http://www.wsws.org/ The World Socialist Web Site features daily news and analysis written from a socialist perspective, and commentary on the arts, culture, history, and politics. It is published by the International Committee of the Fourth International. en http://www.wsws.org/index.shtml http://www.wsws.org/index20091120.shtml http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/karz-n20.shtml Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday amid a state of siege in Kabul. Western officials who were present issued hypocritical demands that Karzai fight corruption. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/pers-n20.shtml At the beginning of his eight-day tour of Asia, President Obama declared himself the “first Pacific president” and announced that his trip would reassert American leadership in the region. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/iran-n20.shtml The Obama administration is preparing for new sanctions against Iran after Tehran called for modifications to an agreement reached last month over its stockpile of low-enriched uranium. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/econ-n20.shtml The continued increase in home foreclosures is now driven largely by the sharp rise in unemployment. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/paki-n20.shtml According to veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, US officials have pushed for an “understanding” that American forces can enter Pakistan to secure its nuclear arsenal in the event of a direct threat... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/yeme-n20.shtml Saudi Arabia is now openly bombing Huthi rebel positions on either side of its border with Yemen in support of the Yemeni government’s “Operation Scorched Earth.” Saudi Deputy Defence Minister P... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/cana-n20.shtml “We detained, and handed over for severe torture, a lot of innocent people,” a Canadian diplomat has told a parliamentary committee on the Canadian Armed Forces’ Afghan mission. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/asyl-n20.shtml The refusal by Sri Lankan Tamil refugees to disembark in Indonesia from an Australian Customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, has triggered an extraordinary political crisis for the Australian Labor gover... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/kars-n20.shtml The German public service union representing workers at the Karstadt store chain has agreed to the closure of a number of branches as well as savings of some €150 million at the expense of the staf... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/livo-n20.shtml Several hundred Detroit area residents attended a jobs fair Wednesday in nearby Livonia, Michigan, the latest of several similar events held in the area that have drawn unemployed residents seeking an... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/ucla-n20.shtml Students at the University of California, Los Angles and other California campuses protested massive fee hikes on Wedneday and Thursday. Police responded violently. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/pola-n20.shtml Filmmaker Roman Polanski remains in a Zurich jail cell, while his lawyers fight the efforts by US authorities to extradite him. The director has a half-century-long artistic career that needs to be as... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/soku-n20.shtml Russian director Aleksandr Sokurov’s The Sun presents a snapshot picture of the Japanese emperor Hirohito and is one of a series of films Sokurov has devoted to leading political figures. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/psgm-n20.shtml The Partei für Soziale Gleichheit (Socialist Equality Party of Germany) is holding a public meeting in Leipzig on November 29 to draw the lessons of the events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall... http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/wkrs-n20.shtml The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.