On Sunday, April 30, the International Committee of the Fourth International, the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the World Socialist Web Site will hold an on-line global rally to celebrate May Day 2023.
Top Stories
Perspective
The Pentagon leaks and the US media
The role of the New York Times in publicly identifying the source of documents exposing US government lies marks a milestone in the degeneration of the American press into an appendage of the state.
UK nurses vote to strike again on last day of Junior Doctors’ four-day action
Health workers must defeat sabotage by union bureaucracy
The Royal College or Nursing leadership under General Secretary Pat Cullen did everything possible to foist a rotten sell-out pay deal on nurses, with a campaign of bullying, censoring and an attempt to criminalise opposition of its members.
If the UK’s demand is “we deserve more from you”, American imperialism’s rejoinder is “we expect nothing less from you… and more, when it comes to Ireland.”
The procedures for debris removal and the construction work implemented in the earthquake-hit region show that the deadly “profit before lives” policy is continuing.
On every issue, the Democratic Socialists of America has shown itself not to be an instrument for realizing socialism or even the most meager social reforms, but a “left” cover for the shift ever further to the right of the political apparatus of the ruling class.
The outbreak of the campus strikes in New Jersey and Illinois threatens to break through the isolation imposed by the AFT bureaucracy and its local enforcers on the strike by U-M grad student instructors. This makes all the more sinister the promotion by the GEO leadership at U-M, dominated by the DSA, of the phony “reform” wing of the United Auto Workers bureaucracy headed by newly installed UAW president Shawn Fain.
In the name of outlining “digital platform workers’ rights,” Bill 88 places Ontario’s Uber drivers and other gig-platform workers in a separate category, thereby denying them even the bare-bones rights of worker/“employees.”.
Workers say it took emergency medical personnel 25 minutes to arrive after a worker reportedly suffered a seizure on the line.
The developing political and social crisis makes it all the more imperative for these reactionary social forces to block access to anything that does not uphold the official lies and mystifications.

This essay by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North is the preface to the upcoming book, Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century. The print and epub versions of the book are available now for pre-order from Mehring Books.
US operations in the Philippines threaten war with China
The military operations, which will last for 18 days, make clear that Washington is preparing to go to war with China in the near future.
The crimes of the Banderovites against the Ukrainian people: Notes by a Ukrainian Trotskyist
While Ukrainian fascists like Stepan Bandera are today glorified by the Ukrainian government and its NATO backers, the atrocities his followers perpetrated are deeply engrained in the consciousness of the Ukrainian working class.
The Indiana fire disaster: Another case of US industry polluting and killing with virtual impunity
The killing and poisoning of workers and their families is seen as necessary by the capitalists in the pursuit of profit, and any resulting fines are factored in as the cost of doing business.
US court’s abortion pill ruling: Another milestone in the assault on democratic rights
The Biden administration will do nothing to oppose the right-wing rampage in the courts and state governments.
Leaked Pentagon documents expose US war propaganda
Since February 2022, the American public has been subjected to a ceaseless barrage of propaganda surrounding the Ukraine war, aiming to get the American population to support US involvement in a brutal, fratricidal military conflict on the other side of the globe.
Leaked Pentagon documents expose role of British imperialism in provocations and war against Russia
The leaked intelligence documents also confirm that UK special forces troops are operating on the ground, in the Ukrainian war zone.
Far-right Ukrainian Canadian Congress urges Trudeau government to censor anti-war meetings and activists
The far-right UCC is pressing Canada’s federal government to censor and suppress anti-war meetings and actions on the basis of the fraudulent smear they constitute “anti-Ukrainian hate.”
International Youth and Students for Social Equality holds anti-war meetings in the UK
Meeting were held in Leeds, Manchester, London and Sheffield, with an online event organised following a campaign in Scotland.
Remote area general practitioner David Berger denounces abandonment of COVID protections by Australian governments
As Berger states, the failure to protect hospital patients and health workers from COVID is a denial of their fundamental right to physical safety in hospitals.
Dr David Berger speaks with WSWS about stopping COVID in Australian hospitals
“Hard fought gains are now being thrown away and responsibility for this rests with governments and senior health officials.”
Australian state government internal report details spread of COVID infections in schools
The previously suppressed documents show that the Victorian Labor government knowingly presided over the mass infection of children, with a potentially-deadly illness.
Scientists, health care workers, and advocates speak against Biden’s ending COVID emergency
Scientists, health care professionals and advocates speak against Joe Biden’s declaration on the COVID national emergency.
First lawsuit filed against Pennsylvania chocolate factory owner, vigil for 7 workers killed in explosion
Family members of a 55-year-old mother of 3 named Judy, who died in the chocolate factory explosion, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against R.M. Palmer and utility UGI.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand
India: Private hospital nurses in Kerala strike for pay increase; Rural health workers walk out indefinitely in Madhya Pradesh; Australia: Garbage collection workers strike in Sydney and Canberra over pay and conditions; New Zealand kindergarten teachers to vote on below-inflation pay offer
Multi-state university strike wave in the US continues
One of the critical challenges in the US academic strikes is that the militant mood and courage of the striking academic workers runs counter to the maneuvers of their union bureaucracies and the Democratic Party, which are seeking to limit and isolate each strike.
Stellantis expands layoffs to Warren Truck as contract battle approaches
The layoffs at the suburban Detroit plant come two weeks after the announcement that 408 jobs were being cut at the nearby Sterling Heights Assembly Plant.
March inflation report shows corporate America’s continuing wage-cutting campaign
Housing, food, and energy price increases continue to outstrip meager wage increases as a recession looms.
Suburban New Orleans school district to close six schools
Against popular opposition from students, parents and teachers, the local school board in Jefferson Parish is moving forward with plans to close six schools at the end of this semester.
US Supreme Court clears way for execution of Florida inmate sentenced to death by nonunanimous jury
Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing for legislation that will once again allow a nonunanimous jury vote to send a person to the death chamber.
Appeals court sides with lower court attack on abortion pills, but delays its effects
The ruling is now being appealed to the full circuit court or directly to the Supreme Court.
Breakup of Germany’s remaining large department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof decided
The union to which many of the store workers belong, Verdi, does not represent their interests but those of the owners and shareholders. To defend their jobs and rights, and retain these well-loved stores, department store workers must establish independent rank-and-file committees.
Over 1.5 million people march in 12th protest against Macron's pension cuts in France
The working class has to bring down Macron by a general strike, which requires building a movement of the rank-and-file independent of the bureaucracy.
Why is Britain’s Socialist Workers Party downplaying the no-confidence petition against the RCN nurses’ union leadership?
SWP members on Unison’s national executive are playing a central role in blocking a rank-and-file insurgency against the health unions’ pay deal with the Tory government.
UK: Criminalisation of homelessness escalates under Conservative and Labour law-and-order agenda
Freedom of Information responses from 29 police forces in England and Wales reveal that 1,173 people sleeping out or begging on the streets have been arrested under the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act since 2021.
Bangladesh government tables new “essential services” anti-strike laws
The Hasina government is replicating similar anti-strike bans and anti-democratic attacks to those being implemented by the Sri Lankan regime.
Oppose massive fines against Western Australian nurses!
The WA Industrial Relations Commission and the Labor government are sending a clear message to nurses, midwives and the entire working class: No opposition to the slashing of real wages, working conditions and social services will be tolerated.
Australia: Right-wing figures vent racialist opposition to indigenous Voice plan
The line-up at the Tamworth meeting brought together elements from the Labor Party to the Nationals and Senator Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, which has a long record of inflammatory slurs against indigenous people.
China military drills following provocative US visit by Taiwanese president
Even though China’s response to Tsai’s meeting with the US House speaker was relatively muted, the US continued its provocations, both military and diplomatic.
American Library Association registers a near doubling of efforts to censor, ban books in 2022
The developing political and social crisis makes it all the more imperative for these reactionary social forces to block access to anything that does not uphold the official lies and mystifications.
Tori and Lokita: The new film by the Dardenne brothers
Lokita and Tori feign being siblings, but in fact they have become that close since they met on a boat as refugees, traveling from Africa to Sicily. She looks out for him, and he is devoted to her.
Writers Guild of America holds strike authorization vote
A yes vote would give the union the ability to call a strike after the current contract expires May 1.
Danny Wu, director of American: An Odyssey to 1947, discusses Orson Welles and political and cultural life in the US in the 1930s and ’40s
Wu’s documentary begins and ends with Welles’ leaving America in 1947, essentially driven out of the country by the combined efforts of the FBI, congressional witch-hunters and the media empire of William Randolph Hearst.
Frame-up case against Alton Estate workers in Sri Lanka enters third year
The frame-up of Alton Estate workers is a vicious attack on the democratic rights of all Sri Lankan workers and must be defeated.
Sri Lankan police attack rally to mark start of last year’s popular uprising
Notwithstanding the Socialist Equality Party’s principled opposition to the pro-capitalist policies of protest organisers, we strongly condemn the violent government-ordered assault.
Sri Lankan trade unions launch bogus campaign against Wickremesinghe’s anti-terror bill
The union campaign is aimed at politically derailing the rising opposition to the legislation, by tying workers and the rural masses to the parliamentary opposition parties.
Sri Lankan sewage maintenance workers killed due to lack of basic safety measures
The Colombo Municipal Council does not provide adequate training or supply airtight masks to prevent the inhalation of toxic gases or safety gloves, protective shoes and clothes to wear prevent contact with excrement.
Four years since the arrest and imprisonment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange
Assange has spent almost a third of his adult life in detention, for the “crime” of exposing illegal wars, diplomatic conspiracies and mass surveillance.
The betrayers of Julian Assange
This comment is an abridged version of an address by John Pilger in Sydney on 10 March to mark the launch in Australia of Davide Dormino’s sculpture of Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, ‘Figures of Courage’.
No record of Australian Labor government’s diplomacy to US about Assange
The latest revelation demonstrates that while occasionally making vague statements about Assange’s plight, Labor is continuing the more than ten-year record of Australian governments collaborating in his persecution.
Belmarsh Tribunal in Washington D.C. makes bankrupt appeal to Biden to drop charges against Assange
While there were important remarks from a number of journalists and whistleblowers, the tribunal was characterized by the bankrupt orientation of the “Progressive International” to the Biden administration and the Democratic Party.
Authorities in the dark over key area of financial system, IMF report shows
Authorities supposedly in charge of the financial system have no real idea of its workings or any coherent plan for its regulation.
IMF report: Threat of a financial crisis hangs over slowing global economy
The IMF has forecast “feeble and uneven” global growth of just 2.8 percent this year, compared to 3.4 percent last year, with the major economies expanding by only 1.3 percent.
Australian central bank applies “painful squeeze” to working-class households
A Reserve Bank of Australia report demonstrates the class war character of its interest rate hikes, which are particularly targeting low-income households in order to slash their spending, drive up unemployment and suppress wages further.
Profit hikes, not wages the key driver of inflation
Analysis by the European Central Bank has found that profits grew “much more than labour costs” in a range of industries including: the agricultural sector; energy and utilities; construction; manufacturing and “contact-intensive” services sectors.
March 20 marks 20 years since the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq, launched on the basis of lies. At the time of the initial invasion, the WSWS published many statements on the background of the war, its history and its implications. This page features some of the most important statements.
Two months after earthquake disaster, Turkish government keeps ignoring public safety
The procedures for debris removal and the construction work implemented in the earthquake-hit region show that the deadly “profit before lives” policy is continuing.
Israel ramps up provocations against Palestinians and neighbouring states
Netanyahu has given the green light to the fascists, racists and religious zealots that make up his government to incite the Palestinians in the run up to the end of Ramadan and provoke an uprising to be used as the excuse for a military onslaught.
The mass protests in Israel and the “left-anti-Semitism” witch-hunt
The political lie of the unchallenged universal legitimacy of the state of Israel has suffered a devastating exposure with the mass protest movement of Jewish Israelis against the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu attacks Lebanon and Gaza, with full support of Israel’s opposition leaders
Israel’s furious bombardment takes place amid escalating tensions following the police’s deliberately provocative attacks on tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers at the al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
Public meeting: After the NSW Elections—How to fight AUKUS, War & Austerity!
The Socialist Equality Party Australia is holding a public meeting Sunday, April 23 at 3 p.m. (AEST).
World Socialist Web Site launches its Ukrainian-language edition
The Ukrainian edition of the WSWS will publish critical historical and programmatic documents that will create the foundations for a Ukrainian section of the ICFI.
Watch SEP online memorial meeting: A Tribute to Regina Lohr – Australian Trotskyist
The SEP held an online memorial meeting to pay tribute to the life of Regina Lohr, who passed away on October 10 at the age of 66.
SEP (UK) 2022 Congress Resolution
Build the Assange defence campaign in the working class!
The Socialist Equality Party (UK) Congress resolution states, “The international working class must take the lead in the fight to free Assange. It is the sole constituency for the defence of democratic rights, and it alone has the power to wrest the WikiLeaks founder from his captors.”
This week in history: April 10-16
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago.
Evidence presented in 1973 murder of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda
Neruda’s death took place 12 days after Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government was ousted in a bloody US-backed military coup.
Stalin: The gravedigger of the revolution
Seventy years ago, on March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died at the age of 73. To the extent that the worst defeats of the working class in the 20th century can be attributed to the crimes and betrayals of an individual, that person is Stalin.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Chile’s pseudo-left government rams though laws giving police, military license to kill
All the parties in the governing coalition have supported ramming through in record time 15 pieces of legislation that further enshrine a police state.
Mexican president snubs immigrants in wake of deadly detention center fire
AMLO has deployed the Mexican military to serve in effect as an auxiliary of US imperialism and its US border police.
Teachers in Bolivia stage national strike against police repression by MAS government
The government of President Luis Arce made clear its rejection of any concessions by unleashing riot police against a march of teachers in La Paz on Wednesday.
Honduras cuts ties to Taiwan in favor of China
The decision reduces Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to just 13—a measure of Washington’s falling economic and political influence in Latin America in relation to China.
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
University of Michigan graduate students’ strike at a critical turning point
At a union meeting Wednesday, rank-and-file members were presented with a series of motions by the GEO and AFT leadership that made clear they are preparing to abandon previous demands before quickly imposing a sellout agreement.
Lessons of the Temple University strike
Two paths presented themselves to the Temple graduate workers—one, an isolated struggle coupled with appeals to the Democratic Party; the other, the expansion of the struggle in the working class through the formation of a rank-and-file committee.
IYSSE in New Zealand holds meeting against the war in Ukraine
The IYSSE’s meeting at Victoria University of Wellington called for an anti-war movement based on the international working class. Speakers discussed the causes of the war in Ukraine, the pro-imperialist politics of pseudo-left groups, and the university’s promotion of far-right war propaganda.
Appeals court sides with lower court attack on abortion pills, but delays its effects
The ruling is now being appealed to the full circuit court or directly to the Supreme Court.
Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial reveals deep penetration of militia group by FBI and police prior to January 6 coup
The trial has featured testimony from multiple FBI informants and text messages exchanged between members of the group and police.
The “Independent National Convention ’23”: A reactionary political freakshow, part two
Several of the main organizers and speakers from February’s “Rage Against the War Machine” rally reconvened in Austin, Texas last week for a three-day conference that featured Texas Separatists, anti-vaccine zealots, anti-Semites, and cryptocurrency hustlers, along with journalist Chris Hedges.
Following mass shooting in Nashville, fascistic Tennessee Republicans expel two Democratic lawmakers
The gerrymandered Republican supermajority in the lower Tennessee House expelled two freshman African American Democratic lawmakers, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, for leading a peaceful student protest demanding gun reform.
Twenty-five years ago, the International Committee of the Fourth International began posting the World Socialist Web Site. In this video, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explains the background to the WSWS, reviews its record and contemporary significance and makes an appeal to all readers to donate to the WSWS and expand its readership.
NSW election: Australian workers and youth speak about COVID, war and social crisis
One worker said: “I think it’s a good idea to have an international movement for the working class against war and for democratic rights, for workers to unite, it makes sense.”
Australia: After media lies about a Labor landslide, NSW election likely to result in minority government
The media misinformation was aimed at covering up the crisis of the two-party system and trying to ensure a “stable” government to implement budget austerity.
SEP (Australia) election campaign finds intense opposition to war and austerity in northern NSW
Among those who spoke out were victims of last year’s floods in Lismore, a regional city, where thousands of residents are still living in substandard accommodation more than a year after the floods.
Australia: NSW election sees further crisis of Liberals, but no landslide to Labor
Contrary to media claims, the result is no ringing endorsement of Labor. Instead it expresses a deepening of the crisis of the two-party set-up.
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
UAW Monitor conflict of interest exposed: Jenner & Block and Crowell & Moring are longstanding lawyers for General Motors and auto corporations
UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman’s complaint to the Department of Labor, filed March 29, reviews the UAW monitor’s conflict of interest, which Lehman said is a ground to re-run the election in its own right.
Fear of rank-and-file rebellion looms on last day of UAW convention
In a report on the 2021 Deere strike, UAW Vice President Chuck Browning said officials had faced a “serpent” of opposition from workers.
In letter to UAW Bargaining Convention, Will Lehman outlines the demands of the rank and file
The convention takes place amid an unprecedented crisis in the UAW bureaucracy and after the new president, Shawn Fain, has denounced “unreasonably high bargaining or organizing expectations.”
Autoworkers speak out after Monitor rejects Will Lehman protest of fraudulent UAW election: “The whole thing smells”
Workers denounced the dishonest character of the Monitor’s rejection of Lehman’s protest.
African protests met with savage repression
Regimes in four geopolitical and economic nodal points of the continent, with a combined population of 343 million, have launched mass arrests, teargassed protestors, arrested major opposition leaders, and killed at least two protestors.
Kenyan government threatens crackdown against cost-of-living demonstration, as protests erupt across Africa
Across Africa, mass protests are being held in South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Senegal, as well as Kenya.
Sudan’s military junta to normalise relations with Israel amid massive crackdown on Palestinians
The deal deepens the treacherous role of the Arab bourgeoisie, which has now formally buried its own “two state” solution and confirms that the nationalist agenda championed by all sections of the Palestinian bourgeoisie provides no way forward for the workers and oppressed masses
South Africa: Electricity outages compound ANC government crisis
Calls are growing for a national shut down in opposition to Eskom’s blackouts and electricity tariff hikes of 18.6 percent in April and another 12.7 percent next year.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
In 2022 the accumulating pressure of these intersecting elements of the world capitalist crisis attained the equivalent of critical mass: that is, they have reached the point where the dynamic of crisis has passed beyond the ability of governments to control the movement toward a social cataclysm.
Trace compounds of vinyl chloride found in East Palestine, Ohio residents after derailment and chemical spill
Last week, a truck carrying 40,000 pounds of contaminated soil from the East Palestine derailment site overturned, with the driver suffering injuries in the crash.
Norfolk Southern CEO stonewalls on safety in second US Senate hearing on East Palestine, Ohio derailment
Both Democratic and Republican senators on the Commerce Committee made clear in Wednesday’s hearing that they had no intentions of developing meaningful safety regulations if they cut across the industry’s profit margins.
The East Palestine disaster: A crime of capitalism
The poisoning of East Palestine, Ohio, is not merely an environmental catastrophe. It is a man-made disaster which raises fundamental questions about the structure of the society which produced it.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Republicans revive discredited Wuhan Lab Leak theory and call Anthony Fauci to testify
Republicans have demanded Former Biden chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci testify on the Wuhan lab leak theory.
Anthony Fauci gives aid and comfort to COVID-19 “lab leak” conspiracy theory
Fauci’s aim in lending credence to the conspiracy theory, which he knows to be a lie, is to distract attention from the antiscientific policies carried out under the Trump and Biden administrations that led to the deaths of over a million Americans.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid over $1 million to speak about race at colleges in 2022
The race-obsessed middle class layers which Hannah-Jones epitomizes are fundamentally fearful of and hostile to the growing movement of the working class. The last thing they want is for the party to end when there is yet so much money to be made.
Book Review
The New York Times 1619 Project: A New Origin Story: History as the emanation of race
The Times, which wishes readers to take the 1619 Project seriously as a “reframing of American history,” has said more than it intended.
An interview with Mark Kruger, author of The St. Louis Commune of 1877: Communism in the Heartland
The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with Mark Kruger about his new book, the 1619 Project, and the current state of American politics.
Historian Jack Rakove on American history writing and the falsifications of the 1619 Project and its defenders
Professor Jack Rakove is a leading scholar of the American Revolution and the framing of the Constitution.
This five-part series and historical timeline exposes Snyder’s Bloodlands as a work of falsification, aimed at justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far-right.
Preview release of ChatGPT shows potential of artificial intelligence
ChatGPT, released as a free prototype by the research laboratory OpenAI last November, is a powerful artificial intelligence technology with socially transformative potential that is being used under capitalism to eliminate jobs, increase exploitation and automate warfare.
Intriguing discovery of ancient tools, butchery, and hominin teeth in Kenya
The discoveries include evidence that Oldowan tools were used to cut and pound animal flesh far earlier than previously known.
Intact hominid skull found in China offers insights into human evolution
The most complete skull of Homo Erectus found in the east Asian region could well shed light on the complex evolutionary history of human beings.
Ultraviolet light and indoor air disinfection to fight pandemics: A technology long overdue
The ability to disinfect indoor spaces remains a critical public health endeavor. Ultraviolet technology is an important tool that has been employed for more than a century. This report reviews the current issues behind air disinfection and the history of ultraviolet disinfection.
Watch and share the powerful video of Will Lehman, a second-tier worker at Mack trucks in Macungie, Pennsylvania, explaining the basis of his campaign for UAW president, accompanied by statements of support from workers across the US and Mexico.
The Berlin state election results: A vote against all parties in government
It would be hard to find a previous election in Germany in which the gulf between the interests of the population and the politics of the established parties was as obvious as in the re-run of the Berlin state election last Sunday.
Speech at the SGP anti-war rally in Berlin
Ulrich Rippert: “The strength of our party is the historical tradition it represents.”
The following speech was given by Ulrich Rippert, the honorary chairman of the Socialist Equality Party and candidate in the Berlin state elections, at the SGP's rally against the war in Ukraine on February 4 at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.
Vote against war! Vote SGP!
The international significance of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei election campaign in Berlin
Against the war madness and social devastation, a powerful movement of the working class is developing all over the world. The SGP election campaign has given it a voice and a socialist perspective.
Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu's Ulaş Ateşçi calls for a vote for the SGP: “An international movement against the war must be built in the working class and youth!”
We publish here an appeal by Ulaş Ateşçi to vote for the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) in the Berlin elections on February 12. Ateşçi is a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
Concluding remarks to the December 10 rally
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the fight against war
These are the concluding remarks by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the December 10 rally, “For a Mass Movement of Students and Youth to Stop the War in Ukraine!” organized by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality.
Youth and students in Berlin respond to the IYSSE rally against war: “In a nuclear third world war, no one would escape unscathed”
The rally on December 10 set out the background to the Ukraine war and provided an international perspective against the threat of nuclear war.
A call to youth throughout the world: Build a mass movement to stop the Ukraine war!
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
Speech to the December 10 IYSSE anti-war rally
The position of Latin America in the imperialist redivision of the world
Latin American countries, with deep economic and political ties to both the US and China, will necessarily be drawn into the center of the developing global war.
Chris Hedges’ dishonest defense of the January 6 fascist mob
In his March 5 column, the ex-left journalist continued his political adaption to the far right.
Architect of the Capitol fired after Inspector General report revealed complicity in January 6 coup
A scathing, and as-of-yet still unreleased Inspector General report on the Architect of the Capitol, revealed that James Brett Blanton, Trump-appointed member of the Capitol Police Board refused to respond during the siege.
Three active-duty Marines arrested for storming the Capitol on January 6
The arrests indicate the significant level of support Trump’s coup, and fascism, have within the US military.
Failed Republican candidate who organized shooting attacks on New Mexico Democratic politicians held without bail
As evidence continues to accumulate against Solomon Peña, the failed Republican state House candidate turned shooter, Democrats issue calls to “agree to disagree.”
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Judge rejects lawsuit by Trump-endorsed Kari Lake seeking to overturn Arizona election defeat
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled against every single one of Lake’s claims and noted in his decision that none of Lake’s witnesses could point to any intentional misconduct or evidence of a single vote that was changed.
Democrat Raphael Warnock narrowly wins runoff election for US Senate from Georgia
The US midterms have set the stage for two years of legislative stalemate—except when it comes to funneling billions into the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and passing record Pentagon budgets, or enacting dictatorial laws blocking strikes and imposing corporate-dictated contracts on workers, as with last week’s bipartisan vote banning a strike by rail workers.
Trump-endorsed Republicans in Arizona refuse to concede, threaten violence
The same right-wing forces in Arizona that backed Trump’s failed coup and his stolen election narrative are inciting violence against election officials more than a week after all but one of the major races has been decided.
US 2022 midterm live updates: Congressional elections appear to end in deadlock
The indeterminate outcome has already led to back-biting within both capitalist parties.
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Greetings from the ICFI to the SEP (Australia) 2022 Congress
The political crisis in Brazil and the fight for the revolutionary party
These remarks were delivered by Tomas Castanheira to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
Greetings from the ICFI to the SEP (Australia) 2022 Congress
The return of German militarism and the perspective of international socialism
These remarks were delivered by Christoph Vandreier to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
The fight against war and the global expansion of the ICFI
These remarks were delivered by Ulaş Ateşçi to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
Greetings from the ICFI to the SEP (Australia) 2022 Congress
The crisis of bourgeois rule in Sri Lanka and the tasks of the SEP
These remarks were delivered by Deepal Jayasekera to the Sixth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), held from September 24 to 27, 2022.
Eighty-two years ago, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Report to Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical and political principles of the socialist opposition to imperialist war and the Putin regime
This report was given by Clara Weiss to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution, “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for global elimination
This report was given by Evan Blake to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “The COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for socialism”
America’s “New World Order”— The historical and social roots of US plans for war with Russia and China
The following is a report given by Andre Damon to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
Build rank-and-file committees, the organs of 21st century working class struggle!
This report was given by Eric London to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Build the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees! For a global counteroffensive of the working class!”
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
May Day 2022: The revolutionary role of the American working class
This is the report delivered by Joseph Kishore to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Kishore is the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States.
May Day 2022: The class struggle in the Asia-Pacific
This is the report delivered by Tom Peters to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Peters is a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, which is fighting to build a section of the ICFI.
May Day 2022: Young people must turn to the working class and the fight for socialism!
This is the report delivered by Gregor Link to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Link is a leading member in Germany of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, the youth movement of the International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties.
May Day 2022: Australian ruling class promotes anti-China campaign
This is the report delivered by Cheryl Crisp to the 2022 International May Day Online Rally held on May 1. Crisp is the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Australia.
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
Socialist Equality Party meeting discusses crisis of Australia’s two-party system and the way forward for the working class
The livestreamed event provided a much-appreciated forum for democratic discussion about the election result, Labor’s right-wing program, and the class battles now unfolding in Australia and internationally.
Australia’s Labor government demands “sacrifices” from workers
Labor claims to have suddenly discovered that the budget situation is “dire” so “significant savings” must be found and “productivity” driven up with the help of the trade unions.
Australian Labor government already functioning as US attack dog in the Pacific
Labor, before it has even secured a majority government, is on a foreign policy blitz aimed at shoring-up US and Australian hegemony over the Pacific.
The international significance of Australia’s crisis election
The outcome reflects, in distorted electoral terms, a political radicalisation of workers and young people that is already finding expression in a development of working class struggles.
Autoworker and grandmother Catherine Pace died on March 27, 2020 after contracting COVID-19 in the paint department at the Warren Truck Plant outside Detroit, then operated by Fiat-Chrysler, now Stellantis.
Elon Musk’s Twitter abruptly reverses ban on promotion of alternative social media platforms
After instituting a ban on sharing links from competitive social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon, Elon Musk canceled the policy less than 24 hours later.
Musk continues to ban from Twitter journalists who criticize him
Twitter owner and fascistic billionaire Elon Musk acknowledged late Thursday that he had shut down the accounts of numerous prominent journalists earlier in the day, claiming falsely that they had violated a new policy on the platform against “doxxing."
Musk’s attack on Twitter workers brings company to the brink of collapse
Media outlets and technology experts are warning that Twitter may collapse or go bankrupt following the mass exodus of another 1,200 employees from the company.
Elon Musk issues ultimatum to Twitter employees: Submit to “extremely hardcore” culture, or face termination
In a rational society, a platform like Twitter would be publicly owned, but under capitalism it has become the plaything of a single billionaire oligarch, and a fascistic buffoon to boot.
Death of Los Angeles County man infected with monkeypox under investigation by health officials
Los Angeles County health officials reported last week that a man infected with monkeypox had passed away. An investigation is underway to determine the virus’ contribution to his death.
Texas public health officials confirm death of immunocompromised man infected with monkeypox
A severely immunocompromised adult male died in Houston on Sunday. Public health officials said he was infected with monkeypox. Still, they stopped short of connecting the infection as a contributory factor in his death, stating they did not know what role the virus played in his demise.
Monkeypox reported at General Motors’ Wentzville plant, suspected at Flint Assembly
The UAW has remained silent on the spread of monkeypox in the plants, in line with its efforts to cover up the disastrous toll COVID-19 has had on workers.
The CDC minimizes the danger of monkeypox among children as students begin returning to school
The CDC’s cursory guidance posted as answers to Frequently Asked Questions only downplays and minimizes the concerns working families have about the safety of schools for their children.
The June 19 decision followed extensive discussions with representatives of the International Committee in Istanbul on the development of the fight for Trotskyism in Turkey and the Aegean and Black Sea regions.
In his introduction to the International May Day Online Rally, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North reviews the historical origins of the US-NATO war drive against Russia and outlines the political strategy of the working class to oppose the danger of World War III.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II: A major political crisis for British imperialism
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the British ruling class has lost its popular head of state on which it has relied to project the myth of national unity and suppress social conflict.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ glorification of the monarchy
In its adulation of Queen Elizabeth and all the pageantry of the British monarchy, the newspaper responsible for publishing the 1619 Project has entangled itself in many layers of contradictions.
The queen’s funeral and the spectre of war and revolution
The significance of Elizabeth II’s funeral is well illustrated by reference to a previous British royal funeral, more than a century earlier, that of Edward VII.
King Charles addresses UK parliament as workers are subjected to propaganda barrage
What was being celebrated at Westminster Hall is the ability of Britain’s imperialist bourgeoisie to utilise the monarchy as a means of sanctifying and reinforcing its own power.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Defend Harvard professor John Comaroff against the right-wing witch-hunt!
This shameful campaign reached new heights Tuesday when concerted efforts were made to prevent Comaroff from teaching. Provocations were organized both inside and outside the classroom.
The politically driven campaign against Harvard anthropologist John Comaroff
The attack on Harvard anthropology professor John Comaroff has taken to a new level the campaign to purge American colleges and universities on the basis of anti-democratic identity politics.
The concerted, cowardly #MeToo attack on Harvard professor John Comaroff
John Comaroff, professor of African and African American studies and of anthropology at Harvard University, has become the target of what has all the earmarks of another filthy #MeToo witch-hunt.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Pentagon national strategy document targets China
The US military published a series of documents Thursday outlining US plans for war with Russia and China, and asserting the central role of nuclear weapons in US warfighting.
Australia dispatching military “trainers” to aid the US-NATO war against Russia
Australia, already the largest non-NATO funder of the war in Ukraine, is escalating its involvement amid warnings that the conflict could result in a nuclear catastrophe.
German President Steinmeier delivers war speech to the nation
Steinmeier's remarks to invited soldiers, journalists, think tank representatives and leading politicians can only be described as a “war speech to the nation.” The focus was de facto a declaration of war on Russia and the Russian population.
One year since the US military's withdrawal from Afghanistan
The Afghan withdrawal represented a debacle for US imperialism, which based its policy throughout thirty years of uninterrupted wars, beginning with the first Gulf War in 1990-91, on the conviction that military force could overcome Washington’s precipitous economic decline.
The WSWS has published a feature page incorporating a selection of essential essays from its own archives, and other documents produced contemporaneously by the Fourth International.
Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine
The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court has sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker for a speech he gave on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion on the Soviet Union.
Large-scale raid against right-wing terrorist network reveals the extent of the fascist danger in Germany
Around 3,000 officers from the special police forces stormed 137 locations in 11 federal states on Wednesday morning and arrested 25 people. Another 27 people are being investigated. The state prosecutor has accused them of being members or supporters of a terrorist organisation.
German secret service operates hundreds of far-right social media profiles
Regardless of whether the pending investigations can demonstrate that the agents gave the impetus to the planned terrorist attacks, a picture emerges of a right-wing extremist milieu organized and controlled by the state.
German Interior Minister Faeser wants to fight climate change activists “with all her might”
While right-wing extremist terrorist networks operate unhindered in Germany’s state apparatus and are covered up by the highest authorities, federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrats) has called for a fight against alleged “left-wing extremists” and young climate change activists.
August 31, 2021 marks 100 years since the birth of Jean Brust, a leading figure in the Trotskyist movement. Comrade Jean, who died November 24, 1997 at the age of 76, joined the Trotskyist-led Young Peoples Socialist League as a teenager in 1937.
The Pentagon leaks and the US media
The role of the New York Times in publicly identifying the source of documents exposing US government lies marks a milestone in the degeneration of the American press into an appendage of the state.
US operations in the Philippines threaten war with China
The military operations, which will last for 18 days, make clear that Washington is preparing to go to war with China in the near future.
The Indiana fire disaster: Another case of US industry polluting and killing with virtual impunity
The killing and poisoning of workers and their families is seen as necessary by the capitalists in the pursuit of profit, and any resulting fines are factored in as the cost of doing business.
Leaked Pentagon documents expose US war propaganda
Since February 2022, the American public has been subjected to a ceaseless barrage of propaganda surrounding the Ukraine war, aiming to get the American population to support US involvement in a brutal, fratricidal military conflict on the other side of the globe.
The horrific massacre of civilians was immediately exploited by the imperialist powers, led by the United States government itself, to justify far-reaching attacks on the democratic rights of their own populations, and the launching of decades-long wars in the Middle East and Africa.
Socialist Equality Party summer school prepares membership for growth of class struggle
The Socialist Equality Party in the United States held a summer school from August 1 through August 6. It was devoted to an analysis of the major social and political events in the US and internationally since the previous SEP school, held in July of 2019.
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
The historical background and initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
This report to the 2021 SEP summer school was delivered by Dr. Benjamin Mateus, who has led the coverage on the WSWS of the scientific and medical issues posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
SEP Summer School 2021 Lecture
January 6, 2021: Donald Trump’s plot against America
The following lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school by Eric London, a writer for the WSWS and author of Agents: The FBI and GPU Infiltration of the Trotskyist Movement.
The lessons of the 2021 Volvo strike
This lecture was delivered at the Socialist Equality Party (US) 2021 summer school, held August 1 through August 6, by Marcus Day, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site .
Cliff Slaughter died on May 3, 2021, in Leeds, England, at the age of 92. His enduring contribution in the 1960s to the defense of Trotskyism stands in tragic contrast with his subsequent political opportunism and repudiation of revolutionary Marxism.
Nine dead, 44 still missing in mine collapse in China
The disaster tragically exposes the brutal working conditions faced by miners in China in the reckless drive for profits ahead of lives and safety.
New Zealand: Court action over Pike River mine disaster
The fathers of two of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 Pike River mine disaster are campaigning for the release of documents and correspondence relating to a 2013 decision to drop charges against Pike River CEO Peter Whittall.
New Zealand police to drill more boreholes at Pike River mine
Police have made no guarantee that there will be any prosecution for the 2010 Pike River coal mine disaster, which killed 29 workers.
NZ government’s “Working with Survivors” continues cover-up of Pike River mine disaster
The Labour Party government’s promises to “be upfront” and “empower” the survivors of catastrophic events are a fraud, as the experience of the Pike River victims’ families makes clear.
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.
Publisher agrees to an uncensored edition of Roald Dahl’s books, but not before PEN America exposes its own hypocrisy
Puffin has announced it will publish another edition of Dahl’s books without changes, but not before the writers' advocacy group, PEN America, exposed itself as a phony opponent of censorship, given that it is a purveyor of Ukraine war propaganda and anti-Russian chauvinism.
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague—A portrait of a 17th century lockdown
Drawing on original historical records, Geraldine Brooks has written an absorbing account of how a small village tried to combat the bubonic plague in 17th century England.
Novelist Russell Banks (1940-2023): “Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is.”
The American writer Russell Banks, who wrote about the lives of working-class people and historical figures such as John Brown, died on January 3 at the age of 82.
The Best American Short Stories 2022
With a couple of exceptions, the editor has chosen stories that in their form, language and examination of thematic ideas are highly accomplished, even if the collection as a whole bumps its head against certain objective limits.
The meeting examined Luxemburg’s role as a Marxist theoretician and political leader, and discussed the significance of her legacy to the contemporary struggle to build a Marxist leadership.
