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World powers stand by as Ebola death toll passes 4,000

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The United States and other Western powers are seeking to take advantage of the crisis sparked by the deadly Ebola epidemic, not to save the victims, but to establish a stronger military presence in West Africa.

Two months since the police murder of Michael Brown

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The latest shooting outside St. Louis, Missouri shows that police continue to commit murder with impunity.

Balkan states back US war in the Middle East

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Balkan countries that have joined the “coalition against IS” are whipping up anti-Islamist sentiment and introducing repressive legislation.

Romania joins imperialist war drive against Russia

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The imperialist drive to the east poses big dangers for the working class of Moldova and Romania.

Court decisions stop voter ID requirements in Wisconsin, Texas

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The judicial actions block laws that would have prevented as many as 1.1 million people from voting on November 4.

Hong Kong protests swell after talks called off

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Protest leaders threaten to escalate their actions unless the government responds to their demand for full and open elections in 2017.

US Supreme Court opens new term

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The Court declined to hear cases overturning bans on same-sex marriage, then held arguments on police stops and withholding pay for time spent clearing security.

Another asthmatic man dead after being tackled by New York police

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Daniel Levitt is the second asthmatic killed by New York police this year, along with Eric Garner, and the fourth person killed by the NYPD in the past two weeks.

Right-wing UK Independence Party benefits from disaffection in British by-elections

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

UKIP makes its core appeal on opposition to the European Union, while peddling anti-immigrant chauvinism.

IMF and EU call the tune in Bosnia elections

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Bosnia’s fiscal deficit is expected to rise from 2 percent of GDP to 4.5 percent while the unemployment rate stands at 44 percent.

Australia’s “Camp Gallipoli”—a militarist extravaganza

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The government-backed Camp Gallipoli Foundation is taking Anzac glorification and militaristic propaganda to new levels.

Germany: Nine-hour strike by train drivers

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The nationwide strike brought most long-distance, regional, freight and commuter trains to a halt.

Strike of Reynoldsburg, Ohio teachers in its fourth week

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

More than 350 teachers in the Columbus suburb are continuing their strike over the district’s demand to tie wages to student performance.

CLC president helped scuttle BC teachers’ strike

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff intervened to shut down the militant strike British Columbia teachers were mounting in defence of public education.

Chicago-area teen charged with attempting to join ISIS

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The arrest of Mohammed Hamzah Khan at a Chicago airport last Saturday raises a number of questions about the degree of US intelligence involvement.

David North lectures in US Midwest on lessons of 20th Century imperialism

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Lectures in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit were well attended by students and young workers.

Sri Lankan SEP anti-war campaign receives support among workers

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The SEP and IYSSE are holding public meetings tomorrow in Hatton and Gampaha against the drive to war.

Australian forces deployed in Iraq: Bipartisanship and the war drive

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The illusion of “strength” surrounding the Abbott government as it commits troops to the US-led war is, above all, a product of the bipartisan support it is receiving.

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

“Chicago Socialist Campaign” seeks to head off opposition to Democrats

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Jorge Mújica, a longtime Democratic Party activist, is running as an “independent socialist” candidate in next February’s election for Chicago City Council.

US, Turkey at odds over Syria intervention

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Obama and Erdogan are in conflict over the methods to achieve their common goal, the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

The economic roots of the drive to war

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The permanent stagnation in the world economy is fuelling inter-imperialist tensions and creating the conditions for war.

Off-duty cop kills St. Louis teenager

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The officer fired 17 shots, including a downward shot to the head that killed the 18-year-old.

Tens of thousands protest massacre of Mexican student teachers

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The killings have triggered a tidal wave of national anger that threatens the stability of the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

India and Pakistan trade warnings over escalating border clashes

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

India and Pakistan have exchanged bellicose warnings over what are being described as the most serious border skirmishes in more than a decade.

Australian PM foreshadows ban on Islamist group

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Tony Abbott said Hizb ut-Tahrir could be proscribed under new laws against “promoting terrorism.”

Burqas banned in Australian parliament

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The ban was issued during a series of terror scares designed to justify the US war in Iraq and Syria and draconian new anti-terror legislation.

Germany: Left Party bangs the drum for military action against the Islamic State

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Fourteen leading Left Party politicians have issued a statement titled "Save Kobani!"

UK unions begin to demobilise their own pathetic protest strike

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Strikes were called to give undeserved credibility to the Trades Union Congress’s (TUC) October 18 “Britain Needs a Pay Rise” march and rally in London.

Right-wing governing coalition wins parliamentary elections in Latvia

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Laimdota Straujuma’s declared goals are a continuation of severe austerity measures and an intensification of the confrontation with Russia.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky announces his return to Russian politics

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Khodorkovsky speaks for sections of the Russian ruling elite striving for closer collaboration with the imperialist countries, where they have hoarded vast quantities of wealth.

Atlantic City, New Jersey casino workers arrested at protest over slashed benefits

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Workers blocked traffic to oppose draconian cuts to their health and pension benefits.

Authors weigh in on the Amazon-Hachette war

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The ongoing e-commerce dispute raises fundamental questions about culture and how—and by whom—the immense advances in technology will be used and controlled.

IYSSE protests censorship at Berlin’s Humboldt University

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The administration has conditioned its approval of a meeting room for the IYSSE on the censorship of any political criticism of members of the University.

99 Homes, Shelter and harsh American realities: Filmmakers inch their way toward important truths

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

99 Homes deals with the foreclosure and eviction crisis, Shelter with the homeless. Also screened was a documentary about a Mexican citizen 30 years on death row, The Years of Fierro.

The LSSP rejects the ICFI’s defence of Trotskyism

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The second of four articles on the political lessons of the entry of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party into the Sri Lankan government of Madame Sirima Bandaranaike in June 1964.

Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Obama meets with US combat commanders amid mounting calls for ground troops

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

There has been a steadily escalating drumbeat of criticism of the ongoing US air war as inadequate.

The Ebola epidemic: A social disaster in West Africa

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Responsibility for the ongoing Ebola crisis in West Africa lies with the imperialist powers that have subjected the continent to extreme economic exploitation.

Turkey’s role in ISIS conflict threatens to reignite civil war

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Ankara is determined that anti-ISIS operations do not strengthen Kurdish forces in either Syria or Turkey itself.

Canada’s parliament votes to join new Mideast war

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The opposition parties’ “anti-war” stance is a sham: they fully support the aims of Canada’s military intervention in the Mideast, quibbling only over the appropriate tactics.

The Australian Greens and their phony anti-war posturing

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The Greens are positioning themselves as a political lightning rod for anti-war opposition.

Hong Kong protests dwindle ahead of talks

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Talks tomorrow are unlikely to reach any agreement, but have already served the government’s purpose in defusing the protests.

IMF report records global economic breakdown

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The World Economic Outlook cannot explain why the IMF’s reports over the past four years have consistently over-estimated global growth.

High school students walk out to defend Philadelphia teachers

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Students were protesting Monday’s decision by the School Reform Commission to tear up the labor contract covering 15,000 teachers.

Wal-Mart to eliminate health benefits for 30,000 workers

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Wal-Mart announced this week that it would join Target and Home Depot in slashing healthcare for part-time workers in response to the Affordable Care Act.

Police and Obama administration plan for nationwide crackdown on Ferguson protests

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

State and federal officials are preparing a coordinated nationwide attack on protests if a grand jury whitewashes the police killing of Michael Brown.

Malaysian government tries to railroad opposition leader to jail

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Anwar Ibrahim faces imprisonment and senior opposition figures have been charged under the notorious 1948 Sedition Act for criticising the government.

Germany: Joschka Fischer’s declaration of war on Russia

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

With his policy towards Russia, Fischer draws directly from the legacy of German imperialism in the last century.

Haiti’s President Martelly eulogizes ex-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

After the former dictator, known as “Baby Doc” died October 4, Martlelly hailed him as an “authentic son of Haiti.”

War propaganda in the German Historical Museum

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Last week former security official Horst Teltschik and the historians Michael Wolffsohn, Sönke Neitzel and Jörg Baberowski discussed Germany's role as an intervention force at the German Historical Museum.

The Ben Affleck-Bill Maher-Sam Harris dispute: Anti-Muslim bigotry and American imperialist policy

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The argument that erupted on the October 3 edition of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” was revealing.

Oppose Australia’s participation in Iraq-Syria war! Oppose anti-democratic laws and police raids!

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The real aim of the US and its allies is regime-change in Syria and total US domination over the oil-rich Middle East.

Turkey demands US back war to topple Syria’s Assad

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

As ISIS forces were poised to take the Syrian border town of Kobani, Turkish President Erdogan reiterated his conditions for joining the US-led war in the region.

The bank bailout and the Forbes 400

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Six years since the 2008 bank bailout, the wealth of the 400 richest people in the United States has nearly doubled.

Growth estimates revised down ahead of IMF-World Bank meetings

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Such reductions have been a regular occurrence since the eruption of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Burned bodies of 28 Mexican teaching students pulled from mass graves

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Guerrero state authorities confirmed that a local gang tied to the Iguala mayor killed the students.

Detroit mayor and city council president voice full support for continued financial dictatorship

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

After dropping their rhetorical opposition to the emergency manager, Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council President Brenda Jones were given seats on the financial control board.

Felony charges dropped against Detroit cop who killed seven-year-old girl

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot and killed during a violent SWAT team raid in 2010.

Hewlett-Packard layoffs to total more than 55,000

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The job cuts are part of HP’s plan to split into two separate organizations—computer operations and business technologies.

San Diego suicides reach highest reported number in 2013

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

A recent report from the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council noted a 20 percent increase in suicides over the past six years.

German Green Party-affiliated think tank calls for renewed offensive against Russia

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Seventy years after the German bourgeoisie sought to establish its control over Mittel-Europa, the Green Party and the Heinrich Böll Foundation are urging it to take the same path once again.

Canada’s government engaged in mass surveillance of protest groups

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

A federal government “emergency response” centre has been systematically collecting information on demonstrations and other protest events.

Dire shortage of affordable housing in the UK

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The shortage of affordable housing is a consequence of years of not building the houses required to meet demand.

Sri Lankan Supreme Court endorses deportation of asylum seekers

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Forcible deportations of Pakistan and Afghan asylum seekers from Sri Lanka continue after the court rejects a human rights appeal.

New Zealand Labour leader resigns after election rout

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Labour’s loss of support in the working class cannot be reversed by a leadership change.

Snowpiercer: A new ice age and its consequences

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s latest film tackles environmental catastrophe and social revolution.

State authorities revoke labor contract for 15,000 Philadelphia teachers

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The School Reform Commission is unilaterally slashing medical coverage for current and retired teachers and school employees.

The Mideast war and the US election

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Four weeks before the congressional election, the Democrats and Republicans are engaged in a conspiracy of silence over US war plans in the Middle East.

ISIS gains provide further pretext for US ground troops in Iraq and Syria

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Air strikes by the US and its allies have failed to halt the ISIS siege of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border.

New Zealand government prepares to join US war in Middle East

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Just nine days after his government was re-elected, Prime Minister John Key said he would consider sending soldiers to Iraq.

Germany to deploy combat troops in Ukraine

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The German government is planning to send troops into Ukraine for the first time since the Second World War.

Australia: 500 more public sector jobs to go in Tasmania

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The state government withdrew its pay freeze and declared it will axe a further 500 jobs, bringing the total to 1,200 since the August budget.

New pamphlet outlines basis for struggle against imperialist war

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The pamphlet contains three important statements on war from the International Committee of the Fourth International, the Socialist Equality Party in the US and the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit in Germany.

Workers Struggles: The Americas

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature

Police killed 77 people in September

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Over the past week, police have killed at least fourteen more people, while judges and prosecutors continued to protect the perpetrators of police violence.

Report finds Border Patrol flew drones away from US borders

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The findings follow revelations earlier this year that Customs and Border Protection had “loaned” its drone fleet to other intelligence agencies hundreds of times.

Brazil’s Rousseff faces runoff after worst showing for Workers Party in 12 years

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The first round of Brazil’s presidential election left incumbent Rousseff facing right-wing challenger Aecio Neves in an October 26 runoff.

Italian prime minister targets protection against layoffs

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The goal of the new jobs act is the creation of a labour market in which companies can hire and fire workers as they please, and exploit them for the lowest wages.

CGT union convicted of embezzling funds of France’s biggest works committee

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The details of the case underscore how the French Communist Party and corrupt union bureaucracies long ago lost any base in the working class.

French automaker PSA Peugeot-Citroën prepares to cut 10,000 more jobs

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

French car-maker PSA Peugeot-Citroën is planning to cut a further 10,000 jobs, while both PSA and Renault demand deep cuts in labor costs.

South Africa’s education department maintains apartheid-era victimisation of blacks

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

While forming almost 80 percent of overall population at the last census in 2011, blacks made up only 8.3 percent of those with a tertiary qualification.

The liquidation of the BLPI and the LSSP’s great betrayal in Sri Lanka—Part 1

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The first of four articles on the political lessons of the entry of the LSSP into the government of Madame Sirima Bandaranaike in June 1964.

Wealth of richest 400 Americans surges to $2.29 trillion

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The net worth of the Forbes 400 grew thirteen percent this year amidst a soaring stock market and record corporate profits.

Biden’s admission: US allies armed ISIS

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Responding to a question at a Harvard forum, the US vice president said Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates supplied arms to the Islamic fundamentalist group the US is now bombing.

Mass grave found near disappearance of student protesters in Mexico

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

After a protest over school resources and jobs a week ago, teaching students in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero were shot at by local police and then rounded up and turned over to gang members.

Hong Kong government issues ultimatum to protesters

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

While refusing to end the protests, the student leaders eased the blockade of government buildings and held initial talks with administration officials.

Judge orders release of Guantanamo Bay force-feeding videos

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The very existence of the tapes—which show the repeated physical abuse of hunger striker Abu Wa'el Dhiab—was denied by the Obama administration until May 2014.

Soldiers’ deaths reveal widespread abuse in South Korean military

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

A series of Korean soldiers have died since April in cases that have shocked the public.

Australia: Inala residents voice concerns about police shooting

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

People in a Brisbane working class community have been shocked by a para-military siege that ended with a man being killed by heavily-armed police commandos.

Allegations of sexual abuse at south Texas immigrant detention facility

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

A recent federal complaint alleges that immigrant women are regularly subject to sexual abuse and harassment at a privately run detention center in Karnes City, Texas.

Three more New York City police killings last week

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) shot and killed three people last week in ongoing displays of police violence in the city.

Protests continue after Colorado school board refuses to back down on "patriotic" curriculum

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

As protests against its right-wing agenda continued, Colorado's Jefferson County school board majority passed a cosmetic “compromise” of its attack on the school district’s history curriculum.

UK terror trial collapses because defendant briefed MI5

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Moazzam Begg was one of four people arrested in February on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp in Syria, possessing documents for a purpose connected to terrorism.

Tensions rise in Spain over Catalan independence referendum

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

While powerful forces in Madrid oppose the referendum, the Catalan authorities in Barcelona who have called for it cannot easily back down.

European Union ends rescue mission for refugees

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

The EU is shelving any measures to rescue refugees from drowning on their way to Europe.

German train drivers vote to strike

Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Deutsche Bahn cut its workforce from 350,000 to 190,000 between 2002 and 2012, which has led to constant overtime working.