Nazis gain electoral power in Germany

France24, 9/12–Tens of thousands of protesters took part in demonstrations across Germany on Saturday against the far-right AfD, after the party scored a crushing victory in a state election last week. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) topped the vote in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, and is now seeking to form the first extreme-right state government in Germany since World War II…They waved signs emblazoned with slogans that read “Ban the AfD now,” …But…Chancellor Friedrich Merz, of the centre-right CDU party, remains sceptical about taking such an approach…

Israeli bosses clamp down on occupied Lebanon

Al Jazeera, 9/13–More than six months after Israel intensified its war on Lebanon, a displacement crisis is slowly solidifying. At its highest point in April, more than 1.2 million people were displaced by Israeli attacks on Lebanon…Israel then intensified its air attacks on Lebanon, while also reinvading southern Lebanon for the second time in less than two years. It currently occupies more than 50 villages. The offensive has killed more than 4,380 people and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes…Multiple videos have gone viral in recent weeks showing Israeli demolitions in southern villages, with dust shooting into the sky as explosions go off. 

U.S. oil bosses work with Trump to consolidate capture of Venezuelan oil

EnergyNow, 9/1–U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil major, was among a group of companies planning to do business in Venezuela…The oil producer operates the prolific Stabroek Block in next-door Guyana, which currently produces more than 900,000 barrels of oil a day…“We’re making a fortune, and they’re making a fortune. They’re starting to make real money,” Trump continued, referring to American efforts to kick-start oil production in the country after U.S. forces captured and removed former President Nicolas Maduro from power in January…Venezuelan and American officials are expected to sign a deal that would grant the U.S. access to a fifth of Venezuela’s crude reserves later this week in Caracas. 

ICE policies result in death of young man in Ohio

CNN, 9/4–Pierre Damas Bel was an avid soccer player at his high school in Springfield, Ohio…And friends and family say he headed to college planning to study neuroscience and was excited about the future. But as the 20-year-old Haitian immigrant began his freshman year at Wright State University, his loved ones say he became increasingly depressed over the ankle monitor he was issued in late July by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The device…prompted bullying from some of his classmates. Bel was among a growing number of Haitians in Ohio outfitted with the ankle monitors after the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which allowed them to work legally in the US…

U.N. chief upset that world’s bosses are indifferent to lives of workers in DR Congo

UN.org–8/27–“The challenge is immense,” he said, noting 500 new cases are being reported every week while the humanitarian response remains only 48 per cent funded…“but we must also overcome another virus: the virus of indifference.” “Without additional funding, vital operations will run out of money at the very moment they need to ramp up,” he warned…Ebola is spreading in a region where decades of conflict have displaced entire populations and weakened health infrastructure. In Ituri province alone, one million people have been displaced, and more than 12 million people in the region are in need of humanitarian aid and protection.

As expected, Trump’s policies used to attack workers

The Guardian, 9/7–...Trump has repeatedly vowed to champion US workers...the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) cut workplace inspections by 20% … delayed implementation of a rule to limit silica dust, which has afflicted and killed many coal miners with black lung…prices…have risen faster than wages over the past year, helping fuel the affordability crisis…Trump…has proposed eliminating federal minimum wage and overtime protections for 3 million often low-paid homecare workers who take care of seniors and the disabled…Trump has pushed aggressively ahead…to strip 1 million federal employees of their ability to bargain collectively…