Orinoco Tribune 2 (2023-12-06). Guayana Esequiba: Geo-Economics of an Occupation. orinocotribune.com By Irene León — Dec 2, 2023 | An air of bonanza has raised the projections of the ExxonMobil corporation, which accumulated around $414 billion in 2022, an unprecedented income in its history which represents 44.8% more than the previous year. It is a gigantic increase if compared to its crisis in 2020, when its losses put its place in the stock market in jeopardy. Research by ExxonMobil indicated that Guyana could become "the country that produces the most barrels of oil per inhabitant in the world, surpassing Kuwait, in that case, when measuring the wealth per capita of its 800 thousand inhabitants, it wou…

Staff (2023-12-06). Carbon Colonialism: Oil-Rich UAE Buys Up Large Swaths of Africa for Carbon Credits to Keep Polluting. democracynow.org As Democracy Now! broadcasts from COP28 in Dubai, we look at how the United Arab Emirates is using its vast oil money to buy up the rights to land in many African countries in order to sell carbon credits to major polluters, a plan that critics characterize as a new form of colonialism. "After failing to mitigate at the source," wealthy polluters now "want to, basically, buy, on the cheap, African land," says Power Shift Africa's Mohamed Adow about wealthy nations' failure to deliver on climate finance and turn to a "land grab" on the African continent. "What…

Ruth Milka (2023-12-05). Billionaire Heirs: The accelerating $5.2 trillion wealth transfer. nationofchange.org Without robust wealth and inheritance taxes the children and grandchildren of today's billionaires will dominate our future politics, economy, culture, and philanthropy."

Sonali Kolhatkar (2023-12-05). We Can Have Either Billionaires or Democracy. Not Both. counterpunch.org The wealthy are so secure in the protections they have from democratic curbs on their financial power that their biggest worries, as per the UBS report, include "geopolitical tensions," inflation, recession, and higher interest rates. Fears around a "tight jobs market" and "stricter sustainability rules," fall low on their list. In other words, they feel secure against threats of wage rebellions and government regulations.

Heather Digby Parton (2023-12-06). Eagerness to Cut Social Security and Medicare Wins Haley Wealthy Donors. truthout.org Get ready for another magical night in American politics. Yes, the fourth Republican Presidential Second Place Debate is tonight, broadcast by an obscure cable channel called News Nation. The whole country is crackling with excitement at the prospect of watching the last four standing, Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former… |

Sharon Zhang (2023-12-05). Democrats Seek to End Major Billionaire Tax Avoidance Scheme in New Senate Bill. truthout.org Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced a bill last week aimed at bringing an end to loopholes in the tax code that have, for decades, allowed the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying taxes on a huge portion of their incomes and assets. The Billionaires Income Tax Act takes aim at a practice known as "buy, borrow, die" by taxing unrealized capital gains, the very heart of the three… |

Anjoulie Woodhead (2023-12-05). COP28 Climate Summit Negotiations Focus on Commitments for Developing Countries. indybay.org Most Developing Countries Spend More on Debt Service than on Addressing Country Climate Crisis Challenges…

ecns.cn (2023-12-05). PBOC may bolster real estate. ecns.cn The People's Bank of China may seek to support the real economy by further reducing interest rate levels, making better use of outstanding loans to facilitate economic restructuring and easing local governments' debt stress.

Bob Bishop (2023-12-06). The Bull Elephant in the Room: Exponential Growth. sonar21.com On September 18, 2023, the U.S. national debt crossed $33 trillion. It will reach $34 trillion in late December, a little over 90 days. It took the U.S. over 200 years to have national debt exceed $1 trillion. The national debt now exceeds gross domestic production by 122%. The U.S. government's 2023 expenditure ratio is 23% of GDP, creating an economy dependent on money printing. The last time the government had a surplus was in 2001, and the last time it paid down treasury debt was in 1961. The runaway high deficits are due to the U.S.'s exorbitant privilege of treasuries being the primary global reserve…

Anjoulie Woodhead (2023-12-06). COP28 Climate Summit Negotiations Focus on Commitments for Developing Countries. indybay.org Most Developing Countries Spend More on Debt Service than on Addressing Country Climate Crisis Challenges…

Palestine News Network (2023-12-06). Journalists Pay the Ultimate Price: 63 Media Professionals Martyred in Israeli Aggression on Gaza. pressenza.com The Journalists Syndicate announced the martyrdom of 63 journalists since the beginning of the Israeli occupation forces' aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7 of last month. | A statement from the Freedom Committee of the Syndicate stated that the monitoring committee documented the martyrdom of 63 journalists due to targeting by the occupation forces with missiles from airplanes, artillery shells, and sniper gunfire. | The statement added that among the media casualties are 41 journalists working in various media disciplines, while 21 of their colleagues working in administrative, financial, and technical d…

Queen Mary University of London. (2023-12-06). Working For Climate Justice: Report Urges Unions To Lead Transition. popularresistance.org Ahead of COP28 the UN warns that the world is facing 'hellish'3C of climate heating, and with European lawmakers urging COP28 climate summit to take aim at fossil fuels, a new report published today from the Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice and Institute of Employment Rights, reveals why trade unions need to put climate bargaining at the centre of everything they do and maps out the steps that must be taken to achieve this. | The report, 'Working for Climate Justice: Trade unions in the front line against climate change' asserts that until now, the trade union movement has failed to make climate chang…

infobrics (2023-12-05). Bolivia's New Top Diplomat Pledges Efforts Toward BRICS Membership. infobrics.org "As the Foreign Ministry, we will continue working toward Bolivia's joining BRICS as a full-fledged member as well as activating new mechanisms of financial integration between countries of the Global South which would reduce dependence on the dollar," Celinda Sosa said…

WSWS (2023-12-05). How the 2015 Quebec public sector workers' struggle was derailed—vital lessons for today. wsws.org With the explosion of workers' struggles on an international scale, conditions are even more favorable for the development of a mass movement against austerity and war. But as in 2015, the unions are determined to prevent a working-class challenge to the capitalist elite's class-war agenda and to isolate Quebec public sector workers from their class brothers and sisters in the rest of Canada.

WSWS (2023-12-05). Sir Keir Starmer praises Margaret Thatcher: The Labour Party versus the working class. wsws.org Starmer's paragraph on Thatcher also praises how Tony Blair "reimagined a stale, outdated Labour Party into one that could seize the optimism of the late 90s".

WSWS (2023-12-05). Spain's pseudo-left parties divert anger over Gaza genocide behind PSOE-Sumar government. wsws.org Pseudo-left parties of the affluent middle class are shielding Podemos and Sumar by blocking a movement in the working class against Spain's capitalist government in which they sit as coalition partners of the Socialist Party (PSOE).

Zoya Teirstein (2023-12-06). Public Health Finally Gets a Platform at COP28, But Will Real Action Follow? truthout.org For the better part of a decade, researchers working at the intersection of climate change and human health have been desperately sounding alarm bells about the significant public health threats lurking in every tenth of a degree of planetary warming. Billions of people are at risk from illnesses linked to extreme heat; malnutrition following crop failure; bacteria and viruses that lurk in… |

ecns.cn (2023-12-05). Insights | U.S. Scholar: Resumption of military ties between U.S. and China crucial for regional peace and development. ecns.cn David Blair, vice president and senior economist at the Center for China and Globalization, said the confidence-building measures that the U.S. and China are working out now are really important for the future of the world."ÄÄ…

ecns.cn (2023-12-05). Country aims to shine in space-based solar power tech to boost clean energy. ecns.cn Amid global efforts to replace fossil fuels with clean energy, Chinese scientists and engineers are working on a bright idea — soaking up abundant energy from the sun and then beaming it back to Earth.

Santa Cruz Homeless Union (2023-12-05). Thursday 12/21: Santa Cruz Homeless Memorial. indybay.org Town Clock, Pacific Ave & Water St, Santa Cruz…

WSWS (2023-12-05). Los Angeles area homeless targeted in series of killings last week. wsws.org Three homeless men were murdered last week in Los Angeles. Their killings were the outcome of sustained ruling class efforts to demonize the homeless population in the nation's second largest city.

ecns.cn (2023-12-05). Proposal set to advance cause of human rights. ecns.cn Beijing has put forward a four-point proposal for advancing global human rights, including "galvanizing common security and shaping a stabler international environment", in order to end conflicts and facilitate the return of the homeless to their homeland.

BAN Toxics (2023-12-06). GEF-UNIDO Healthcare Wastes Project Launches to Pioneer Sustainable Solutions in Philippine Healthcare Waste Management. pressenza.com Quezon City, December 6, 2023 — The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), Department of Health (DOH), and BAN Toxics, together with EcoWaste Coalition and Healthcare without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA), have joined together to lead the launching of the five-year project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project is focused on the reduction of unintended organic pollutants and mercury from healthcare wastes. | The groups marked the launch with a symbolic giant face mask, represen…

isabella (2023-12-05). The Transit Equity Movement Wins Their Biggest Zero Fare Victory Yet. inequality.org It's happening: The city of Albuquerque is permanently eliminating public bus fares, becoming the largest U.S. city to embrace this critical step toward racial and economic equity. A coalition headed by Together for Brothers — a community organizing and power-building group led by and for young men of color — made the victory possible. …