World Socialist Web Site

1 June 2009

UN report issues dire forecast for world economy

By Patrick O’Connor, 1 June 2009

The United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs has forecast world growth this year of negative 2.6 percent. World trade is expected to decline by 11.1 percent—the sharpest annual contraction since the 1930s.

AfPak war depopulates and devastates north-west Pakistan

By James Cogan, 1 June 2009

The Pakistani military claims to have largely shattered the Islamist militant movement in the Swat Valley, Lower Dir and Buner districts.

UN-based estimates put Sri Lankan civilian death toll at 20,000

By Sarath Kumara, 1 June 2009

The British Times newspaper and France’s Le Monde have published articles pointing to a far higher civilian death toll in the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka than previously reported.

One week to 2009 elections
Millions in Europe sink into unemployment and poverty

By Dietmar Henning and Elizabeth Zimmermann, 1 June 2009

The elections to the European parliament next weekend take place in the midst of the deepest crisis of capitalism since the 1930s and an extremely tense social situation.

Kansas doctor, target of anti-abortion fanatics, gunned down in Wichita

By Patrick Martin, 1 June 2009

Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who has been the target of repeated attacks by right-wing elements linked to the Kansas Republican Party, was shot to death Sunday morning at his Wichita church.

Britain: Cameron outlines Conservative’s “reform” agenda

By Julie Hyland, 1 June 2009

Conservative leader David Cameron is advancing himself as the ideal leader to “clean up” British politics in the wake of the scandal over MP’s extravagant expense claims.

Rising levels of financial stress in Australia

By Terry Cook, 1 June 2009

Two reports released last month reveal rising levels of financial stress in Australian households, particularly among those cut off welfare or denied any relief in the Rudd government’s May 12 budget.

New in French

La lutte contre le centrisme et la fondation de la Quatrième Internationale
Troisième partie

Par Bill Van Auken, 1er juin 2009

Les questions essentielles que la fondation de la Quatrième Internationale devait affronter et qui furent posées de façon si intransigeante par Léon Trotsky dans les années et les mois précédant son assassinat, n’ont rien perdu de leur acuité. Cette partie discute des questions du programme de transition et du rôle du pablisme.