RTÉ and the Irish press report fairly
regularly about the workings of the Troika and the discussions Enda
Kenny (leader of Fine Gael) and Michael Noonan (Minister of Finance)
hold with European Union and the IMF, although the edited highlights and
the “communiqués” don’t mention the small print. As many people behind
on the mortgage will have found out to their cost over the last few
years, the devil is in the detail.

As the Spanish government got its
€65bn austerity package passed in Parliament, millions of people took to
the streets in unprecedented demonstrations against cuts on July 19.
The day after, as the Valencian regional government asked for a central
government bailout (of 3.5bn euro), the risk premium on Spanish bonds
hit a new record, while 10 year bonds were yielding 7.3%. The Spanish
economy is on the verge of a full bailout.

Following the declaration of
independence by South Sudan – which is dependent on financial and
military aid from American imperialism – tensions between Khartoum and
Juba have been steadily ramped up over the past year and have brought
death and destruction both sides of the border.