North America
After shouting “I’m pregnant,” woman fatally shot by Texas police officer
By Marcus Day, 15 May 2019
Video recorded by a bystander and posted to Snapchat quickly went viral, prompting widespread outrage at the horrific killing.
US indicts whistleblower who exposed Obama’s drone assassination program
By Kevin Reed, 11 May 2019
Former US intelligence officer Daniel Hale was indicted and arrested on Thursday on charges of violating the Espionage Act.
New York City public housing fire kills six
By Tim Avery and Philip Guelpa, 11 May 2019
A fire in a Harlem building owned by the New York City Housing Authority killed two adults and four children.
Low-paid South Carolina teachers recruited for factory work
By Shelley Connor, 11 May 2019
South Carolina’s teachers, frustrated by pay that has not kept up with inflation, have become a reliable source of labor for a pharmaceutical company.
Trump rally roars approval for call to “shoot” immigrants
By Eric London, 10 May 2019
When an audience member at a Trump rally Wednesday yelled that the US should “shoot” immigrants, Trump laughed. Meanwhile, the government is arresting record numbers of families at the border.
US seizes North Korean ship
By Mike Head, 10 May 2019
This week’s developments demonstrate that the Trump administration has no intention of striking a deal with Pyongyang unless it involves a total capitulation and embrace of Washington’s offensive against China.
US tariff hike against China goes ahead
By Nick Beams, 10 May 2019
Trump said talks with Chinese representatives would proceed, but “I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
“They depend on us for their wealth and power”
Uber and Lyft drivers in Chicago, New York and California speak out against exploitation of gig economy workers
By our reporters, 10 May 2019
Drivers across the United States spoke out against the classification of Uber drivers as independent contractors as Uber heads into an Initial Public Offering worth billions of dollars.
GM workers denounce deals to “save” token jobs in Lordstown and Oshawa
By Shannon Jones, 10 May 2019
The moves, which will retain at most a few hundred jobs out of the thousands that are being permanently eliminated, are being denounced by workers.
Venezuela tensions mount after arrest of coup leader
By Bill Van Auken, 10 May 2019
Washington continues to threaten military intervention in the oil-rich South American country.
Cell phone video from Sandra Bland’s 2015 traffic stop made public
By Anthony Bertolt, 10 May 2019
The video renews attention to her death in police custody and raises questions over the way it has been withheld for nearly four years.
Changing poverty formula, Trump administration to make millions ineligible for social programs
By Alex González, 10 May 2019
The “chained CPI” plan is based on a previous attack on the poor and elderly proposed by the Obama administration.
Chelsea Manning released, faces new imprisonment for refusing to testify against Assange
By Niles Niemuth, 10 May 2019
Even before she was released on Thursday, Manning was served with a new subpoena to demand testimony before a different grand jury. She could be returned to jail as early as next week.
Wild Nights with Emily: American poet Emily Dickinson undone by gender politics
By Joanne Laurier and David Walsh, 10 May 2019
By concentrating almost exclusively on Emily Dickinson’s supposed sexual relationship with her sister-in-law, filmmaker Madeleine Olnek and her collaborators recreate the poet in their own petty, self-absorbed image.
IYSSE in US holds successful meetings on postmodernism and identity politics
By our reporters, 10 May 2019
The meetings reviewed the right-wing, subjective idealist roots of the pseudo-left philosophies and politics that dominate college campuses.
After Matamoros strikes, Mexican government enacts bill for “democratic unions”
By Alex González, 7 May 2019
The bill is a response to the resurgence of the class struggle and a demand for the passage of the USMCA.
Washington political warfare intensifies with lawsuits, looming contempt charges
By Patrick Martin, 4 May 2019
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which would handle impeachment proceedings, warned that “the system of not having a president as a dictator is very much at stake.”
Bernie Sanders attacks Biden from the right on China trade
By Ben McGrath, 4 May 2019
In criticizing the former vice president, Sanders echoed Trump's anti-China demagogy and economic nationalism.
Neo-Nazi networks exposed across US military
By Jacob Crosse, 4 May 2019
Recent independent investigations have shown that multiple white supremacist groups are operating freely across all branches of the military.
Polls show growing sentiment for teachers strike in Mississippi
By J. L’Heureau, 4 May 2019
Mississippi educators, seeking to join the international strike wave of teachers, are demanding action against poverty wages and abysmal working conditions.
San Diego Sweetwater Teachers Union begins bargaining as false financial situation reported by district
By Evelyn Rios, 4 May 2019
The union and district are negotiating an austerity contract based on what is most likely fraudulent accounting, amidst allegations of fraud and mismanagement investigations.
US-China trade talks enter final phase
By Nick Beams, 4 May 2019
One of the main sticking points is agreement on the procedure by which US tariffs imposed on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods would be lifted if a trade agreement is reached.
The imperialist “lie in the soul”
Politicians celebrate “World Press Freedom Day” as Julian Assange languishes in prison
By David Walsh, 4 May 2019
No one associated with UNESCO or World Press Freedom Day made mention of the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during this week’s events.
Documentary about the brutal 2014 disappearance of teachers’ college students
The 43: A state massacre and cover-up in Mexico
By Rafael Azul and Don Knowland, 4 May 2019
The documentary on Netflix exposes the role of the military in the 2014 disappearance of 43 rural teaching students and the government’s cover-up of this atrocity.
Another school shooting claims two lives at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
By Jessica Goldstein, 3 May 2019
The shooting at UNCC is only the latest deadly mass shooting in the United States.
The manufactured case of Long Beach “terrorist” Marc Steven Domingo
By Rafael Azul, 3 May 2019
The arrest of the Afghan war veteran has the characteristics of an entrapment operation by the FBI and other police agencies.
US military set to loosen rules for troops operating along southern border
By Genevieve Leigh, 27 April 2019
The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security are clearing the way for Trump to escalate his anti-immigrant program amidst silence from Democrats.
Los Angeles universities quarantine 280 as US measles cases reach record levels
By Kate Randall, 27 April 2019
The CDC reports the number of measles cases has spiked to at least 695 so far this year, the highest number since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.
Massachusetts judge and court officer charged with helping immigrant evade ICE officer
By Kevin Martinez, 27 April 2019
Newton District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and former trial court officer, Wesley MacGregor both face up to 20 years if found guilty of obstructing ICE.
US Navy SEAL officers attempted to cover up evidence of war crimes
By Josh Varlin, 27 April 2019
Navy SEAL officers told lower-ranking soldiers not to report war crimes, including the murder of civilians and a wounded teenager in Iraq.
New study documents over 1,600 killed in US siege of Raqqa, Syria
By Bill Van Auken, 26 April 2019
The killings in Raqqa, like those in Mosul, Iraq, constituted massive war crimes committed in the so-called war against ISIS.
Former Vice President Biden officially enters Democratic presidential race
By Tom Hall, 26 April 2019
Biden’s announcement video focuses on the danger of Trump while concealing the role of the Obama-Biden administration in paving the way for Trump’s authoritarian politics.
Fed “pivot” promotes stock market surge
By Nick Beams, 26 April 2019
While share prices soar, the global economic outlook has worsened, with growing signs of a downturn.
Mexican police detain hundreds of Central American migrants during mass raid
By Alex González, 26 April 2019
The arrest of over 370 migrants, the largest in recent years, shows that the Mexican ruling class is subserviently implementing the Trump administration’s fascistic attacks on immigrants.
University of Illinois at Chicago faculty announces deal on eve of strike
By George Gallanis, 26 April 2019
More than 1,100 professors, lecturers, instructors and assistant professors are voting on a concessionary contract being pushed by the UIC United Faculty union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.
Forty hospitalized after toxic chemical leak in Chicago suburb
By Jessica Goldstein, 26 April 2019
Residents of Beach Park, Illinois were ordered to stay inside and 40 people were hospitalized after toxic anhydrous ammonia leaked into the air during a chemical spill.
Ontario Tory government intensifies assault on workers’ rights
By Penny Smith, 26 April 2019
Ford’s thinly veiled threat to criminalize teachers’ strikes must be taken as a serious warning: emboldened by the unions’ complicity, the Tories are escalating their class-war assault.
Hillary Clinton’s McCarthyite rant
By Joseph Kishore, 26 April 2019
In a column published Wednesday in the Washington Post, the former Democratic Party presidential candidate resurrects the conspiracy theories that were the staple of Cold War anticommunism.
Conflict mounts between White House and Congress over subpoenas
By Patrick Martin, 25 April 2019
President Trump has ordered lower-ranking officials to refuse to testify or supply documents to any investigation by the House of Representatives into his business and political activities.
Rutgers University faculty union blocks strike by professors and teaching assistants
By Owen Mullan, 25 April 2019
The American Federation of Teachers acted to prevent a coordinated fight by educators against the Democrats’ austerity measures.
The Mueller report and the campaign against Russia
By Joseph Kishore, 20 April 2019
An editorial in the New York Times makes clear that the central purpose of the Democrats’ campaign against Trump has been to demand more aggressive action against Russia.
Armed militia detaining asylum seekers at gunpoint along US-Mexico border
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan and Niles Niemuth, 20 April 2019
An armed militia calling itself the United Constitutional Patriots posted videos of its members detaining hundreds of migrants at the New Mexico border, in actions seemingly coordinated with the Border Patrol.
CIA director called out for complicity in torture
By Trévon Austin, 20 April 2019
US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Gina Haspel was delivering a recruiting pitch to students at Auburn University on Thursday where she was called out by an audience member for her participation in torture and other crimes.
“Why did Boeing make it like that? Pure negligence and greed. There is simply no other answer.”
Aviation reporter Rytis Beresnevičius speaks to WSWS on Boeing 737 crashes
By Bryan Dyne, 20 April 2019
Rytis Beresnevičius has closely followed the two recent Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes and the engineering, executive and regulatory decisions that led to these disasters.
Rising death toll in San Diego jails
By Norisa Diaz, 20 April 2019
Within the short span of six weeks, four people have died while in custody in San Diego, California jails.
US education secretary to gut regulations, seek a “major shift” in higher education—Part 1
By Nancy Hanover, 20 April 2019
A crude assault on educational standards, which hardens the class divide in educational access and spurs the plundering of the “education market,” is being enacted under the cover of “rule-making” by the US Department of Education.
US Gulf Coast still devastated six months after Hurricane Michael
By Matthew Taylor, 20 April 2019
Those left homeless in the aftermath of one of the strongest storms in US history have been forgotten by the media.
Right-wing populist United Conservatives win Alberta election as NDP vote plummets
By Roger Jordan, 20 April 2019
The election’s outcome represents a further shift to the right within establishment politics, and will exacerbate regional tensions within Canada’s ruling elite and its federal state.
Trump administration escalates threats against Cuba
By Alexander Fangmann, 20 April 2019
The Trump administration is imposing unilateral sanctions aimed at punishing foreign corporations, particularly European and Canadian, with investments in Cuba.
Protests force American Museum of Natural History to cancel event with Brazil’s Bolsonaro
By Miguel Andrade, 20 April 2019
In face of fierce popular reaction, the ruling elites in New York have been forced to disassociate themselves from the fascistic Brazilian president.
“If you agree with our analysis, you’ve got to decide what you’re going to do.”
David North speaks on the threat of fascism
By David North, 20 April 2019
North, the Chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, urged a meeting of students and workers at Wayne State University to build the Socialist Equality Party in order to fight against the threat of fascism and war.
The Threat of Fascism and How to Fight It
North and Vandreier conclude US tour at New York University
By our reporters, 20 April 2019
Christoph Vandreier, deputy national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, and WSWS chairman David North concluded their lecture tour with a well-attended meeting at New York University.
“We’re all in this together. That is how I see it.”
Detroit Fiat Chrysler autoworkers defend Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning
By a WSWS reporting team, 20 April 2019
A WSWS Autoworker Newsletter campaign team spoke to workers Thursday at the Warren Stamping plant outside of Detroit about the importance of the defense of whistleblowers Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
The stagnation of American poetry: The Best American Poetry 2018
By James McDonald, 20 April 2019
For the most part, these are eminently safe poems, carefully dressed, peer reviewed and scrupulously attentive to contemporary cultural regulations of taste.
Twenty years since the Columbine High School massacre
By David Walsh, 19 April 2019
The Colorado event, in which two high school seniors shot and killed 12 of their fellow students and one teacher before committing suicide, represented something qualitatively new and disturbing in American social life.
Mueller report re-ignites political warfare in Washington
By Patrick Martin, 19 April 2019
Congressional Democrats and their media backers are seeking to use the findings of the investigation to boost their right-wing anti-Russia campaign.
US preparing more charges against Julian Assange
By Kristina Betinis, 19 April 2019
A report by CNN confirms the warnings made by the WSWS that if the journalist is extradited to the United States, additional, possibly capital, charges would be brought against him.
New round of US-China trade talks
By Nick Beams, 19 April 2019
Among the most contentious issues that remain unresolved are which US tariffs would continue force and the establishment of an enforcement mechanism.
USW forces rotten deal on Harley-Davidson workers in Wisconsin
By Jacob Crosse, 19 April 2019
The union rejected its membership’s demands for an improved contract and instead forced through the same concessions-filled deal workers rejected less than two weeks earlier.
“Without truth and a free press we are doomed to further oppression”
Teachers demand freedom for Assange and Manning
By the WSWS Teacher Newsletter, 19 April 2019
Teachers have been in the forefront of a wave of global strikes and struggles over the last year, which terrifies the ruling class and is motivating its attack on free speech and democratic rights.
Strike of 31,000 New England Stop & Shop workers in sixth day
By our reporters, 17 April 2019
Despite reporting profits of more than $2 billion last year, the multinational owner of Stop & Shop is seeking to drive down the wages and benefits of workers.
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.
New trade union bureaucracies or rank-and-file workers’ power?
Lessons of the Matamoros workers’ rebellion: Part five
By Andrea Lobo, 17 April 2019
This is the fifth and concluding part of a series of articles on the wave of strikes carried out by maquiladora workers in the Mexican border town of Matamoros. The lessons of this struggle are essential for not only Mexican workers, but for workers internationally.
Trump, the Fed and the New York Times
By Nick Beams, 17 April 2019
Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed after Wall Street last year experienced its worst December result since the depths of the Great Depression in 1931.
Trump officials discussed using troops to run migrant detention camps
By Barry Grey, 13 April 2019
Trump has been able to carry through his anti-immigrant program, despite popular opposition, because the Democrats have done nothing to seriously oppose it.
Chicago symphony musicians strike defies aristocratic principle
By Kristina Betinis, 13 April 2019
As CSO strike enters sixth week, a right-wing pressure campaign is being mounted to try to force the musicians to make concessions on their pensions.
New video emerges of Chicago police officers tasing and beating high school student
By Jacob Crosse, 13 April 2019
The revelation of the incident which took place at the end of January has exposed yet another attempted cover-up inside the Chicago Police Department.
In 3 A.M. ruling, Supreme Court allows Alabama execution to proceed
By Dan Conway, 13 April 2019
For the second time in as many weeks, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the execution of a death row inmate can proceed despite claims that the method of execution, lethal injection, will cause intense pain and suffering.
070 UIC faculty vote to strike
13 April 2019
George Mason University law school receives largest donation in school’s history from estate of far-right judge
By Nick Barrickman and Rhiannon Jones, 13 April 2019
With an influx of tens of millions of dollars from far-right conservative donors, the Antonin Scalia Law School is situating itself as a center of reactionary legal views.
Ontario Tories’ budget: Cuts to public services, tax handouts for big business
By Roger Jordan, 13 April 2019
The media’s claim that the budget contains “no major cuts” is aimed at concealing the fact that the government is engaged in a vast transfer of wealth from workers to the rich.
Julian Assange’s life is in danger
By Eric London, 13 April 2019
The official indictment by the US government against Assange is a transparent lie, aimed at providing the UK with a legal cover to extradite the WikiLeaks founder.
Arrest made in connection with church burnings in Louisiana
By Aaron Murch, 12 April 2019
The son of a white sheriff’s deputy faces charges of setting fire to three black churches.
West Virginia college axes liberal arts; Pennsylvania Historical Society slashes workforce
By Tom Eley, 12 April 2019
The moves are symptomatic of a society that can spare nothing for art and history, subordinating them to the profit imperatives of the financial elite.
Sacramento, California teachers conduct one day strike
By Ben McGrath, 12 April 2019
As the teachers union works to reach a sellout deal with county officials, rank-and-file teachers are striving for a broader struggle in defense of public education.
Quebec premier backs ABI in extorting massive concessions from locked-out workers
By Laurent Lafrance, 12 April 2019
Legault’s pro-company bullying underscores the utter bankruptcy of the strategy of the USW, which has isolated the ABI workers while urging them to put their faith in appeals to Quebec right-wing CAQ government.
College admissions scandal in the US: An inevitable product of malignant levels of social inequality
By David Walsh, 12 April 2019
The corrupt process is the implementation, in this particular field, of the “aristocratic principle,” the domination of the plutocracy at the expense of every other social interest or concern.
New York City declares public health emergency over measles outbreak
By Kate Randall, 11 April 2019
New York City has seen 285 confirmed measles cases since the outbreak began in the fall, with 21 requiring hospitalizations, including five admissions to intensive care units.
White House to intensify anti-immigrant rampage
By Patrick Martin, 11 April 2019
Multiple media reports say that the Trump administration is pushing for new anti-immigrant measures, including forcible separation of asylum seekers from their children.
Massive gas explosion in Durham, North Carolina leaves 1 dead, 17 injured
By Jacob Crosse, 11 April 2019
An evacuation order was given only a few minutes before an explosion leveled one building and damaged four others.
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.
One-day strike by Sacramento, California teachers
By Dan Conway, 11 April 2019
Ninety-two percent of Sacramento City Teachers Association members voted last month to authorize strike action in the state capital.
Lower turnout for second one-day strike at California universities and health systems
By Evelyn Rios, 11 April 2019
On Wednesday, several thousand of the lowest paid workers struck against the University of California’s ten-campus system.
A letter from a young US Postal Service worker
By Côme Crozier, 11 April 2019
“The unions have us divided in a Kafkaesque system of different wages and hours.”
Polls indicate right-wing populist United Conservatives will win Alberta election
By Janet Browning and Riksen Stewart, 11 April 2019
If Kenney can so brazenly make reactionary appeals, it is because Alberta’s trade union-backed NDP government has imposed austerity and championed the interests of Big Oil.
New trade union bureaucracies or rank-and-file workers’ power?
Lessons of the Matamoros workers’ rebellion: Part four
By Andrea Lobo, 11 April 2019
The US and European ruling classes are promoting self-proclaimed “independent” unions in Mexico partnered, financed and in some instances created by the American AFL-CIO labor federation.
In meeting with Egyptian dictator, Trump rails against immigrants
By Niles Niemuth, 10 April 2019
Trump launched into a fascistic rant against asylum seekers and other immigrants on Tuesday while sitting side by side in the Oval Office with the butcher of Cairo.
Norwood Jewell, the UAW and the Flint water crisis
By Jerry White, 10 April 2019
The conviction on bribery charges of Jewell sheds light on the close connections between the UAW and the Democratic politicians responsible for the lead poisoning of an entire city.
“We believe in our art and can’t let them take it away”
Chicago symphony musicians defy management offer, continue strike
By Michael Walters and George Marlowe, 10 April 2019
CSO musicians have courageously defied the insulting “last, best, final offer” of management and are continuing their longest-ever strike.
University of California service and patient care technicians on one-day strike
By Marc Wells, 10 April 2019
University of California’s 25,000 service and patient care technicians are on strike today, for the fourth time in less than a year.
Hollywood writers in a battle against powerful talent agencies
By Adam Mclean and David Walsh, 10 April 2019
The Writers Guild of America has set an April 13 deadline for reaching an agreement with the major Hollywood talent agencies on a new code of conduct.
Christoph Vandreier kicks off US speaking tour with well-attended meeting at UC Berkeley
By Gabriel Black, 10 April 2019
Christoph Vandreier spoke to an audience of 70 university students and workers, in the first of six meetings on “The Threat Of Fascism And How To Fight It”
Flint, a play at the University of Michigan: Stuck, unfortunately, in the quagmire of racial politics
By Joanne Laurier, 10 April 2019
José Casas’ drama is a response to the horrendous Flint, Michigan water crisis, which began in April 2014. As a result, the city’s poisoned population has suffered disease, death and untold misery.
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.
Trump visits border to step up attack on immigrants
By Dan Conway, 6 April 2019
Trump’s visit took place two days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 280 immigrant workers in a raid on an electronics plant in Texas.
Boeing CEO praised “streamlined” oversight of 737 plane that crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia
By Barry Grey, 6 April 2019
Muilenberg’s praise for the gutting of government oversight points to the subordination of safety concerns to profit and the transformation of regulatory agencies into rubber stamps for the corporations.
US-China trade deal pushed back
By Nick Beams, 6 April 2019
Trump emerged from a meeting with chief Chinese trade negotiator Liu He to say it would take at least four weeks to reach an agreement as he declined to set a date for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Music is too powerful to be silenced by tyranny”
Chicago symphony musicians host packed concerts as strike reaches turning point
By George Marlowe, 6 April 2019
Musicians in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have continued to host successful, packed concerts as their strike enters its fourth week.
Another steelworker killed at ArcelorMittal in Indiana
By Jessica Goldstein, 6 April 2019
Fleming’s death is the 392nd to occur at the mill, which has operated since 1902.
“We are the future. Give us what we need!”
Thousands of Ontario students walk out to protest school cuts
By our reporters, 6 April 2019
The student-led initiative saw thousands rally across the province against the right-wing government of Doug Ford.
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