3 January 2017

New US Congress to launch assault on social programs

By Patrick Martin, 3 January 2017

Congress convenes today to begin work on an ultra-right agenda aimed at the destruction of all federal social welfare programs, above all Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

More on the 2016 US elections »

Islamic State claims New Year attack on Istanbul nightclub killing 39

By Alex Lantier and Halil Celik, 3 January 2017

Around 700 people were celebrating the New Year at the Reina nightclub when a lone gunman entered the premises, shot unarmed security guards and killed 39 people.

Right-wing campaign on hacking allegations continues
Democrats, Republicans call for new sanctions against Russia

By Tom Hall, 3 January 2017

The demands are part of the ongoing campaign for an intensification of Washington’s economic and military confrontation with Moscow.

Washington Post falsely accuses Russia of hacking Vermont power company

By Kevin Martinez, 3 January 2017

The newspaper was forced to retract its story after the power company announced that the laptop in question was not even connected to the electrical grid.

The lying campaign on Russian hacking

US think tank urges Trump to confront China in South China Sea

By Peter Symonds, 3 January 2017

Well aware of the dangers of full-scale war, the report nevertheless insists that the US and its allies must challenge China sooner rather than later.

US Special Operations troop deployments in Africa surged in 2016

By Eddie Haywood, 3 January 2017

The US deployed at least 1,700 elite soldiers to 33 nations across the African continent in 2016, more than twice the number deployed in 2014.

“New Year’s Eve in Cologne”: The scapegoating of Muslims and refugees deepens

By Lena Sokoll, 3 January 2017

In Cologne as well as in other cities in Germany, police have now been supplied with sub-machine guns to conduct armed patrolling of cities.

Berlin’s “red-red-green” state government sets up refugee ghettos made from shipping containers

More than 5,000 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean in 2016

British workers face pay squeeze in 2017

By Richard Tyler, 3 January 2017

The Institute for Fiscal Studies wrote that British workers faced the “worst decade for pay in 70 years.”

UK: Appalling warehouse working conditions exposed at JD Sports

By Joe Mount, 3 January 2017

A succession of governments have created the conditions for the legal, uninhibited exploitation of workers, removing restrictions on business and cutting spending on welfare benefits.

Australia’s “border protection” regime claims another victim

By Max Newman, 3 January 2017

Faysal Ishak Ahmed, a 27-year-old asylum seeker from Sudan, died after suffering a seizure and collapsing in an Australian-controlled detention centre.

Holiday season highlights social desperation in New Zealand

By John Braddock, 3 January 2017

Record numbers of people seeking assistance from charities over Christmas reveals deteriorating social conditions.

As strike enters third month
Momentive workers fight Trump’s billionaire appointee Schwarzman

By Philip Guelpa, 3 January 2017

The 700 striking workers at Momentive Performance Materials will be among the first to experience the full force of the Trump administration’s viciously anti-working class policies.

1,000 former GM Opel workers facing joblessness in Germany

By Dietmar Henning, 3 January 2017

Instead of the new jobs promised by the IG Metall union, Opel workers face precarious employment, temporary work and welfare.

New in Russian

100 лет назад: Распутина убивают в Петрограде

3 января 2017 г.

30 декабря 1916 года Григорий Распутин, религиозный мистик из Сибири, который оказывал непомерное влияние на царский режим и имел особенно тесную связь с царицей, был убит в Петрограде.

New in Turkish

İsrail-Filistin ve “iki devletli çözüm”

Nick Beams, 3 Ocak 2017

Arap ve Musevi işçiler, dinsel ya da etnik temellere dayanan yaşaması olanaksız ulusal burjuva rejimler oluşturmak için değil; sosyalist bir dünya düzeni uğruna mücadelenin parçası olarak Ortadoğu Sosyalist Federasyonu’nun kurulması için mücadele etmeli.

New in Spanish

Obama firma su último presupuesto del Pentágono, dejando un legado bélico y reaccionario

Por Bill Van Auken, 3 enero 2017

La Ley de Autorización de Defensa Nacional firmada por Obama permite que la infame prisión en Guantánamo pase intacta a manos de Donald Trump.

New in French

La campagne mensongère sur le piratage russe

Par André Damon, 3 janvier 2017

Les médias américains, dirigés par le New York Times, ont soutenu les mesures de représailles d’Obama contre le piratage attribué aux russes malgré le fait que la Maison Blanche n’a présenté aucune preuve pour étayer ses allégations.

Les forces de l’OTAN menacent la Russie
L’armée américaine et la Bundeswehr allemande envoient des milliers de soldats en Europe de l’Est

Par Johannes Stern, 3 janvier 2017

Le déploiement de troupes de combat américaines fait partie de l’expansion continue de l’OTAN vers l’est depuis la dissolution de l’Union soviétique il y a 25 ans.

Il y a 50 ans : De Gaulle attaque la guerre américaine au Vietnam

3 janvier 2017

Le 31 décembre 1966 en France, le président français Charles de Gaulle a utilisé son discours annuel du Nouvel An pour émettre une vive critique de la guerre américaine au Vietnam.

New in German

Lügenkampagne über russische Hackerangriffe

Andre Damon, 3. Januar 2017

Die amerikanischen Medien, allen voran die New York Times, unterstützen Obamas Strafmaßnahmen wegen angeblicher russischer Hackerangriffe, obwohl das Weiße Haus keinerlei Beweise für diese Behauptung liefert.

Kämpfe um Mossul eskalieren – USA bombardieren Krankenhaus

Bill Van Auken, 3. Januar 2017

Der Angriff erfolgte während einer Offensive, die vom irakischen Militär als zweite Phase bei der Erstürmung der zweitgrößten Stadt im Irak bezeichnet wird.

WikiLeaks-Enthüllungen bestätigen enge Kooperation von BND und NSA

Sven Heymanns, 3. Januar 2017

Der deutsche Auslandsgeheimdienst hat den US-Geheimdiensten nicht nur massenhaft Daten geliefert, sondern auch bei der Erstellung von Spähsoftware direkt mit ihnen zusammengearbeitet.

Massenabschiebungen und Brutalität gegen Flüchtlinge

Stefan Steele, 3. Januar 2017

Die Rücksichtlosigkeit und Brutalität der Behörden gegen Flüchtlinge nehmen in Deutschland ein beunruhigendes Ausmaß an. Allein im vergangenen Jahr wurden um die 25.000 abgeschoben.

Gewerkschaftsvorsitzender bietet Trump seine Dienste an

Jerry White, 3. Januar 2017

AFL-CIO-Präsident Trumka bietet Trump in einer Kolumne der New York Times die Dienste der Gewerkschaften bei der Unterdrückung von Arbeiterprotesten gegen die künftige Regierung an.

Verheerende HIV-Epidemie in Russland

Clara Weiss, 3. Januar 2017

Ein Vierteljahrhundert nach der Auflösung der UdSSR herrscht in Russland eine HIV-Epidemie, die eng mit dem massiven Heroin-Konsum zusammenhängt.

Other Languages

Perspective

Socialism and the centenary of the Russian Revolution: 1917-2017

3 January 2017

A specter is haunting world capitalism: the specter of the Russian Revolution. This year marks the centenary of the world-historical events of 1917, which began with the February Revolution in Russia and culminated in October with the conquest of political power by the Bolshevik Party, under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky.

Earlier Perspectives »

From the Archives

The End of the USSR

By David North, 30 December 2016

On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union (also known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)—which emerged out of the socialist revolution of October 1917—was formally dissolved by the Stalinist regime led by Mikhail Gorbachev. The destruction of the Soviet Union was the outcome of the anti-socialist and nationalist policies of the ruling bureaucracy. On January 4, 1992, David North, national secretary of the Workers League (predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party), delivered a report which explained the historical background and significance of the end of the USSR. To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of this critical event, the World Socialist Web Site is posting North's report.

Commentary

Ten years of Québec Solidaire: The record of a pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist party
Part two

By Louis Girard and Richard Dufour, 3 January 2017

Québec Solidaire’s special function within Quebec and Canadian politics is to attempt to revive popular enthusiasm for the retrograde and chauvinist program of Quebec independence.

Ten years of Québec Solidaire: The record of a pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist party
Part one

US bombs hospital amid escalating assault on Mosul

By Bill Van Auken, 31 December 2016

NATO forces menace Russia
US Army, German Bundeswehr dispatch thousands of troops to Eastern Europe

By Johannes Stern, 31 December 2016

Key player in Flint water crisis issues defensive letter to “community leaders”

By James Brewer, 31 December 2016

Many US communities face worse lead contamination than Flint

Trumka on Trump: AFL-CIO chief urges president-elect to work with unions to save capitalism

Israel-Palestine and the “two-state solution”

This week in history: January 2-8

25 years ago: Deposed Haitian President Aristide accepts US deal

On January 5, 1992, deposed president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, agreed to accept a US-dictated settlement which would restore him to the presidential palace as the figurehead for a regime run directly by the American Embassy and the Haitian military command.

More »

50 years ago: Sit-down strike in Spain

On January 2, 1967, workers at four Standard Electrica factories in Madrid staged a day-long sit-down strike, winning the release of six labor activists jailed by the Franco dictatorship.

More »

75 years ago: Imperial Japanese troops enter Manila

On January 2, 1942 the imperialist war for control of the Pacific intensified further when Japanese troops entered the Philippine capital Manila on the island of Luzon.

More »

 

100 years ago: SPD theoretician Karl Kautsky promotes pacifist illusions

On January 7, 1917, the centrist opposition in the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) issued a resolution appealing to the imperialist powers engaged in the bloodbath of World War I to accept a “peace of reconciliation without violation of rights.”

More »

Arts

Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson: A tribute to American cities and poetry

By Dorota Niemitz, 3 January 2017

Paterson is a city with a rich social and cultural history. Jarmusch pays homage to its history in his own, idiosyncratic manner.

Best films of 2016

By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 31 December 2016

Popular music in 2016

By Hiram Lee and Matthew Brennan, 31 December 2016

At the Public Theater in New York City
Sweat: An honest depiction of the American working class

Carrie Fisher and the Star Wars phenomenon

Workers Struggles

Workers Struggles: the Americas

3 January 2017

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

US railroads demand concessions from 145,000 workers

By Jeff Lusanne, 31 December 2016

“People are working two to three Saturdays in a row and they are laying people off”
Anger mounting among US autoworkers in wake of GM layoff announcement

By Shannon Jones, 30 December 2016

More on autoworkers struggles »

Science

Great Barrier Reef suffering worst-ever coral bleaching

By Bryan Dyne, 30 December 2016

Mehring Books

Final Week! Mehring Books Holiday Sale|
Leon Trotsky and the struggle against fascism

28 December 2016

For the final week of the Mehring Books Holiday sale we are featuring works dealing with the fight against the rise of fascism in the 1930s.

100 Years since the Russian Revolution
Mehring Books announces centenary edition of landmark documentary, Tsar to Lenin

12 December 2016

Socialist Equality Party

Sri Lankan SEP and workers’ action committee oppose attacks on plantation workers

By our correspondent, 28 December 2016

Sri Lanka: Political lessons of the Hambantota port strike

International Youth and Students for Social Equality

NYU, the Gulf monarchies and university-backed political repression

By Daniel de Vries, 28 December 2016

IYSSE holds meeting on political censorship at New York University

By IYSSE reporting team, 20 December 2016

The election of Donald Trump

Trump’s new White House office for trade war

By Peter Symonds, 24 December 2016

Trump’s tweet and the danger of nuclear war

Trump names billionaire corporate raider Icahn to slash regulations on business

By Patrick Martin, 23 December 2016

As Electoral College rubber-stamps election
Trump adds another billionaire to his administration

Trump names hard-line “deficit hawk” to head budget office

More on the 2016 US elections »

Security and the Fourth Internaional

Security and the Fourth International
The Smith Act trial and government infiltration of the Trotskyist movement—Part one

By Eric London, 8 December 2016

Security and the Fourth International
The Smith Act trial and government infiltration of the Trotskyist movement—Part two
Why wasn’t Joseph Hansen a defendant in the Smith Act trial?

History

Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (1856–1918): His Place in the History of Marxism

By David North and Vladimir Volkov, 5 December 2016

On December 11, the international socialist movement marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of the “father of Russian Marxism,” Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov.