-
Far-right figure commits suicide in Paris’ Notre Dame to protest gay marriage
Dominique Venner, 78, a prominent intellectual in far-right circles in France, shot himself dead on Tuesday in front of the altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
-
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
-
Government of, by, and for the banks
Not content to merely buy off politicians, banks in the US are increasingly writing the laws that are supposed to regulate them.
-
Quebec unions silence criticism of PQ welfare cuts
Quebec’s unions forced the cancellation of a press conference intended to draw attention to the parallel between the federal Conservatives’ cuts to jobless benefits and the provincial Parti Québécois government’s cuts to welfare.
-
Rioting hits Stockholm after police shoot Portuguese immigrant
Rioting has occurred nightly in the suburbs of Stockholm, the Swedish capital, after police shot and killed a 69-year-old immigrant man on Sunday.
-
Amazon workers strike in Germany
The Verdi trade union is aiding German businesses like Amazon.de to exploit foreign workers on temporary work contracts.
-
Sequester cuts shut down four government agencies for one day
The IRS, EPA, and Department of Housing and Urban Development all closed on Friday, sending employees home on unpaid furloughs as part of the sequester cuts.
-
Why I read the WSWS
Musician and restaurant worker, Ithaca, New York, USA. WSWS reader since 2009
-
The Skagit River Bridge collapse: Another example of decaying infrastructure
A truss bridge built in 1955, the Skagit River Bridge, had been evaluated as “Somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is.”
-
Japanese officials secretly visit North Korea
The secret trip to North Korea by an advisor of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has raised questions concerning Japan’s intentions in the Korean Peninsula.
-
Chinese Premier Li signals new pro-market reforms before European tour
The reforms aim to force productivity increases and reduce the size of the state sector, moves that will inevitably further impoverish the Chinese working class.
-
An international political strategy for Ford Australia workers
Ford’s plan to close its Australian plants by 2016 is part of a vast restructuring of the international auto industry that is devastating the jobs, wages and conditions of car workers around the world.
-
Traumatic brain injuries increase risk of veteran suicides
In 2012, 349 US military personnel killed themselves, compared to less than 300 who died in battle in Afghanistan.
-
Split on gay marriage and Europe, UK Tories rescued by Labour Party
The rift has deepened within Britain’s governing Conservative Party following another rebellion by many of its members of parliament.
-
Mental disorders increasing among US children
A CDC) report shows that as many as a fifth of US children experience a mental disorder within a given year.
-
Emergency financial manager considers selling off Detroit Institute of Arts collection
The DIA, one of the leading fine arts museums in the US, is being considered as an asset Detroit could sell off to help pay the city’s debt.
-
Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors, dead at 74
Ray Manzarek, keyboardist of the 1960s rock band The Doors, died May 20 at the age of 74.
-
US and allies step up war preparations against Syria, Lebanon, Iran
The United States and its allies continue to escalate their military aggression against Syria, behind the smokescreen of a proposed international peace conference scheduled for June in Geneva.
-
German Socialist Equality Party campaign wins support among Opel workers in Rüsselsheim
In the course of campaigning for ballot status for the September general election, reporters interviewed workers in Rüsselsheim for the World Socialist Web Site.
-
Letters from our readers
A selection of recent letters to the World Socialist Web Site.
-
White House welcomes Burmese president as new ally in “pivot to Asia”
Thein Sein is the first Burmese leader to be hosted in the White House since former junta leader General Ne Win’s visit in 1966.
-
Los Angeles: Newly-elected mayor promises more cuts and privatization
The election was most notable for its extremely low turnout, with only 19 percent of registered voters taking part.
-
University of California medical workers strike
Workers at UC Medical Centers across California went on a two-day strike this week
-
Ford Australia announces shut down of car production
The closures will mean sacking about 1,200 workers at Ford’s two plants, at Broadmeadows and Geelong in Victoria.
-
Museum Hours and The Artist and the Model: In defense of art and the artistic personality
At least two films at the San Francisco festival treated art, the artistic personality, or both, in a compelling fashion.
-
Obama offers tortured defense of targeted killings
Obama defended drone killings, while essentially acknowledging their illegality and the illegality of much of what the US government has done over the past decade.
-
Works council in Bochum seeks to stifle opposition to GM-Opel plant closing
The chairman of the works council at the GM-Opel factory in Bochum called a meeting at the plant gate which halted production for several hours following the recent confirmation by management that it planned to close the plant.
-
Apple’s tax dodge: The case for public ownership
As social services are slashed allegedly because there is “no money,” Apple, the most profitable company in history, has avoided paying taxes on over $70 billion in income.
-
More revelations of Justice Department crackdown on the press
The Obama administration’s investigation into a leak to James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent of Fox News, extends well beyond what was originally thought.
-
Caterpillar CEO defends wage-cutting
Explaining why he is seeking to impose wage cuts of up to 50 percent, Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman explained that his corporation could never make enough profits.
-
UK soldier killed in London in reprisal for Afghanistan and Iraq wars
The killing of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, London on Wednesday was the horrific result of the crimes committed by British imperialism in North Africa and the Middle East.
-
SEP campaigners oppose Detroit home evictions
Supporters of Socialist Equality Party Detroit mayoral candidate D’Artagnan Collier spoke this week to residents facing eviction at the Henry Street apartments.
-
Libya’s General National Council passes Political Isolation Law
Armed Islamist militias forced parliament to pass the Political Isolation Law, outlawing officials who had worked for Gaddafi from holding office.
-
An interview with Jem Cohen, director of Museum Hours: “Art is something people do like breathing.”
David Walsh spoke to Jem Cohen, director of Museum Hours, during the recent San Francisco film festival.
-
Security forces fire rubber bullets at striking South African miners
Police fired volleys of rubber bullets at striking South African miners at a mine owned by Lanxess Chrome Mining Ltd on Tuesday, near the city of Rustenburg.
-
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
-
Global stock markets fall after 7 percent collapse in Japan’s Nikkei index
The one-day 7.3 percent drop in Japan’s Nikkei stock index came amid signs of a growing global slump and demands for attacks on the working class in Japan.
-
US housing distress deepens for renters
Today more than half of all renter households pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing, double the rate in 1960 when one in four renters were considered cost-burdened.
-
Argentina’s ex-dictator Videla dead at 87
The 1976 coup led by Videla unleashed both economic devastation and mass repression against the working class.
-
Behind Syria peace talks proposal, US prepares regional war
While touring the Middle East ostensibly to discuss joint US-Russian peace talks on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry met with US allies to prepare for region-wide war.
-
The SPD celebrates its 150th anniversary
The ceremony in Leipzig is completely directed towards the ruling elite, with the SPD eager to confirm that it will faithfully represent its interests at a time of crisis.
-
The social disaster in Tornado Alley
The financial oligarchy’s stranglehold on social life ensures that tragedies such as the one still unfolding in Moore, Oklahoma will be repeated.
-
Iran blocks presidential campaign of pro-US candidate Rafsanjani
Iranian authorities announced Tuesday that the Islamic Republic’s Guardian Council has approved eight candidates to contest the June 14 presidential elections.
-
The European Commission, French President Hollande accelerate austerity
While the French economy has entered into recession, the European Union and the French government are pressing to accelerate social attacks.
-
Witness tied to Boston bombing suspect killed by FBI
The FBI claims that Todashev had implicated both himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the grisly murder of three men in Waltham, Massachusetts.
-
UAW and Fiat battle over union’s multi-billion dollar stake in Chrysler
The United Auto Workers is seeking billions of dollars for its holdings in Chrysler Corporation as Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne prepares for a merger of the two automakers.
-
Chicago officials release final list of 49 school closures
The City of Chicago announced the closing of more than 49 public schools, facilitated by the Chicago Teachers Union and its political allies, including the International Socialist Organization.
-
Australian budget reports pave way for deeper austerity offensive
Corporate interests are using the “structural deficit” concept to agitate for massive budget cuts.
-
DC mayor to offer closed schools to charter operators
The District of Columbia possesses the highest concentration of charter schools of any city in the United States save for New Orleans.
-
Milestone Films’ Mary Pickford: Rags and Riches Collection: The inventor of movie acting
Milestone Films’ 2012 release of Mary Pickford: Rags and Riches Collection reacquaints contemporary audiences with silent film star Mary Pickford’s lasting achievements.
-
Poverty skyrockets in US suburbs
According to a new report by the Brookings Institution, poverty rose more than 64 percent in US suburbs from 2000 to 2011.
-
A fraudulent campaign for “climate justice”
The Ecosocialist conference, chiefly sponsored by the International Socialist Organization and the Green Party, was held at Barnard College in New York City last month.
-
Low turnout in Sri Lankan strike reflects no confidence in the unions and opposition
The stoppage was limited to a token protest against the government’s decision to increase electricity prices by up to 60 percent.
-
Emergency manager to decide on Detroit bankruptcy within six weeks
Detroit’s emergency manager is using the threat of bankruptcy to extract massive cuts from city workers.
-
Far-right Japan Restoration Party defends wartime abuse of “comfort women”
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto recently declared that the Japanese army’s policy of keeping thousands of women as sex slaves during World War II was necessary.
|
