Turkish bloodbath 10 days before elections

by Steve Sweeney

Morning Star | June 15, 2018

A building is reflected onto a poster of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, decorating a bus stop in Istanbul, today

TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was accused today of being responsible for a bloodbath as opposition supporters were killed by ruling party thugs just 10 days before landmark elections.

At least five people were killed and nine injured in violent attacks yesterday after supporters of Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Ibrahim Halil Yildiz marched provocatively through the Turkish border town of Suruc armed with heavy weapons.

U.S: Farm boss to workers: “You came here to suffer”

by David Bacon

People’s World | June 15, 2018

In Burlington, Washington, migrant farm workers on strike against Sakuma Brothers Farms, a large berry grower in northern Washington State, block the entrance into the labor camp where they live during the picking season. The strikers wanted to stop the grower from bringing in H-2A workers from Mexico to do the work they usually do each year. | David Bacon

On August 6 of last year, Honesto Silva Ibarra died in a Seattle hospital. Silva was a guest worker-a Mexican farm worker brought to the United States under contract to pick blueberries. He worked first in Delano, California, and then in Sumas, Washington, next to the Canadian border. His death, and the political and legal firestorm it ignited, has unveiled a contract labor scheme reminiscent of the United States’ infamously exploitative mid-century Bracero Program.

U.S: Guest farm workers face exploitation, harsh conditions

by David Bacon

People’s World | June 13, 2018

CAMP PENDLETON, CA – H2-A guest workers pick tomatoes for grower Harry Singh. Workers are kept behind fences where union and legal aid workers can’t reach them. | David Bacon

Many migrant workers in California on H-2A temporary agricultural visas are forced to contend with unsafe working conditions, wage theft and other labor law violations. The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows employers to bring workers from other countries, mainly Mexico, for temporary farm labor in the U.S. The workers are given visas that allow them to work in the U.S. but tie them to the employer that recruits them. Part 2 of this story documents migrant workers housed like sardines, and the use of immigration enforcement to expand the H-2A visa program.

A model revolutionary

On the 90th anniversary of Che’s birth, Granma presents excerpts from Fidel’s speech given October 18, 1967, during the memorial ceremony for Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución

by  Fidel Castro Ruz

Granma | June 14, 2018

Photo: Ahmed Velázquez

Excerpts from Fidel’s speech delivered during the memorial ceremony for Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, October 18, 1967.

IN IMAGES: On the 90th anniversary of his birth, Che Guevara remains an icon

by  Juvenal Balán

Granma | June 14, 2018

Offers a series of photographs to show that 90 years after his birth, the image of Che Guevara can be found even in the most unlikely places. His image continues to form part of Cuban daily life, as vivid and intense as during those first years of the Revolution

Photo: Juvenal Balán

Nicaragua: Defeating the soft coup

by Tortilla Con Sal

teleSUR | June 12, 2018

A demonstrator holds a homemade mortar during a protest against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government in Granada, Nicaragua June 6, 2018. | Photo: Reuters

The government strategy has been to accept extraordinary levels of opposition violence and intimidation so as to allow the opposition to discredit themselves with public opinion. 

NICARAGUA AND VENEZUELA: The same script in different scenarios

by Elson Concepción Pérez

Granma | June 08, 2018

Photo: TELESUR

U.S. strategists, who rack their brains in search of ways to end progressive governments, continue to use the same script in the quest to achieve their objectives.

This is why it is so important to know, study and take into account the experiences of different countries besieged by sinister imperialist initiatives.

53% of scientists in Cuba are women

by  Alina M. Lotti

Granma | June 14, 2018

Gissel Saldívar, a 19 year old chemical technician, supervises work at the Immunoassay Center’s Biosensors plant in Havana. Photo: Irene Pérez/ Cubadebate.

Some 86,426 individuals work in Cuba’s science sector, 53% of whom are women, according to the President of the Cuban Academy of Sciences (ACC) Dr. Luis C. Velázquez Pérez speaking during the First International Science and Education Congress taking place in the Havana International Conference Center.

The Cuban expert described this achievement as one of the sector’s strengths, highlighting the importance of science, technology and innovation (CTI) toward overcoming the country’s challenges and promoting development.

Indian Banks Wrote off Rs 1.44 Lakh Crore in Loans in 2017-2018

The Wire | June 15, 2018

Credit: Reuters/Adnan Abidi/File Photo

New Delhi: Faced with rising delinquencies, the Indian banking sector has written off loans worth Rs 4.8 lakh crore in the past decade. Loan write-offs by banks rose by a whopping 61% to Rs 1.44 lakh crore in 2017-18 from the previous year, data compiled by credit rating agency ICRA shows.

This data was first reported by the Indian Express.

India Facing Worst Water Crisis in History, Likely to Get Worse: NITI Aayog

PTI | June 15, 2018

According to the report, 52% of India’s agricultural area remains dependent on rainfall, so the future expansion of irrigation needs to be focused on last-mile efficiency. Credit: Reuters

New Delhi: India is suffering from ‘the worst water crisis’ in its history with about 60 crore people facing high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people dying every year due to inadequate access to safe water, NITI Aayog said in a report on June 14.

The report, titled ‘Composite Water Management Index’ released by the minister for water resources Nitin Gadkari, further said the crisis is only going to get worse.