Workers in Philippines stage massive protests against capitalist corruption
ABC News, 9/21–Thousands of Filipinos have marched in the capital to vent their anger over a ballooning scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars…The protest on Sunday was largely peaceful but erupted into violence as riot police deployed water cannon[s] in clashes with scores of mostly young masked people who hurled rocks and shattered the glass of one police outpost…The Department of Finance has estimated the Philippine economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos ($3 billion) from 2023 to 2025 due to corruption in flood control projects…Greenpeace has suggested the number is actually closer to $27 billion…
U.S. frets as China looks to take over
Foreign Affairs, 9/29–A great unanswered question of the second Trump administration has been how its outright rejection of the existing global order would affect China’s international strategy…Beijing has decided on a much more ambitious course, putting its plans on vivid display at a September meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization…Chinese leader Xi Jinping clasped hands with Russia President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and met with 18 other leaders from across the Eurasian continent. A few days later, flanked by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Xi presided over a massive military parade in Beijing to show off China’s fast-growing arsenal.
Italian workers strike over genocide in Gaza
MSN, 9/26–Flight disruption is expected in Italy as airport workers strike over pay and in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Two major trade unions have called for walkouts on Friday, 26 September, with cancellations and delays expected at the start of the weekend…A demonstration will be held at the Milan Malpensa Cargo Department from 10am on Friday. Italian trade union Sindacale di Base (USB) has also called a 24-hour national air transport strike on Friday in a rejection of “the war economy”, saying it “opposes the genocidal extermination in Gaza and the war in Ukraine, and stands for peace and decent work”...
Netanyahu greeted with jeers, cheers and a walkout
France24, 9/26–The Israeli PM spoke after dozens of delegates from multiple nations had walked out of the UN General Assembly hall en masse, highlighting Israel’s isolation amid mounting opprobrium at the devastation it has wrought in Gaza…As Netanyahu began his address, unintelligible shouts echoed around the hall…Netanyahu sharply denounces Western countries for embracing Palestinian statehood…The Israeli PM claims Israel is applying more measures to minimise civilian casualties “than any military in history”...Independent studies have found that civilians make up as many as 15 of every 16 people killed by Israel in Gaza.
EU and Russia show signs of expanding war
Der Spiegel, 9/20–German troops monitor the airspace over Ukraine around the clock. Night after night, they see Russian drones deployed across the region, with increasing numbers recently turning up in the western part of the country…Polish F-16 fighter jets and Dutch F-35 stealth warplanes scrambled, with the aircraft shooting down at least three of the more than 20 drones…According to a NATO spokesperson, it marked the first time that Russian combat drones had been shot down over NATO territory…How should NATO react? Should the alliance respond forcefully? Or would that risk triggering an unpredictable spiral that could spin out of control?
U.N. reports cholera on the rise in Haiti
OCHA, 9/25–During the second week of September, the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) reported 30 suspected cases of cholera across more than a dozen communes in five departments, bringing the total number of cases to more than 3,100 this year…less than a third of health facilities with inpatient capacity remain fully operational…OCHA warns that communities have limited access to clean water, sanitation conditions are poor at displacement sites, and insecurity has constrained access to affected areas…With just three months left in the year, the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Haiti is 13 per cent funded – with only $118 million received of the $908 million required…
