7 January 2017

Intelligence report offers no evidence of Russian hacking of US election

By Patrick Martin, 7 January 2017

The declassified version of the report that was delivered to President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump consists of unsupported assertions by the CIA, FBI and NSA.

Congress grovels before the CIA as it escalates “Russian hacking” hysteria

Senators call for retaliation against Russia at “hacking” hearing

The lying campaign on Russian hacking

More on the 2016 US election »

Four dead, 1,000 arrested as demonstrations continue across Mexico

By Eric London, 7 January 2017

With the police cracking down on demonstrations, the trade unions and bourgeois “left” are struggling to contain the growing protest movement.

Strikes spread in Mexico, thousands of police deployed to capital

Five dead, eight wounded in Fort Lauderdale, Florida airport shooting

By Genevieve Leigh, 7 January 2017

Five people were killed after a 26-year-old former army soldier, a veteran of the Iraq war, opened fire in the baggage claim area of the airport.

Protest by Illinois auto parts workers wins broad support on Facebook

By Shannon Jones, 7 January 2017

In a confrontation recorded on video, plant management called police on protesting workers after robbing them of promised severance pay.

The class struggle in the US in 2017

Democrats offer to work with Republicans in revamping Obamacare

By Kate Randall, 7 January 2017

Obamacare has set the stage for an intensified assault on Medicare, the government insurance program for seniors and the disabled, and Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor.

Obamacare defenders extol health care overhaul as boon to corporate profits

US jobs report shows lower than expected hiring in December

By Tom Hall, 7 January 2017

The December jobs report for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that the American economy added 156,000 jobs last month, less than the 175,000 expected by economists.

Macy’s, Sears announce mass layoffs, hundreds of store closings across the US

New Indian army chief threatens Pakistan and China

By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 7 January 2017

As India conducts tests of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, its new army chief has warned of a possible “two front” war against China and Pakistan.

Berlin Christmas market attack: German intelligence aware of perpetrator’s 14 identities

By Johannes Stern, 7 January 2017

It is becoming clear that the suspect in the terrorist attack, Anis Amri, carried out his operation under the noses of the intelligence agencies.

US politicians, intelligence move to cut French neo-fascists’ ties to Russia

By Alex Lantier, 7 January 2017

Conflicts between US intelligence, Donald Trump and France’s National Front point to geopolitical tensions underlying anti-Russian hysteria in America and Europe.

British Labour Party moving to support ending free movement of EU workers

By Robert Stevens, 7 January 2017

The Tories and Labour are fighting over which party is more stridently opposed to immigration.

UK: Janitors and IT workers at Glasgow City Council face common struggle

By Minnie Watson, 7 January 2017

Unison aims to keep the Glasgow disputes separate from the identical threats facing the numerous council workers and Unison members in every single local authority in Britain.

Right-wing campaign to pardon Israeli soldier who shot Palestinian

By Jordan Shilton, 7 January 2017

Just hours after the verdict, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu joined the campaign in support of a pardon for Elor Azaria.

New Zealand prisoners subjected to abusive treatment

By Sam Price, 7 January 2017

As New Zealand’s prison population increases, the Ombudsman’s office has revealed widespread abusive and humiliating treatment of inmates.

New in Spanish

Seguridad y la Cuarta Internacional
El juicio de la Ley Smith y la infiltración dentro del movimiento trotskista: Primera parte

Por Eric London, 7 enero 2017

Hace 75 años, 18 trotskistas fueron sentenciados a prisión por el gobierno estadounidense. Un nuevo libro sobre este acontecimiento escrito por Donna Haverty-Stacke devela un nivel antes desconocido de espionaje dentro del movimiento trotskista en EE.UU.

New in Italian

Sindaco M5S di Roma Virginia Raggi travolta dagli scandali

Marianne Arens, 7 gennaio 2017

E' raro che un partito politico venga smascherato così completamente come è successo al Movimento 5 Stelle a Roma.

New in Russian

Катастрофическая эпидемия ВИЧ в России

Клара Вайс, 7 января 2017 г.

Спустя четверть века после упразднения СССР Россия охвачена эпидемией ВИЧ-инфекции, которая напрямую связана с массовым потреблением героина.

New in Turkish

Sosyalizm ve Rus Devrimi’nin yüzüncü yıldönümü: 1917-2017

David North ve Joseph Kishore, 7 Ocak 2017

Dünya kapitalizminin üstünde bir hayalet dolaşıyor: Rus Devrimi’nin hayaleti.

Türk yetkililer Reina saldırganının kimliğini tespit ettiklerini iddia ediyor

Halil Çelik, 7 Ocak 2017

Saldırı hakkındaki bilgiler, belirsiz ve güvenilmez kalmaya devam ediyor. Türk makamları, daha önce, fail olduğu düşünülen bir adamın fotoğraflarını yayınlamışlardı ama onun masum bir Kazak vatandaşı olduğu kanıtlandı.

New in German

Mexiko: Landesweite Proteste gegen Benzinpreiserhöhung

Von Eric London, 6. Januar 2017

Große Teile der mexikanischen Bevölkerung reagieren auf die angekündigte Kürzung der Benzinsubventionen mit Demonstrationen, Straßensperren und der Besetzung von Tankstellen. Die herrschende Klasse fürchtet eine soziale Explosion.

Anschlag von Berlin: Attentäter Amri war deutschen Behörden unter 14 verschiedenen Identitäten bekannt

Von Johannes Stern, 6. Januar 2017

Zweieinhalb Wochen nach dem schrecklichen Terroranschlag in Berlin wird immer klarer, dass der auf der Flucht in Italien erschossene mutmaßliche Attentäter Anis Amri seine Tat de facto unter den Augen der Sicherheitsbehörden vorbereitete und durchführte.

Antirussische „Fake-News“-Kampagne in ganz Europa

Von Julie Hyland, 6. Januar 2017

Die vom Europäischen Parlament verabschiedete Resolution gegen sogenannte Falschnachrichten ist Bestandteil der Bemühungen, Russland zu destabilisieren und militärisch einzukreisen

Offener Streit zwischen Trump und CIA über „russische Hackerangriffe“

Von Andre Damon, 6. Januar 2017

In der Frage der russischen Einmischung in die Präsidentschaftswahl 2016 beschuldigen sich der designierte US-Präsident Donald Trump und geheimdienstnahe Politiker gegenseitig.

Wahlveranstaltung der IYSSE an der Humboldt-Universität
Die Wahl Trumps und die Rückkehr des deutschen Militarismus

Von unseren Korrespondenten, 6. Januar 2017

Am Mittwoch kamen mehr als 60 Studierende und junge Arbeiter zur zweiten Veranstaltung der Hochschulgruppe der IYSSE an der Berliner Humboldt-Universität im Rahmen der diesjährigen Wahlen zum Studierendenparlament.

Bulgarien vor Neuwahlen

Von Markus Salzmann, 6. Januar 2017

Zehn Jahre nach dem Beitritt zur Europäischen Union steckt Bulgarien in einer massiven politischen und sozialen Krise.

Other Languages

Perspective

Trump’s coming confrontation with China

7 January 2017

No longer having the economic muscle to lay down the international trade rules, the US has begun a dramatic military build-up in Asia to assert its dominance, even if that leads to war with China.

Earlier Perspectives »

Centenary of the Russian Revolution

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

By David North and Joseph Kishore, 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.

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

The Obama administration and the legitimization of torture

By Tom Carter, 7 January 2017

Virtually no one has been allowed to read the 6,700-page Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, and a concerted effort is underway to make sure that nobody is able to read it in the future.

Uncertainty over Trump program dominated Fed meeting

By Nick Beams, 6 January 2017

German interior minister demands centralisation of intelligence agencies

By Ulrich Rippert, 6 January 2017

WikiLeaks data reveals close cooperation between German intelligence and NSA

By Sven Heymanns, 6 January 2017

Israel-Palestine and the “two-state solution”

New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany: Racist agitation and state repression

Notes on the Trump transition
Wall Street lawyer to head Securities and Exchange Commission

Socialist Equality Party

Berlin university meeting discusses election of Trump and the return of German militarism

By our correspondents, 7 January 2017

The meeting is the second organized by the IYSSE group as part of its campaign for this year's elections to the Humboldt University student parliament.

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

Book Review

A Pound of Flesh: The US legal system’s war against the poor

By Nancy Hanover, 7 January 2017

A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor, a new book by sociologist Alexes Harris, shows how legal financial obligations (LFOs) penalize the poorest among us.

Arts

Rap artist Yasiin Bey’s “final” performance at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center

By Nick Barrickman, 7 January 2017

Bey’s humane and charismatic personality was on display at his Washington, D.C. performances; with the artist rapping, crooning, drumming and at times breaking into dance on stage.

Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago
The photomontages of Soviet political artist Aleksandr Zhitomirsky (1907-1993)

Workers Struggles

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific

7 January 2017

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

New York City transit workers must fight to defend living standards and basic rights!

6 January 2017

Wakefield school cleaning workers sacked after three-month strike in UK

By Barry Mason, 6 January 2017

Science

Some significant scientific developments of 2016

By Joe Mount, 4 January 2017

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 »

Mehring Books

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

12 December 2016

International Youth and Students for Social Equality

NYU, the Gulf monarchies and university-backed political repression

By Daniel de Vries, 28 December 2016

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.