Americas
Senate Democrats unveil toothless bank regulation bill
By Barry Grey, March 17, 2010
Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, on Monday unveiled a new draft of an Obama administration-backed bill to overhaul the regulation of the US financial system.
Obama’s cynical pursuit of health care “reform”
By Kate Randall, March 17, 2010
Barack Obama took to the stage Monday in Strongsville, Ohio to stump for his health care overhaul, engaging in a last-ditch effort to win popular support and garner sufficient votes in Congress to pus...
Afghanistan violence escalates as US forces prepare Kandahar assault
By Patrick O’Connor, March 17, 2010
Intensified clashes between US-led occupying forces and Taliban and Afghan resistance fighters have seen a substantial increase in casualties, and an escalating civilian death toll.
Detroit to close 45 more schools
By Andre Damon, March 17, 2010
Robert Bobb, the emergency financial director hired by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to oversee shrinking the Detroit public school system, announced his plan to close 45 more public schools on ...
German executives awarded themselves millions in 2009
By Elizabeth Zimmermann, March 17, 2010
The chief executives of the companies and banks listed in the German stock exchange index DAX pocketed millions in 2009 despite the economic crisis and a sharp slump in industrial production.
Detroit firefighters discuss impact of utility shut-offs and budget cuts
By Jerry White, March 17, 2010
At a dinner for Sylvia Young—who lost three children in a March 2 house fire hours after DTE cut power and gas to her Detroit home—firefighters spoke with the WSWS about the deadly consequences of...
US military created private spy and murder squad in Afghanistan
By Patrick Martin, March 16, 2010
A long-time US military official used Pentagon funding to establish a private intelligence and assassination network in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a report Monday in the New York Times.
The Hurt Locker and the rehabilitation of the Iraq war: New York Times journalists weigh in
By David Walsh, March 16, 2010
On Sunday and Monday, the New York Times carried no fewer than three columns in which the supposed merits of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow’s award-winning film about the Iraq war, were extolled.
The deadly consequences of utility shutoffs
By Andrea Peters, March 16, 2010
There is a clear link between utility shutoffs and deadly house fires, driven by the fact that people resort to unsafe methods to stay warm and keep the lights on when without gas and electricity. The...
Former legislator Juanita Goggins freezes to death in South Carolina home
By Hiram Lee, March 16, 2010
Juanita Goggins, the first black woman elected to South Carolina's state government in 1974, froze to death in her home in late February. Goggins suffered from dementia, and her utilities had been shu...
Pittsburgh: WSWS speaks to family of steelworker left to die
“If you don’t have money, they don’t care about you”
By Phyllis Steele, March 16, 2010
The WSWS spoke to the widow and son of Curtis Mitchell, the 50-year-old unemployed steelworker who passed away 30 hours after he first requested an ambulance during the worst winter storm to hit Pitts...
Lehman bankruptcy report exposes Wall Street criminality
By Barry Grey, March 15, 2010
A report issued by a bankruptcy court-appointed examiner details accounting fraud on a massive scale by Lehman Brothers in the months leading up to its September 2008 collapse.
