Europe
Iran conflict intensifies transatlantic tensions
By Peter Schwarz, 11 May 2019
The European governments are doing all they can to avoid triggering a broader mobilisation against war.
French public sector workers strike against Macron government attacks
By Anthony Torres, 11 May 2019
Over 150 demonstrations took place Thursday against Emmanuel Macron’s “modernization” reform that would overturn conditions for public sector workers established in 1946.
Spain: No “red lines” in talks for a Socialist Party-Podemos coalition government
By Alejandro López, 11 May 2019
Iglesias stressed that during their parliamentary collaboration, both parties were able “to build a relationship of trust” and dealt with each other “with frankness and empathy.”
German Young Socialist leader unleashes storm of debate about socialism
By Peter Schwarz, 11 May 2019
Kühnert, an unscrupulous careerist, can only pose as a socialist because he relies on the inexperience and lack of knowledge of today’s young generation.
Eugenics advocate Noah Carl dismissed from Cambridge University fellowship
By Thomas Scripps, 11 May 2019
Carl’s dismissal is a victory over a global campaign to revive far-right ideology on university campuses.
Corporate murder: Trial opens of France Télécom executives over worker suicides
By Will Morrow, 10 May 2019
To shrink a workforce legally protected from sacking, executives adopted a covert policy of psychological torture designed to coerce workers to quit or commit suicide.
Germany’s far-right AfD exploits famous artwork to promote Islamophobia
By Sybille Fuchs, 10 May 2019
The use of the painting and its interpretation by the AfD is an amalgam of historical falsification, outright lies and racist agitation, which can quite rightly be compared with the techniques used by the Nazis.
“Unequal Germany”—new study examines regional differences
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 10 May 2019
A key finding of the comprehensive study is that social and economic inequality has consolidated despite economic growth and employment growth in recent years.
South African municipal strikers defy unions; strike continues by South African workers at Cell C phones
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
10 May 2019
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
“We need to save his life. That’s how serious it is”
Pamela Anderson and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief visit Julian Assange in prison
By Laura Tiernan, 8 May 2019
Anderson condemned the state persecution of her friend as a “misrule of law in operation.”
The extreme right in the European elections
By Peter Schwarz, 8 May 2019
The growth of the extreme right is the result of the systematic political, ideological and organisational support provided by the media, the establishment parties and the state.
UK government seeks to deny legal aid to Shamima Begum
By Paul Bond, 8 May 2019
Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked Begum’s British citizenship last year, leaving her and her new-born baby stranded in appalling conditions and stateless.
Germany: FDP Congress tacks to the right
By Peter Schwarz, 7 May 2019
The central message of the Congress was unmistakable: the Free Democrats advocate aggressive international expansion, more corporate deregulation and austerity for the working class.
UK: Renewed Brexit talks deepen splits in both Conservatives and Labour
By Robert Stevens, 7 May 2019
After the Tories lost more than 1,300 council seats last week and Labour also made smaller losses, May and Corbyn stressed that the electorate want Brexit to be implemented.
Britain: National Union of Journalists World Press Freedom Day event ignores Julian Assange
By Paul Mitchell, 7 May 2019
At the NUJ’s World Press Freedom Day event, there was not a single mention of Assange by any of the speakers on the platform, all of whom claimed to be champions of press freedom.
Thousands of jobs threatened at Bombardier plants in Belfast and Casablanca
By Steve James, 7 May 2019
Bombardier’s move is the next phase of a global restructuring necessitated by ferocious competition in the world airline industry.
The German ruling class fears the spectre of socialism
By Johannes Stern, 6 May 2019
What the ruling class fears is the growing social and political opposition of workers and young people, which is breaking out in Germany, Europe and around the world.
Macron government fabrication of “yellow vest” hospital attack in Paris collapses
By Will Morrow, 4 May 2019
The government’s crude fabrication was aimed at casting the “yellow vest” protests as criminal and morally reprehensible, and justifying police state violence.
UK: Defence minister’s sacking escalates Tory crisis amid rising UK/US tensions
By Robert Stevens, 4 May 2019
Williamson was sacked after an inquiry into who leaked the deliberations of a National Security Council meeting that approved Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s participation in the UK’s 5G data network.
Fuel tanker drivers threaten new strike in Portugal
By Paul Mitchell, 4 May 2019
The fuel tankers dispute is the latest manifestation in Portugal of the eruption of the class struggle internationally.
Berlin: Meeting held at Humboldt University to defend Julian Assange
By our reporters, 4 May 2019
On Tuesday, several dozen students and workers gathered at Humboldt University in Berlin to protest the persecution of Julian Assange and discuss the political and historical background to the attack on the courageous journalist.
French Yellow vest protesters travel to London to defend Julian Assange
4 May 2019
Protesters travelled across the English Channel to demand freedom for the persecuted Wikileaks journalist, who was sentenced Wednesday to spend 50 weeks in Belmarsh Prison while he is threatened with rendition to the United States.
After Spanish elections, Podemos pushes for pro-austerity PSOE government
By Alejandro Lopez and Alex Lantier, 3 May 2019
Even as the PSOE’s police-state and austerity policies fuel the far right’s rise, Podemos is asking to join a PSOE government and defending it from criticism on its left.
Fascistic Vox party enters parliament in Spain elections, as social democrats gain
By Alex Lantier, 29 April 2019
Heavy voter turnout reflected, at least in part, significant numbers of people trying to cast a vote to prevent the far right from coming to power.
In naked sellout, union announces end to strike by 300,000 Polish teachers
By Will Morrow and Clara Weiss, 27 April 2019
The union is covering up the fact that it is ending the strike without meeting any of the teachers’ demands by claiming the strike is being “suspended.”
Half of all land in England owned by less than one percent of the population
By Margot Miller, 27 April 2019
The aristocracy and gentry still own 30 percent of the land, while 18 percent is owned by corporations and a staggering 17 percent is in the possession of oligarchs and bankers.
The Spanish elections and the struggle against authoritarian rule
By the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, Socialist Equality Party and Parti de l’égalité socialiste, 27 April 2019
A struggle against capitalist reaction can only proceed through the building of a new revolutionary leadership in the Spanish and international working class.
UK: May unable to stem Tory crisis over Brexit, but still propped up by Corbyn
By Robert Stevens, 26 April 2019
For Corbyn’s faction, the political function of these talks over Brexit is to side-line a discussion on the political crisis facing the government that could precipitate a general election.
International finance backs Socialist Party in Spain’s April 28 elections
By Alejandro López, 26 April 2019
European Union sources are warning of prolonged political instability and looking to the PSOE and Podemos for an answer.
Germany: SGP European election campaign wins support for Julian Assange in Stuttgart
By our reporters, 26 April 2019
Teams from the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) recently spoke with workers and youth in Stuttgart, inviting them to its April 27 election meeting and distributed WSWS material calling for freedom for Julian Assange.
As union seeks to end walkout
Polish teachers speak out on why they are striking
By Will Morrow, 25 April 2019
The main teachers’ union has called for the suspension of the powerful strike to allow students to complete their exams.
Protest in London’s Parliament Square demands release of Julian Assange
By our reporters, 25 April 2019
The lively demonstration organised by the Julian Assange Defence Campaign was supported by the Socialist Equality Party and World Socialist Web Site.
Grenfell fire survivors forced onto general housing waiting list
By Alice Summers, 25 April 2019
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council has announced the ending of the programme to rehouse Grenfell survivors.
The election of Zelensky in Ukraine and the way forward for the working class
By Clara Weiss, 25 April 2019
Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi won the Ukrainian presidential elections Sunday in a massive repudiation of the incumbent president and the imperialist-orchestrated coup that brought him to power.
Unions scramble to contain Polish teachers’ strike as 40,000 social workers prepare to stop work
By Clara Weiss, 24 April 2019
The teachers’ strike, the first nationwide walkout since 1993, is one of the largest strikes since the restoration of capitalism in Poland in 1989.
Police arrest over 1,000 climate change protesters in London
By Robert Stevens, 23 April 2019
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has issued no statement condemning the mass arrest of peaceful protesters.
Privatisation of UK’s National Health Service escalates
By Ben Trent, 23 April 2019
An investigation found that over 1 million patients were forced to seek alternative treatment in the preceding five years due to the closure of nearly 450 GP surgeries.
Landslide victory for Zelensky over Poroshenko in Ukrainian presidential election
By Jason Melanovski, 22 April 2019
The election results reflect the enormous hostility within the Ukrainian working class toward the right-wing nationalist policies of the Poroshenko regime.
Spain: Podemos manifesto defends constitution, urges coalition with Socialist Party
By Alejandro López and Paul Mitchell, 22 April 2019
The concessions hailed by Podemos were included in the 1978 Constitution to legitimise the filthy compromise between the PSOE and the Communist Party (PCE) with the Francoites, to “forgive and forget” the crimes of fascism.
UK home secretary demands climate change protesters face “full force of the law”
By Laura Tiernan, 20 April 2019
More than 682 climate change protesters have been arrested since Monday.
No to calls for “national unity” after the burning of Notre Dame in Paris
By Alex Lantier, 20 April 2019
The cathedral’s fate is an object lesson in the urgent need for workers to expropriate the irresponsible and parasitic financial aristocracy that dominates official public life.
European election: SGP holds its second campaign meeting in Frankfurt-Main
By our correspondents, 20 April 2019
In Frankfurt, SGP Chairman Ulrich Rippert highlighted the importance of the International Committee of the Fourth International and its perspective of a United Socialist States of Europe.
UK life expectancy continues to fall
By Dennis Moore, 19 April 2019
The fall in longevity appears to be a trend, with an analysis from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries showing a decrease in life expectancy by two months last year and this year by six months.
German government adopts new law to expand immigrant deportations
By Peter Schwarz, 19 April 2019
With its new law, the grand coalition is in effect enforcing the far-right policies of the Alternative for Germany.
Germany: SPD and Greens act as stooges for the far-right in Hamburg
By Sybille Fuchs, 19 April 2019
The coalition which controls the Hamburg Senate is acting as an extension of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) against anti-fascist students, teachers and parents.
Socialist Equality Party intervenes at Paris rally in defence of Assange
By Anthony Torres, 19 April 2019
Socialist Equality Party members intervened at the rally on Saturday in defence of Assange at the invitation of the alternative news site Le Grand Soir.
Polish government vows to fight wage rises as teachers’ strike enters second week
By Clara Weiss, 17 April 2019
Both the Polish government and the ZNP union are trying to isolate the national teachers’ strike and keep it from sparking a broader movement of the working class.
Thin layer of the UK population earn more than £150,000 per year
By Barry Mason, 17 April 2019
Over the last decade, the income and wealth of the affluent upper middle class has skyrocketed at the expense of the working class.
Over half of councils in England lose all government funding
By Margot Miller, 17 April 2019
Almost half of all local authorities will receive no central grant this year—10 times more than in 2017/2018 and three times more than last year.
The burning of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris
By Alex Lantier, 17 April 2019
The inferno was caused by a horrific breakdown of fire safety in restoration work, for which the French government and ruling elite bear the responsibility.
The media’s role in persecuting Julian Assange
By Andre Damon, 17 April 2019
The newspapers, the broadcast news, and, perhaps worst of all, the late-night talk shows have targeted crude insults against a persecuted man who cannot defend himself.
Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris devastated by fire
By Alex Lantier, 16 April 2019
A tall column of thick, yellowish smoke that poured out of the cathedral, consumed by flames, cast a pall over the city of Paris Monday evening.
“The fight starts now to prevent his extradition to the United States!”
Supporters to rally in defence of Assange outside Belmarsh Prison, London
By our reporters, 13 April 2019
The protests organised by the Julian Assange Defence Committee and supported by the Socialist Equality Party (UK) and the WSWS will be held from 4pm today.
German interior minister tables Intelligence Services “Enabling Act”
By Wolfgang Weber, 13 April 2019
The new law would provide the three intelligence agencies with almost unlimited powers to monitor and spy on domestic and foreign citizens.
040 SGP candidate interview on German TV
13 April 2019
Spain seeks rebellion charges against Catalans for complaining of police violence
By Alejandro López, 13 April 2019
In the Orwellian atmosphere being stoked up by the ruling class in the run up to the April 28 general election, it is the victims of police brutality that are denounced as aggressors.
Six-month Brexit extension resolves nothing for UK
By Robert Stevens, 12 April 2019
At best the European Union have kicked the can down the road, with no guarantees of a resolution.
National strike by Polish teachers enters fifth day
By Clara Weiss, 12 April 2019
The vast majority of Polish teachers remain on strike as the government refuses to make any concessions.
Westminster Magistrates Court
Former UK ambassador Craig Murray denounces arrest and conviction of Julian Assange
By our reporter, 12 April 2019
“There was no jury and no chance to mount a proper defence or have a proper hearing. It is clear the judge was extremely prejudiced,” Murray said.
Two giant German banks plan merger
By Gustav Kemper and Peter Schwarz, 12 April 2019
The German government is pushing for the combination of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to establish a financial behemoth capable of competing with the US and China.
WikiLeaks exposes spying operation against Assange in Ecuador’s London embassy
By Oscar Grenfell, 11 April 2019
The Ecuadorian regime, acting as a vassal of the US, has surveilled every aspect of Assange’s life.
As trade tensions increase, IMF lowers forecasts for global growth
By Nick Beams, 11 April 2019
The IMF reported that industrial production and investment remained weak in many advanced and developing economies, and world trade had yet to recover.
Two giant German banks plan merger
By Gustav Kemper and Peter Schwarz, 11 April 2019
The German government is pushing for the combination of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to establish a financial behemoth capable of competing with the US and China.
The resurgence of the class struggle in Poland
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 11 April 2019
Thirty years after General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s Stalinist regime began to collapse, paving the way for capitalist restoration, Polish teachers are mounting a national strike.
Polish teachers strike confronts social disaster wrought by capitalist restoration
By Clara Weiss and Jerry White, 10 April 2019
Hundreds of thousands of educators are continuing their strike against Poland’s extreme right-wing government and its policies of austerity and social reaction.
EU summit considers extension of Brexit deadline
By Robert Stevens, 10 April 2019
In another public humiliation, UK Prime Minister Theresa May met separately with the German Chancellor and French President, hoping to secure the backing of the EU’s two heavyweight powers.
UK cancer patients’ lives imperilled, suffering deepened by treatment delays
By Ajanta Silva, 10 April 2019
In England alone, more than 127,000 cancer patients have been left waiting more than two months to start their treatment over the last five years.
Greece: Syriza government mobilises riot police against refugees
By John Vassilopoulos, 10 April 2019
In enforcing the European Union’s anti-immigrant policy on the continent’s southern border, Syriza willingly acts as the jailer of all refugees stranded within its country’s borders.
Germany: Tens of thousands demonstrate in Berlin against high rents
By our reporters, 10 April 2019
The demand for the expropriation of real estate companies was at the centre of the demonstration and met with tremendous support among workers and young people.
German parliament celebrates 70 years of NATO and demands escalation of military rearmament
By Johannes Stern, 10 April 2019
Politicians from the governing and opposition parties took turns in hailing the largest military alliance in history and demanded an escalation of German rearmament.
Polish teachers launch nationwide strike
By Clara Weiss, 9 April 2019
Over 86 percent of the country’s 400,000 teachers have joined the first nationwide strike of teachers in Poland in 25 years.
UK: Jury fails to reach verdict against top police officer over Hillsborough football disaster
By Barry Mason, 9 April 2019
Former Yorkshire police chief superintendent David Duckenfield was charged with the criminal offence of gross negligence manslaughter of 95 of the supporters.
“Independent” union in Russia facilitates closure of Ford factory
By Clara Weiss, 8 April 2019
The Inter-Regional Trade Union Workers’ Alliance (MPRA) has blocked opposition to the US-based auto giant’s plans to close three factories and exit the passenger car market.
UN Special Rapporteur: US extradition of Assange would be violation of international law
By Oscar Grenfell, 6 April 2019
The Ecuadorian regime, and its co-conspirators in the British and US governments, are engaged in a sordid and illegal conspiracy to terminate the political asylum of the WikiLeaks founder.
Supporters oppose eviction of Julian Assange outside London’s Ecuadorian embassy
By Paul Mitchell, 6 April 2019
Defenders of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gathered outside the Ecuadorian embassy in central London yesterday, after a warning that he faces eviction from the building where he sought political asylum in 2012 “within hours to days.”
Fascists mount pogrom against Roma population in Italy
By Marianne Arens, 6 April 2019
The fascists, who feel emboldened by the Italian government, enjoy little support among the population.
Surrounding land left highly toxic after Grenfell Tower inferno
By Thomas Scripps, 6 April 2019
The publication of Professor Anna Stec’s full study details “significant environmental contamination” in the densely populated area around Grenfell Tower.
The political implications of the Corbyn/May Brexit talks
By Chris Marsden, 5 April 2019
The talks on an alternative Brexit deal between UK Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn decisively refute all claims that his election as leader of the Labour Party offered a way forward for working people.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
5 April 2019
Gold miners have voted to continue their four-month strike after management rejected a deal proposed by mediators.
Podemos could lose half its seats in Spain’s general election
By Alejandro López and Paul Mitchell, 2 April 2019
A major reason the party’s loss of support is mass abstention, particularly among the youth, who no longer identify Podemos as a radical alternative.
“No deal” Brexit threatened after May’s EU withdrawal agreement rejected for third time
By Robert Stevens, 30 March 2019
Labour’s nominally “left” leader Jeremy Corbyn is working to ensure that the gravest peacetime crisis in the history of British imperialism is resolved through the worm-eaten parliamentary system, with the working class left as spectators.
Far-right party wins most votes in Dutch provincial elections
By Harm Zonderland, 30 March 2019
Provincial councils were elected in the Netherlands on March 20, with the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD), led by Thierry Baudet, winning 12 out of 75 seats.
Special unit of the Maltese army storms refugee ship
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 30 March 2019
The case of the cargo ship El Hiblu 1 graphically demonstrates the inhumanity of the European Union’s merciless migration policy.
Build rank-and-file factory committees to fight Honda job losses!
By Steve James, 30 March 2019
Today’s demonstration shows workers are ready to fight and there is widespread support for such a struggle in the car industry in the rest of the UK and internationally.
Xi signs strategic EU-China deals amid growing EU-US tensions
By Alex Lantier, 29 March 2019
Rome’s endorsement of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the face of explicit US disapproval points to deep tensions between US and European imperialism.
US journalist exposes Julian Assange’s prison-like conditions
By Oscar Grenfell, 29 March 2019
Prevented from holding a meeting with the journalist, Assange defiantly protested and condemned Ecuadorian officials for operating as “agents of the US government.”
UK Conservatives’ rampant Islamophobia and racism covered up by party tops, downplayed by media
By Margot Miller, 29 March 2019
The Conservative Party has a long history of whipping up racism in a divide-and-conquer strategy to legitimise its policies of austerity, militarism and war.
Xi Jinping tours Europe amid growing divisions between America and EU
By Alex Lantier, 29 March 2019
As bitter tensions erupt between Washington and the European Union over China’s policies in Eurasia, European imperialism is furiously rearming.
Parliament rejects all alternatives as May’s offer to resign fails to stem Brexit crisis
By Robert Stevens, 28 March 2019
May’s pledge to resign is her last card in the attempt to convince the Tories’ hard-Brexit wing and the Democratic Unionist Party to back her European Union withdrawal agreement.
Left-wing students barred from King’s College London during royal visit
By Thomas Scripps, 28 March 2019
UK students are being labeled as security threats, reported directly to the police and denied access to their own university.
German Left Party passes anti-democratic police law in Brandenburg
By Gregor Link, 28 March 2019
The Left Party voted in the Brandenburg state legislature for a new police law that increases the repressive powers of the state.
European Union intensifies internet censorship
By Justus Leicht and Johannes Stern, 27 March 2019
Two months before the European elections, the European Parliament has pushed through a directive to enforce the use of so-called upload filters in social media, thus further censoring the internet.
British parliament to make “indicative votes” in an attempt to overcome Brexit impasse
By Robert Stevens, 27 March 2019
MPs may indeed have formally taken control of the next stage of the Brexit crisis, but any positions arrived at in today’s votes are not legally binding on the government.
Corbyn assailant jailed, but significance of his attack still minimised
By Chris Marsden, 27 March 2019
The SEP reiterates the necessity for heightened political vigilance and security regarding fascist provocateurs, along with a political counteroffensive for socialism against all those giving succour to the far-right.
“Brexit is a shambles—it will affect so many people in many ways”
By our reporters, 25 March 2019
Reporters for the World Socialist Web Site spoke to demonstrators at Saturday’s anti-Brexit protest in London.
French “yellow vest” protests defy threat of army repression
By Anthony Torres, 25 March 2019
As a mass movement of workers and youth threatens to bring down the Algerian military regime, the government is desperate to rapidly strangle protests inside France.
French army receives authorization to shoot “yellow vest” protesters
By Alex Lantier, 23 March 2019
General Bruno Le Ray announced that the rules of engagement for soldiers sent today against the “yellow vests” allow them to “go as far as opening fire.”
Answer Brexit with the struggle for socialism throughout Europe!
By the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 23 March 2019
Far from trusting their fate to Merkel, Macron, Juncker and Tusk, those protesting today must ally themselves with the European working class now waging political and social battles against the EU and its member state governments.
Ford announces 5,000 job cuts in Germany
By Marianne Arens, 23 March 2019
The mass lay-offs are a component of Ford’s global onslaught on jobs known as the Fitness Programme, which aims to eliminate 25,000 jobs around the world.
Twenty years since the US bombing of Yugoslavia
By Bill Van Auken, 23 March 2019
The imperialist crime was launched by the Clinton administration—with the backing of the pseudo-left—under the hypocritical banner of “human rights.”
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