28 January 2009

Hundreds dead as Sri Lankan military creates humanitarian disaster

By Sarath Kumara and K. Ratnayake, 28 January 2009

The Sri Lankan military offensive aimed at destroying the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has produced a humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Protests over economic crisis topple Icelandic government

By Barry Grey, 28 January 2009

The collapse of the right-wing Haarde government in Iceland is the sharpest expression to date of the growing social and political turmoil across Europe arising from the economic crisis.

BBC refuses to show emergency relief appeal for Gaza

By Niall Green, 28 January 2009

There has been broad condemnation of the decision by the British public service broadcaster the BBC to refuse to show an appeal for humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza organised by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) of aid charities.

houseMichigan man, 93, freezes to death after city cuts off electricity

By Tom Eley and Jerry White, 28 January 2009

The frozen body of 93-year-old Marvin E. Schur was found by neighbors at his home in Bay City, Michigan, several days after the municipal power company had restricted his access to electricity due to outstanding bills.

vidVideo: Bay City, Mich.: “Shutting somebody's electricity off in the dead of winter is criminal”

28 January 2009

Marvin E. Schur. 93, froze to death in his Bay City, Michigan home several days after the municipal power company had restricted his access to electricity due to outstanding bills. Local residents have reacted with anger to his death.

More major layoffs hit US economy

By Patrick O'Connor, 28 January 2009

Major US corporations continue to announce major layoffs amid an accelerating economic contraction.

SolerSpain: Montserrat Martínez and her campaign to discover the truth about Franco’s mass graves

By Paul Mitchell, 28 January 2009

Montserrat Martínez Soler has been at the forefront of the campaign to discover the truth about the mass graves that contain the remains of Republicans and leftists killed by Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War and his regime that followed. She spoke with the WSWS about the exhumation of the grave containing the remains of her grandfather.

MontserratVideo: “So many thousands of unknown nameless people”—Franco's mass graves

28 January 2009

Vicky Short of the World Socialist Web Site interviewed Montserrat Martínez about her campaign to discover the truth about the mass graves that contain the remains of Republicans and leftists killed by Franco's forces during the Spanish Civil War and his regime that followed. She spoke to the WSWS about the exhumation of the grave containing the remains of her grandfather.

UK: Thousands more workers lose their jobs

By Robert Stevens, 28 January 2009

DThousands of job cuts were announced in Britain on Monday, with the steel maker Corus announcing 3,500 job losses internationally—2,500 in the UK.

French car industry bailout: a new attack on the working class

By Antoine Lerougetel, 28 January 2009

French Prime Minister François Fillon announced January 20 a plan to inject €5.5 billion into the national car industry in an effort to shield it from the world economic meltdown. This massive transfer of funds to private enterprise is being dressed up as a plan to defend French jobs.

Insolvency of German microchip manufacturer threatens 12,000 jobs

By Elizabeth Zimmermann, 28 January 2009

Qimonda, the leading microchip company in East Germany, has declared its insolvency, threatening the jobs of more than 12,000 workers worldwide.

New in German

Die New York Times und die Amtseinführung Obamas

Von David Walsh, 28. Januar 2009

Barack Obamas Antrittsrede vom 20. Januar hat in den USA und weltweit eine wahre Flut von Kommentaren ausgelöst. Auf den Seiten der New York Times, der Zeitung, die als „Zeitzeuge" und Stimme des amerikanischen Liberalismus bezeichnet wird, wurden einige der irreführendsten und unredlichsten Kommentare publiziert.

Über 170.000 Kurzarbeiter in der Autoindustrie

Von Sybille Fuchs, 28. Januar 2009

Management und Betriebsräte der Autokonzerne sowie die Gewerkschaft IG Metall arbeiten eng zusammen, um die Folgen der Absatzkrise auf die Belegschaften abzuwälzen und jeden Widerstand dagegen im Keim zu ersticken.

Ground Zero: Die Auswirkung der DHL-Schließung auf Wilmington

Von Hiram Lee, 28. Januar 2009

Die Schließung des DHL-Drehkreuzes in Wilmington ist für die kleine Stadt von 12,000 Einwohnern eine Katastrophe.

New in French

France : les travailleurs ont besoin d’une perspective socialiste pour combattre la crise économique

Déclaration du comité de rédaction du WSWS, 28 janvier 2009

La question centrale à laquelle sont confrontés les travailleurs en cette grève et journée d’action du 29 janvier, à l’appel des syndicats, est la question d’une perspective politique. Sur quelle base les travailleurs peuvent-ils défendre leurs emplois et leur niveau de vie face à la crise économique ?

Le désastre économique, social et politique du projet sioniste
Deuxième partie

Par Jean Shaoul, 28 janvier 2009

La présente situation économique, sociale et politique en Israël et en Palestine est une condamnation du projet sioniste et de l’Etat-nation en tant que solution à l’oppression des juifs.

Perspective

Investigate US torture and prosecute those responsible

28 January 2009

To pretend, as supporters of Obama and the liberal media are now doing, that these criminal policies can be halted without an exhaustive examination and public exposure of how they were ordered and carried out—and by whom—is a grotesque fraud.

Earlier Perspectives »

Socialist Equality Party

French workers need a socialist perspective to fight the economic crisis

Statement of the World Socialist Web Site editorial board,
28 January 2009

The central question facing workers in the January 29 one-day strike and national day of action called by France’s trade unions is one of political perspective: On what basis can working people defend their jobs and living standards in the face of the economic crisis?

History

Barcelona
The Spanish Civil War and the Popular Front


By Ann Talbot,
26 January 2009


We are reposting a lecture delivered by Ann Talbot to a summer school of the Socialist Equality Party held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in August 2007.




Other Languages