should Thailand now begin working more closely with Washington over matters in the South China Sea, over Taiwan, or a number of other points of contention the US seeks to use to unify the region against Beijing, but that…
(2023-05-21). The Ukraine Refugee Question. popularresistance.org Last Saturday the Washington Post published an exposé of classified American intelligence documents showing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, working behind the back of the Biden White House, pushed hard earlier this year for an expanded series of missile attacks inside Russia. The documents were part of a large cache of classified materials posted online by an Air Force enlisted man now in custody. A senior official of the Biden administration, asked by…
(2023-05-20). Doctors Win Benefits At Two Queens Hospitals After Near Strike. popularresistance.org During the first wave of Covid-19, Queens hospitals were on the frontlines of the pandemic. Although they were celebrated as essential workers, some first-year physician residents were only making between $15 and $17 an hour while they routinely worked 80-hour weeks. | Nearly three years later, about 300 resident physicians and fellows at Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals have won a new contract after threatening to walk off the job if their demands for better wages and improved working conditions were not met.
(2023-05-20). The silent liver disease experts warn is on the rise among Hispanics and children. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Two months after his liver transplant, Juan Silva with his wife, Gisela Juan and Gisela Silva have a lot to smile about these days. One reason why, they are back to enjoying home-cooked together. "Oh man, I can eat more now," says Juan. "Before I didn't want to eat anything because it would mess up my stomach and stuff because something wasn't working right." That led Juan to his doctor's office where a series of…
(2023-05-20). Correspondence] Addressing the issue of a depleting health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. thelancet.com Health-care workers have a crucial role in improving health outcomes, and their migration has harmed the quality of health services in sub-Saharan Africa. The region has 25% of global diseases,1 and only 3% of health workers globally, highlighting a severe shortage of skilled professionals to tackle high rates of mortality. The main reasons for migration are poor working conditions, low remuneration, and a scarcity of career development opportunities. Insecurity and high crime rates also contribute to migration in countries such as South Africa.
(2023-05-20). San Diego educators and staff rally after a year of working without a contract. wsws.org Educators expressed a strong desire to fight against deteriorating conditions, including spiraling class sizes, high turnover, poorly maintained infrastructure and inadequate COVID-19 safety measures.
(2023-05-19). Clarios workers in Germany support Toledo strike and report dangerous working conditions. wsws.org The WSWS spoke with Clarios workers at the company's European headquarters in Hanover, Germany about the strike in Ohio and its significance.
(2023-05-19). Escalating homelessness crisis in Los Angeles as deaths reach new records. wsws.org Los Angeles County Public Health Department issued a report documenting 2,201 homeless deaths in 2021.
(2023-05-19). Financial crisis drives toward war. workers.org 
By Manuel Raposo Published May 14, 2023, in jornalmudardevida.net. Translation: John Catalinotto. Since the beginning of March, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, government officials have repeatedly declared that the North American and European financial system is safe. The facts, however, show at a minimum that the threats of bankruptcy persist, . . . |
(2023-05-19). Ukraine: An Eastern-European Cesspit of Criminality & Governmental Corruption. strategic-culture.org Ukraine is a source, transit and destination point for human trafficking, which is extremely pervasive in the country. It is reportedly one of the largest countries of origin for people subject to forced labour in Europe. This issue has grown due to economic hardship and political turmoil. Male victims, particularly from the Roma community, are targeted by traffickers who exploit them for forced begging or as drug 'mules'. Meanwhile, women are subject to sexual exploitation, primarily in foreign countries.
(2023-05-19). One-third of school students in Sri Lanka go without an adequate breakfast. peoplesdispatch.org Sri Lanka has been grappling with an acute economic crisis since last year. This has aggravated the problem of food insecurity in the country…