US financial system a “minefield of vulnerabilities”
By Nick Beams. Those pondering why the US Federal Reserve made a sudden and dramatic turn away from its previous insistence that monetary policy would need to remain restrictive, will find some of the answers in the latest annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). In its report, issued the
Poet and teacher Ahnaf Jazeem, victim of Sri Lanka government racist campaign, acquitted
By Sanjaya Jayasekera The High Court of Puttalam last Tuesday (12) acquitted poet and teacher Ahnaf Jazeem of the charge against him framed under draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), three and half years after his wrongful arrest. The acquittal is based on the failure of the State to prove the
Question mark raised over the world’s most important financial market
By Nick Beams. The current edition of the Economist, one of the world’s leading financial magazines, carries an extraordinary headline. It poses the question: “Is the world’s most important asset market broken?” The article deals with significant problems in the $25 trillion US Treasury market where government debt is bought and sold, and which
The barbarity of Australian government’s detainee shackling laws
By Mike Head. The Albanese Labor government is already facing three High Court challenges by refugees to the manacling legislation that it and the Liberal-National Coalition jointly rammed through both houses of parliament in just 12 hours on November 16. Further challenges are likely as well. In a blatant bid to evade
Chilling attack on free speech: NY court issues injunction against resolution opposing Gaza genocide
By Tom Hall A New York state court has issued a restraining order blocking a vote by members of the New York City public defenders’ union opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The order was granted after their employers filed suit to prevent the resolution from being passed. The move is a major
Legal challenge to Australian government’s new laws to impose inhuman conditions on released refugees
By Mike Head. New legislation imposing police-state restrictions on 93 people released from indefinite immigration detention has been already challenged in the Australian High Court. This is less than a week after the Labor government combined with the Liberal-National Coalition opposition to ram the regressive laws through parliament in just 12
US appeals court guts Voting Rights Act
By Barry Grey On Monday [20], the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that effectively turns the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 into a dead letter. In a 2 to 1 ruling, the appeals court, based in St. Louis and overseeing the mid-US states
US Supreme Court papers over rampant corruption with first-ever “Code of Conduct”
By Kevin Reed On Monday [13], the Supreme Court of the United States published, for the first time in its history, a document concerning what it calls “ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the Members of the Court.” The code elaborates five fundamental principles called “canons” and is signed
Germany to prosecute slogan calling for freedom for Palestine as a crime
By Justus Leicht Use of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is now being prosecuted in Germany as a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine. Munich Chief Prosecutor Andreas Franck, who is also the antisemitism commissioner of the
Gaza no more: Israel Finance Minister
By C.J.Atkins The leaked plans revealed it, the genocidal war on the ground demonstrated it, and now the words of a top government minister confirm it: Israel’s ultimate plan in this war is the permanent expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza. Bezalel Smotrich, finance minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister