Seven more children died after consuming baby formula produced at contaminated Abbott Labs factory in Michigan

Kevin Reed

According to newly released documents, nine children have died since 2021 after consuming powdered baby formula produced by Abbott Labs at its pediatric nutritionals factory in Sturgis, Michigan, seven more than had been previously acknowledged by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Ashley Maddox holds her 5-month-old son, Cole, after feeding him with formula she bought through a Facebook group of mothers in need Thursday, May 12, 2022, in Imperial Beach, California. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The document also revealed that consumers submitted to the FDA 25 complaints that were categorized as “life-threatening illness/injury” and 80 instances of “non-life-threatening illness/injury.”

The existence of the documents was reported in the Washington Post on Friday. The Post said that the FDA confirmed that it had received seven additional reports of children dying or being made sick after they drank formula made at the Sturgis factory.

Previously, the government regulatory agency and Abbott Labs had only revealed that four children became ill and two died from bacterial infections beginning in September 2021, and all of whom had consumed baby formula made at the Sturgis facility.

As they have done throughout the catastrophic baby formula shortage and shutdown of the unsanitary Sturgis factory, both the FDA and Abbott Labs are claiming after the fact that the source of the infections that sickened and killed nine infants is unknown and could not be determined. As the Post article states, “In all nine fatalities, the agency was unable to identify the source of the infection.”

The Post then repeats without comment the justifications given for the joint cover-up by the largest baby food manufacturer in the US and the FDA by saying, “there was not enough leftover formula to test” and that, of the babies who died from Cronobacter infections, “genomic sequencing turned up different strains than what was discovered at the Sturgis plant during an inspection this spring.”

The latest devastating disclosures were initially published by eFoodAlert and food safety expert Phyllis Entis on Wednesday. The details of the additional instances of children dying after consuming Abbott Labs products were obtained by Entis through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The eFoodAlert report says, “Between December 1, 2021, and March 3, 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received nine (9) reports of infant deaths among babies who were fed powdered infant formula manufactured by Abbott Nutrition in Sturgis, Michigan.”

The website says that the infant deaths “were included in a list of 128 consumer complaints supplied to eFoodAlert by the FDA” in response to the FOIA request. The two deaths previously acknowledged by the FDA were caused by Cronobacter sakazakii, a bacterium that is known to be fatal in infants.

The eFoodAlert report says that the other seven deaths were “reported to the FDA via the agency’s consumer complaint system,” and that two of those reports “mentioned Salmonella in the complaint description.” Salmonella was mentioned in 17 other illness complaints.

The symptoms suffered by the infants “were mostly consistent with gastrointestinal infection,” including, “fever (31 babies), vomiting (42 babies), diarrhea (47 babies), and blood in stool (6). Most babies suffered from multiple symptoms,” according to the website.

Significantly, eFoodAlert stated, “Every one of the sick babies was fed an Abbott powdered formula,” then goes on to list under the heading “In Memoriam,” the case numbers, filing dates and causes of death. One infant arrived at the emergency room in cardiac arrest, and another had swollen organs and trouble breathing.

Among the Abbott Labs products that these babies consumed were Similac Pro-Total Comfort, Similac Advance, Similac Total Comfort Easy-to-Digest Gentle Protein & Prebiotics, Similac PM 60/40 and EleCare. The eFoodAlert website concluded its review of these painful and tragic deaths with “May they rest in peace.”

The official response of the FDA was to stick to its original report of four cases and two deaths since the fall of 2021. A statement from the agency said, “Based on FDA’s thorough review and investigation of all 128 consumer complaints reported to the agency and recently released to media in response to a FOIA request, only four complaints could be included in the case series associated with the Abbott Nutrition investigation.”

A statement from Abbott Nutrition on Friday said that no causal relationship had been established between its products and any of the reported deaths. “Abbott conducts microbiological testing on products prior to distribution and no Abbott formula distributed to consumers tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii or Salmonella.”

The company furthermore claimed that the product tested by Abbott and the FDA “during the inspection of the facility came back negative for Cronobacter sakazakii and/or Salmonella. No Salmonella was found at the Sturgis facility.”

However, neither the agency nor the company explained why it did not disclose the scope and scale of the complaints it received in the period between December 2021 (when the FDA said that it was going to inspect the Sturgis facility) and February 2022 (when a product recall was launched). The plant was “voluntarily shut down” by the company.

In a statement to the Post, Phyllis Entis said, “There appears to have been no sense of urgency within the FDA to address a deteriorating situation in a production facility that was, in many cases, the sole source of nourishment to a vulnerable population.”

The callous and indifferent response of the Biden administration to both the deaths of children from infection after consuming Abbott Labs products and the intensifying baby formula shortage across the country is a measure of the priorities of the entire ruling elite. Preoccupied with the war against Russia in Ukraine, a White House official was quoted by Politico as saying there were “a million crises going on” and the baby formula crisis “just wasn’t elevated to a top-level crisis.”

Under these conditions, the consent decree signed between the U.S. Department of Justice and Abbott Labs, which relieves the company of any liability in the contamination of baby formula in exchange for the reopening of the Sturgis facility, can only be understood as a further cover-up of the conditions in the factory.

There is every reason to be concerned that the reopening of the Sturgis plant has been fast-tracked by the company for the purpose of restoring its sales figures under conditions of increased demand and higher retail prices. Everything done throughout the crisis by Abbott Labs, the number one producer of baby formula in the US, has been motivated by the financial interests of its multimillionaire executives and billionaire investors. No one can accept that the conditions reported by the whistleblower at the Sturgis facility have been addressed or that the FDA is going to look after the health and well-being of families in need of baby formula.

Bangladeshi prime minister threatens protesting garment workers

Wimal Perera

Earlier this month, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a series of threats against garment workers, declaring that their protests for higher wages would lead to job losses. She also warned the Bangladeshi masses to prepare for new austerity measures as the international economic crisis further impacts on the country.

Bangladeshi garment workers block a road demanding their unpaid wages during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, April 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Al-emrun Garjon)

The Hasina government, and the Bangladeshi garment manufacturers for whom it speaks, are fearful that the country’s 4.1 million workers in more than 3,500 garment factories will take unified action to demand higher wages. About 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export earnings come from supplying cheap, ready-made garments to US and European retail giants.

Hasina made the provocative remarks while addressing a June 7 meeting commemorating the 56th anniversary of the Awami League-led movement for greater autonomy of East Pakistan in 1966, which culminated in the establishment of Bangladesh in 1971.

According to bdnews24, Hasina said: “[Garment factory workers] are protesting for a pay rise and many other demands. If exports stop, the garment factories will shut. We’ll lose everything... In that case, wages won’t rise, but rather they’ll [the workers] lose jobs and have to return home. What’ll they do then?”

Foreign buyers were losing purchasing power, she continued, because “the situation is worsening in the US and Europe with the prices rising. Many people are skipping meals there.” Promoting nationalist exceptionalism, she claimed Bangladeshis were “in a better position compared with them.”

Hasina’s statements were a response to increasing unrest among low-paid garment workers over inflation and wages. Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers have held three separate demonstrations since June 4 in several parts of Dhaka to demand a pay rise. Police have baton-charged and fired tear gas shells at demonstrators, injuring many workers. Those involved in the protests included workers from the Apex, MBM Garments Ltd, Saroj, VISION, IDS Group, Kolka, Jokky and Dmox factories.

Referring to escalating food prices, Saroj, a protesting worker in Dhaka, told the media: “An egg costs 15 taka ($US16 cents) now, but the factory owners are not raising pay, I don’t know what to do.” Faysal, from the Kolka factory, asked, “How can a person manage” on a monthly wage of 8,000 taka ($US94)?

On June 11, thousands of garment workers rallied in Dhaka, this time in protest against the police attacks the previous week.

Bangladeshi garment workers have been demonstrating, however, not just for pay rises. On April 14, about 100 apparel workers from several factories in Ashulia protested to demand long-pending salaries, the religious festival bonus and full payment of their wages. On April 16, fifty-nine workers from the Yong Jin International factory in Ashulia demonstrated against a 50 percent pay cut. Factory authorities slashed pay, claiming the workers had ignored a directive to not wear the hijab or burqa during work on safety grounds.

During her speech Hasina boasted that under her tenure, beginning in 2008, garment workers’ wages had increased several times, from 1,600 taka ($US74) to between 8,000 and 10,000 taka ($US94 and $US112) in 2018. Notwithstanding these claims, Bangladesh, according to Statistia website data, still has lower wages than Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Garment workers have been involved in strikes and protests since 2016 to demand their below-poverty wages be increased to a 16,000-taka minimum. This was refused by then Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque who, with the backing of the trade unions, imposed an 8,000-taka minimum wage, which is barely enough for basic needs, including food and for rent in slum areas that lack basic facilities.

Hasina’s June 7 speech is clear: Garment workers must suffer the burden of rising inflation in order to maintain cheap garment exports and massive profits for Bangladeshi companies and global retail giants. Hasina and previous Bangladeshi governments also have allowed garment manufacturers to maximise their profits with criminal violations of basic industrial safety, resulting in thousands of workers being killed and injured in industrial accidents.

Speaking on behalf of garment exporters, Hasina complained that shipping costs had tripled, adding, “The purchasing power of the people [in the USA and Europe] is declining in the export markets of Bangladeshi clothes… [W]e’ll lose everything if someone disturbs the peace.”

In a clear indication that the government is going to step up its police attacks on protesting garment workers, Hasina called on the authorities to find out who were “instigating the workers’ leaders” and claimed, “there have been efforts to topple our government.”

It appears, however, that recent protests by garment workers erupted spontaneously. According to a New Age report on June 6, trade union leaders said they were not behind the demonstrations and were unaware of who had initiated them.

In fact, the unions have aligned themselves with garment factory owners. A Business Standard report on June 6 stated that, “a section of factory owners and labour leaders are smelling a conspiracy behind the sudden labour unrest demanding a pay raise.”

In an attempt to contain the garment workers anger over low pay, the Stalinist Communist Party of Bangladesh-controlled Garment Workers’ Trade Union Centre and the Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati are calling on the Hasina government to establish a wages board and increase the monthly minimum wage to 20,000 taka.

These unions, which backed the Hasina government’s meagre minimum monthly wage in 2018, are seeking to divert workers into drawn out state-sponsored discussions in order to make another rotten deal with the government and betray workers’ demands.

Hasina’s speech, however, was not just directed against garment workers but other sections of the working class and the poor. “The high inflation and price hike of goods across the world due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic” meant that Bangladeshis would face austerity measures.

“We all have to be economical. We’ll have to pay attention to control wastage of food,” she declared.“ Yes, it is true that prices of goods have shot up to some extent… Rather we’ve been able to keep these under control at least to some extent. We’ve been trying our best.”

Although Bangladesh’s average inflation rate has remained steady at about 5.5 percent in the previous five years, the year-on-year rate for January climbed to 5.86 percent and in April hit 6.29 percent, indicating that it will continue climbing throughout the year.

This month’s protests for higher pay by Bangladeshi garment workers are part of a growing movement by workers in Asia and elsewhere. In Puducherry, India workers from the state-run Swadeshi and Bharathi textile mills protested on May 17 against the government’s plan to close them. In Tamil Nadu, workers at Karur textile units walked out on strike on May 16 and 17 to demand that the government control rising prices of cotton and cotton yarn.

Mélenchon vote rises in first round of French legislative elections

Kumaran Ira & Alex Lantier

The first round of the French legislative elections led to a large advance by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s New Popular Ecological and Social Union (NUPES) and a humiliating setback for President Emmanuel Macron’s “Ensemble” coalition. The second and final round will take place on Sunday, June 19.

The election was also marked by record abstention in a first round of a French legislative election. It was 51.5 percent, according to Ifop-Fiducial estimates, narrowly beating the previous record of 51.3 percent set in 2017.

As of late last night, the NUPES and Ensemble were neck-and-neck with 25.6 percent of the vote. Marine Le Pen’s neo-fascist National Rally (NR) had 18.7 percent and the right-wing The Republicans (LR) 11.3 percent. Reconquest, the party launched by neo-fascist ideologue Eric Zemmour and massively promoted by capitalist media before the April 2022 presidential elections, fell to 4.25 percent.

It appears likely that no party will emerge from next week’s second round with the necessary majority of the National Assembly’s 577 seats. According to various media estimates, Ensemble would obtain 255 to 295 seats, the NUPES 150 to 210, LR 50 to 80, and the RN 20 to 45. Ensemble would get more parliamentary seats with fewer votes by winning many smaller rural constituencies, while NUPES votes are concentrated in smaller numbers of large, big-city districts.

The NUPES benefited from concern over inflation and rising left-wing sentiment among workers and youth. Against inflation, Mélenchon issued many pledges, like freezing natural gas prices and bringing the retirement age back down to 60. Mass support for such policies refutes the arguments given by official media in recent years to explain the rise of neo-fascist parties, claiming that workers are irresistibly turning to the far right.

Last week, airport and health workers in France and across Europe struck against low wages, austerity and the murderous official handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further strikes are planned in workplaces across Europe in coming weeks, including possibly a historic strike of rail workers in Great Britain.

Yesterday evening, Mélenchon declared that Macron’s movement was “beaten and undone,” calling on the French people to “overflow” the voting booths next Sunday to elect the NUPES in power and him prime minister.

He declared, “The truth is that the presidential party, after the first round, is beaten and undone. For the first time in the Fifth Republic, a newly-elected president cannot obtain a majority in the following legislative election. I call on our people, given this result, and the extraordinary opportunity it offers to our personal lives and the fate of our common fatherland, to overflow the voting booths next Sunday.”

While current projections show that Mélenchon would not get a majority in the Assembly, Macron’s majority is well and truly under threat. Barely seven weeks since Macron’s re-election, by default against neo-fascist candidate Marine Le Pen, it is apparent that the president does not have significant electoral support. In fact, the “president of the rich,” who is preparing €80 billion in social austerity cuts and plunging weapons into NATO’s war on Russia in Ukraine, is widely despised.

Many “Ensemble!” candidates were either beaten or forced into second round races in their constituencies. The current government led by Elisabeth Borne, whom Macron installed shortly after winning the presidential elections, is facing a deep crisis given the unpopularity of its ministers.

The prime minister herself was forced into a second round contest with NUPES candidate Noé Gauchard in Normandy’s 6th constituency in Calvados.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, a sympathizer of the fascistic Action française movement who drafted an “anti-separatist” law targeting Islam, was forced into a second round in the 10th constituency in the North.

Ecological Transition Minister Amélie de Montchalin is facing a likely loss in the 6th constituency of the Essonne, against a NUPES candidate, Jérôme Guedj of the big-business Socialist Party (PS).

Former Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer was eliminated on the first round. He was widely hated for helping impose a decade-long wage freeze on teachers, and for rejecting the use of scientific health measures to struggle against transmission of COVID-19 in the schools, despite demands from parents and teachers. With 18.9 percent of total votes cast, he failed to obtain the votes of over 12.5 percent of the total number of registered voters in his constituency that is needed to advance to the second round.

The fact that many ministers or leading politicians were eliminated or forced into second-round run-offs by unknown candidates underscores the broader lack of legitimacy of the political regime, and the artificial character of the established parties. None of them has a genuine base of support among broader masses of voters.

This is also the case of the neo-fascist parties. RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was forced into a second-round runoff at Hénin-Beaumont by NUPES candidate Marine Tondelier. Eric Zemmour, the former far-right presidential candidate who polled at near 20 percent of the vote in the early stages of the presidential elections, was eliminated in the Var region on the first round.

Such setbacks for government ministers and neo-fascists with enormous media backing point to deep opposition emerging among workers to the diktat of the ruling class. As in the presidential elections, this development is initially taking the form of a growing vote for Mélenchon, which workers are using to signal their anger with Macron.

Neither Macron nor the far right can be fought, however, by electing NUPES or other deputies to the Assembly, in the hope that Mélenchon can then serve as prime minister under Macron.

Underlying the rising class struggle and growing opposition to Macron is an international crisis of capitalism which cannot be resolved inside France’s borders. There is deep social anger against the global surge of inflation driven by decades of state handouts of bailout cash to the super-rich, of the COVID-19 pandemic, and of the NATO war on Russia in Ukraine. By offering to serve as prime minister under Macron, who controls foreign policy, Mélenchon has made clear he does not oppose Macron’s EU bank bailouts, policies of mass COVID-19 infection, or support for war. Nor does Mélenchon support mobilizing the working class against these policies.

While Mélenchon won nearly 8 million votes in the presidential elections, concentrated in working class areas of France’s largest cities, he has not called for strikes or protests against Macron that could shut down the French economy. Before the legislative elections, he even declared his explicit opposition to a revolutionary policy, stating: “I am not in favor of organizing a political insurrection in this country.”

Instead, he formed the NUPES alliance with the big-business PS and the Stalinist French Communist Party (PCF). Even as the NUPES wins millions of votes, however, the weaknesses and contradictions of its strategy are coming to the fore.

The record abstention in yesterday’s election underscores that broad layers of workers view Mélenchon’s outreach to the PS and PCF, which have decades of experience in imposing austerity on the working class, with distrust and disillusionment. Significantly, despite the NUPES score, the RN is also poised to make a breakthrough and gain a number of seats in the Assembly on June 19.

UN warns war in Ukraine could amplify cost-of-living crisis

Trévon Austin

The United Nations Global Crisis Response Group warned in a report Wednesday that the ripple effects of the US-NATO conflict with Russia over Ukraine could exacerbate the human suffering of millions around the globe by escalating food and energy prices amid a worsening “global cost-of-living crisis unseen in at least a generation.”

According to the report, the war has the potential to amplify the ramifications of numerous challenges nations face, such as climate change, severe inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Global Crisis Response group identified three main elements to the cost-of-living crisis: rising food prices, rising energy prices and tightening financial conditions. While each of these elements makes life harder for millions on its own, they have already begun feeding into each other in a vicious cycle. Approximately 1.6 billion people in 94 countries are exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis, with about 1.2 billion living in “perfect storm” conditions vulnerable to all three of them.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine has only inflamed a disaster that was years in the making. But the United Nations and bourgeois press have presented the crisis as a direct consequence of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

After the report’s publication, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a press release declaring Russia’s invasion is responsible for more “bloodshed and suffering.”

“Three months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we face a new reality. For those on the ground, every day brings new bloodshed and suffering. And for people around the world, the war, together with the other crises, is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake,” the U.N. chief said.

In reality, the cost of living was already rising well before the conflict. The massive surge in inflation is the outcome of bipartisan monetary policies pursued by both the Democrats and Republicans, who printed trillions of dollars to prop up the stock markets and guarantee the wealth of the ultra-rich.

When the pandemic led to a severe economic downturn in 2020, the US Fed and other major central banks poured an estimated $16 trillion into the financial markets, hoping to prevent a collapse and continue the parasitic growth of the stock market. The refusal of capitalist governments around the world to undertake public health measures to eliminate the virus because of consequences for profits produced disruptions in global supply chains and increased the cost of many commodities.

Moreover, any attempt to place Russia as the sole party responsible for the global crisis is belied by the fact that a conflict with Russia has been a central goal of US imperialist planning since at least the 2014 CIA-backed Ukrainian coup. In April, former US Army Europe Commander Ben Hodges declared that US war goals in Ukraine included “breaking the back” of Russia.

The US and its imperialist allies are just as culpable, if not more so, than the Russian oligarchs for the magnifying the impact of the war.

Notwithstanding the report’s framing, the statistics reported by the Global Crisis Response Group provide a critical insight into the growth of poverty and destitution all over the world.

The UN report noted that, more than two years into the pandemic, the ability of people to cope with the cost-of-living crisis has been severely diminished. Worldwide, about 60 percent of workers have already lower incomes than before the pandemic, with the average household losing 1.5 percent in real income due to price increases in corn and wheat alone.

The report warns the increase in hunger since the start of the war could be higher and more widespread. In the last two years, the number of people facing food crises doubled from 135 to 276 million due to the effects of the war. This year, that number could climb to 323 million. People are already reducing their food purchases and may be reducing the number of nutritious items, skipping meals and/or eating smaller portions.

By the end of this year between 179 and 181 million people in 41 of 53 nations where data was available are forecast to face a food crisis, with 19 million more expected to face chronic undernourishment next year if limited food availability persists. Together, Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the world’s wheat supply, 20 percent of its maize and up to 80 percent of its sunflower seed oil.

Steep rises in the cost of living will increase poverty worldwide, after the pandemic has already caused a tremendous rise in impoverishment. According to the World Bank, the war could push up to 95 million people into extreme poverty. The report estimates that, in general, 10 million people are pushed into extreme poverty for every percentage point increase in food prices.

The rise in energy prices will have a disproportionate impact on the poorest and most vulnerable. Crude oil has reached over $120 a barrel, and energy prices overall are expected to rise by 50 percent in 2022. In particular, the price of European natural gas has risen tenfold compared to two years ago. Almost 90 million people in Asia and Africa who had previously gained access to electricity can no longer afford to pay for their energy needs.

Critically, the combination of increased transportation and fertilizer costs spell trouble for next year’s harvest. Because of the fertilizer shortage, global food production in 2023 may not be able to meet rising demand.

Current trade restrictions affect almost one-fifth of calories traded globally. But if the current course continues, rice—the world’s most widely consumed staple which has remained relatively low up to now—could be significantly impacted by the loss of fertilizer, aggravating the crisis.

The UN report called for immediate action, urging international financial institutions, especially the boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to increase financial resources of countries in need and counseling warring nations to broker a “package deal” to allow food to be safely exported through the Black Sea.

Germany’s biggest real estate company announces new round of rent increases

Markus Salzmann

Germany’s largest housing company, Vonovia, has announced large rent increases and other real estate companies are expected to follow suit. For millions of families in Germany housing has already become unaffordable.

Vonovia CEO Rolf Buch justified the announcement with rising inflation. “If inflation is permanently at 4 percent, rents in future will also have to rise accordingly every year,” Buch told the business newspaper Handelsblatt. Otherwise, he claimed many landlords would experience difficulties (!).

Workers and residents march in opposition to proposed rent increases. [Photo: WSWS]

The reference by Vonovia to rising inflation is just a pretext: The driving force behind the planned increases is naked greed.

Vonovia increased its rents in the first three months of this year to an average of €7.40 per square metre, i.e., 3.1 percent more than a year earlier. In Berlin, the company increased rents by as much as 8 percent. Overall, rents in Germany rose by an average of 1.7 percent during this period, which means Vonovia leads the pack. In the last six years, rents for Vonovia flats have increased by nearly 22 percent.

Against this background, Vonovia’s promise to increase average rents by no more than 1 percent per year for the next three years, and then in line with the rate of inflation cannot be taken seriously. It was already clear at the beginning of 2021 that the so-called “Future and Social Pact” agreed between the Berlin Senate and Vonovia was not worth the paper it was written on—with many tenants reporting increases of up to 9 percent.

Vonovia is Germany’s largest housing group with a total of 565,000 flats in Germany, Austria and Sweden, with most of its property in Germany. Following its takeover of the Deutsche Wohnen group last year, the company owns around 150,000 flats in Berlin alone.

As a result, the real estate company group is making fantastic profits at the expense of tenants. In 2020, it increased its operating profit by over 10 percent to €1.35 billion, even after the Berlin Senate had imposed a (very temporary) rent cap following massive protests from tenants. Last year the company’s profits rose to €1.7 billion and, with a share price of €1.66, paid out the highest dividend in its history.

Along with Vonovia, other large real estate companies have also increased rents, in some cases drastically. Rents nationwide have increased over the past year by 4.6 percent for existing flats and 7.6 percent for new buildings. The front-runner in rent increases is Berlin, followed by Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg.

The internet property company Immoscout24 expects further massive rent increases over the next 12 months of up to 6 percent in Berlin and 4 percent in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne. Rents for new flats are expected to rise by 8 percent in Berlin and 7 percent across Germany over the same period.

Thomas Schroeter, managing director of Immoscout24, also made clear that the rent increases are only conditionally related to rising inflation rates. “Even before the drastic increase in the inflation rate, rents had risen significantly, especially in big cities,” he said. “It is not only becoming more and more expensive, but also more and more difficult to find a flat in the conurbations.”

In addition to rapidly rising rents, households face soaring ancillary costs. For an average flat with gas heating, the costs for heating and hot water increased by 35.7 percent from February 2021 to February 2022. The cost of electricity rose by 13 percent over the same period, according to Immoscout24.

For a 70-square-metre flat this results in additional costs of around €31 per month compared to last year. If energy costs continue to rise, the additional costs for heating, hot water and electricity will soar to around €92 per month by the end of the year, i.e., for a 70 sq.m. flat, an additional annual burden of around €1,100.

In addition, Vonovia and other real estate companies have announced they will cut back on investment. The share prices of some real estate companies have come under pressure following the recent decision by central banks to reverse their ultra-low interest rate policy. Investors therefore expect cuts. This means that fewer flats will be built, which, under conditions of increasing demand, creates the pretext for even greater rent increases.

Resistance to the unscrupulous greed of the real estate sharks has been growing for years. More and more people have to spend a major part of their income on rent and utilities, the demand for accommodation is omnipresent and growing in all major cities, and even two-income families struggle to find affordable housing. All over Germany, and especially in Berlin, there have been large demonstrations against excessive rents. Last September, in a popular referendum, almost 60 percent of the population in Berlin voted in favour of expropriating large housing corporations.

While the majority in Berlin was clearly in favour of expropriation, the city’s Senate—a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and Left Party—has not only ignored the result of the referendum, it has continued to defend the interests of the real estate sharks.

The Senate’s response to Vonovia’s latest announcement is utterly hypocritical. The dual chairpersons of the Greens in Berlin, Susanne Mertens and Philmon Ghirmai, declared that against the background of soaring energy prices, “Vonovia’s announcement to raise prices is a slap in the face for tenants.”

The truth is that the Greens, together with Berlin’s mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD), oppose expropriating the large property holdings and, as part of a so-called “housing alliance” between the Senate and the real estate industry, have intensified their cooperation with the real estate sharks against the tenants.

A recent proposal by the Senate parties to cap rents at 30 percent of net income is nothing more than hot air. The proposal is meant to distract from the fact that the Senate is ruthlessly enforcing the interests of the real estate companies against the population. The fact is that the SPD-Left Party-Green Senate bears direct responsibility for Vonovia’s latest rent increase proposal.

Last summer, the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party explicitly supported the merger of Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen, although it was perfectly clear that the costs of the takeover would be passed onto tenants.

At that time, Giffey’s predecessor, Michael Müller (SPD), announced a “new cooperation between politics and business” that was “not confrontational but cooperative,” thereby defending the interests of Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen. The then senator for urban development and housing, Sebastian Scheel (Left Party), also welcomed the merger and described cooperation between the corporations and the Senate as “progress.”

UK POWs sentenced to death by Donetsk court

Laura Tiernan

Death sentences handed down against two British nationals serving in the Ukrainian armed forces are being seized on by the press to deepen anti-Russia hysteria. The British government is using the incident to ramp up NATO’s proxy-war against Russia in Ukraine.

Two British citizens Aiden Aslin, left, and Shaun Pinner, right, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim, center, sit behind bars in a courtroom in Donetsk, in the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo)

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) found Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner guilty of being mercenaries, fighting for the violent seizure of power and training to carry out terrorist activities, according to Russian state media.

The charges are widely seen as an attempt to force a prisoner swap. Russian separatists are demanding the release of pro-Russian politician Victor Medvedchuk, reportedly a close friend of Putin, who was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on April 12. The pair have one month to appeal the verdict.

Britain’s press was an orgy of jingoism today. Banner headlines included, “BRITS FACE DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD: PUTIN’S PAWNS” (Metro), “NEW UKRAINE WAR HORROR: UK OUTRAGE AS TWO BRITS FACE FIRING SQUAD” (Daily Mail), “CAPTURED BRITS HORROR: SENTENCED TO DEATH BY PUTIN” (Mirror). The broadsheets contributed with “‘A Soviet-era show trial’: Mariupol Britons sentenced to death” (Guardian) and “Donetsk ‘Sham’ trial stirs outrage” (Financial Times).

Aslin, 28, from Nottinghamshire, was captured by Russian forces in Mariupol on April 12. His unit surrendered after running out of ammunition. Shaun Pinner, 48, was also captured in Mariupol. The city in east Ukraine has seen intense fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian military and far-right militias. It is the stronghold of the fascist Azov Battalion.

Aslin was a member of the 39th Battalion Ukrainian Marines, while Pinner fought in the 36th Brigade. British authorities, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have denied the pair are mercenaries. But any distinction between Ukraine’s armed forces and fascist and foreign mercenaries has long since been obliterated. The United States and Britain have poured billions of dollars in weapons and military and logistical support into Ukraine to defeat Russia in what amounts to a NATO proxy-war.

British guns-for-hire

After Russian television aired footage of Aslin when he was captured and charged last month, Johnson told parliament, “His situation is very different to that of a mercenary.” Johnson and Tory MP for Newark Robert Jenrick portrayed him as a regular Ukrainian army soldier, with Johnson emphasising, “I understand he’d been serving in the Ukrainian forces for some time.”

Aslin is no ordinary soldier. On February 14, more than one month prior to the outbreak of war, the pro-Tory Telegraph featured an interview with him dressed in full battle fatigues, “‘What we signed up for’: British soldier returns to Ukrainian Army unit to prepare for Russian invasion”. The newspaper’s sub-head explained, “Aiden Aslin, also known as Johnny, is joining other British and foreign volunteers who will be in the firing lines if an attack begins”.

Telegraph's promotion of Aiden Aslin, February 2022 (Credit: screenshot/Telegraph)

A similar piece appeared in the Times March 24, “British fighter Aiden Aslin survives raids in Mariupol”. Aslin was a poster-boy for British efforts to cast the Ukrainian military, allied with fascist militias, as freedom fighters against Russia. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss even urged former British soldiers to travel to Ukraine, giving succour to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for a volunteer “legion” of international fighters.

Aslin was a foreign mercenary in Syria in 2015-16 and was placed on Britain’s terrorist watch-list—a fact that today’s saturation news coverage conceals. He fought ISIS with US-backed Kurdish militia group the YPG and was twice arrested and questioned by British police under the Terrorism Act. Charges against him were dropped and he travelled unimpeded to Ukraine in 2018, enlisting in its military, joining the marines, and serving frontline duty in Donbas in quick succession. His Ukrainian citizenship is based on his engagement to Diane Aslin, who taught English in Ukraine’s Navy but has left the country.

After he was captured, Aslin appeared on Russian TV wearing the Azov Battalion’s fascist insignia. Ukraine’s armed forces have absorbed the Azov Battalion and other far-right militias into its ranks. It works directly with foreign mercenary forces, armed and equipped by NATO.

British POW Aiden Aslan wearing the insignia of neo-Nazi Azov Battalion (Credit: screenshot taken from Russian state television Rossyia 1)

According to the Telegraph’s profile in February, Aslin’s introduction to Ukraine came during his time as a mercenary in Syria, “It was there he met a Ukrainian volunteer who had previously fought against Russian forces in the Donbas who persuaded him of the justice of the Ukrainian cause.”

More than three decades of US and British-led wars across the Middle East and Europe since the dissolution of the USSR have created a network of guns-for-hire. This is true of Shaun Pinner, captured alongside Aslin in Mariupol. Pinner, from Watford, England, is a former member of Britain’s Royal Anglia Regiment who fought in Bosnia and Northern Ireland. He reportedly served as a mercenary in Iraq and Syria. According to Russian news agency TASS, after his arrival in Ukraine he initially worked as an instructor for the Azov Battalion.

Downing Street and the Geneva Convention

On April 14, photographs of Aslin and Pinner were aired on Russian television, showing cuts and bruises to their face. Aslin was later interviewed by pro-Russian filmmaker Graham Phillips, a former RT correspondent who works with Russian separatist forces in Ukraine. Phillips’ interview elicited statements from Aslin made under duress, denouncing the Ukrainian military and fascist Azov Battalion for committing war crimes.

In video appeals since their capture, Aslin and Pinner have urged Zelensky to make a prisoner swap with Victor Medvedchuk. Aslin stated on April 14, “If Boris Johnson really does care like he says he does about British citizens then he would help pressure Zelensky to do the right thing and return Victor to his family and us to our families.”

Russian separatists say their treatment of Aslin and Pinner, including Thursday’s death sentence, is justified because the Geneva Convention does not apply to foreign mercenaries. The separatists’ actions, like the Russian invasion itself, are aimed at securing a deal with the imperialist powers. They only hand NATO a pretext to escalate military aggression.

Both Aslin and Pinner are entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention, including the right to a fair trial and protection from prosecution as enemy combatants if there is no evidence of war crimes. Yet the screech of Tory and Labour politicians and media commentators invoking the Geneva Convention for British nationals plying NATO war aims in Ukraine is rank hypocrisy.

Downing Street’s declarations that Russia must respect the Geneva Convention is a principle the British ruling class has systematically flouted during countless wars over more than three decades. Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Starmer and Johnson have backed the use of torture and assassination as a legitimate tool of foreign policy, presided over the indiscriminate mass killing of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the routine torture of enemy combatants.

Yesterday, Jenrick declared that Aslin and Pinner had been subjected to a “disgusting Soviet-era show trial”. But when it comes to show trials, the British are long-standing experts. The Johnson government is currently set to rubberstamp the decade-long extra-judicial witch-hunt of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, by ordering his extradition to the US. This vendetta, facilitated by the highest levels of the judiciary, included CIA plans to kidnap and assassinate Assange for exposing the war crimes of British and US imperialism.

Biden administration lifts COVID testing requirements for international travelers

Benjamin Mateus

The Biden administration announced starting Sunday it would end all COVID-19 testing requirements for international travelers inbound to the US. The mandate that had been placed into effect on January 26, 2021, shortly after Biden took office, required all international passengers give proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to boarding their flight. 

Passengers wait in line at the security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Arlington, Va. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

A senior administration official said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would reevaluate the issue of COVID-19 testing for international travelers every 90 days. However, the statement amounts to nothing more than a rhetorical diversion as the CDC has become an open instrument of big business and the financial markets. 

The CDC’s decision essentially ends the last remaining restrictions to contain COVID in the US. Airline stocks climbed briefly in the early hours of trading on the news before turning down again on the broader global economic dismay caused by surging inflation.

Apparently, travel remains the one bright spot in the economic news. The US Travel Association reported that though the US economy contracted in the first quarter, travel spending in April exceeded 2019 levels for the first time during the pandemic at $100 billion, or 3 percent higher.  

However, travel from overseas to the US has remained suppressed. CEO of US Travel Association Roger Dow commended Biden in an email, stating that rescinding the requirement “will welcome back visitors from around the world and accelerate the recovery of the US travel industry.” 

US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo released the National Travel and Tourism Strategy for the year on June 6. The initiative “focuses the full efforts of the federal government to promote the United States as a premier destination grounded in the breadth and diversity of our communities, and to foster a sector that drives economic growth, creates good jobs, and bolsters conservation and sustainability.” 

According to their five-year plan, the Biden administration hopes to attract 90 million visitors who will spend close to $300 billion annually by 2027.  Per point two of the strategy, in order to facilitate travel to and within the United States, they intend to “reduce barriers to trade in travel services and make it safer and more efficient for visitors to enter …” The lifting of the current restrictions could bring almost 5.5 million travelers (an additional 4.3 million more passengers) and garner $9 billion in spending through to the end of the calendar year.

To place this succinctly, public health measures during a continuing pandemic cannot be allowed to place any constraints on the ability to extract profit, including limited restrictions on travelers who may very well be carrying the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2. 

Republican Senator from Mississippi Roger Wicker who is the ranking member of the Senate committee overseeing transportation, reveled in the lifting of the testing requirement, saying, “Ending this burdensome requirement is long overdue and something I have been urging for months. [I am] relieved that the Biden administration has finally seen reason and removed the requirement.”

Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada seconded Wicker’s endorsement, “I’m glad CDC suspended the burdensome coronavirus testing requirement for international travelers, and I’ll continue to do all I can to support the strong recovery of our hospitality industry.” 

One must ask what is meant by burdensome? COVID infections have been climbing since April, having reached a seven-day average of over 116,000 infections per day. Deaths have turned sharply upwards since June 2, with 448 deaths each day on average, according to Johns Hopkins.  

Meanwhile, more than 60 percent of the population has been infected at least once and Long COVID affects 20 to 25 percent of those previously infected. On top of the more than 1 million deaths, the long-term impact of COVID on the population’s health will be considerable. 

A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe found that people infected with SARS-CoV-2, especially older people, had more than three times the risk of dying one year after recovering from their acute infection compared to those that were uninfected. Another study from Veterans Affairs found that mortality increased even after breakthrough infection, even among those with mild disease. 

The policy of herd immunity continues to dominate the ruling elite’s calculations and fortunes. COVID in permanence will continue to cull the eldest and most vulnerable, expunging those the ruling class sees as an unproductive liability. Charlatan Ezekiel Emanuel’s hope for swift natural death has been combined with Thomas Friedman’s demand that the cure can’t be worse than the disease to assure Wall Street that only those who can work will survive.

In a report published by the World Socialist Web Site, Keith Begg and Virpi Flyg wrote “Johan Giesecke, a former Swedish state epidemiologist and senior adviser to the World Health Organization who was contracted to work with the FHM [Folkhälsomyndigheten, the Swedish public health authority] during 2020, stated that when the herd immunity strategy was in full swing in Sweden, ‘The people who are frail and old will die first. And when that group of people begins to sort of thin out, you will get less deaths as well.’”

Attempts were quickly made by the likes of biosecurity expert Eric Toner to downplay the dangers posed by lifting the international travel testing restrictions. He said in an interview with Bloomberg, “I have long thought the testing requirement for travel to the US was not evidence based or logical—and most other countries have abandoned this approach. It’s been a hardship for the airlines and a real hardship for travelers as people get back to travel for business and leisure.”

What Toner should say, if he were being sincere, is that almost every government has adopted a “live with the virus” strategy and there is no enforcement of any measures to stem infections or track and trace where they are spreading. Therefore, the current mandate under such conditions only impedes the free flow of commerce.

Dr. Vin Gupta, health adviser to the Biden administration’s post-election transition team, made a more callous observation in the Wall Street Journal. “It’s well past time to drop the testing requirement to international travelers to the U.S. There was the assumption that international travelers were bringing in new variants. Now we know new variants are cropping up in the US.”

Australia’s Aspen Medical: A case study of healthcare privatisation

Margaret Rees

Hailed as an Australian business success story, the medical logistics company Aspen Medical provides a textbook example of a private company expanding at the expense of public health thanks to capitalist governments’ privatisation of healthcare.

Aspen Medical co-founder Glenn Keys (right) accepting the company's induction into Australia Export Awards Hall of Fame in November 2021 (Image: Matthew Wilson@_matthewwilson)

On May 2, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program “Four Corners” ran an exposé of the firm’s financial turnaround during 2020–21 on the back of government pandemic contracts totaling over $1 billion, awarded without public tender.

This followed years of promotion of Aspen by Liberal-National Coalition and Labor Party governments alike.

Aspen was founded in 2003 by former military flight test engineer Glenn Keys in partnership with his friend and medical doctor Andrew Walker. It rapidly developed into the emerging global market for healthcare logistics, while proclaiming “humanitarian” goals.

After leaving the military, Keys had joined defence start-up Aerospace Technology Services and later sold his stake in the company to major US military contractor Raytheon.

Visiting Britain in 2003, Keys realised an opportunity existed for Aspen in Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s plans to start privatising the National Health Service (NHS). Aspen tendered for a consultancy contract to review orthopaedic services. This soon led to a contract to reduce the NHS orthopaedic elective surgery waiting list in the north of England.

The Blair government had embarked on cost-cutting and implementing Tory-initiated “reforms” such as developing NHS “internal markets.” Private consultancies like Aspen were used to trail-blaze the carve-up.

At the same time, Aspen won a contract to provide health services in the Solomon Islands as part of the Australian government’s 2003 military intervention, branded as the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI.)

More than 2,000 Australian soldiers and police were deployed to the Pacific island state in a neo-colonial operation that involved taking over all key government functions, even health programs.

Keys said: “The Defence department was responsible for providing all the health services, but they saw it would be a long term project, and didn’t want to be there for that long, so tendered out the process. We beat off companies from across Europe and Asia. This was the first time the Australian government had outsourced services in an operational environment.”

Despite Aspen having little-to-no health provider qualifications, these initial assignments established it as a business with unique military connections.

It also ingratiated itself with various governments to obtain lucrative commissions, such as a Public Private Partnership deal to run two hospitals in Fiji, and a $US1 billion arrangement to build and operate 650 healthcare clinics and 23 hospitals in Indonesia.

Australian governments’ privatisation agenda often coincided with neo-colonial and military contracts. In 2010, under the Rudd-Gillard Labor government, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) hired Aspen to deal with a severe cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea.

In 2012, the company won a $500 million contract from the Labor government to provide 1,000 special medical staff for military bases nationally for four years.

According to the Saturday Paper: “It has worked as a defence contractor, and as an operator in Australia’s offshore immigration detention network, providing medical services at Nauru hospital.”

Aspen also provided personnel to the British Ministry of Defence under the Cameron Tory government for deployment to Afghanistan. In the Middle East, the company set up six hospitals for the World Health Organisation and the Iraqi puppet government, and opened an ambulance service for the government in the United Arab Emirates. 

In Africa it ran a large hospital in Lagos, Nigeria for 10 years, and established a hospital in Liberia.

In 2014, the Australian Coalition government awarded an almost $20 million contract to Aspen to run a 100-bed facility in Sierra Leone during a raging Ebola epidemic. “Four Corners” noted that the company made a 26 percent profit on the Ebola intervention—more than $3.7 million.

In 2016, Aspen gained a contract to provide health services at the newly-privatised Melaleuca women’s prison in Perth, Western Australia. An indigenous death in custody there in 2017 raised disturbing questions about Aspen’s failure to properly provide healthcare staffing. An internal document, commissioned before the inmate’s death, admitted that Aspen’s deficiencies posed “a highly significant clinical risk” and warned that there could be a “death in custody due to lack of doctor cover.”

The COVID-19 pandemic provided another golden opportunity, resulting in a huge leap in profitability. The Australian Financial Review noted that Aspen gained a 650 percent revenue increase in the financial year to June 2020, earning $562 million.

In the 18 months to August 2021, Aspen gained numerous government contracts. The largest was for medical supplies for the National Medical Stockpile, which totaled $1.1 billion across four contracts. According to Aspen’s website, it sourced 50 percent of the Australian government’s requirements for personal protective equipment.

The financial newspaper reported that Aspen’s staff numbers grew from 670 before the pandemic to more than 3,400. Many of these workers were casualised, short-term labour, paid low rates.

The company managed infection control for repatriation flights from Wuhan in January 2020, ran respiratory clinics across Australia, and provided quarantine services for Princess Cruises, including the Diamond Princess crew in Japan.

In March 2020, the Ruby Princess COVID-19 debacle occurred in Sydney. New South Wales Health allowed 2,700 untested passengers to disembark. It transpired that 663 passengers and crew were infected. The passengers unwittingly spread the virus across the country and 28 died from COVID. Aspen was contracted to perform screening and testing for the stranded crew, who were kept on the vessel.

With the virus raging through aged care facilities resulting in rising deaths, Aspen became one of eight companies tasked with providing a replacement workforce during the Newmarch House aged care coronavirus outbreak in Sydney in April 2020 where 19 residents died.

The federal Health Department signed a $16 million contract for Aspen to provide staff to federally funded aged care homes that were experiencing serious COVID-19 outbreaks. The value of that contract was later boosted to $44.96 million.

The disastrous implications of the privatised business model were underlined at St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Melbourne later that year. Aspen was tasked with re-staffing St Basil’s when the entire original staff was quarantined on July 21 in an exploding outbreak of COVID-19. At that point one resident had died at the facility.

The company began its takeover on July 22 with woefully inadequate staffing after informing the federal government representative, Neil Callagher, it could not find more.

Callagher told the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of 50 residents in Australia’s worst aged care COVID outbreak that the majority of replacement nurses organised by Aspen were “literally graduates.” Peter Rozen, QC, counsel assisting the inquest, said it was “an ever changing and diminishing group of inexperienced nurses and care workers.”

Visiting consultant Kirsten Congerton had emailed the Health Department on July 24, warning that the agency staff was “very young, inexperienced, terrified and overwhelmed.” Aspen was told by that date that residents were not being fed. By July 31, all residents were transferred to hospitals, where the death toll rose to 50.

Nevertheless, the Morrison government paid Aspen another $46 million to provide booster shots to aged care residents. Unwilling to pay holiday penalty rates to their staff, the company took a break over the 2021 Christmas holidays until January 3, 2022. Omicron did not take a break. Death rates in aged care homes skyrocketed, with 906 fatalities in 2022 to March 18, almost half the total since the beginning of the pandemic.

Aspen’s business model encapsulates the increasing privatisation of public health services at the behest of the corporate and financial elite. Far from governments injecting money into the under-resourced and understaffed public health system, billions of dollars are being funneled into private companies whose overriding concern is profit.