20 October 2009

US steps up pressure on Karzai over Afghan vote

By Bill Van Auken, 20 October 2009

The Obama administration and its European allies have stepped up pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reach a political settlement in order to resolve the crisis over the fraudulent August 20 election.

Attacks on Iranian Revolutionary Guards kill 42

By Peter Symonds, 20 October 2009

Two bombings in the eastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan on Sunday near the border with Pakistan killed at least 42 people, including six high-ranking members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

German Greens to form coalition with CDU and FDP in Saarland

By Ludwig Weller, 20 October 2009

The German Green Party has decided to form a coalition with the conservative Christian Democratic Union and the free-market Free Democratic Party in Saarland.

French President Sarkozy backs Washington’s hard line against Iran

By Antoine Lerougetel, 20 October 2009

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s calls for action against Iran’s nuclear power installations have been greeted with surprise and satisfaction by the American media.

Indonesian earthquake toll soars

By John Braddock, 20 October 2009

The death toll from the September 30 earthquake in West Sumatra reached 1,115 last week after officials ended the search for 300 missing people and declared them dead.

Moti defence counsel challenges Australian Federal Police witness

By Patrick O’Connor, 20 October 2009

Australian Federal Police agent Peter Bond was cross examined yesterday in the Queensland Supreme Court case brought by former Solomon Islands’ attorney general Julian Moti.

US: Massachusetts governor threatens 2,000 state layoffs

By John Marion, 20 October 2009

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has announced budget cuts that could result in the layoff of 2,000 state workers in the coming months.

Students stage occupation to protest California budget cuts

By Marc Wells, 20 October 2009

Students at the University of California, Santa Cruz briefly occupied a campus building last week to protest cuts in education throughout the state.

Oregon: plagued by homelessness, unemployment, cuts in social services

By Jon Spencer, 20 October 2009

The current crisis is hitting Portland, and the rest of Oregon, particularly hard, with state-wide unemployment levels competing with hard-pressed California for fourth place nationally.

US soldier commits suicide in Indiana movie theater

By Alexander Fangmann, 20 October 2009

A National Guard soldier home on a 15-day leave from the war in Afghanistan committed suicide in a Muncie, Indiana, movie theater October 12.

New in German

 

Nach der IWF Tagung
Der Sturz des Dollars wirft ein Schlaglicht auf die Bruchstellen im "Genesungsprozess" der Weltwirtschaft

Von Barry Grey, 20. Oktober 2009

Der US Dollar fiel am Donnerstag gegenüber anderen Währungen auf ein Vierzehn-Monats-Tief und beendete damit eine Abwärtsrallye, die unmittelbar auf die Halbjahrestagung des Internationalen Währungsfonds und der Weltbank in Istanbul folgte.

 

Bundeswehr-Ehrenmal in Berlin eingeweiht

Von Bernd Reinhardt, 20. Oktober 2009

Die Einweihung eines zentralen Ehrenmals der Bundeswehr am 8. September bekräftigt die gewachsene Bedeutung militärischer Gewalt als legitimes politisches Mittel der offiziellen deutschen Außenpolitik.

New in Portuguese

 

Pressão dos EUA cresce nas negociações com o Irã em Viena

Por Peter Symonds, 20 de outubro de 2009

Durante os preparativos para as negociações internacionais a respeito da reserva de urânio enriquecido do Irã — negociações que ocorrerão na próxima segunda-feira — o governo Obama intensificou sua pressão sobre Teerã. A busca de apoio para novas sanções contra o Irã é o tema central da visita da Secretária de Estado americana, Hillary Clinton, à Europa nesta semana.

 

A Desvalorização do dólar e a classe trabalhadora

Por Barry Grey, 20 de outubro de 2009

Existem cada vez mais sinais de uma grande mudança nas relações cambiais a escala mundial. Desde março, o dólar americano caiu constantemente, depreciando-se em 13,3%. Na semana passada o declínio acelerou-se, elevando o preço do ouro a níveis recordes, ocasionando a intervenção de diversos bancos centrais asiáticos para desacelerar a queda da moeda americana.

New in French

Les trotskystes européens commémorent le 70e anniversaire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale

Par notre reporter, 20 octobre 2009

Le 11 octobre, les sections européennes du Comité international de la Quatrième Internationale ont tenu une réunion conjointe à Londres sur les enseignements à tirer de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale.

Obama à la Nouvelle-Orléans : le visage impitoyable de l'élite dirigeante américaine

Par Patrick Martin, 20 octobre 2009

Lors d'une brève escale de moins de quatre heures à la Nouvelle-Orléans en route pour un dîner de gala avec des démocrates millionnaires de Californie, organisé pour collecter des fonds, le président Barack Obama a fait du bout des lèvres des promesses aux habitants de la ville dévastée.

Perspective

Obama’s job creation fraud

20 October 2009

Data released last week shows that the Obama administration’s stimulus program has created a pitiful number of jobs, under conditions where 15 million people are out of work and joblessness is at the highest level in a generation.

Earlier Perspectives »

Workers Struggles

Britain: Postal workers face a political struggle against Labour government

Statement by the Socialist Equality Party, 20 October 2009

Postal workers confront a coordinated campaign to defeat their strike in defence of jobs and conditions, drawn up and executed by Royal Mail and the Labour government.

Reject UAW-Ford concession demands
Elect rank-and-file committees to defend jobs and living standards

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party, 16 October 2009

This week the United Auto Workers agreed to contract modifications with Ford that will further slash the jobs and living standards of the company’s 41,000 hourly workers. The SEP urges workers to reject the contract and download and distribute the following statement.

Workers Struggles

20 October 2009

The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.

Science

New fossils provide insights into early human evolution

By William Moore, 20 October 2009

After 15 years of painstaking study, the journal Science has published a series of articles on the fossilized remains of Ardipithecus ramidus, which is interpreted to be an early form of hominin, the group including humans and all human ancestors back to the evolutionary split with the last common ancestor with chimpanzees.

Arts Review

The Invention of Lying: Telling the truth, or some of it

By Hiram Lee, 20 October 2009

Comedian Ricky Gervais makes his debut as a writer and director of feature films with a comedy set in a world in which human beings never developed the ability to lie.

Socialist Equality Party

SEP public meetings in US
One year since the election of Obama: Illusion and reality

19 October 2009

The SEP (US) is hosting a series of meetings throughout the country reviewing the situation one year since the election of Obama.

SEP public meeting
The crisis in Detroit: The socialist response

20 October 2009

The SEP (US) and the ISSE are calling this public meeting November 5 in Detroit to discuss the working class response to the economic and social crisis.

Correspondence

Letters from our readers

20 October 2009

A selection of recent letters sent to the World Socialist Web Site.

•••••

Videos and Images

50,000 line up for housing assistance in Detroit
50,000 line up for housing assistance in Detroit ISSE members speak on education cuts at rally
ISSE members speak on education cuts at rally Detroit residents speak on utility bills, social crisis
Detroit residents speak on utility bills, social crisis OU video
Michigan’s Oakland University faculty strike has student support Detroit teachers denounce pay cuts
Detroit teachers denounce pay cuts D'Art
Detroit city workers oppose concessions, layoffs Interviews at Los Angeles health care clinic
Interviews at Los Angeles health care clinic Workers continue Vestas occupation on Isle of Wight
Workers continue Vestas occupation on Isle of Wight A conversation with Windsor municipal workers
A conversation with Windsor municipal workers New York City workers speak against cuts in healthcare and social services
NYC workers speak against cuts in social services Flint vid
Flint, Michigan and the bankruptcy of General Motors MI auto vid
GM workers on bankruptcy and plant closings MI auto vid
Michigan auto workers and families speak on plant closures GM vid
GM workers speak out on concessions contract Protesting students and parents speak to the WSWS
Protesting students and parents speak to the WSWS Chrysler workers speak on concessions vote
Chrysler workers speak on concessions vote UK Visteon workers speak on occupation
UK Visteon workers speak on occupation GM and Chrysler workers oppose more concessions
GM and Chrysler workers oppose more concessions Chrysler workers oppose Obama auto plan
Chrysler workers oppose Obama auto plan
WSWS interviews G20 protesters in London Donovan
Pontiac residents speak on schools crisis Detroit jobs fair
Workers interviewed at Detroit jobs fair
Ford workers: “Now the fight is with our own union.” GM workers videoGM workers denounce concession demands Chrysler workers oppose cuts
Chrysler workers oppose pay cuts, concession demands London demonstration against Sri Lankan war
Over 100,000 demonstrate in London against Sri Lankan war Joanne
Funeral for Michigan man frozen following utility shut-off Montserrat
Exposing Franco's mass graves Bay City, Mich.: “Shutting somebody's electricity off in the dead of winter is criminal”
Bay City, Michigan residents speak on death from utility shut-off London protesters speak to the WSWS
WSWS interviews London protesters London demonstrators protest Israeli assault on Gaza
London demonstrators protest Israeli assault on Gaza Chrysler workers denounce pay cuts
Chrysler workers denounce pay cuts Griffiths and Walsh
The Writer and Revolution: A conversation with Trevor Griffiths

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