World News
Over 700 Joliet, Illinois nurses go on strike for better wages and safe working conditions
By Benjamin Mateus and Kate Randall, 6 July 2020
Strikes of healthcare workers are part of a growing global response of workers across industries to the dangers posed by governments’ back-to-work drive.
The US COVID-19 toll to hit 3 million cases as Texas health system nears collapse
By Benjamin Mateus, 6 July 2020
The number of COVID-19 cases will reach 3 million today, and the pandemic surge is straining health systems across the south and southwest.
Over 300 children catch COVID-19 in Texas daycares
By Nick Barrickman, 6 July 2020
The number of COVID-19 cases among children and staff members has skyrocketed since the state began reopening facilities in May.
Trump rails against Marxism and “international socialism”
By Patrick Martin, 6 July 2020
With his campaign trailing in the polls, the US president is resorting more and more to openly fascistic appeals.
US labor secretary says “reopening” will proceed in face of surging pandemic
By Kevin Reed, 6 July 2020
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia declared that “Our workplaces can be very safe places to be,” even as hospitalizations broke records in states across the country.
Brazil’s coronavirus cases top 1.5 million amid record unemployment
By Tomas Castanheira, 6 July 2020
From March to May, some eight million workers lost their jobs, and more than half of the country’s working age population have become unemployed.
More than 170 killed in accident at Myanmar jade mine
By Oscar Grenfell, 6 July 2020
The disaster has highlighted the perilous conditions confronting oppressed miners in the industry, which provides large profits to sections of the country’s military-dominated regime.
Vigils in New Zealand demand freedom for Julian Assange
By our reporters, 6 July 2020
The Socialist Equality Group’s Tom Peters spoke at one of the Wellington vigils, which was part of global protests held to mark the jailed WikiLeaks founder’s birthday.
Seattle protester killed after being struck by car driving wrong way on closed interstate
By Jacob Crosse, 6 July 2020
Police blamed protesters after a man drove into a peaceful demonstration early Saturday morning, killing one person and critically injuring another.
New Jersey growers refuse to test migrant farm workers for COVID-19
By Erik Schreiber, 6 July 2020
The decision not to test these laborers, many of whom have traveled from states with rising rates of infection, creates the conditions for a public health disaster.
The future of the global cruising industry: Layoffs, pay cuts and prolonged misery for crews
By Tom Casey, 6 July 2020
Cruise corporations are cutting jobs and denying workers repatriation to save their profits.
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.
Australian police confine Melbourne public housing residents indoors after COVID-19 outbreak
By Patrick O’Connor, 6 July 2020
The state Labor government opted for a police operation instead of having medical staff, social workers, and people in the community lead the necessary preventive measures.
Australian Labor Party vote falls further in by-election
By Mike Head, 6 July 2020
The biggest swings against Labor occurred in Queanbeyan, a largely working-class city neighbouring Canberra, the national capital.
The significance of the July 4 online discussion, “The Place of the Two American Revolutions: Past, Present and Future”
By David Walsh, 6 July 2020
The World Socialist Web Site marked the 244th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by hosting a discussion with five significant historians: Victoria Bynum, Clayborne Carson, Richard Carwardine, James Oakes and Gordon Wood.
Vote SEP in the Sri Lankan general election
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) to hold second online election rally
6 July 2020
The SEP’s online meeting will discuss critical political developments in Sri Lanka and internationally and the tasks facing the working class.
As COVID-19 pandemic explodes out of control
Trump gives fascistic rant at Mount Rushmore event held in defiance of health experts
By Barry Grey, 4 July 2020
Trump sought to use recent attacks on monuments to leaders of the American Revolution and Civil War to brand protesters against police killings as "far-left fascists," while hailing the police and right-wing militia groups and pledging to crack down on opponents of his authoritarian and pro-corporate policies.
Millions in the US face catastrophe as federal unemployment relief set to expire amid surging pandemic
By Kevin Reed, 4 July 2020
The combined economic impact of the raging pandemic and the imminent cutoff of $600 weekly federal assistance is leading to a social catastrophe for millions across the US.
Pandemic spirals out of control in South Africa, India, Brazil
By Bryan Dyne, 4 July 2020
The official tallies in each country of daily confirmed coronavirus cases have become exponential, indicating that whatever containment measures were implemented to halt the spread of the virus have essentially collapsed.
Thousands of delivery workers strike across Brazil and other Latin American countries
By Brunna Machado and Letícia Silva, 4 July 2020
Thousands of delivery workers engaged in a strike on Wednesday to demand better working conditions in more than 10 Brazilian capitals, as well as in cities in Argentina and Mexico.
Zimbabwe nurses strike as economic crisis brings threat of second coup and military dictatorship
By Stephan McCoy, 4 July 2020
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is preparing to confront mounting opposition in the working class through dictatorial forms of rule and the abrogation of democratic rights—even as it is threatened by the possibility of a coup.
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.
Bath Iron shipyard workers face stepped-up attacks as strike continues
By Shannon Jones, 4 July 2020
Management is mobilizing additional strikebreakers as the walkout by 4,300 workers at the Bath Iron Works heads toward its third week.
Riverside, California: HCA nurses strike continues as coronavirus takes its toll
By Alex Johnson, 4 July 2020
According to health officials, the confirmed active case count in Riverside bloated to 10,059 on Thursday, compared to 9,532 on Wednesday. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 stands at 465.
Southeastern US continues to mark substantial rise in coronavirus cases
By Cordell Gascoigne, 4 July 2020
As with much of the country, cases continue to rise rapidly across the region as a result of the push to reopen the economy in the middle of the still raging pandemic.
HPAE union betrays New Jersey nurses’ fight for PPE and better pay
By Erik Schreiber, 4 July 2020
New Jersey nurses must not allow their struggles to be strangled by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union.
UAW and General Motors downplay outbreaks of COVID-19 at US auto plants
By Jessica Goldstein, 4 July 2020
As the UAW and auto corporations to play down the health crisis, workers’ anger is at breaking point as they demand the plants be shut down for their safety.
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.
Residents of Sheboygan, Wisconsin protest police murder of man with mental illness history
By Jacob Crosse, 4 July 2020
Over 100 protesters took to the streets Thursday evening after Kevan Ruffin, 32, was shot multiple times by an unnamed Sheboygan police deputy earlier in the day.
Trump administration gives private equity firms access to 401(k) retirement funds
By Gabriel Black, 4 July 2020
The $7.9 trillion in 401(k) retirement funds will be used to buttress private equity markets and further enrich the financial oligarchy.
City University of New York lays off 2,800 adjuncts in wave of austerity
By Elliott Murtagh, 4 July 2020
These actions will have a devastating effect on the largest urban university system in the US, forcing faculty, students, and staff to bear the brunt of the current pandemic-triggered state and city financial crisis.
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.
Back-to-work policy accelerates spread of COVID-19 in Israel
By Jean Shaoul, 4 July 2020
The number of new coronavirus cases has doubled every 12 days over the last month and now averages more than 500 a day.
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.
Australian government seeks to place country on war footing
By Mike Head, 4 July 2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has identified the Indo-Pacific as the likely arena for another world war, directed against China.
Australia: Melbourne’s coronavirus outbreak continues to spread despite localised lockdown
By Oscar Grenfell, 4 July 2020
It only took days for the Victorian Labor government’s lockdown of ten Melbourne postcodes to be exposed as an ineffectual and punitive response to the rise in infections.
“Deep cleaning” in Australian schools: Image and reality
By Carolyn Kennett, 4 July 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, governments promised thoroughly cleaned classrooms, but school cleaners have neither the resources nor hours to conduct the necessary cleaning.
Sri Lankan president orders Central Bank to give more credit to big business
By Saman Gunadasa, 4 July 2020
While providing huge financial concessions to the banks and big business, the government is imposing greater economic burdens on workers and the poor.
The two American Revolutions in world history
By David North, 4 July 2020
Today marks the 244th anniversary of the public proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1776, which established the United States of America. It is not only the direct political impact of the document, but, rather, the principles it proclaimed that determined its world historical stature.
SEP (Australia) July 7 online lecture
A new period of socialist revolution and the tasks of the Fourth International
4 July 2020
The lecture will outline the contemporary significance of the Trotskyist movement’s fight for socialism internationalism, amid a breakdown of capitalism and an upsurge of the class struggle.
Neil Young’s Homegrown: Time capsule from the 1970s
By Kevin Reed, 4 July 2020
Canadian-born singer-songwriter Neil Young has released Homegrown, 45 years after it was recorded, an album of twelve songs that brings us back to his music of the early 1970s.
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.”
Why Canada’s media is fawning over the war criminal John Bolton
By Roger Jordan, 4 July 2020
Canada’s ruling elite wants a more stable and strategic-minded partner in the White House, who can more effectively employ intrigue, intimidation and war in pursuing their common imperialist agenda.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
4 July 2020
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
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.
US unemployment rate dips, but millions remain jobless or face wage cuts
By Jerry White, 3 July 2020
Despite Trump’s claims that the “economy is roaring back,” joblessness remains at depression levels while the reopening of businesses has produced a surge of COVID-19 cases.
As pandemic accelerates in US, young people made the scapegoat of ruling elite’s malicious return to work policy
By Benjamin Mateus, 3 July 2020
The US continues to see a surge of new infections at an unprecedented rate with a single one-day high of 57,236 new cases.
“We are at our breaking point”
FCA Toledo Jeep workers support call for rank-and-file safety committees
By Marcus Day, 3 July 2020
Anger is reaching a boiling point over the refusal of management and the UAW to release information about COVID-19 cases.
Meat processing plants spread the coronavirus in North Carolina
By Rosa Shahnazarian, 3 July 2020
Both Democrats and Republicans are complicit in concealing the magnitude of the coronavirus crisis in and around North Carolina’s rural meat and poultry packing facilities.
COVID-19 danger persists in South Korea
By Ben McGrath, 3 July 2020
The inability of Seoul to fully address the pandemic is a result of keeping workers on the job and businesses open.
Hundreds of thousands of Indian coal miners launch three-day strike against privatisation
By Arun Kumar, 3 July 2020
Facing an economic crisis that has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic and the ruling elite’s selfish class response, the Modi government is pushing through a “quantum jump” in pro-investor “reforms.”
Letter from a New York City transit worker on miscarriages and pregnancy on the job
By our reporters, 3 July 2020
A New York City transit worker has written in to the WSWS describing the atrocious conditions faced by pregnant workers at the facilities run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
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.
US Fed official warns of potential for a financial crisis
By Nick Beams, 3 July 2020
Having boosted the wealth of the financial oligarchy, in the midst of economic devastation for working people, the Fed is actively considering giving the rich even more support.
An assault on separation of church and state as well as public education
US Supreme Court rules in favor of religious schools
By John Burton and Ed Hightower, 3 July 2020
Undermining the wall between church and state, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot deny funding to religious schools, sweeping aside dozens of state constitutional provisions enacted to protect public education.
Jeffrey Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell arrested in New Hampshire
By Kevin Reed, 3 July 2020
Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire on Thursday and charged by a federal court in Manhattan with six counts related to her alleged collaboration with Jeffrey Epstein in a sex ring that involved girls as young as 14 years old.
Primaries show deepening political polarization in US
By Patrick Martin, 3 July 2020
While both the corporate-controlled parties, the Democrats and Republicans, are moving to the right, the bulk of the population is moving to the left.
US anti-China campaign intensifies factional conflicts within Canada’s ruling elite
By Roger Jordan, 3 July 2020
Terming China “a real threat to Canada,” former Tory Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has called for the striking of a “blue-ribbon” committee to redefine Canada’s China policy.
The Assange precedent in action
Australian journalist threatened with prosecution for exposing war crimes in Afghanistan
By Oscar Grenfell, 3 July 2020
Like Assange, Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Dan Oakes faces prosecution for publishing evidence of war crimes in Afghanistan.
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.
Strike against Tower Hamlets Labour council’s “fire and rehire” of 4,000 employees
By Alice Summers, 3 July 2020
Facing massive budget shortfalls, the Labour-run London borough plans to lay off 4,000 workers before rehiring them on significantly worse pay and conditions.
More migrants speak out against New Zealand’s visa-processing delays
By Tom Peters, 3 July 2020
There is growing support for a petition urging the government to immediately process tens of thousands of residency applications which have been left in limbo.
Hundreds of jobs axed as Australian Broadcasting Corporation imposes government cuts
By Richard Phillips, 3 July 2020
ABC management, in line with federal government and Murdoch media demands, is imposing another round of job cuts at the public broadcaster.
The New York Times fabricates Russian murder plot
By Patrick Martin, 3 July 2020
The Washington frenzy against Russia has been triggered by a lying propaganda campaign initiated by the New York Times.
Hands off Lincoln and the Emancipation Memorial! Defend the legacy of the Civil War!
By Niles Niemuth, 3 July 2020
The unanimous decision of the Boston Art Commission to remove the statue of Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave which memorializes emancipation is a reactionary assault on the progressive legacy of the Civil War.
The Last Dance: Basketball star Michael Jordan and professional sports in the 1990s
By Omar Ali, 3 July 2020
The recently released documentary miniseries The Last Dance chronicles the championship season of the 1998 Chicago Bulls, with particular focus on the figure of superstar Michael Jordan.
Australian state Labor government’s police arrest refugee protesters
By Michael Smith, 2 July 2020
Governments continue to condemn protests and invoke the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to silence dissent, even as they accelerate the reopening of the economy.
City of Chicago announces plan for mass arrest and detention of youth over holiday weekend
By Andy Thompson, 2 July 2020
The plan for arrest and jailing of teenagers comes as the Lightfoot administration has stepped up policing in wake of recent protests and as President Trump urges Democratic leaders in Illinois to take “decisive action” against gun violence.
Australian government unveils military boost aimed against China
By Mike Head, 1 July 2020
Over the next decade, $575 billion will be spent on the armed forces, including an expanded $270 billion military hardware buildup, featuring “long-range strike capabilities.”
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.
New US indictment of Julian Assange not served in UK courts
By Thomas Scripps, 30 June 2020
In yet another Kafkaesque turn, UK legal proceedings are continuing on the basis of an indictment which has been replaced and therefore has no legal force in the US.
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.
South Carolina emerges as new COVID-19 hot spot
By Rosa Shahnazarian, 30 June 2020
The southern state was among the last to implement measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus and among the earliest to relax them.
India’s opposition parties back Modi’s bellicose stand in border conflict with China
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 30 June 2020
The Congress Party and Stalinist CPI and CPM have extolled the military for “defending” India’s borders and pledged their support for the BJP government in confronting Beijing.
Pandemic surpasses 10 million COVID-19 cases and over 500,000 deaths globally
By Benjamin Mateus, 29 June 2020
COVID-19 cases in the United States have careened out of control, with health care systems in Texas, Florida and Arizona nearing collapse.
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.
COVID-19 cases surging rapidly in Florida
By Alex Johnson, 29 June 2020
The swelling of cases demonstrates the disastrous and homicidal nature of the back-to-work campaign and lifting of social distancing measures.
Arkansas continues to be ravaged by COVID-19
By Cordell Gascoigne, 29 June 2020
The state government has been pressing forward with reopening the economy at the expense of worker safety even as confirmed infections and deaths have been rising.
Trump retweets video of supporter shouting, “White Power”
By Jacob Crosse, 29 June 2020
Seeking to bolster an administration in crisis by appealing to the most backward and reactionary elements in society, Trump left the video on his timeline for over three hours before deleting it.
Netanyahu prepares Israel’s annexation of large slice of West Bank
By Jean Shaoul, 29 June 2020
Netanyahu’s plans are a declaration of war against the Palestinians and a broader war in the Middle East, where Israel acts as Washington’s proxy force.
Australian Labor Party intent on ousting MP from parliament over “Chinese agent” claims
By Mike Head, 29 June 2020
Labor wants to remove Shaoquett Moselmane despite his denunciation of his “political lynching.”
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.
Health care collapses in Bolivia after coup regime reopens economy
By Tomas Castanheira, 29 June 2020
COVID-19 cases have tripled in Bolivia since the country began reopening economic activities less than a month ago.
World Bank pushes privatized distance learning in Brazil
By Eduardo Parati, 29 June 2020
The São Paulo secretary of education’s declared intention of “facilitating teachers’ work” is actually aimed at furthering a shift to distance learning.
Ontario accelerates “reopening” of the economy as COVID-19 cases rise
By Matthew Richter, 29 June 2020
The Ford government announced that workers who test positive can be made to remain on the job if they show no symptoms, meaning that workplaces will become centres of mass infection.
Republicans introduce Senate bill to abolish strong encryption on consumer devices
By Kevin Reed, 29 June 2020
Three Republican Senators introduced a draft bill that would force tech companies to decrypt private consumer data on-demand for law enforcement.
University of Michigan Flint cuts 41 percent of lecturers
By Sheila Brehm and Sam Wayne, 29 June 2020
“I think higher education is over for the working class,” sociology lecturer Laura MacIntyre told the WSWS.
Australian paper mill workers locked out as company moves to slash wages
By Steve Strietberg, 29 June 2020
The company wants a two-tier wage system, with 15 percent lower pay rates for new employees.
Legal settlement lets Australian military off the hook over PFAS pollution
By Patrick Davies, 29 June 2020
The settlement will see victims share just $126 million of a $212 million payout and releases the Defence Department from any further claim over financial loss.
Autoworkers initiate new wave of struggles in fight against COVID-19 pandemic
By Marcus Day, 29 June 2020
Workers are forming new democratic organizations in order to protect their lives.
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