India’s main opposition party accuses the government of freezing its bank accounts ahead of electionCongress party treasurer Ajay Maken said in a statement that the party had received 1.9 billion rupees ($24 million) in donations in 2017-18. He said income tax authorities imposed a 2.1 billion rupee ($25 million) lien on Feb. 13, “virtually sealed” its bank accounts, and then confiscated 1.1 billion rupees ($14 million).
https://apnews.com/article/india-election-opposition-congress-tax-accounts-cf0d39fa9cae7839f8139ed1a881a4b3Pakistan PM Sharif says another IMF bailout is inevitableWith a long-term, two-to-three year IMF programme, he said, the $350 billion economy that has long been under extreme stress with a yawning balance of payment crisis would need deep-rooted structural reforms. The IMF mission that visited Islamabad for five days on the last review of the stand-by programme said Pakistani authorities expressed interest in yet another bailout.
https://srnnews.com/pakistan-pm-sharif-says-another-imf-bailout-is-inevitable/Taiwan poll reveals ‘big gap’ between defence chief, public over military threatsThe latest survey released by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed that 50 per cent of the island’s public did not agree with an assessment by their defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng over a potential cross-strait conflict.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3256255/subtle-message-taiwan-poll-reveals-big-gap-between-defence-chief-public-over-military-threatshttps://archive.is/UnlzNVietnam’s vice president becomes interim presidentOn Wednesday, President Vo Van Thuong resigned due to unspecified violations that hurt the perception and reputation of the party and the state, the Communist Party said. Thuong’s predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc had resigned last year to take “political responsibility” for corruption scandals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-president-anti-corruption-campaign-c7df6dbd8543895669aed5775fa349ceWar on Gaza: Israeli forces destroy al-Shifa surgical building and order evacuationThe building was blown up on Thursday, as Israel tightened its siege of Gaza's largest medical complex. Israeli forces ordered people trapped inside to evacuate before they target the entire facility, according to a Middle East Eye correspondent. Thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes by the ongoing war have been seeking refuge in the hospital.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-gaza-war-al-shifa-hospital-building-destroyedPalestinian forces disperse mourners after Israeli killing spree in West BankIn the hours following the airstrike near Jenin, Palestinians mourning the deceased headed to the Palestinian Authority’s security headquarters in the city, and demanded the release of militants detained by the Palestinian security forces. The mourners were quickly dispersed with live fire and tear gas, injuring three, while the unrest in the city continued until the morning.
https://www.newarab.com/news/palestinian-forces-disperse-mourners-after-israeli-killingsKenyan doctors stop providing emergency services at strike enters its second weekKenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union secretary-general Dr Davji Bhimji said the doctors escalated the strike and stopped providing bare-minimum services because the government had shown no efforts to resolve the dispute.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/kenyan-doctors-stop-providing-emergency-services-strike-enters-its-second-weekMigrant workers exploited, abused in Italy’s prized fine wine vineyardsUnion workers and activists believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Confagricoltura Cuneo, or the General Confederation on Italian Agriculture, estimated there are 2,500 viticulture companies that hire seasonal workers with various contracts. More than half of them are migrant workers, the group said. Labour rights activists estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people work in the vineyards and at least two-thirds of them face the risk of exploitation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/3/19/migrant-workers-exploited-abused-in-italys-prized-fine-wine-vineyardshttps://archive.is/bffo0French public sector employees protest cuts in state spendingPublic sector employees in France led massive protests on Tuesday March 19, demanding an increase in wages to compensate for cuts in their real wages indexed with the inflation. They also participated in a general strike on Tuesday called for by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), Solidaires, Force Ouvrière (FO), the CFE-CGC, the Autonomous Federation, the SNES-FSU and the UNSA. Major rallies were held in Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Toulouse.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/03/21/french-public-sector-employees-protest-cuts-in-state-spending/From secret sects to street protests: Mexico’s extreme-right targets womenEL PAÍS has accessed dozens of internal documents from El Yunque, which explain the doctrine behind the ultraconservative Mexican sect. Various far-right lobbying and action groups — having infiltrated political parties and civil society organizations — are united in a strategy to impose an agenda against abortion, equal marriage and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights
https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-03-21/from-secret-sects-to-street-protests-mexicos-extreme-right-targets-women.htmlhttps://archive.is/IN4Xa