Automation has shaped governments for decades, but new AI-driven systems are taking on functions from warfare to welfare. Promising speed and efficiency, their growing influence over decision-making complicates political accountability and risks autonomous governance being beyond human control. Miami-Dade fully autonomous patrol vehicle -- image via news video screenshot By John P. Ruehl In April, the General Services Administration announced plans to automate 1 million work

Tibor Zenker speaking in November, 2024 -- image via the PdA Funeral speech by Otto Bruckner, Chairman of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA), at the funeral of Chairman Tibor Zenker, who passed away on 16 April 2026, Vienna, 12 May 2026. Dear mourners! In these difficult hours our sincere condolences go out to Tibor’s partner Gabi, his son Simon, his daughter Judith, his stepson Jakob, his brother Jan, his mother, his sister and all other relatives, friends and comrades. I

A US invasion would hardly inaugurate a new conflict. It would instead mark the bloodiest phase in a long, bipartisan war against Cuba for the “sin” of reclaiming national sovereignty. Cubans rally on May Day 2026 By Eric Ross, Common Dreams In recent weeks and months, Washington has intensified its long-running campaign of collective punishment against the Cuban people. Escalating sanctions have further tightened the noose of a punitive US blockade that has strangled the isl

La gestión del presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele ha dado pie a la conformación de una propuesta que podríamos denominar el “Modelo Bukele”, en el que, de forma aparente, se ha logrado seducir políticamente a grandes mayorías de nuestra región hasta hacerlas preferir un autoritarismo extremo a cambio de una supuesta seguridad ciudadana. Gracias a una efectiva propaganda, este modelo puede consolidarse como un fenómeno regional en una Nuestra América signada por la violen

Speech by Lukas Haslwanter, Deputy Chair of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA), at the liberation celebration at the former Mauthausen concentration camp, 10 May 2026 Speech by Lukas Haslwanter, Deputy Chair of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA), at the liberation celebration at the former Mauthausen concentration camp, 10 May 2026 Dear comrades, Today, one day after 9 May – the day of the great anti-fascist victory of the peoples over fascism – we stand here in Mauthause

The boat strikes have killed nearly 200 people, many of them fishermen. Who will be held accountable? Image of an alleged drug boat seconds before it was destroyed in early May -- image via US Southern Command video on X By Farrah Hassen The U.S. military has been carrying out extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific over the past nine months with impunity. On May 8, the U.S. military struck another boat in the eastern Pacific, killing two people and leaving one su

Trump with Xi Jinping in Beijing, May 13 -- public domain image By Tings Chak Desde Pekín, esta semana se está llevando a cabo ante los ojos del mundo la primera visita de Estado de los EE. UU. a China en nueve años. El Gran Salón del Pueblo está abierto a Donald Trump, quien ha viajado acompañado de dieciocho ejecutivos estadounidenses, entre los que se encuentran Apple, Tesla, BlackRock, Boeing y Nvidia. El jueves se celebra un banquete de Estado, seguido de un té y un almu

Americans should demand the release of jailed Salvadoran lawyer Ruth Lopez — because it can happen here, too. Nayib Bukele on Salvadoran independence day in 2024 -- PresidenciaSV, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Sulma Arias Who of us has the right to live without fear? This is the question human rights lawyer Ruth Lopez has asked fearlessly in El Salvador — the country of my birth — for decades. It’s a question we all need to ask ourselves in the United States as well. For spea

Trump arrives in Beijing -- image via the White House on X By Tings Chak From Beijing this week, the first US state visit to China in nine years is being staged for the world to see. The Great Hall of the People is open to Donald Trump, who has traveled with eighteen US executives—Apple, Tesla, BlackRock, Boeing, and Nvidia among them. A state banquet on Thursday, followed by tea and lunch on Friday. On the streets of Beijing, ‘the Beast‘ has been securing the motorcade route

The administration of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has given rise to a proposal we might call the ‘Bukele Model,’ in which, on the surface, has managed to politically seduce large majorities in our region to the point of making them prefer extreme authoritarianism in exchange for supposed public safety. Thanks to effective propaganda, this model may establish itself as a regional phenomenon in a ‘Our America’ marked by structural violence, where the promise of immedia

Often promoted as sustainable, fish farming can increase pressure on wild fisheries, deepen global food inequities, and damage marine ecosystems. Asc1733, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Laura Lee Cascada Fish farming, a form of aquaculture, is now the fastest-growing form of factory farming worldwide. This rapid expansion can be attributed to the industry’s emphasis on buzzwords such as “climate,” “conservation,” and “sustainability.” While discussions about land-base

Tracing the origins of the Strait of Hormuz to ancient Persian cosmology reveals how U.S. foreign policy toward Iran turns historically layered places into strategic abstractions, fueling instability across the Middle East. Marco Polo with elephants and camels arriving at Hormuz -- Boucicaut Master, (fl.1390-1430) (and workshop), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Martina Moneke To speak of the Strait of Hormuz today is already to enter a language of reduction. In policy

May Day in Havana, 2026 On May 1, 2026, while millions of people in Cuba were on the streets against the US policy of strangulation, US President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on the socialist island. In addition to the already existing obstacles to Cuba's economic development caused by the decades-long blockade policy, these new measures once again worsen the living conditions of the Cuban people. The new blockade measures are directed against the energy‑ and oil sector

From child labor to incarceration, U.S. laws often treat youth as disposable rather than nurturing their potential. Youth line up in prison in a US jail -- image via a Change.org petition By Colin Greer and Reynard Loki [Editor’s Note: This article is the second installment of “Does Your Community Care About Children?”, a four-part series by Colin Greer and Reynard Loki that examines overlapping crises facing vulnerable youth in America—including poverty, child labor, juvenil

By hosting the proposed Defence, Security, and Resilience Bank, Canada risks transforming war from a political decision subject to public scrutiny into a financial product. U.S. Army Soldier fires a FGM-148 Javelin -- public domain image By Umer Azad, Common Dreams Canada is set to host the headquarters of the proposed Defence, Security, and Resilience Bank, or DSRB, a new multinational institution designed to mobilize tens of billions in financing for military and security p

Poor health, hunger, and malnutrition are not just symptoms of poverty—they are barriers to education, socialization, and hope. Aaron Burden aaronburden, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Colin Greer and Reynard Loki In Peoria, Illinois, children living in federally subsidized housing have been getting sick in the very places meant to shelter them. An investigation by ProPublica documented that apartments at the city’s Taft Homes were plagued by mold, water damage, pest infestati

As references to rivers, trees, and wildlife fade from books, songs, and everyday speech, our connection to the natural world also diminishes. Reclaiming these words can help us recognize, appreciate, and ultimately, preserve the environment. © Hans Hillewaert / CC BY-SA 4.0 By Reynard Loki and Danica Tomber How often do we talk about oceans, trees, or birds in everyday life? How about glaciers, shrubs, or bugs? Nature-related words like these are easily recognizable now, but

The Executive Order of May 1st and the Blockade Measures Announced Today Further Increase the Harm to the Cuban Population and Reinforce the Threat of Aggression Communiqué issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, translated from the Spanish The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejects, in the strongest possible terms, the Executive Order issued by the White House on May 1st, 2026, which tightens, to unprecedented and extreme levels, the economic, commerc

Police deployment at the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin-Treptow on May 8, 2025 -- image via X By Ralf Hohmann, Unsere Zeit. Sozialistische Wochenzeitung – Zeitung der DKP, 8 May 2026 edition. Translation by Helmut-Harry Loewen. Soviet photojournalist Yevgeny Khaldei (1917-1997) is known as a chronicler of the Second World War. His photos depict the horrors of war, the suffering and devastation in the concentration camps, and the city of Murmansk, reduced to rubble and ashes by

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigning in Kerala, March 11, 2026 -- Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad In India, over 123 million people voted in the four states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal (home to 290 million people) for their state assemblies. These are influential states: two in the south, one in the east, and one in the northeast. The next national parliamentary election is not scheduled unt