Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after 20 years in power—first as Prime Minister, and then with a constitutional change as President—faced a challenging election and failed to receive a majority in the first round, before winning the second round runoff.
Twin earthquakes on Feb. 6 decimated a vast area of Turkey and Syria. They produced a catastrophe with human tragedies over hundreds of square miles. But it was the man-made disaster on top of the natural one that killed more than half of the over 50,000 victims accounted for so far.
Two deadly earthquakes struck Mexico, killing around 400 people and leaving thousands homeless, a situation made worse by the response of the state. .
An in-person report of the recent devastating earthquakes in Mexico and how social conditions including capitalism, government corruption, etc., negatively affect rescue efforts; how everyday people’s self-organization makes a significant difference.
Problems from the damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima are not going away because the government is not dealing with them seriously and refuses to ask for international help.
Report of a lively demonstration in the San Francisco Bay Area against trains carrying tons of coal that can cause huge explosions and yet travel through highly populated areas.
Workers and residents reacted to the huge explosion of Tianjin in China of a hazardous chemical warehouse that killed and injured hundreds of firefighters, neighbors and factory workers. At the same time, Chinese economic troubles engender revolt.
From the July-August 2011 issue of News & Letters:
Fukushima’s ‘man-made disaster’
Editor’s note: Below are excerpts of a report sent to us from Narihiko Ito in Japan. Along with it, he sent an “Urgent Proposal” on assistance to the earthquake victims and reconstruction of the devastated area, issued by the Peace Constitution Committee of the 21st [=>]
From the new issue of NEWS & LETTERS, May-June 2011
Part III of
Draft for Marxist-Humanist Perspectives, 2011-2012
Revolution and counter-revolution take world stage
Contents:
(Part I and II were posted in the last two days. Parts IV and V to come [=>]
