International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

• Iran
  

  Resumption of Bombing and Internal Crisis in Iran

  17 August, by Babak Kia

  The ceasefire between the US and Iran was shattered around the question of control of the Strait of Hormuz. As the US bombing resumes, divisions are deepening at the top of the Islamic Republic, with no way out for the people of Iran.

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• USA
  

  Revoking TPS: Trump Escalates Racist Assault

  16 August, by Malik Miah

  TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitians living in the United States was overturned by the government, following a June 25 ruling by the Supreme Court to allow the termination.

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• Latin America
  

  The spectre of the far right is haunting Latin America

  15 August, by Eduardo Lucita

  Far-right movements have come to power in numerous countries across the region. They are linked to Trumpism; resisting them requires the broadest possible coordination of these resistance movements at both local and regional levels.

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• Spanish State
  

  Ceuta: the boundary of the right to have rights

  14 August, by Miguel Urbán Crespo

  Last Friday [31 July], thousands of people swam across the border to reach the autonomous city of Ceuta. This enclave of some 83,000 people received, in a matter of 24 hours, just over 50,000 more people, exhausted from a migratory journey that has caused the deaths of at least 100 in the last two days. In summer, arrivals in Ceuta and Melilla by sea increase significantly, as sea fog hinders early detection on the coast by the Civil Guard. But no one in the government seemed to foresee a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude, with significant political repercussions that extend far beyond the usual media headlines.

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• Ukraine
  

  The Wrong Lever: Europe, Ukraine, and the Refugee Question

  13 August, by Adam Novak

  EU leaders are moving towards removal of asylum rights for Ukrainian men aged 23-60, to improve conscription and functioning of essential services in the fifth year of Ukraine’s fight against Russian imperialist aggression. The Zelenskiy government asked for this change. But that does not make the policy right.

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...and the rest of the current issue

• Ukraine

  In Kyiv, the street makes its voice heard

• Italy

  The battle for the beaches in Italy

• Morocco:

  New escalation of repression in the face of rising resistance

• Tunisia

  Mobilizations amid water and electricity crisis in Tunisia

• Balkans

  The Same Enemy Is Driving Protests Across the Balkans

Recently posted Features

• Series : The banks and the “too big to jail” doctrine (Part 5)

  Big banks’ tampering with interest rates

  31 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  The extremely tolerant approach to the manipulation of interest rates by the governments of the main industrialised countries shows the extent to which the ’Too Big to Jail’ principle is applied. In 2010 the media revealed that a group of eighteen banks had been manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) from 2005 to 2010. LIBOR is a benchmark rate used for a market of $350 trillion, in assets and financial derivatives, which means it is the second most important benchmark rate in the world after the dollar exchange rate. The rate is based on information provided by eighteen banks about their funding costs in interbank markets. In 2012 evidence was provided of collusion among big banks such as UBS, Barclays, Rabobank, or Royal Bank of Scotland in order to manipulate LIBOR in their own interests.

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• Series : The banks and the “too big to jail” doctrine (Part 4)

  HSBC: the bank with a shameful past and scandalous present

  31 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  The British bank HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) employs 260, 000 people, has offices in 75 countries, and 54 million customers. [1]
  From its earliest days, it has been involved in the international narcotics trade. It was founded in the wake of the British victories in the Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860) against China. These two wars were very important to the strengthening of the British Empire and the century and a half waning of China. Through the Opium Wars, the British Empire forced China to accept opium importations coming from British India. China tried to oppose this commerce, but British arms, backed by Washington, proved stronger. London established a colony in Hong Kong in 1865, where HSBC was created by a Scottish merchant specializing in the opium trade— the basis of 70% of Hong Kong trade with the Indies.

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• Series: The banks and the “too big to jail” doctrine (Part 3)

  Drug and Bank Lords

  30 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  The British bank HSBC, which employs 260, 000 people worldwide, is present in 75 countries, and claims to have 54 million customers [2] is another example of the “Too Big to Jail” phenomenon. [3] Over the last ten years, HSBC has laundered $881 million [4] for Mexican and Columbian drug cartels that are responsible for tens of thousands of firearm related assassinations. These relations continue in spite of dozens of warnings from different US government agencies including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The profits from this business are so important that not only does HSBC continue, but it has also opened specialized services in its Mexico offices where drug dealers may simply hand in stocks of cash for cleaning. [5]

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• Series: The banks and the “too big to jail” doctrine (Part 2)

  Bank abuses in the real estate sector and illegal foreclosures in the United States

  30 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  From 2010 to 2013, US authorities made agreements with banks, not to prosecute them in the home mortgage and illegal foreclosures scandal. Instead, they merely had to pay a small fine. Since the outbreak of the crisis in 2006-2007, more than 14 million families have been evicted from their homes — at least 500,000 illegally. With help from social movements such as Strike Debt [6], many victims have become organized to resist the sheriffs and refuse these evictions. In addition, thousands of lawsuits have been filed against the banks.

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