ácrata @acrata@mastodon.starrevolution.org

#Thailand activists, encouraged by the overturning of conviction of #labor rights activist Andy Hall, are calling on the government to repeal the criminal defamation law, under which proof that a claim is true does not serve as a defense https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1480897/decriminalise-defamation

#Brazil: interview with highly respected diplomat Celso Amorim on the foreign hands behind the "wholesale attack on Brazil's sovereignty http://www.brasilwire.com/the-wholesale-attack-on-brazilian-sovereignty-an-interview-with-celso-amorim/

The invisible workers whose direct #labor action brought #Brazil to a screeching halt caught leftist labor unions by surprise, and they are now trying to catch up https://jacobinmag.com/2018/06/truck-drivers-strike-brazil-temer-petrobras-lula

#Germany: #Bayer completes its $63 billion takeover of #Monsanto, and the toxic name of the latter will be retired https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/germanys-bayer-closes-monsanto-deal-plans-to-drop-us-companys-name.html

The inauguration of #rightwing governments in #Italy and #Austria is a great comfort to president (and autocrat) #Putin https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/07/rise-of-far-right-in-italy-and-austria-gives-putin-some-friends-in-the-west

As the #UK's highest court rules that N #Ireland's criminalization of #abortion to be a violation of the UN #humanrights convention, the movement for safe a legal abortion is ramping up https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/07/winning-the-war-northern-ireland-pro-choice-campaign-gathers-momentum

In the #Philippines, where practicing journalism is always hazardous, a journalist and publisher of a small news outlet has been assassinated in broad daylight. Reporting by the Committee to Protect Journalists https://cpj.org/2018/06/newspaper-publisher-gunned-down-in-the-philippines.php

#Argentina, which its cabinet chief characterizes as "a museum of egomaniacs" in an attempt to fend off #populism and shore up the stumbling #neoliberal #Macri government, has entered a $50 billion #IMF deal to stop the slide of the currency. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/07/argentina-museum-egomaniacs-imf-marcos-pena

#Thailand Central Bank is planning to institute its own digital currency for interbank settlements. Calling an instrument created by a natinal state a #cryptocurrency seems an error of comprehension https://cointelegraph.com/news/thailand-s-central-bank-eyes-creating-its-own-digital-currency-for-interbank-settlements

#Thailand, which holds a foreign currency reserve of $200 billion, feels secure it will not be effected by global monetary tightening which has adversely effected most developing economies. The Bloomberg caveat of military coups following elections seems overblown, as the military will no doubt retain the reins of power after the election https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-07/thailand-says-it-may-skirt-global-monetary-tightening-until-2019

A prominent US doctor has reviewed research and concluded that #transgender hormone therapy is “safe without a large risk of adverse events when followed carefully for a few well-documented medical concerns.” He urges his colleagues to get on board. https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-top-doctor-says-transgender-hormone-therapy-is-safe

#Italy's new rightwing government is chanelling #Trump; #xenophobia, #nationalism, #Russia https://www.thedailybeast.com/italys-new-government-goes-full-trump

#UK citizens in European countries will be effectively demoted to 2nd class next year, losing the right of free movement in the #EU, permitted only to live and work in the country where they are presently resident http://www.businessinsider.com/britons-living-in-europe-fear-losing-rights-during-brexit-withdrawal-2018-6

#Labor: #Teamsters union members at shipper #UPS vote 90% in favor of a strike, placing the largest US labor action in decades in the offing. Labor militancy, long in decline, seems to be somewhat resurgent http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/05/news/companies/ups-teamsters-negotiations/index.html

#Philippines president #Duterte threatens to impose #authoritarian emergency rule nationwide, over "relentless criticism" of his government's #humanrights abuses https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/06/06/philippines-duterte-threatens-authoritarian-rule-over-relentless-criticism-of-presidency.html

#Purism #Librem #privacy focused #Linux smartphone is scheduled for launch next year, at a price projected to be $599. The phone is said to permit installation of "any Linux distribution". https://www.slashgear.com/purism-librem-5-privacy-focused-linux-phone-launching-next-year-06533156/

#Bermuda's Supreme Court has struck down the regressive retraction of #equalmarriage rights enacted by the government as unconstitutional https://www.thedailybeast.com/bermuda-supreme-court-strikes-down-gay-marriage-ban

#Spain: New Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, installed after the collapse of the #corruption plagued Partido Popular government, appoints women to 11 of the 17 cabinet posts, exceeding the percentage of all countries in Europe https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44382051

#Canada is poised to legalize #marijuana, perhaps as early as this week, with retail pot shops opening by the end of summeer. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/06/canada-and-marijuana-nation-set-approve-legal-pot-sales/674912002/

#Anarchist Library offers "Transition and Abolition: Notes on Marxism and Trans Politics" by Jules Joanne Gleeson https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/jules-joanne-gleeson-transition-and-abolition-notes-on-marxism-and-trans-politics?v=1528237843