Europe
Spain imposes regional lockdowns amid resurgence of COVID-19
By Alice Summers, 10 July 2020
After ending the national lockdown, the Podemos-PSOE government is rejecting a coordinated response, leaving regional authorities with managing outbreaks.
Chancellor Sunak announces end of UK jobs furlough and rolls out cheap labour scheme
By Robert Stevens, 10 July 2020
Sunak’s declaration that “we can’t protect every job” is the understatement of the century. Companies are announcing thousands of redundancies every day amid warnings of unemployment reaching 5 million by next year.
French-backed security forces in the Sahel guilty of mass extrajudicial executions
By Will Morrow, 10 July 2020
The report exposes the Franco-German-led war as a neo-colonial intervention to subjugate the resource-rich and geo-strategically critical region and its population.
The collapse of the New York Times’ “Russian bounties” campaign
By Patrick Martin, 10 July 2020
Less than two weeks after it kicked off a media frenzy, the Times published an editorial effectively conceding that there was no factual basis for its reporting that Russian military intelligence had paid bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers.
Report documents neo-Nazi network in the German military
By Jordan Shilton, 10 July 2020
In a lengthy July 3 article, the New York Times extensively documented a right-wing extremist conspiracy involving sections of the German military, intelligence agencies and police to carry out a violent uprising.
Germany: Automaker Opel cuts company pensions
By Marianne Arens, 9 July 2020
W ith the help of the IG Metall union, management is passing on the costs of the coronavirus pandemic, e-mobility and digitalization to the workers.
After police killing of Badreddin Abadlla Adam
More evidence of ill-treatment of asylum seekers in Glasgow hotels
By Steve James, 9 July 2020
Two weeks after the police killing of 28-year-old Sudanese man Badreddin Abadlla Adam, asylum seekers in Glasgow continue to face appalling conditions.
British government’s token arts rescue package: A “back-to-work” agenda amid an ongoing catastrophe
By Paul Bond, 9 July 2020
The limited financial assistance provided is based on the Johnson government’s claim that the pandemic is on the wane and that theatre, dance and music venues will soon be able to get back to relying on revenue from the paying public.
UK: Coronavirus exposes Leicester’s sweatshops and government hypocrisy
By Thomas Scripps, 8 July 2020
Government ministers have struck a pose of outrage at a situation they have ignored for years and want to replicate across the country.
UK meat processing factories involved in COVID-19 outbreak back up and running
By Tony Robson, 8 July 2020
Local authorities and the trade unions have worked to conceal the criminality of the corporations so as not interfere with the premature re-opening of the economy.
Spanish unions isolate Nissan workers’ struggle
By Alice Summers, 8 July 2020
As assaults on jobs and conditions mount across Spain, the unions are trying to suppress autoworkers’ opposition to the closure of Nissan’s Barcelona factory.
Bombing of Turkey’s Watiya base escalates Franco-Italian proxy war in Libya
By Alex Lantier, 8 July 2020
The decade-long civil war between rival imperialist-backed warlords triggered by the 2011 NATO war in Libya is spiraling out of control.
UK set to ban Huawei from 5G network
By Nick Beams, 8 July 2020
The key factor in the decision was the move by the Trump administration in May to ban the use of US software in Huawei’s operating systems.
“Literacy is a clean window onto the world...”
100 years since formation of Soviet Extraordinary Commission for the Liquidation of Illiteracy
By Patrick O’Connor, 8 July 2020
The Soviet literacy campaign remains the largest and most successful in world history.
Nearly 200,000 jobs lost in the UK amid pandemic
By Robert Stevens, 7 July 2020
Workers have been laid off particularly heavily in the retail, travel, hospitality, and manufacturing sectors.
Worker at German meat processing plant dismissed for sharing critical video
By Marianne Arens, 7 July 2020
The video shows a view into a canteen, where hundreds of employees sit and eat close to each other at the tables.
Germany’s Commerzbank plans to cut 11,000 jobs
By Gustav Kemper, 7 July 2020
In common with many other businesses, Commerzbank is using the coronavirus pandemic to implement preexisting plans to shed jobs and close branches.
Macron administration announces new French cabinet
By Will Morrow, 7 July 2020
Since Castex’s appointment as prime minister Friday, it is already clear the new cabinet will be charged with escalating the anti-worker policies of the previous one.
How corporations and government finance the German trade unions
By Ulrich Rippert and Marianne Arens, 6 July 2020
With the pandemic, which has led to the deepest international economic crisis since the 1930s, the role of unions as tools of the corporations is taking on a new dimension.
British government reimposes welfare benefits sanctions as pandemic continues and unemployment rockets
By Simon Whelan, 6 July 2020
By June, the number of job center claimants had risen by 126 percent since the start of the pandemic, to 2.8 million.
Naming new French prime minister, Macron coordinates austerity with unions
By Alex Lantier, 4 July 2020
Jean Castex is being brought in to coordinate with the unions the draconian austerity policies that Macron and the banks will impose amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spain participated in failed 2019 US coup in Venezuela
By Alejandro López, 4 July 2020
New information emerging about the coup exposes Spain’s ruling “left populist” party, Podemos, as a tool of imperialism’s bloody foreign policy in Latin America.
French unions collaborate with employers to impose mass layoffs as COVID-19 crisis deepens
By Will Morrow, 4 July 2020
As an international wave of layoffs and plant closures comes in France, the trade unions are working closely with the Macron government and employers to suppress workers’ opposition to this assault.
UK pubs reopen in “Super Saturday”: A criminal act
By Thomas Scripps, 4 July 2020
The inevitable deadly consequences of the Johnson government’s latest move will be fully revealed in the weeks and months to come.
Tories resurrect cynical “Clap for Carers” on 72nd anniversary of the NHS
By Rory Woods, 4 July 2020
Sunday’s event insults the memory of hundreds of health and social care workers who died of COVID-19 trying to save the lives of others.
German defence minister plans more effective organization of army’s far-right elite force
By Peter Schwarz, 4 July 2020
After new details came to light about the far-right terrorist networks inside the Special Forces Command, the German defence minister announced the restructuring of the army’s 1,600-strong elite unit.
Germany’s motto for the EU Council presidency: For militarism and war
By Johannes Stern, 4 July 2020
The German government’s motto for the EU Council presidency is “Gemeinsam. Europa wieder stark machen” (“Together. Making Europe strong again”)—Berlin’s counterpart to Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”
The vote on the constitutional amendments in Russia:
Kremlin pushes to massively strengthen power of the president
By Vladimir Volkov and Clara Weiss, 3 July 2020
On July 1, a seven-day long vote on constitutional changes first proposed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in January, was concluded.
Tens of thousands of jobs at risk as works council at German automaker Daimler announces layoffs
By Dietmar Gaisenkersting, 3 July 2020
The works council is repeating word for word the arguments of company management and industry analysts calling for stepped up attacks on workers.
British government ramps up campaign against China
By Jean Shaoul, 3 July 2020
The Tories’ aim is to open another front in US imperialism’s economic, diplomatic, and military-strategic offensive that threatens military war against the world’s second largest economy.
Floods inundate Western Ukraine amid renewed spike in COVID-19 cases
By Jason Melanovski, 3 July 2020
Heavy rains and illegal logging are to blame for floods that have killed three in the country, which is rocked by a new surge in coronavirus cases.
UK government’s guidance on school reopening: Back to “normal” from September
By Tania Kent, 3 July 2020
There will be no social distancing, no personal protection for children or staff and no school closures if children or staff record positively for COVID-19.
Workers in Germany express their solidarity with striking Fiat Chrysler workers
By our correspondents, 2 July 2020
The strikes at two Detroit Fiat Chrysler plants in Jefferson North and Sterling Heights against intolerable health and safety conditions for production workers have met with a powerful response from workers in Germany.
Unite offers support for 10 percent job losses at British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair
By Laura Tiernan, 2 July 2020
The scale of the ongoing jobs massacre was underscored by EasyJet’s announcement Tuesday that 1,900 pilots, cabin crew and ground staff will be made redundant, with Airbus announcing 12,300 job cuts worldwide by Summer 2021, including 1,700 in the UK.
Germany: Verdi trade union sells out Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt workers
By Justus Leicht and Wolfgang Weber, 2 July 2020
Verdi brazenly claimed it would “ fight for every job and every store. ” In reality, the union and the general works council were involved in drawing up the closure plans.
Airbus cuts 15,000 jobs
Coronavirus crisis triggers mass layoffs, wage cuts across Europe
By Will Morrow, 1 July 2020
Having given massive state bailouts to the corporations, the ruling class is using the pandemic to effect a historic restructuring in class relations.
Lockdown in Leicester amid surge in infections throughout UK
By Robert Stevens, 1 July 2020
Outbreaks at food factories, garment plants and schools attest to the criminality of Johnson government as it ditches a national lockdown.
Ireland’s Greens agree to join austerity coalition government
By Dermot Quinn, 1 July 2020
Almost five months after Ireland’s February 8 general election, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have formed a coalition government after the Green Party voted to come on board.
Amazon workers in Germany strike against lack of coronavirus protection
By Marianne Arens, 30 June 2020
More than 2,000 Amazon workers are taking part in a 48-hour strike at six locations to protest the company’s refusal to provide adequate protection from the virus.
Merkel, Macron promote EU militarism amid growing conflicts with Washington
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 30 June 2020
The leaders of Germany and France called for stepped-up military spending and austerity to ensure Europe’s ability to wage war independently from Washington.
Germany: Police powers stepped up after “Stuttgart’s Night of Violence”
By Jan Ritter, 30 June 2020
The violence does not emanate from the population, but from the police against the population—especially against workers and young people.
Broader reopening of UK schools leads to spread of COVID-19 infections
By Tania Kent and Tim Pearce, 30 June 2020
Recent outbreaks in schools almost doubled to 44 in one week—16 more than were recorded at hospitals
“It’s eugenics by the back door”
UK disability campaigner Doug Paulley speaks on coronavirus pandemic
By Alice Summers, 30 June 2020
Doug has recently been involved in legal action opposing the use of “scoring” systems to deny ventilator treatment to the sick, disabled and elderly.
The poor in Germany have a higher risk of falling sick from COVID-19
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 30 June 2020
The poorest people in Germany, including the long-term unemployed and recipients of Hartz IV social welfare, have an 84 percent higher risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization.
Dutch government exposed by disastrous handling of COVID-19 pandemic
By Harm Zonderland and Parwini Zora, 30 June 2020
When the pandemic hit the Netherlands, the Dutch government adopted a reckless wait-and-see posture, even when it was clear that COVID-19 was potentially fatal.
Royal Mail workers in the UK face jobs massacre
By Paul Lee, 30 June 2020
Two thousand management job cuts will be followed by at least 20,000 redundancies from the remaining workforce.
Citing COVID-19 spread, EU denies US citizens entry to Europe
By Alex Lantier, 29 June 2020
The American ruling elite’s catastrophic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic is undermining Washington’s position overseas, with far-reaching implications.
Warnings of a second coronavirus wave in Germany
By Marianne Arens, 29 June 2020
Following an outbreak of coronavirus infections in the Tönnies meat factory in East Westphalia, the virus is spreading rapidly to other companies and regions.
Germany: Lufthansa and the bankruptcy of the unions
By Peter Schwarz, 29 June 2020
Lufthansa will receive €9 billion in government aid, which will be used to restructure the airline, costing thousands of jobs and worsening pay and conditions.
Polish president fails to secure absolute majority in first round of elections
By Clara Weiss, 29 June 2020
The result is universally seen as a defeat for Duda and PiS.
Sudanese asylum seeker shot dead in Glasgow
By Steve James, 29 June 2020
The tragedy is the consequence of the brutal treatment handed out to asylum seekers in the city and throughout the UK.
UK government ends lockdown: Feigned official outrage over beaches, raves, and football celebrations
By Laura Tiernan, 29 June 2020
Neither Johnson’s glib and deceitful comments, nor the filthy headlines of the press can conceal their role as the real authors of these dangerous scenes.
Onslaught on jobs and conditions at British Telecom
By Barry Mason and Robert Stevens, 29 June 2020
Slashing offices from 300 to 30 comes on top of proposals to cut BT's 100,000-strong workforce by around 13,000.
WHO warns of “very significant” coronavirus resurgence in Europe
By Will Morrow, 27 June 2020
The resurgence is driven by governments’ reopening policy, whose aim is the full resumption of corporate profit-making, regardless of the threat to workers.
British government suppressed daily pandemic death toll by thousands
By Simon Whelan, 27 June 2020
The government suppressed the extent of COVID-19 fatalities because its policies created the conditions for tens of thousands of needless deaths.
British Airways workers denounce company “offer” to slash pay and conditions
By John Newham and Laura Tiernan, 27 June 2020
BA workers must break free of the corporatist grip of the unions and fight for rank-and-file committees to organise joint action with airline workers across the globe.
UK government refuses support to unemployed migrant workers facing destitution during pandemic
By Harvey Singh, 27 June 2020
Although exact figures are difficult to obtain, it is estimated that up to 250,000 children could directly be threatened with poverty due to the “no recourse to public funds” status of their parents.
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer uses bogus anti-Semitism accusation to sack Rebecca Long-Bailey
By Robert Stevens, 27 June 2020
The move demonstrates that no criticisms of the Israeli government will be allowed in the Labour Party and that Starmer will deal decisively with what remains of the Corbynites.
YDSA develops ties with SYRIZA youth, Greek party of austerity and police repression
By Sam Wayne, 27 June 2020
Members of the Young Democratic Socialists of America have published a joint statement with the youth section of SYRIZA, the “Coalition of the Radical Left.”
The Salisbury Poisonings: Skripal drama framed as anti-Russian propaganda
By Thomas Scripps, 27 June 2020
The BBC’s three-part The Salisbury Poisonings uses drama as state propaganda and is designed to reignite the Skripal affair that dominated UK politics in 2018.
Wirecard: The German economy sinks into criminality
By Peter Schwarz, 26 June 2020
The company CEO was arrested in connection with the disappearance of 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion).
Five cruise ships detained by UK revealing atrocious conditions of seafarers
By Paul Bond, 26 June 2020
Globally there have been numerous suicides reported among crew members stranded at sea.
Parliamentary report exposes widespread fire-safety failings three years on from Grenfell Tower inferno
By Alice Summers, 26 June 2020
Of the 2,000 high-rise buildings still coated in highly flammable materials, 300 are clad with the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels used on Grenfell Tower.
Thousands of Iranian sugarcane workers strike for second week; clothing workers’ stoppage in Lethoso; Zimbabwe nurses and doctors protests and strike
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
26 June 2020
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
US indictment of Assange based on testimony of FBI assets, convicted child molester
By Oscar Grenfell, 25 June 2020
The indictment paints a picture of US operatives pouring through decade-old tabloid gossip and dredging up the most unsavoury creatures of their own intelligence agencies to fling mud at Assange.
Beset by crisis, Kremlin holds “victory parade”
By Clara Weiss, 25 June 2020
The parade and the reopening of the economy have been timed to precede by one week the national referendum on constitutional changes proposed by Putin earlier this year.
Johnson announces end of UK’s lockdown
By Robert Stevens, 25 June 2020
The bulk of the UK economy, barring “close proximity” venues such as nightclubs, soft-play areas, indoor gyms, swimming pools and spas, will reopen July 4. All schools will reopen in September.
London bus drivers’ lives threatened by union collusion on inadequate COVID-19 measures
By Laura Tiernan, 25 June 2020
The Unite union is playing a crucial role for the government and Transport for London in policing the back-to-work drive and concealing the immense dangers facing bus and transport workers.
Unite union facilitates cover-up of COVID-19 outbreak in UK meat processing plants
By Tony Robson, 25 June 2020
Meat processing factories across the world have become a breeding ground for the virus, and working in them is a potential death sentence.
Following “night of violence” in Stuttgart
German media and politicians stoke massive campaign for a police state
By Jan Ritter and Johannes Stern, 25 June 2020
The campaign is aimed at establishing an authoritarian state in which even journalistic and satirical criticisms of the police are prohibited.
New COVID-19 outbreaks in Germany and Berlin’s inhumane quarantine conditions
By Lisa Lachlan, 25 June 2020
Since June 13, 369 households, each containing one to 10 people, have been quarantined as a result of COVID-19 infections in one of Berlin’s poorest districts.
The coronavirus crisis, the government’s aid package and the attempt to strangle German art
By Verena Nees, 25 June 2020
On closer inspection, the German government’s aid package proves to be a sham and a step towards neutering and strangling a diverse cultural landscape.
More than 1,500 COVID-19 infections at pork processing plant in Germany
By Marianne Arens and Peter Schwarz, 24 June 2020
The Tönnies Group, Germany’s largest meat processing firm, has a long record of putting profits before the health and safety of its workforce.
Boris Johnson reinforces imperialist agenda of Britain’s overseas aid
By Jean Shaoul, 24 June 2020
The Department for International Development, which disperses Britain’s £15.2 billion aid budget, is to be subsumed under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Johnson used pandemic to step up privatisation of UK public sector
By Margot Miller, 24 June 2020
The corporate raid underscores the cynicism of government ministers clapping frontline workers and hailing NHS workers as “heroes.”
All schools in England to open in September
By Tom Pearce, 24 June 2020
The government’s decision to return to the full opening of schools has been taken without any systematic review of the impact of the wider reopening of the economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the global plight of refugees and migrant workers
By Jordan Shilton, 24 June 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tear through the global population, the disease is having an especially devastating impact on the tens of millions of displaced people throughout the world.
Reading terror suspect fought in US-British proxy war to overthrow Libya’s Gaddafi
By Robert Stevens, 23 June 2020
Saadallah and his family have connections to the British-based group of Libyans who were opposed to the rule of the country’s then-leader, Colonel Gaddafi.
UK students in precarious situation during the pandemic
By Ioan Petrescu, 23 June 2020
An online petition demanding the reimbursement of all this year’s fee due to the pandemic has gathered 345,731 signatures as of the time of writing. Another one, that only asks for refunds for the third semester, has 109,282 signatures.
Germany seeks to tighten European asylum law
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 23 June 2020
The core elements are the internment of refugees at the EU’s external borders and the implementation of fast-track asylum procedures.
The scandal surrounding German MP Philipp Amthor: What is Augustus Intelligence?
By Peter Schwarz, 23 June 2020
The question arises whether Augustus Intelligence is a genuine commercial enterprise or rather a covert intelligence service operation.
Germany: Trial begins in murder of CDU politician Walter Lübcke
By Dietmar Gaisenkersting, 22 June 2020
The 46-year-old neo-Nazi Stephan Ernst is accused of having shot Kassel District President Walter Lübcke on his terrace on the night of June 2, 2019.
NATO grants Ukraine enhanced status as US steps up military aid
By Jason Melanovski, 22 June 2020
Amid the most profound economic crisis since the Great Depression, the imperialist powers are responding to the growing class tensions by escalating their drive to war.
Suspected assailant in Reading terrorist attack was known to UK intelligence agencies
By Robert Stevens, 22 June 2020
If the assailant is Saadallah, it would be the second terrorist attack carried out in Britain by a Libyan national—who was known to UK intelligence agencies—in the space of three years.
Corporations continue to slash workforces in Britain
By Barry Mason, 22 June 2020
Employers are using every opportunity to exploit the pandemic crisis and further slash costs as they shed thousands of workers.
Julian Assange’s fiancé calls on the Australian government to secure his freedom
By Oscar Grenfell, 22 June 2020
The “60 Minutes” program was the first substantive examination of Assange’s plight by the Australian media since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Responding to mass protests against police brutality, Germany’s Left Party appeals for a police state
By Peter Schwarz and Johannes Stern, 22 June 2020
Germany’s Left Party has responded with open hostility to the mass protests against police violence that have spread around the world following the police murder of George Floyd.
Global outrage over violent police arrest of 50-year-old French nurse Farida
By Will Morrow, 20 June 2020
The response of the French ruling class to health care workers’ demands for increased resources to combat the pandemic in decent and safe conditions is naked repression.
Around 250 workers infected with COVID-19 in three UK food processing plants
By Robert Stevens, 20 June 2020
The outbreaks underscore the criminality of the government’s decision to enforce a mass return to work and the lack of basic work safety in plants that have been operating during the pandemic.
Hundreds of new COVID-19 infections in German meat industry
By Marianne Arens, 20 June 2020
More than two-thirds of the meat packers at the Tönnies abattoir in Rheda-Wiedenbrück have been infected with COVID-19, with 730 positive initial test results out of 1,050 tested.
130,000 jobs at risk in the German auto industry
By Dietmar Gaisenkersting and Peter Schwarz, 20 June 2020
Although German auto companies received a lion’s share of the government’s €130 billion stimulus package, and are collecting billions more via the short-time working scheme, the industry plans to axe more than 100,000 jobs.
Air France-KLM prepares to slash at least 6,000 jobs
By Anthony Torres, 20 June 2020
After receiving a €7 billion public bailout, the French-Dutch airline is preparing to slash between 6,000 and 10,000 jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
OECD warns of deep recession in Britain and Europe due to pandemic
By Steve James, 20 June 2020
The OECD envisages no “return to normal” in the world economy, predicting instead mass unemployment and instability.
Doctors head legal challenge to UK government on health care deaths and PPE
By Rory Woods, 20 June 2020
At least 181 health workers and 131 social care workers have died while working on the frontline.
Financier of 1994 Rwandan genocide Félicien Kabuga arrested in Paris
By Jacques Valentin, 20 June 2020
Kabuga, who financed and helped equip the genocidal Interahamwe militias, had been located by police in 2007 but was still living quietly in the Paris suburbs.
Johnson government mounts offensive against mass opposition to police violence and racism
By Thomas Scripps, 20 June 2020
Home Secretary Priti Patel is linked with a Facebook group providing a platform for the far-right thugs who attacked Black Lives Matter protesters.
Yellow Star, Red Star
Capitalist counterrevolution and the rise of fascism in southeastern Europe since 1989
By Clara Weiss, 20 June 2020
Though fatally flawed by its equation of Stalinism with communism, and the author’s reluctance to discuss the social character of the restoration of capitalism, the book exposes the close relationship between capitalist counterrevolution and the rise of fascist forces.
US escalates trade and economic conflicts
By Nick Beams, 19 June 2020
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has delivered a broadside against the World Trade Organisation and indicated that trade negotiations with the European Union were going nowhere.
Top French general announces preparations for “state against state” wars
By Will Morrow, 19 June 2020
Drawing an analogy to the coronavirus pandemic, Burkhard stated that the eruption of a major war “is missing only the patient zero of the epidemic war.”
British Airways workers in limbo as deadline for mass redundancies passes
By Alice Summers and John Newham, 19 June 2020
One BA worker told the WSWS, “I’ve been with BA for 25 years and was earning more than this new contract in 1996!”
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