the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

Polls shows support for public ownership of utilities, as Corbyn and May go into battle over the economy Voters in the UK want the government to take a more socialist approach to economic policy by renationalising railways and utilities, while creating a wage cap for top earners, according to a new survey. The report, published by the Legatum Institute, a centre-right think tank, shows that the views of the public on the economy are more in tune with Labour's policies than the Conservatives, in what The Times called a “warning” to the Tories on the eve of their party conference in Manchester. According to the figures, 83% of British voters would prefer public ownership of water companies over privatisation, while 77% want to re-nationalise electricity and gas companies and 76% want the railways back under state control. The news comes after a week of back-and-forth between Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn regarding economic policy. On Tuesday, the

Labour’s conference may not yet have delivered a fully perfected programme – but hearing working class voices everywhere was a breath of fresh air, despite the media sneers. Widespread media hostility to Labour was on maximum revs during and in the immediate aftermath of the Party Conference. Labour can expect nothing favourable from the likes of the Daily Mail or the Murdoch press, but the coverage in much of the self-styled ‘liberal’ press and supposedly ‘impartial’ broadcast media was more dispiriting. The Independent opted for a nasty, distorted interpretation of everything Jeremy Corbyn said in his closing address. The Guardian was at least largely positive with both Polly Toynbee and Owen Jones among the enthusiasts. But Channel Four’s Jon Snow conducted a belligerent interview with Jeremy Corbyn during the Conference in which he belaboured the Labour leader on Brexit and on Venezuela. And the BBC was more subtly dismissive. Political Editor Laura K

Washington claims its diplomats were "attacked" in Cuban hotels, failing to provide specific examples. Washington has announced that the United States is removing about 60 percent of government staff out of Cuba, the Associated Press reports, citing “specific attacks” that allegedly harmed U.S. diplomats. It claims its diplomats were “attacked” in local hotels. Washington, however, has not released specific information about the nature of these so-called “attacks.” The U.S. government has also indefinitely suspended visa processing in Cuba, warning its citizens that they could be “harmed” in Cuba. The remaining 40 percent of employees who will remain at the Havana embassy are “emergency personnel.” “ The Cuban government has never perpetrated nor will it ever perpetrate attacks of any kind against diplomats,” Cuba said in a statement on Thursday, when rumors of the embassy staff cut began swirling. “The Cuban government has never perm

With around 750,000 cases already, the unprecedented scale of the epidemic makes it “the worst in history,” according to the Red Cross representative. In a grim prognosis of what is the “world's largest humanitarian crisis” in current days, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Friday that they fear that there could be at least one-million cholera cases registered by the end of the year. The high civilian casualties and cholera epidemic are caused by the use of “disproportionate force” and destruction of civilian infrastructure, Alexandre Faite, the head of the Yemen ICRC delegation said. Yemen has been destroyed by a simultaneous blockade and vicious bombing campaign waged by a Saudi Arabian coalition backed by western governments such as the United States and United Kingdom. According to Faite, there have been 750,000 suspected cases of cholera so far in the battered country, and at least 2,119 have died of the diseas

Capitalists will try every trick to derail a Labour government. Sarah Bates argues it will take mass resistance and strong counter-measures to give them a run for their money Part 1 It’s not a paranoid fantasy to argue that parts of the establishment want to derail the left wing Labour leadership’s plans. The prospect of a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government seemed like an outside chance earlier this year. It now seems more than possible, with even the bosses’ Economist magazine calling him “The likely lad”. At The World Transformed festival in Brighton last week, shadow chancellor John McDonnell spoke about a “potential assault” by the ruling class. He said the leadership is doing “war game-type scenario planning” for all possibilities following a Labour victory. One possibility is that bankers could launch a run on the pound. Britain’s currency—the pound sterling—“floats” on the international market. Its value goes up and down as investors buy and sell sterlin