18 April 2019

US attorney general orders denial of bond, indefinite detention of asylum seekers

By Patrick Martin, 18 April 2019

The action by William Barr overturns more than a decade of legal precedent and sets the stage for the criminalization of refugees seeking asylum.

Trump officials discussed using troops to run migrant detention camps

The dictatorial impulse behind Trump’s political purge

More on North American immigrant issues »

Canada’s Liberal government attacks refugee rights

By Laurent Lafrance, 18 April 2019

The Trudeau government is pursuing anti-refugee policies and collaborating with Washington in its anti-immigrant witch hunt.

Vetoing Congressional resolution, Trump reaffirms US support for Saudi slaughter in Yemen

By Niles Niemuth, 18 April 2019

Trump’s veto is a declaration of the absolute authority of the president to wage war without the fig leaf of congressional approval.

Algerian regime escalates police violence against growing protests

By Will Morrow, 18 April 2019

Four days after police assaulted demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets, General Gaed Salah gave a nationally-televised address threatening protesters.

Hundreds of peaceful climate change protesters arrested in UK

By Paul Mitchell, 18 April 2019

There have been no serious incidents of public disorder except when the police arrived in large numbers and swooped in to arrest people.

Socialist Equality Party candidate in European elections appears on German TV

By our reporter, 18 April 2019

On Wednesday, Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei candidate Saravan Ratnamaheson was interviewed by Südwestrundfunk, one of Germany’s largest public TV stations.

Frankfurt students protest presence of far-right Alternative for Germany on university campus

By Marianne Arens, 18 April 2019

Defying protests by students, politicians from all of the establishment political parties, including the Left Party, shared a platform with Jörg Meuthen from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at Frankfurt’s University for Applied Sciences.

Deadly week for construction workers in New York City

By Mark Witkowski, 18 April 2019

In the space of less than a week three construction workers were killed, as the building boom in the city continues to claim the lives and limbs of workers.

Voters go to polls in Tamil Nadu in second phase of India’s national election

By V. Gnana, 18 April 2019

In Tamil Nadu the election contest is dominated by two reactionary alliances, fronted by rival Tamil-nationalist parties and allied respectively with the BJP and the Congress Party.

Chinese authorities arrest editors involved with workers’ protests

By Navin Dewage and Peter Symonds, 18 April 2019

Amid a slowing economy and growing signs of working class unrest, Beijing is using its police state apparatus to clamp down on opposition.

New in Russian

День уплаты налогов в США: Шестьдесят гигантских корпораций не платят ни цента подоходного налога

Патрик Мартин, 18 апреля 2019 г.

В результате сокращения налогов для богатых, проведенного Трампом в 2017 году, количество компаний из списка Fortune 500, не платящих подоходный налог, удвоилось.

New in Norwegian

Brannen i Notre-Dame-katedralen i Paris

Alex Lantier, 18. april 2019

Infernoet ble forårsaket av et katastrofalt sammenbrudd av brannsikkerheten under restaureringsarbeidene, som den franske regjeringen og styringseliten står ansvarlige for.

Polsk regjering sverger å bekjempe lønnshevinger, der lærernes streik går inn i sin andre uke

Clara Weiss, 18. april 2019

Både den polske regjeringen og ZNP-fagforeningen prøver å isolere den nasjonale lærerstreiken og forhindre at den utløser en bredere bevegelse av arbeiderklassen.

Medias rolle i forfølgelsen av Julian Assange

Andre Damon, 18. april 2019

Avisene, kringkastingsnyhetene, og kanskje verst av dem alle, sen-kveld-talk-showene, har rettet grove fornærmelser mot en forfulgt mann som ikke kan forsvare seg.

Pentagon beordret til å utarbeide planer for å motvirke Russland og Kina i Venezuela

Bill Van Auken, 18. april 2019

Rapporten om aktiv planlegging for amerikansk militærintervensjon etterfulgte utenriksminister Mike Pompeos provoserende besøk til Venezuelan-Colombia-grensa på søndag.

Åpnet juridisk erklæring viser at USA søker å rettsforfølge Julian Assange for hans journalistiske virksomhet

Oscar Grenfell, 18. april 2019

Forespørselen om utlevering er et pseudo-juridisk fikenblad for en utenomjuridisk overføringsoperasjon.

New in Spanish

El incendio en la catedral de Notre Dame en París

Por Alex Lantier, 18 abril 2019

El infierno fue causado por un fallo horrendo en la seguridad antiincendios durante las obras de restauración por el cual el Gobierno francés y la élite gobernante son culpables.

Una declaración jurada hecha pública demuestra que Estados Unidos busca procesar a Assange por su periodismo

Por Oscar Grenfell, 18 abril 2019

La solicitud de extradición es una cubierta pseudolegal para una operación de rendición extraordinaria.

El papel de los medios en la persecución de Julian Assange

por Andre Damon, 18 abril 2019

Los diarios, los noticieros televisivos y de radio y, quizás lo peor de todo, los programas nocturnos de entrevistas, han dirigido sus insultos crudos contra un hombre perseguido que no puede defenderse.

¿Quién financiaba a la ISO? Un análisis de la base financiera de la política de la pseudoizquierda

Por Eric London, 18 abril 2019

La ya extinta International Socialist Organization era financiada por grupos de expertos vinculados al gobierno, demócratas acomodados y grupos derechistas conservadores.

¿Nuevas burocracias sindicales o poder obrero independiente?
Lecciones de la rebelión en Matamoros: Quinta Parte

Por Andrea Lobo, 18 abril 2019

Esta es la quinta y última parte de una serie de artículos sobre la ola de huelgas llevada a cabo por trabajadores de las maquiladoras en la ciudad fronteriza mexicana de Matamoros. Las lecciones de esta lucha son esenciales no solo para los trabajadores mexicanos, sino para los trabajadores internacionalmente.

New in Turkish

Paris’teki Notre-Dame katedralinin yanması

Alex Lantier, 18 Nisan 2019

Pazartesi günü, Fransa’da ve dünya çapında milyonlarca insan, yüzlerce yıllık bir tarihi eserin yanıp kül olduğunu görerek buz kesildi ve dehşet içinde kaldı.

New in French

Pologne : le gouvernement déclare la lutte aux hausses de salaire alors que les enseignants entament leur deuxième semaine de grève

Clara Weiss, 18 avril 2019

Le gouvernement polonais et le syndicat ZNP essaient d'isoler la grève nationale des enseignants et de l'empêcher de déclencher un mouvement plus large de la classe ouvrière.

Au Sri Lanka, le SEP et l'IYSSE se rassemblent pour défendre Assange et Manning

nos journalistes, 18 avril 2019

Les médias sri-lankais dont Veerakesari, le principal quotidien en tamoul du Sri Lanka, ont couvert la manifestation du SEP et de l’IYSSE à Colombo.

New in German

Der Brand von Notre-Dame de Paris

Alex Lantier, 18. April 2019

Ursache für das Inferno war ein Versagen des Brandschutzes bei den Restaurierungsarbeiten. Die Verantwortung dafür liegt bei der Regierung und der herrschenden Klasse.

Große Koalition beschließt Seehofers Abschiebegesetz

Peter Schwarz, 18. April 2019

Abgelehnte Asylbewerber werden gnadenlos schikaniert, verfolgt, eingesperrt und abgeschoben. Das ist der Inhalt des „Geordnete-Rückkehr-Gesetzes“.

SGP-Spitzenkandidat Vandreier spricht in Michigan vor mehr als 140 Zuhörern über die Gefahr des Faschismus

unseren Reportern, 18. April 2019

Christoph Vandreier, stellvertretender SGP-Vorsitzender, und David North, Chefredakteur der WSWS, erklärten den Zusammenhang zwischen der Verhaftung und Verfolgung von WikiLeaks-Gründer Julian Assange und der weltweiten Hinwendung zu autoritären Herrschaftsformen.

Frankfurt: Zweite Auftaktversammlung der SGP zur Europawahl

unseren Korrespondenten, 18. April 2019

Auf der Frankfurter Versammlung verdeutlichte der SGP-Vorsitzender Ulrich Rippert die Bedeutung des Internationalen Komitees der Vierten Internationale und ihres Ziels, für die Vereinigten Sozialistischen Staaten von Europa zu kämpfen.

Polnischer Lehrerstreik geht in die zweite Woche: Regierung will Lohnerhöhungen verhindern

Clara Weiss, 18. April 2019

Sowohl die polnische Regierung als auch die Gewerkschaft ZNP versuchen, den landesweiten Lehrerstreik zu isolieren und zu verhindern, dass er sich zu einer breiteren Bewegung der Arbeiterklasse entwickelt.

New in Arabic

مائة عام على الأممية الشيوعية

بيتر شفارتز

قبل مائة عام ، بين 2-6 مارس 1919 عقد المؤتمر التأسيسي للأممية الشيوعية الثالثة في موسكو. وعلى الرغم من أن الرحلة كانت صعبة بسب الحرب الأهلية الشرسة والحصار الإمبريالي شارك 51 مندوب في المؤتمر وكان لدى 35 منهم حقوق كاملة في التصويت ومثلوا 17 منظمة ، و16 مندوب لهم صوت استشاري مثلوا 16 منظمة أخرى. وعلى مدى الأعوام التالية سينضم ملايين العمال من أصحاب الآراء الثورية حول العالم إلى الأحزاب الشيوعية وإلى الأممية الثالثة.

New in Portuguese

A descida da Líbia em direção à guerra civil: o fruto amargo do pró-imperialismo da pseudo-esquerda

Bill Van Auken, 15 Abril 2019

A escalada da guerra civil na Líbia serviu como mais uma demonstração do papel criminoso desempenhado pelos proponentes da pseudo-esquerda da intervenção imperialista “humanitária”.

New in Urdu

نیوزی لینڈ پر دہشتگردی کا حملہ اور فاشزم کا بین الاقوامی خطرہ

ٹوم پیٹر

مسلح شخص نے جو دہشتگردی کی کارروائی کی اْسے تیار کیاگیا تھا جسے فاشسٹوں کے بین الاقوامی نیٹ ورک اور سفید نسل پرستوں کی جانب سے عمل میں لایاگیا ۔

Other Languages

Perspective

Behind Trump’s clash with the Fed: Looming economic crisis and class conflict

18 April 2019

The American president, in demanding that the Fed intervene to drive up the stock market, has stated openly what the US central bank has been doing for decades.

Earlier Perspectives »

Featured Report

Over 140 attend lecture by Christoph Vandreier in Michigan on “The Threat of Fascism and How to Fight It”

By our reporters, 17 April 2019

Vandreier, deputy national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, and WSWS chairman David North related the arrest and persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the global turn to authoritarianism.

Free Assange and Manning

Ecuadorian police repress mass march demanding Julian Assange’s freedom

By Bill Van Auken, 18 April 2019

Called under the slogan “not one less right,” the march brought thousands into the streets of Quito where they confronted mounted police, dogs and tear gas.

Julian Assange’s extraordinary record of investigative journalism

By Oscar Grenfell, 18 April 2019

A review of WikiLeaks publishing activities demonstrates that Assange has played an unparalleled role in the exposure of wars, diplomatic intrigues and illegal surveillance operations.

Falsifying history and repudiating democratic rights: Floyd Abrams’ attack on WikiLeaks

Human rights advocate Professor Stuart Rees denounces attacks on WikiLeaks publisher

By Stuart Rees, 18 April 2019

“This is not a legal controversy. It is a massive political issue. The US culture of revenge has to be exposed and challenged. Grass roots outrage needs to be mobilised.”

Britain’s Socialist Workers Party renews “rape allegations” witch-hunt of Julian Assange

By Chris Marsden, 18 April 2019

The SWP have joined in the efforts to railroad Assange and blacken his name, justifying a course of action that would end with the WikiLeaks editor facing a show trial in the US.

Why the defense of Julian Assange is necessary for all workers

By the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees, 18 April 2019

The following statement in defense of Julian Assange was issued by the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees.

The media’s role in persecuting Julian Assange

Unsealed affidavit demonstrates US seeking to prosecute Assange for his journalism

SEP and IYSSE in Sri Lanka rally to defend Assange and Manning

By our reporters, 17 April 2019

Stop the extraordinary rendition of Julian Assange!

More on the campaign to Free Assange and Manning »

The Fight Against Fascism

Princeton University provides $300,000 in funding for right-wing historian and propagandist Jörg Baberowski

By David North, 10 April 2019

“What will be required is a very high level of political and historical awareness”
David North appeals to readers to attend US meetings against fascism

SEP (US) National Chairman David North said, "The visit next month of Comrade Christoph Vandreier to the United States is simply the application of a strategy of the international organization of the working class against the fascist threat. They will not conquer again, we can be certain of that."

David North to address public meetings with Christoph Vandreier: “The Threat of Fascism and How to Fight It”

2 April 2019

Christoph Vandreier kicks off US speaking tour with well-attended meeting at UC Berkeley

“In order to fight fascism, we must understand where it comes from.”
Author Christoph Vandreier to tour US

Christoph Vandreier, author of the newly released book Why are They Back? Historical Falsification, Political Conspiracy and the Return of Fascism in Germany, explains the importance of his upcoming speaking tour in the US.

Lessons of the Matamoros workers' rebellion

New trade union bureaucracies or rank-and-file workers’ power?
Lessons of the Matamoros workers’ rebellion: Part five

By Andrea Lobo, 17 April 2019

Commentary

The burning of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris

By Alex Lantier, 17 April 2019

Pentagon ordered to draft military plans to counter Russia and China in Venezuela

By Bill Van Auken, 17 April 2019

Trump, the Fed and the New York Times

By Nick Beams, 17 April 2019

An assembly of political bankrupts: Historical Materialism and Jacobin host “Socialism in Our Time” conference

By Joseph Kishore, 16 April 2019

Who funded the ISO? An analysis of the financial basis of pseudo-left politics

By Eric London, 15 April 2019

Factional provocation, middle-class hysteria, and the collapse of the International Socialist Organization

The reactionary role of national opportunist politics in Latin America
WSWS rejects invitation to conference of political bankrupts in Buenos Aires

By Bill Van Auken, 13 April 2019

US Tax Day 2019: Sixty giant corporations pay zero income tax

College admissions scandal in the US: An inevitable product of malignant levels of social inequality

Socialist Equality Party

Support the Socialist Equality Party in the 2019 Australian Federal Election
No to Militarism and War! For Socialism and Internationalism!

By the SEP (Australia), 16 April 2019

The Socialist Equality Party candidates in the 2019 Australian election

By the SEP (Australia), 16 April 2019

Twenty years since the death of Australian Trotskyist and Aboriginal worker, Comrade Yabu Bilyana

Message of condolence from David North
“He based his life on the ideals of justice, equality and human solidarity”

Yabu Bilyana addresses ICFI World Conference: “Genocide of indigenous peoples is still practiced throughout Australia”

Powerful start to German Socialist Equality Party campaign in European elections

By our reporters, 16 April 2019

Arts Review

Freep Film Festival 2019 in Detroit—Part 1
Glimpses of social life: The Feeling of Being Watched, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool and Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts, among others

By David Walsh and Helen Halyard, 17 April 2019

The Detroit film festival organizers made an obvious effort to program works oriented toward contemporary reality and recent social history, including many of their difficult and painful aspects.

Mexican musician, writer Armando Vega Gil commits suicide after #MeToo allegation

By David Walsh, 15 April 2019

Australian actor Geoffrey Rush wins defamation lawsuit against Murdoch media

By Linda Tenenbaum, 12 April 2019

Workers Struggles

Polish government vows to fight wage rises as teachers’ strike enters second week

By Clara Weiss, 17 April 2019

The resurgence of the class struggle in Poland

Strike of 31,000 New England Stop & Shop workers in sixth day

By our reporters, 17 April 2019

31,000 Stop & Shop supermarket workers strike at over 240 supermarkets in New England

The political lessons of the University of Illinois graduate student strike

By Andy Thompson, 16 April 2019

“It seems to be class warfare”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra clarinetist John Bruce Yeh speaks on musicians strike

By George Marlowe, 15 April 2019

Chicago symphony musicians strike defies aristocratic principle

This week in history: April 15-21

25 years ago: Fascists enter Italian government for the first time since Mussolini

On April 16, 1994, members of Italy’s right-wing Freedom Alliance coalition were elected to head both houses of parliament.

More »

50 years ago: Gustáv Husák replaces Alexander Dubcek as head of Czechoslovak government

On April 17, 1969, the Central Committee of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia (KSC) voted to remove Alexander Dubcek as First Secretary.

More »

75 years ago: Amid series of offensives, Soviet troops capture Tarnopol

On April 15, 1944, Soviet troops expelled Nazi forces from Tarnopol, in German-occupied Poland.

More »

100 years ago: French sailors mutiny in the Black Sea

On April 19, 1919, sailors on the French battleship France, anchored near the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, revolted over orders to shovel 700 tons of coal during the Easter weekend.

More »

Science

First imagery of black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope

By Bryan Dyne, 11 April 2019

The results from the planet-wide array of radio telescopes are the first direct measurements of the structure of a black hole and its surrounding environment.

History

One hundred years since the formation of the Communist International

By Peter Schwarz, 20 March 2019

International Committee of the Fourth International

Indian Trotskyists hold Kolkata public meeting to celebrate 80th anniversary of the Fourth International

By our correspondents, 13 March 2019

The 50th anniversary of the founding of the SEP (Sri Lanka)
Victory of the Trotskyists in the 1985–1986 split in the ICFI

By Saman Gunadasa and K. Ratnayake, 29 December 2018

Eighty Years of the Fourth International: The Lessons of History and the Struggle for Socialism Today

By David North, 9 October 2018

On the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Fourth International

History of the ICFI

From the arsenal of Trotskyism
The Political Report by David North to the International Committee of the Fourth International—February 11, 1984

12 February 2019

Thirty-five years ago this week, David North, then the national secretary of the Workers League (predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party), presented at a meeting of the International Committee of the Fourth International a critique of the British Workers Revolutionary Party’s abandonment of key theoretical conceptions and programmatic principles of Trotskyism.

Halil Celik, 1961-2018

Halil Celik, a fighter for socialism (1961-2018)

By Peter Schwarz, 1 February 2019

On December 31, 2018, Halil Celik, founder and leader of the group Sosyalist Eşitlik, which supports the International Committee of the Fourth International in Turkey, died of cancer at the age of 57. This obituary presents an overview of his life.

In memory of Halil Celik (1961–2018)

Security and the Fourth International

New book now available
Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement

By Mehring Books, 21 January 2019

The WSWS announces the release of a new book, Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement, by Eric London.

The origins and findings of the Security and the Fourth International investigation

By Eric London, 14 November 2018

Seventy-eight years since the assassination of Leon Trotsky

By Eric London and David North, 21 August 2018