-
1 month ago | 
ipanewspack.com | Ben Chacko
By Ben ChackoLONDON: The statement attributed to Mao: “Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent” appears nowhere in his writings. And like many apocryphal aphorisms it only illuminates a small part of reality. Nevertheless it has been pressed into service to describe the turmoil arising from the split in the ruling class in the United States.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
LAST Friday, immigration judge Jamee Comans ruled in Louisiana that the Trump administration can deport Columbia University graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
ANGIE ZELTER doesn’t know if there are already US nuclear weapons at the RAF Lakenheath base in Suffolk. In fact we may never know, says the 73-year-old grandmother and veteran of countless protests, who began her activism at the Greenham Common women’s occupation in 1981 that saw US cruise missiles removed from the base there 10 years later. RAF Lakenheath is a misnomer.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
THE CRISIS at Scunthorpe steelworks, rightly if belatedly being addressed in the immediate term by state intervention, is the consequence of privatising critical national infrastructure so decisions on its future rest on the profit-and-loss calculations of private companies. Right-wing media and parliamentarians, who are pro-privatisation and pro-war, want to avoid this conclusion. So we are seeing a propaganda campaign to blame it on other causes, each of which advances the right’s agenda.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
MPs ON the home affairs committee have struck a welcome blow against propaganda alleging “two-tier policing” of protest in Britain. This accusation, common on the lips of right-wing rabble-rousers in and beyond the Tory Party, serves two intertwined purposes.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
EMERGENCY legislation to give ministers the power to keep the Scunthorpe steel plant running is necessary and welcome. But this is not yet even nationalisation of Scunthorpe, let alone the wider steel industry.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
ISRAEL bombed the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City yesterday, the last major hospital providing critical healthcare in northern Gaza. The bombing was part of a wave of air raids that killed at least 21 people. The hospital was hurriedly evacuated following a warning, with one girl dying because during the evacuation medics were unable to provide her with urgent care. Critically ill patients were wheeled out onto the street in their beds.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
NEGOTIATIONS between the United States and Iran on the latter’s nuclear programme were “very productive and constructive,” the White House said at the weekend. Further talks are scheduled for next weekend. Iranian TV reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly” spoke directly to US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, the first face-to-face conversation between US and Iranian officials since the Barack Obama presidency. The talks took place in Oman.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
OVER 50,000 people rallied in support of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday in central Belgrade, following months of protests against him. The demonstration, though not as large as the largest anti-government demos, illustrates how polarised Serbian politics has become. Protests exploded in response to the collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people on November 1 last year.
-
1 month ago | 
morningstaronline.co.uk | Ben Chacko
OVER 30 people were killed in the Ukrainian city of Sumy today by a Russian missile strike. Two ballistic missiles hit the city centre at 10.15am, as many residents were gathering for traditional Palm Sunday processions. Firefighters scrambled to put out fires while video footage showed lines of body bags on the streets. The death toll was reported at 32 when the Morning Star went to press. “On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy,” acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said.
