Western Europe
UK: Bed shortages cause increasing reliance on emergency beds in NHS hospitals
By Ben Trent, 18 July 2019
Over the past 30 years, NHS bed capacity has been halved by Labour and Conservative governments.
Police launch mass arrests on Bastille Day in Paris
By Will Morrow and Alex Lantier, 15 July 2019
President Emmanuel Macron was booed and jeered as he drove in the motorcade down the Champs-Elysées on the traditional military parade Sunday morning.
Police crack down on undocumented workers occupying Paris Pantheon
By Alex Lantier, 13 July 2019
Late yesterday afternoon, approximately 700 undocumented immigrant workers held a peaceful demonstration and occupied Paris’ historic Panthéon building, demanding an immediate recognition of their right to reside in France.
BBC Panorama witch-hunts Corbyn and Labour Party on bogus anti-Semitism charges
By Richard Tyler, 13 July 2019
The programme was trial by media, providing a platform for politically hostile former Labour Party staff members to air their allegations against the Labour leader.
Royal Marines seize Iranian tanker under orders from US
By Chris Marsden, 6 July 2019
Britain’s seizure of an Iranian supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil is an act of piracy and a major escalation in tensions that threaten to spiral out of control.
Germany: Following the murder of politician Walter Lübcke—the call for a strong state
By Johannes Stern, 6 July 2019
The 2018 report by the secret service again describes the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei as “left-wing extremist” and an “object for surveillance.”
UK’s GCHQ spy centre seeks new powers to circumvent encryption
By Thomas Scripps, 6 July 2019
The new surveillance measures, known as a “ghost protocol,” would allow a government agent to “sit in” on ostensibly secure private conversations without other participants knowing.
Paris police use pepper spray against seated climate change protesters
By Will Morrow, 2 July 2019
Riot police strolled around the group, pepper spraying their faces from 20 centimeters away and ripping protective goggles off them, as onlookers filmed with their phones.
Labour MP Chris Williamson suspended as Corbyn again appeases his right wing
By Chris Marsden, 1 July 2019
Williamson was first suspended on February 27 at the behest of right-wing and Zionist groups and individuals, based on baseless accusations of anti-Semitism.
Lübcke’s murderer was part of vast underground German neo-Nazi terrorist network
By Johannes Stern, 28 June 2019
Stephen Ernst, the assassin of CDU politician Walter Lübcke, acted as part of a neo-Nazi network with close ties to the right-wing terrorist National Socialist Underground.
Two German fighter jets collide in midair during practice flight
By Marianne Arens, 28 June 2019
Following the collision of two fighter planes, which resulted in the death of one pilot, German media outlets expressed their outrage at the lack of patriotism in the response of the population.
Four men charged with murder based on bogus MH-17 investigation
By Clara Weiss, 24 June 2019
Charges against pro-Moscow separatists were laid based on an “investigation” influenced by the Ukrainian regime, that produced no proof of Russian involvement in downing flight MH-17.
Far-right German police arrested for hoarding ammunition
By Dietmar Gaisenkersting, 24 June 2019
Although the authorities were aware of the activities of police officers involved in far-right networks two years ago, the group was allowed to continue unhindered.
Britain at centre of international “corporate tax haven network”
By Simon Whelan, 24 June 2019
The Tax Justice Network reports that tax haven territories linked to Britain are responsible for approximately a third of the world’s corporate tax avoidance.
The war on journalism is a war on the humanities
By Monika Eisenhauer, 21 June 2019
The World Socialist Web Site received this statement opposing the persecution of Julian Assange from Monika Eisenhauer, an independent historian and medievalist living in Germany.
Left Party to enter state government in West Germany for the first time
By Peter Schwarz, 17 June 2019
Following the recent defeat of the SPD and Greens in Bremen, the Left Party is securing both parties a majority and joining the state government to continue their despised policies.
German police threaten climate change protesters
By Harold Hambacher, 17 June 2019
Police are treating youth concerned about climate change like criminals.
International Criminal Court filing on refugee policy charges EU with crimes against humanity
By Casey Gold, 11 June 2019
The request details how European officials consciously implemented policies that led to more than 14,000 refugee deaths in the Mediterranean in the last three years.
French state demands four months’ jail for “yellow vest” protester Eric Drouet
By Anthony Torres, 11 June 2019
The charges against Drouet are unfounded and underscore that a police state is being built in France.
German Interior Ministry attacks press freedom
By Gregor Link, 11 June 2019
Under the guise of the new secret service law, the uncovering of state crimes and preparations for dictatorship in Germany is now to be criminalized.
US Secretary of State Pompeo threatens “push-back” to prevent a Corbyn Labour government
By Robert Stevens, 11 June 2019
Moves to remove Corbyn from the political scene before he is ever allowed to take power are being actively discussed.
East London fire guts six-storey residential block on eve of Grenfell Tower inferno’s second anniversary
By Daniel O’Flynne, 11 June 2019
The Barking fire confirms the failure of the Conservative government, Labour-controlled authorities and private corporations to end the threat from substandard accommodation and the gutting of fire-safety regulations.
Greens make gains in Ireland’s European and local elections
By Dermot Byrne, 10 June 2019
Irish results in the European elections showed setbacks for Sinn Fein and the pseudo-left groups.
Ford to close Bridgend engine plant in Wales, eliminating 1,700 jobs
By Robert Stevens, 8 June 2019
Workers at the plant were given no notice. They were sent home Thursday after receiving a letter saying they will lose their jobs in phases by September 25, 2020.
Despite decline in vote
Far-right Alternative for Germany wins European election in eastern Germany
By Martin Nowak, 8 June 2019
Voters in eastern Germany showed their strong opposition to the established political parties in the European elections held May 26.
Students at Dresden School of Art protest against the far-right AfD
By Martin Nowak, 8 June 2019
The trigger for the protests was the candidacy of library director Barbara Lenk for the AfD in a local election
Free Reis Morris! Grenfell Tower campaigner imprisoned while those guilty of social murder walk free
the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 8 June 2019
Morris’s jailing is a vicious act of class justice aimed at suppressing opposition and protecting those responsible for 72 deaths in the Grenfell Tower inferno two years ago.
WikiLeaks warns US Justice Department preparing more charges against Assange
By Oscar Grenfell, 7 June 2019
The threat of new charges against the persecuted journalist, already facing 170 years in prison, comes amid fresh fears about his health after his father reported a “short notice” medical appointment.
Austrian ruling class closes ranks following collapse of government
By Markus Salzmann and Peter Schwarz, 7 June 2019
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen swore in a “government of experts” Monday to run government affairs until new parliamentary elections planned for this autumn.
Attend June 9 public meeting in Cambridge: UK Sociologist Noah Carl and the rise of the far right
7 June 2019
The meeting will discuss the issues raised by events at Cambridge University, providing a rebuttal of the claims made by Carl’s defenders and proposing a socialist perspective with which to take on the right-wing ideologues.
French Nutella workers strike, Tram and metro workers’ stoppage in Greek capital
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
7 June 2019
Workers at the Nutella factory in Normandy have been blockading the plant over demands for a wage increase while Greek tram workers stopped work Monday to protest the Syriza government’s attacks on public transportation.
“Yellow vest” protesters speak on the European elections
By our reporters, 3 June 2019
“I came today to support the people fighting against this government that I am against, and because I want a real democracy,” Jennifer, 31, told campaigners for the Parti de l’égalité socialiste (Socialist Equality Party, PES).
France illegally arming Libyan coastguards to stop refugees from Africa
By Anthony Torres and Alex Lantier, 1 June 2019
The policy has been condemned by multiple human rights organizations because of the prevalence of torture, rape, slavery and murder in the camps.
Germany: Left Party suffers massive vote loss in European elections
By Gregor Link, 1 June 2019
The Left Party is rightly perceived, not as an opposition to the reactionary policies of the German government, but as part of them.
UK Labour Party’s civil war blows up in aftermath of European election debacle
By Robert Stevens, 1 June 2019
In the absence of any genuine attempt to overcome the divisions sown in the working class by the 2016 referendum, the European elections became a de facto plebiscite on Brexit.
United Nations Special Rapporteur: Julian Assange is being tortured
By Oscar Grenfell, 1 June 2019
Yesterday’s statement by Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, stands as an indictment of all those who have persecuted Assange and sought to poison public opinion against him.
The European elections and the resurgence of the class struggle
By Alex Lantier, 30 May 2019
The EU elections revealed the deep discrediting of the political establishment and its imperviousness to growing demands from the working class for political change.
Ruling conservatives, social democrats collapse in EU elections
By Alex Lantier, 27 May 2019
In Germany, France, Britain and other countries across Europe, these parties that once formed a duopoly dominating the parliament failed to win 50 percent of the vote combined.
“Yellow vest” protesters pay tribute at the Communards’ Wall in Paris
By Will Morrow, 27 May 2019
Hundreds marched through the Père Lachaise Cemetery to the site honoring the massacre of thousands of workers and their families 148 years ago.
Ford workers in Germany discuss impending job cuts with SGP candidate
By Dietmar Gaisenkersting, 27 May 2019
Dietmar Gaisenkersting, European election candidate of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, spoke to Ford workers about the need for a socialist program to coordinate an international fight back.
German Fridays for Future protesters discuss overthrowing capitalism
By our reporters, 27 May 2019
Tens of thousands of young people once again took to the streets across Germany on Friday to protest against climate change.
UK Prime Minister May to quit as Conservative leader June 7
By Chris Marsden, 25 May 2019
May came to lead the country in 2016 as a hated figure and leaves it as a despised political failure.
German Social Democrats and “The Left” strengthen domestic security agency
By Markus Salzmann, 25 May 2019
In addition to an increase in domestic secret service staff, the state government wants to strengthen the use of police informers and limit parliamentary control.
Nationalism, militarism dominate final European election debate in France
By Will Morrow, 25 May 2019
Pro-European Union parties attacked the far-right National Rally (RN) on the basis that its turn away from a European army would weaken French imperialism’s ability to assert its interests.
UK climate change protests: Students speak out against treatment of Assange and Manning
By our reporters, 25 May 2019
Thousands of schoolchildren and students demonstrated around the UK Friday to protest government inaction on climate change.
Germany continues deportations to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 25 May 2019
Just days before the European elections, the charter flight to the war-torn country exposes the deadly practice carried out by both the federal and state governments.
Grenfell fire inquiry delayed for another six months
By Alice Summers, 25 May 2019
The criticisms of survivors and the bereaved point to the growing recognition of the inquiry’s fraudulent nature and disillusionment with the entire process.
SGP European election candidate Andreas Niklaus speaks to Berlin bus drivers
“A war must be prevented at all costs”
By our reporters, 25 May 2019
Discussions revolved around the connection between the growing danger of a third world war, the policies of the federal government, and the cementing of austerity programmes
The bankruptcy of Lutte ouvrière’s European election campaign
By Alex Lantier, 25 May 2019
Despite growing social anger over the period since the 2002 elections, when it won 10 percent of the vote, the so-called “far left” expects to get only 1 percent.
British Steel collapse threatens 25,000 jobs
By Robert Stevens, 23 May 2019
British Steel’s insolvency threatens to be a virtual coup de grâce against a once powerful section of the working class that has been repeatedly betrayed by the trade unions.
Corporate murder: Trial opens of France Télécom executives over worker suicides
By Will Morrow, 10 May 2019
To shrink a workforce legally protected from sacking, executives adopted a covert policy of psychological torture designed to coerce workers to quit or commit suicide.
Germany’s far-right AfD exploits famous artwork to promote Islamophobia
By Sybille Fuchs, 10 May 2019
The use of the painting and its interpretation by the AfD is an amalgam of historical falsification, outright lies and racist agitation, which can quite rightly be compared with the techniques used by the Nazis.
“Unequal Germany”—new study examines regional differences
By Elisabeth Zimmermann, 10 May 2019
A key finding of the comprehensive study is that social and economic inequality has consolidated despite economic growth and employment growth in recent years.
“We need to save his life. That’s how serious it is”
Pamela Anderson and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief visit Julian Assange in prison
By Laura Tiernan, 8 May 2019
Anderson condemned the state persecution of her friend as a “misrule of law in operation.”
UK government seeks to deny legal aid to Shamima Begum
By Paul Bond, 8 May 2019
Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked Begum’s British citizenship last year, leaving her and her new-born baby stranded in appalling conditions and stateless.
Germany: FDP Congress tacks to the right
By Peter Schwarz, 7 May 2019
The central message of the Congress was unmistakable: the Free Democrats advocate aggressive international expansion, more corporate deregulation and austerity for the working class.
UK: Renewed Brexit talks deepen splits in both Conservatives and Labour
By Robert Stevens, 7 May 2019
After the Tories lost more than 1,300 council seats last week and Labour also made smaller losses, May and Corbyn stressed that the electorate want Brexit to be implemented.
Britain: National Union of Journalists World Press Freedom Day event ignores Julian Assange
By Paul Mitchell, 7 May 2019
At the NUJ’s World Press Freedom Day event, there was not a single mention of Assange by any of the speakers on the platform, all of whom claimed to be champions of press freedom.
Thousands of jobs threatened at Bombardier plants in Belfast and Casablanca
By Steve James, 7 May 2019
Bombardier’s move is the next phase of a global restructuring necessitated by ferocious competition in the world airline industry.
The German ruling class fears the spectre of socialism
By Johannes Stern, 6 May 2019
What the ruling class fears is the growing social and political opposition of workers and young people, which is breaking out in Germany, Europe and around the world.
Macron government fabrication of “yellow vest” hospital attack in Paris collapses
By Will Morrow, 4 May 2019
The government’s crude fabrication was aimed at casting the “yellow vest” protests as criminal and morally reprehensible, and justifying police state violence.
UK: Defence minister’s sacking escalates Tory crisis amid rising UK/US tensions
By Robert Stevens, 4 May 2019
Williamson was sacked after an inquiry into who leaked the deliberations of a National Security Council meeting that approved Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s participation in the UK’s 5G data network.
Berlin: Meeting held at Humboldt University to defend Julian Assange
By our reporters, 4 May 2019
On Tuesday, several dozen students and workers gathered at Humboldt University in Berlin to protest the persecution of Julian Assange and discuss the political and historical background to the attack on the courageous journalist.
French Yellow vest protesters travel to London to defend Julian Assange
4 May 2019
Protesters travelled across the English Channel to demand freedom for the persecuted Wikileaks journalist, who was sentenced Wednesday to spend 50 weeks in Belmarsh Prison while he is threatened with rendition to the United States.
The Spanish elections and the struggle against authoritarian rule
the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, Socialist Equality Party and Parti de l’égalité socialiste, 27 April 2019
A struggle against capitalist reaction can only proceed through the building of a new revolutionary leadership in the Spanish and international working class.
International finance backs Socialist Party in Spain’s April 28 elections
By Alejandro López, 26 April 2019
European Union sources are warning of prolonged political instability and looking to the PSOE and Podemos for an answer.
Germany: SGP European election campaign wins support for Julian Assange in Stuttgart
By our reporters, 26 April 2019
Teams from the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) recently spoke with workers and youth in Stuttgart, inviting them to its April 27 election meeting and distributed WSWS material calling for freedom for Julian Assange.
Protest in London’s Parliament Square demands release of Julian Assange
By our reporters, 25 April 2019
The lively demonstration organised by the Julian Assange Defence Campaign was supported by the Socialist Equality Party and World Socialist Web Site.
Grenfell fire survivors forced onto general housing waiting list
By Alice Summers, 25 April 2019
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council has announced the ending of the programme to rehouse Grenfell survivors.
Police arrest over 1,000 climate change protesters in London
By Robert Stevens, 23 April 2019
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has issued no statement condemning the mass arrest of peaceful protesters.
Privatisation of UK’s National Health Service escalates
By Ben Trent, 23 April 2019
An investigation found that over 1 million patients were forced to seek alternative treatment in the preceding five years due to the closure of nearly 450 GP surgeries.
UK home secretary demands climate change protesters face “full force of the law”
By Laura Tiernan, 20 April 2019
More than 682 climate change protesters have been arrested since Monday.
No to calls for “national unity” after the burning of Notre Dame in Paris
By Alex Lantier, 20 April 2019
The cathedral’s fate is an object lesson in the urgent need for workers to expropriate the irresponsible and parasitic financial aristocracy that dominates official public life.
European election: SGP holds its second campaign meeting in Frankfurt-Main
By our correspondents, 20 April 2019
In Frankfurt, SGP Chairman Ulrich Rippert highlighted the importance of the International Committee of the Fourth International and its perspective of a United Socialist States of Europe.
Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris devastated by fire
By Alex Lantier, 16 April 2019
A tall column of thick, yellowish smoke that poured out of the cathedral, consumed by flames, cast a pall over the city of Paris Monday evening.
“The fight starts now to prevent his extradition to the United States!”
Supporters to rally in defence of Assange outside Belmarsh Prison, London
By our reporters, 13 April 2019
The protests organised by the Julian Assange Defence Committee and supported by the Socialist Equality Party (UK) and the WSWS will be held from 4pm today.
German interior minister tables Intelligence Services “Enabling Act”
By Wolfgang Weber, 13 April 2019
The new law would provide the three intelligence agencies with almost unlimited powers to monitor and spy on domestic and foreign citizens.
040 SGP candidate interview on German TV
13 April 2019
UK: Jury fails to reach verdict against top police officer over Hillsborough football disaster
By Barry Mason, 9 April 2019
Former Yorkshire police chief superintendent David Duckenfield was charged with the criminal offence of gross negligence manslaughter of 95 of the supporters.
UN Special Rapporteur: US extradition of Assange would be violation of international law
By Oscar Grenfell, 6 April 2019
The Ecuadorian regime, and its co-conspirators in the British and US governments, are engaged in a sordid and illegal conspiracy to terminate the political asylum of the WikiLeaks founder.
Supporters oppose eviction of Julian Assange outside London’s Ecuadorian embassy
By Paul Mitchell, 6 April 2019
Defenders of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gathered outside the Ecuadorian embassy in central London yesterday, after a warning that he faces eviction from the building where he sought political asylum in 2012 “within hours to days.”
Surrounding land left highly toxic after Grenfell Tower inferno
By Thomas Scripps, 6 April 2019
The publication of Professor Anna Stec’s full study details “significant environmental contamination” in the densely populated area around Grenfell Tower.
The political implications of the Corbyn/May Brexit talks
By Chris Marsden, 5 April 2019
The talks on an alternative Brexit deal between UK Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn decisively refute all claims that his election as leader of the Labour Party offered a way forward for working people.
“No deal” Brexit threatened after May’s EU withdrawal agreement rejected for third time
By Robert Stevens, 30 March 2019
Labour’s nominally “left” leader Jeremy Corbyn is working to ensure that the gravest peacetime crisis in the history of British imperialism is resolved through the worm-eaten parliamentary system, with the working class left as spectators.
Far-right party wins most votes in Dutch provincial elections
By Harm Zonderland, 30 March 2019
Provincial councils were elected in the Netherlands on March 20, with the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD), led by Thierry Baudet, winning 12 out of 75 seats.
Build rank-and-file factory committees to fight Honda job losses!
By Steve James, 30 March 2019
Today’s demonstration shows workers are ready to fight and there is widespread support for such a struggle in the car industry in the rest of the UK and internationally.
“Brexit is a shambles—it will affect so many people in many ways”
By our reporters, 25 March 2019
Reporters for the World Socialist Web Site spoke to demonstrators at Saturday’s anti-Brexit protest in London.
French “yellow vest” protests defy threat of army repression
By Anthony Torres, 25 March 2019
As a mass movement of workers and youth threatens to bring down the Algerian military regime, the government is desperate to rapidly strangle protests inside France.
French army receives authorization to shoot “yellow vest” protesters
By Alex Lantier, 23 March 2019
General Bruno Le Ray announced that the rules of engagement for soldiers sent today against the “yellow vests” allow them to “go as far as opening fire.”
Answer Brexit with the struggle for socialism throughout Europe!
the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 23 March 2019
Far from trusting their fate to Merkel, Macron, Juncker and Tusk, those protesting today must ally themselves with the European working class now waging political and social battles against the EU and its member state governments.
Ford announces 5,000 job cuts in Germany
By Marianne Arens, 23 March 2019
The mass lay-offs are a component of Ford’s global onslaught on jobs known as the Fitness Programme, which aims to eliminate 25,000 jobs around the world.
Leipzig Book Fair: Mehring Verlag presents new German edition of The Heritage We Defend
By our correspondents, 23 March 2019
David North introduced the new German edition of The Heritage We Defend at the Leipzig Book Fair on Saturday.
Don McCullin at Tate Britain in London
Veteran photographer calls on young people to chronicle today’s “social wars”
By Paul Mitchell, 23 March 2019
“There isn’t a city in England you can’t go to and find some poverty and unhappiness and tragedies.”—Don McCullin
“I think it’s the capitalists who are doing this”
Workers in Leipzig speak against the growth of the far-right
By our reporters, 22 March 2019
For the last two weeks, members of the SEP and IYSSE have been speaking with workers and youth throughout Leipzig about today’s meeting, “The lessons of the 1930s and the fight against the extreme right.”
Macron sends the French army against anti-austerity protests
By Alex Lantier, 22 March 2019
The move is a major step toward the implementation of police-state forms of rule in France, as part of a global onslaught against democratic rights.
Youth at global climate protests speak out on capitalism, socialism and scientific planning
By our reporters, 16 March 2019
Reporting teams from the World Socialist Web Site interviewed students who protested in countries around the world for action on climate change.
Corbyn props up May government after more Brexit vote defeats
By Robert Stevens, 16 March 2019
Ever since May took office as a minority dependent on the DUP, she has headed a government of permanent crisis, with her survival dependent on Labour leader Corbyn’s suppression of the class struggle amid a rising tide of anti-Tory sentiment.
Mehring Books exhibits at London Book Fair
By our reporters, 16 March 2019
The Mehring Books stand attracted a great deal of attention and interest, and the association of Mehring Books with the heritage of Trotskyism and its concern with fundamental historical questions was apparent.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 7
German films: Economic and social tensions on the rise
By Bernd Reinhardt, 16 March 2019
The pursuit of naked profit interests and government-imposed austerity dominate an ever broader swath of life. Some of the German films at this year’s Berlinale point to the consequences.
European Central Bank announces major policy reversal
By Nick Beams, 8 March 2019
The decision by the ECB came as a result of what President Marion Draghi characterised as “substantial” downward revision of growth estimates for the region.
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