Western Europe

Lockerbie: Human rights lawyer states Megrahi was framed

By Steve James, November 11, 2009

Leading British human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce believes that Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man accused and convicted of the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, was fra...

Ratification of Lisbon Treaty provokes crisis for Britain’s Conservatives

By Julie Hyland, November 10, 2009

The Czech Republic’s ratification of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty created a political maelstrom in the UK, exposing major divisions within the Conservative Party and the crisis facing Britis...

Germany: The Left Party in power implements massive job cuts

By Ludwig Weller, November 10, 2009

Following their long-standing collaboration with the SPD in Berlin, the Left Party has now entered a coalition with the SPD in the state of Brandenburg, pledging to axe thousands of public sector jobs...

The fall of the Berlin Wall

By Peter Schwarz, November 9, 2009

The contradiction between the official celebrations and the lack of public enthusiasm over the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall speaks volumes about the real significance of the events ...

British government mounts world’s largest bank bailout

By Jean Shaoul, November 9, 2009

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has just announced the world’s biggest bailout for a single bank in a bid to rescue the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

Statement of the Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter, October 18, 1989—Part 3

Overthrow the Stalinist bureaucracy!Build workers’ councils in East Germany!

November 7, 2009

This statement by the Central Committee of the Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter, the predecessor of the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit, was published on October 18, 1989, in the BSA’s newspaper, Neue A...

The Clearstream trial: a conflict in the French bourgeoisie

By Alex Lantier, November 7, 2009

The month-long Clearstream trial, hearings for which ended on October 23, is a cynical judicial façade for ruthless state politics.

Germany military welcomes new defence minister

By Ulrich Rippert, November 7, 2009

The German military has welcomed the newly appointed defence minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, as one of their own. Guttenberg’s noble title and his aristocratic family’s 800-year-old traditio...

Britain: Communication Workers Union sabotages postal strike

By Chris Marsden, November 7, 2009

All strikes by Britain’s 120,000 postal workers were called off until at least the New Year, on the evening that two days of action were about to begin.

Fire Brigades Union capitulates to South Yorkshire management

By Simon Whelan, November 7, 2009

With just two hours to go before the next in a series of strikes by South Yorkshire firefighters, the Fire Brigade Union capitulated to management demands and called off the stoppages.

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

The Christian Democrats celebrate Kohl, Bush and Gorbachev

By Peter Schwarz, November 7, 2009

At the end of October, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) organized a ceremony in Berlin’s Friedrichstadtpalast to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

France: The affairs the Clearstream trial aims to suppress

By Alex Lantier, November 7, 2009

A decades-long series of corruption scandals, bound up with oil and arms deals, constitute the essential legal background to the Clearstream Affair.