18 June 2020

Sharp rise in new coronavirus cases in US south and west

By Bryan Dyne, 18 June 2020

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has doubled since the federal “slow the spread” guidelines were allowed to expire.

Virginia and Maryland ease COVID-19 restrictions

Meatpacking workers oppose forced return to work through protests and mass absenteeism

UK: COVID-19 killing the working class at more than twice the rate of the wealthiest

By Simon Whelan, 18 June 2020

The pandemic is exacerbating the effects of already growing socioeconomic and urban inequalities.

UK: Johnson opens the economy and guarantees fresh COVID-19 outbreak

UK: Legal action highlights social-Darwinist policies against the disabled during COVID-19 pandemic

“For the elite, lives are expendable”
Canadian nurse denounces budget cuts, government neglect and reckless back-to-work drive

By our reporter, 18 June 2020

“There's a very high level of negligence,” Julien told the WSWS. “Some of my colleagues have been quarantined after being put in contact with positive patients without appropriate equipment.”

More on the coronavirus pandemic »

“They believe their profits are more relevant than human life”
Mexican autoworkers say General Motors is covering up COVID-19 outbreak at Silao plant

By Andrea Lobo, 18 June 2020

The coverup of COVID-19 cases by GM and hundreds of manufacturing companies across Mexico is not only sanctioned by the López Obrador government, it is part of an official policy of under-reporting cases.

Faurecia workers denounce unsafe return to work

US auto companies pushing for more production as COVID-19 cases rise in factories

More on autoworkers struggles »

Atlanta cop who killed Rayshard Brooks charged with felony murder, could face death penalty

By Matthew MacEgan, 18 June 2020

The charge is one of eleven made against Officer Garrett Rolfe and may be the first time in more than a century that a police officer in the US has been threatened with the death penalty for an active duty killing.

Atlanta police killing of Rayshard Brooks ruled a homicide as Democrats posture as reformers

Far-right US Air Force sergeant charged in slaying of federal officer and local police

By Jacob Crosse, 18 June 2020

Contrary to the claims of the Trump administration, far-right groups and state agents, not “far-left terrorists,” have been the source of homicidal violence throughout the anti-police brutality protests.

New signs of New York City police revolt, as Democratic mayor and governor announce “reforms”

By Fred Mazelis, 18 June 2020

The NYPD abruptly announced the withdrawal this week of police officers who had been assigned to the offices of the district attorneys in four New York boroughs.

More on police violence »

UK: Marcus Rashford campaign forces Johnson government climbdown over summer free school meals

By Tania Kent and Harvey Thompson, 18 June 2020

The announcement followed a public campaign by 22-year-old Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford.

UK: Pandemic produces surge in household debt, accelerates child poverty

By Barry Mason, 16 June 2020

Tens of thousands of jobs have already gone, and job losses are expected to mount as companies take advantage of the situation to impose long-term restructuring plans.

German Navy prepares for worldwide military missions

By Tino Jacobson and Johannes Stern, 18 June 2020

The ruling elite is making no secret of the imperialist goals associated with the rearmament of the German Navy.

Fascist network uncovered in German Army’s Special Forces unit

By Gregor Link, 18 June 2020

”Right-wing extremist tendencies” are “tolerated” in the KSK and “sometimes consciously covered up,” wrote Der Spiegel based on a soldier’s letter.

Moscow court sentences ex-US Marine to 16 years for espionage

By Clara Weiss, 18 June 2020

The case of Paul Whelan, which has unfolded against the background of heightened military tensions between the US and Russia and a hysterical anti-Russia campaign in the US media, is extremely murky.

Trump rolls back prohibitions on discrimination against transgender patients

By Alex Johnson, 18 June 2020

The announcement endangers the safety of an already vulnerable demographic.

California utility pleads guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for wildfire deaths

By Anthony del Olmo, 18 June 2020

Outdated power lines operated by the Pacific Gas & Electric company sparked dozens of deadly and destructive fires in California over the past decade.

Membership-rigging exposes Australian Labor Party’s rot

By Mike Head, 18 June 2020

The sheer size of the latest branch stacking operations points to a deep crisis in the Labor and trade union apparatus.

Australian pseudo-left groups protect university union from revolt against pay-cutting plans

By a correspondent, 18 June 2020

University workers, in partnership with students, need to construct new rank-and-file organisations that are totally independent of the NTEU apparatus.

17 June 2020

Dozens die in India-China border clash

By Keith Jones, 17 June 2020

North Korea blows up liaison office to send message to Trump

By Peter Symonds, 17 June 2020

More than 40 percent of all US deaths from COVID-19 are in nursing homes

By Benjamin Mateus, 17 June 2020

Outbreaks of COVID-19 in Brazil’s meat processing plants and mines

By Tomas Castanheira, 17 June 2020

Fed boosts support for stock market by expanding corporate debt purchases

By Nick Beams, 17 June 2020

New Mexico protester wounded by far-right shooter

By Jacob Crosse, 17 June 2020

Voices of young protesters: Police violence, COVID-19 and the 2020 elections

By our reporters, 17 June 2019

Massachusetts educators protest layoffs and sweeping cuts to public education

By Will McCalliss and Evan Blake, 17 June 2020

UK: 600,000 workers already kicked off payrolls during COVID-19 lockdown

By Robert Stevens, 17 June 2020

Macron unleashes riot police against French health care protests

By Will Morrow, 17 June 2020

French state hands €15 billion bailout to Airbus and Air France

By Kumaran Ira, 17 June 2020

Canada’s grocery chains slash wages as pandemic continues to rage

By Roger Jordan, 17 June 2020

Australian PM outlines bipartisan austerity offensive

By Oscar Grenfell, 17 June 2020

New in Mandarin

华尔街以死亡为宴

大卫.诺斯, 2020年5月3日

昨天,4月14日,全球因COVID-19大流行造成的死亡总数超过126,000。在美国,周二有2400多人死亡,使全国受害者总数达到26000。这些官方数字无疑大大低于因冠状病毒感染而死亡的实际人数。

伦敦工人拼死与冠毒作战 富豪纷纷撤离

Michael Barnes, 2020年5月9日

早在新冠病毒大流行之前,伦敦就已是英国丑恶的不平等的中心。如今它不可避免地成为英国疫情的震中。这座城市是整个英国社会阶级分化的集中范例。

New in Russian

Правительства по всему миру реагируют на COVID-19, спасая прибыли, а не жизни

Джозеф Кишор — кандидат в президенты США от Партии Социалистического Равенства, 13 июня 2020 г.

Усилия правящей элиты по принуждению людей к возвращению на работу — и навязыванию масштабной перестройки классовых отношений, чтобы компенсировать расходы по спасению Уолл-стрит, — столкнутся с огромным сопротивлением со стороны рабочего класса.

Эта неделя в истории
100 лет назад: Красная армия отвоевывает Киев

13 июня 2020 г.

13 июня 1920 года войска Красной армии вошли в украинскую столицу Киев и вытеснили оттуда польские и украинские националистические войска.

New in Portuguese

Classe social, capitalismo e o assassinato de George Floyd

Niles Niemuth, 13 Junho 2020

Como aconteceu tantas vezes no passado, o establishment político e a imprensa estão promovendo uma narrativa racial para ocultar a base social e econômica da brutalidade policial e desviar a raiva popular do sistema capitalista.

O paradoxo da alta em Wall Street

Nick Beams, 13 Junho 2020

A alta no mercado de ações, ocorrendo em meio à maior crise de saúde em um século, contrasta enormemente com a economia real subjacente.

Pandemia e guerra global contra imigrantes e refugiados

Bill Van Auken, 13 Junho 2020

Assim como com os ataques à toda a classe trabalhadora e o impulso em direção à guerra, as classes dominantes capitalistas em todo o mundo responderam à pandemia intensificando o ataque brutal aos trabalhadores imigrantes.

Defensores das políticas raciais têm reação hostil a protestos multirraciais contra o assassinato policial de George Floyd

Nick Barrickman, 13 Junho 2020

Políticos do Partido Democrata e seus apoiadores defensores do nacionalismo negro denunciaram brancos como "agitadores externos".

New in French

Führer en herbe, Trump intensifie son complot pour un coup d'État

Patrick Martin, 13 juin 2020

Le président cherche à fabriquer un prétexte pour la répression violente et l’établissement d’un régime autoritaire en Amérique.

Selon Le Figaro, Macron envisagerait de démissionner

Alexandre Lantier, 13 juin 2020

La pandémie du COVID-19 et les manifestations internationales contre les meurtres policiers de George Floyd et d’Adama Traoré ont profondément déstabilisé l’exécutif.

Washington intensifie ses vols de bombardiers stratégiques menaçant la Russie et la Chine

Alex Lantier, 13 juin 2020

Alors que la colère sociale monte en réponse à la violence policière et à la pandémie de COVID-19, il y a aussi un plus grand danger que l’élite dirigeante essaye d’étouffer les conflits de classe en lançant des guerres à l’étranger.

Anticapitalistas quitte le gouvernement espagnol du Parti socialiste et de Podemos

Alejandro López et Alex Lantier, 13 juin 2020

Anticapitalistas quitte Podemos pour servir d’agence politique de l'État, intervenant dans les manifestations et les grèves qui éclatent contre Podemos afin de les étrangler.

New in Spanish

La Casa Blanca exige finalizar pago de emergencia por desempleo de $600 por semana

Por Andre Damon, 17 junio 2020

El plan del Gobierno de Trump de recortar la asistencia por desempleo en julio es una confabulación abierta para obligar a que los trabajadores regresen a fábricas que son focos de contagio del COVID-19.

Los estudios sobre la respuesta de anticuerpos COVID-19 socavan la política de "inmunidad colectiva" de los EE. UU.

Por Benjamin Matteus, 17 junio 2020

La respuesta de los anticuerpos al coronavirus no es muy robusta, lo que socava las afirmaciones de que si un número suficiente de personas se infectan, la pandemia se quemará a sí misma.

Informe de la OCDE apunta a un impacto de largo plazo de la pandemia

Por Nick Beams, 17 junio 2020

El informe califica el panorama económico de "excepcionalmente incierto". Advierte que cualquier recuperación será "vacilante" y estará sujeta a la interrupción por otro brote de la pandemia.

Macron anuncia quiebras masivas y despidos al terminar las restricciones del coronavirus

Por Alex Lantier, 17 junio 2020

Con el breve discurso televisado de Macron, la clase dominante está declarando una guerra de clases internacional contra los trabajadores.

New in German

Möchtegern-Führer Trump intensiviert Putschversuche

Patrick Martin, 13. Juni 2020

Der US-Präsident versucht, einen Vorwand für gewaltsame Unterdrückung und die Errichtung eines autoritären Regimes in Amerika zu fabrizieren.

Washington verschärft Drohkulisse gegen Russland und China mit vermehrten Flügen strategischer Bomber

Alex Lantier, 13. Juni 2020

Mit der sozialen Wut über Polizeigewalt und die Corona-Pandemie verschärft sich auch die Gefahr, dass die herrschende Elite versucht, den Klassenkampf durch externe Kriege zu unterdrücken.

Bildungsministerium sabotiert finanziell schwache Studierende

Christopher Lehmann und Noah Windstein, 13. Juni 2020

Karliczeks Paket bietet den Studierenden keine rasche Hilfe, es ist in jeder Hinsicht gegen sie gerichtet.

New in Turkish

Trump, muhalefeti terörizmle damgalama kampanyasını yoğunlaştırıyor

Patrick Martin, 6 Haziran 2020

Polis şiddetine karşı kitlesel protestolarda yer alan milyonlarca işçi ve genç, Trump yönetiminin gangster yöntemlerine karşı siyasi talepler yükseltmeye başlamalı ve Trump’ın, Pence’in ve diğer komplocuların görevden alınmasını istemelidir.

New in Norwegian

Etabler grunnplankomitéer på fabrikker og arbeidsplasser for å forhindre overføring av Covid-19-virus og redde liv!

Uttalelse fra Socialist Equality Party (USA), 22. mai 2020

Regjeringen og selskapene krever gjenopptakelse av arbeid midt under en pandemi, som hver uke krever flere tusen liv. Deres pådriv for profitter prioriterer ikke arbeideres og deres familiers helse og sikkerhet.

Trump-administrasjonen gjør Taiwan til sin seneste front i antiKina-kampanjen

Peter Symonds, 22. mai 2020

USA har provoserende hyllet gjenvalget av den taiwanske presidenten Tsai Ing-wen og presset på for Taiwans sak under det årlige ministermøtet for Verdens helseorganisasjon (WHO).

USA forbereder antiRussland-krigsspill midt under pandemien

Andrea Peters, 22. mai 2020

Om litt mer enn to uker vil 6 000 amerikanske og polske tropper simulere bakke og luftbårne angrep ca. 56 kilometer fra det russiske territoriet Kaliningrad.

Covid-19-pandemien avslører Frankrikes Nytt Antikapitalistisk Parti

Alex Lantier, 22. mai 2020

Pandemien setter arbeidere i alle land opp i en uforsonlig konflikt med de pro-imperialistiske middelklassepartiene som styringsklassen lenge har fremstilt som venstresiden.

New in Italian

La classe lavoratrice, il socialismo e la lotta contro la pandemia

David North, 1 aprile 2020

Gli scioperi e le proteste dei lavoratori di Instacart, Amazon e Whole Foods sono in risposta alla criminale subordinazione della sicurezza dei lavoratori ai profitti aziendali.

Other Languages

Perspective

The India-China border clash and the inflammable state of world geopolitics

18 June 2020

The Indo-China border dispute is only one of numerous global flashpoints where US aggression has incited or aggravated inter-state conflicts and transformed them into potential catalysts of a global conflagration.

Earlier Perspectives »

Commentary

Police violence and class rule

By Niles Niemuth and Joseph Kishore, 17 June 2020

The protests against police murder: The way forward

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (US), 15 June 2020

Washington Post op-ed calls for news media to censor videos of police brutality

Social class, capitalism and the murder of George Floyd

New York Times editor James Bennet resigns over fascist op-ed

A call to the working class! Stop Trump’s coup d’état!

More on the police murder of George Floyd »

Aboriginal professor awarded an “Order of Australia” promotion

By Mike Head, 17 June 2020

An interview with Dr. Mona Masood, founder of the Physician Support Line

By Kate Randall, 17 June 2020

White House demands end to $600 per week emergency unemployment pay

By Andre Damon, 16 June 2020

As pandemic surges, White House presses ahead with back-to-work campaign

By Kate Randall and Andre Damon, 13 June 2020

Arts Review

Abel Ferrara’s Tommaso: The only clouds on the horizon are personal ones

By Erik Schreiber, 18 June 2020

Ferrara’s latest semiautobiographical film focuses on certain of the director’s fixations with hardly any reference to the larger, convulsive world.

The BBC’s Sitting in Limbo: Compelling dramatization of the anti-migrant Windrush scandal

By Margot Miller, 17 June 2020

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich reviews life, crimes and death of financier

By Kevin Reed, 16 June 2020

Classical musicians face unprecedented challenges amid COVID-19 pandemic

By Fred Mazelis, 15 June 2020

Homecoming, Season 2: The menacing “giant” that is the US military-industrial complex

By David Walsh, 12 June 2020

SEP US presidential election campaign

SEP launches petition to appear on the presidential ballot in Illinois

17 June 2020

Supporters of the SEP are fighting to gather 5,000 electronic signatures to place Joseph Kishore and Norissa Santa Cruz on the ballot for the general election in November.

Andreja Pejić interviews Joseph Kishore on Instagram

The Socialist Equality Party US presidential candidate spoke about the multiracial protests against police violence, identity politics, and the way forward for the international working class.

June 7 Online Meeting

Workers Struggles

Argentine rubber workers; Mexican health workers strike over COVID-19 response
Workers Struggles: The Americas

16 June 2020

Coronavirus pandemic in Poland: Silesian miners sacrificed for profit

By Bartosz Wyspianski and Martin Nowak, 16 June 2020

Indian cruise ship crew stage second protest in three days

By Tom Casey, 16 June 2020

Free Julian Assange

Journalists expose CIA spying on Assange and demand his freedom

By Oscar Grenfell, 15 June 2020

Julian Assange unable to attend court hearing due to illness as legal travesty continues

By Thomas Scripps, 2 June 2020

Assange extradition hearing rescheduled for September

Assange extradition hearing delayed following defence appeal

Application for delay in Assange extradition hearing as COVID-19 sweeps through UK prisons

Declassified Mueller investigation transcripts confirm no evidence WikiLeaks colluded with Russia

By Thomas Scripps, 15 May 2020

Socialist Equality Party (Australia)

Reject Australian universities-NTEU job and pay cuts!

By the Committee for Public Education and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, 15 June 2020

SEP (Australia) June 16 online lecture
The founding of the Fourth International

11 June 2020

The lecture will outline the immense contemporary relevance of Leon Trotsky’s establishment of the world party of socialist revolution in 1938.

Socialist Equality Party (Australia) to hold online lectures on history of Trotskyism

25 years ago: Chechen rebels release hostages

On June 20, 1995, Chechen rebel gunmen released the last of more than 1,000 people held hostage for five days in the Russian city of Budyonnovsk and returned to Chechnya under an agreement negotiated with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.

More »

50 years ago: Soviet scientist released from imprisonment

Zhores Medvedev, a leading Soviet geneticist, was freed from his confinement in the Kaluga psychiatric hospital on June 17, 1970. He had been held in the asylum for drawing attention to serious problems in the development of scientific research in the Soviet Union.

More »

75 years ago: Japan on the brink of defeat in World War Two

This week in June 1945, the Japanese imperial government and the country’s emperor acknowledged that they were all but defeated in the Second World War.

More »

100 years ago: Rioting between nationalists and loyalists in Northern Ireland

On June 20, 1920, five people were killed in the northern Irish city of Derry and dozens seriously wounded during riots between nationalists, who opposed British legislation to separate the six counties of northern Ireland from the 26 counties in the south, and unionists who supported it.

More »

History

Book Review
Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

By Shannon Jones, 11 June 2020

The History Channel’s Grant

By Tom Mackaman, 1 June 2020

Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lankan president establishes military taskforce: Another step toward dictatorship

By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 9 June 2020

The coronavirus pandemic

The Malthusian underpinnings of Boris Johnson’s “herd immunity” strategy

By Thomas Scripps, 8 June 2020

Build rank-and-file factory and workplace committees to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus and save lives!

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (US), 21 May 2020

Brazilian Trotskyists issue call for working-class action against pandemic
What will be the cost of implementing this program? Who will pay for it?

Statement of the Brazilian Socialist Equality Group (In Solidarity with the International Committee of the Fourth International), 2 June 2020

Turkish Trotskyists call for independent working-class action against the pandemic

By Sosyalist Eşitlik (in solidarity with the International Committee of the Fourth International), 5 June 2020

British Trotskyists issue call for working class action against pandemic

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 27 May 2020

SEP (Sri Lanka) calls for action committees to counter COVID-19 and defend jobs

By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 2 June 2020

Oppose the premature lifting of COVID-19 safety restrictions!

By the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), 3 June 2020

London bus drivers face COVID-19 disaster: Build rank-and-file safety committees!

By Laura Tiernan, 5 June 2020

More on the coronavirus pandemic »

Science

Thirty years of the Hubble Space Telescope

By Bryan Dyne, 2 May 2020

Science vs. Trump: The dangerous promotion of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19

By Benjamin Mateus, 13 April 2020

International May Day Online Rally

Governments worldwide respond to COVID-19 by saving profits, not lives

By Joseph Kishore—SEP candidate for US president, 12 May 2020

The ruling elite’s efforts to enforce a return to work—and impose a massive restructuring of class relations to pay for the bailout of Wall Street—will encounter enormous opposition from the working class.

Opening report to Online International May Day Rally
The COVID-19 pandemic: A trigger event in world history

By David North, 4 May 2020

We are publishing here the text of the opening report to the 2020 International Online May Day Rally delivered by David North.

On May 2, the International Committee of the Fourth International held its annual International May Day Online Rally, with speakers and participants from throughout the world. Readers can listen to the entire rally here.

History

Russian court keeps historian of Stalinist massacres jailed amid COVID-19 outbreak

By Clara Weiss, 12 May 2020

The vendetta against Dmitriev is part of the campaign by Russia’s state and ruling oligarchy to suppress all efforts to uncover the truth about the crimes of Stalinism.

One Hundred and Fifty Years Since the Birth of Lenin

By David North, 22 April 2020

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in the Russian city of Simbirsk on April 22, 1870. Known in history under the name of Lenin, he was the founder of the Bolshevik Party, leader of the 1917 October Revolution and, undoubtedly, a towering figure in the political and intellectual history of the twentieth century.

Fifty years since the massacre of students at Kent State

By Patrick Martin, 4 May 2020

The New York Times' 1619 Project

The Times’ 1619 Project is damned with faint praise
Hannah-Jones receives Pulitzer Prize for personal commentary, not historical writing

By Tom Mackaman and David North, 9 May 2020

The Pulitzer awards took no notice of the New York Times’ pretentious claims that the 1619 Project is an important contribution to the understanding of American history. It granted Hannah-Jones an award for “Commentary.”

Obituary

Former UAW President Owen Bieber dead at 90

By Jerry White, 27 February 2020

From 1983 to 1995, Bieber presided over the final demise of the UAW as an organization that conducted a limited defense of the day-to-day interests of autoworkers and its transformation into what it is today: a direct arm of corporate management.

Hosni Mubarak, US-backed dictator of Egypt for 30 years, dead at 91

By Bill Van Auken, 26 February 2020

Book Review

Brendan McGeever’s Antisemitism and the Russian Revolution: Distorting history in the service of identity politics
Part one

By Clara Weiss, 11 April 2020

Brendan McGeever’s Antisemitism and the Russian Revolution: Distorting history in the service of identity politics
Part two

By Clara Weiss, 13 April 2020

Mehring Books

Mehring Yayıncılık publishes Turkish-language edition of The struggle against imperialism and for workers’ power in Iran

By Ulaş Ateşçi, 30 March 2020

First published by the WSWS in February 2018, The Struggle against Imperialism and for Workers’ Power in Iran—A Reply to a Proponent of “Iranian Islamic Socialism” advances a socialist strategy for the working class in a country that has been the target of US imperialist aggression for decades.

Preface to the Turkish edition of The struggle against imperialism and for workers’ power in Iran

By Keith Jones, 30 March 2020

A viable strategy to defeat imperialism can only be founded on the working class, and requires its independent political mobilization against all factions of the Iranian bourgeoisie.

Amazon

South Carolina Amazon worker speaks on loss of his health, benefits and job

By Ed Hightower and Michael Walters, 21 March 2020

Donald Thrift Jr was left jobless with $27,000 in medical debt after contracting double pneumonia while working in an Amazon fulfillment center in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

As more workers test positive for COVID-19, Amazon ignores demands to close warehouses

By Tom Carter, 25 March 2020

At least three Amazon workers in Shepherdsville, Kentucky tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, following the discovery of COVID-19 cases in New York, Florida and Michigan warehouses.

Amazon workers in New York City shut down warehouse after worker tests positive for coronavirus

By Shuvu Batta, 21 March 2020

The discovery that an Amazon worker in Queens had tested positive for coronavirus sparked work stoppages which shut the processing facility Thursday night.