MTA boss Lieber makes $400,000 and demands $3 every time you ride a bus
Gothamist, 8/3–It still costs $3 to ride the MTA’s buses, despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge to make them free for everyone…But don’t tell that to a growing number of New Yorkers who are evading the fare…MTA Chair Janno Lieber suggested Mamdani’s campaign pledge wasn’t helping…A Bronx resident…took a free trip on the M2 bus in Harlem last week on her way to help a homebound friend. She knows the buses aren’t free. And knows she’s risking a ticket if she gets caught by an MTA enforcement agent, but said she can’t afford to pay every time she rides…the agency plans to use devices that check whether riders’ phones or cards were used to pay — and issue tickets to farebeaters.
As war aims falter, U.S., analysts scramble to find a way forward
Foreign Affairs, 8/6–In late February, Trump launched a war on Iran without clearly delineated objectives…The Trump administration has made a…case that it would be incredibly damaging to American security for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. And there is little doubt that by mid-2025, Iran was getting closer… The administration…planning did not seem to encompass Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, an act fatal to U.S. success…Iran…has successfully weathered the most damaging military attacks the United States and Israel could impose…reinforced the power of the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…Iran has now proved its previously hypothetical ability to control the Strait of Hormuz.
Many Yemeni workers resort to herbal medicines instead of modern healthcare
Al Jazeera, 8/8–More than 20 million Yemenis are without access to basic medical care due to years of conflict, severe funding shortages, and the collapse of Yemen’s healthcare system, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). At least 50 percent of health facilities are entirely non-functional, critically hindering the country’s ability to respond to recurring outbreaks of diseases like cholera and diphtheria. Yemenis who do not have the means to seek treatment abroad are being forced to turn to traditional remedies…“Some herbal shops offer other services, like Quranic recitations or even sorcery, and several have been shut down by prosecutors,” the official noted, wishing to speak anonymously.
War, disease, and cobalt– and healthcare workers go unpaid in DR Congo
NBCNews, 7/16–Confirmed cases of eEbola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached 2,011, including 754 deaths…in what authorities say is the fastest-growing outbreak on record. Health workers at the Bunia General Hospital went on strike on Wednesday, the latest group to have walked off their jobs at the epicenter over payment issues. Health professionals and other frontline workers barricaded the entrance of the hospital, lamenting they haven’t received any compensation despite working under difficult conditions…displacements from armed conflict as well as mining-related movements have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.
Israeli bosses reject peace in Gaza
France24, 8/9–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a US-led Gaza plan endorsed by Hamas, putting distance between himself and President Donald Trump as he tries to shore up his base ahead of close elections. After more than a week of gradually escalating criticism of the plan, and despite receiving assurances that Israel would not need to start withdrawing in Gaza immediately, Netanyahu explicitly opposed the deal following pushback from his right-wing allies."Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said, referring to the plan Hamas agreed to in late July.
Warehouse workers agree to pause strike against bosses
Freightwaves, 8/3–After 42 days on the picket line, union warehouse workers at C&H Sugar’s Crockett, California refinery have returned to work under a 60‑day extension of contract negotiations. The pause in the strike that triggered a brief sympathy walkout at three California ports – International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6’s first walkout at the plant in nearly a century – comes as the sides return to talks over retiree health benefits, overtime rules, and sick days at one of the largest cane sugar refiners in the United States…Tensions escalated on July 22, when a protest outside the refinery turned confrontational and nine protesters were arrested.
