21 February 2012

Euro zone negotiates Greek bailout amid rising popular opposition

By Christoph Dreier and Alex Lantier, 21 February 2012

A euro zone finance ministers’ meeting strained to reach an agreement on a new “bailout” for Greece, based on deeply unpopular austerity measures.

IAEA inspection team intensifies pressure on Iran

By Peter Symonds, 21 February 2012

If Iran fails to satisfy the inspectors, the way is open for a negative report, escalating sanctions and military threats by the US and its allies.

US reaffirms support for Egyptian junta amid conflict over NGOs

By Johannes Stern, 21 February 2012

US officials made clear that, despite the Egyptian military junta's criticism of US-funded Non-Governmental Organizations, ties with Cairo remain close.

Thousands attend slain fisherman’s funeral in Sri Lanka

By our reporters, 21 February 2012

Opposition to the Sri Lankan government has intensified after the killing of an innocent fisherman protesting against IMF austerity measures.

Hundreds of thousands protest new Spanish labour legislation

By Alejandro López, 21 February 2012

Hundreds of thousands of workers demonstrated in 57 Spanish cities on Sunday against the latest labour reform passed by the right wing Popular Party.

Public education, transit, health care targeted in Pennsylvania budget cuts

By Samuel Davidson, 21 February 2012

Public and higher education, health care, libraries and mass transportation are among the programs that are targeted under Governor Tom Corbett's $27 billion budget.

Telephone industry pushes to end landline service in Kentucky

By Naomi Spencer, 21 February 2012

Telephone companies in Kentucky are pressing the state to allow for the discontinuation of basic landline service in “less profitable” areas.

UK government to extend workfare for young unemployed

By Eileen Rose, 21 February 2012

Thousands of businesses are to receive a letter from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg inviting them to sign up to the Youth Contract, which pays employers but not young workers.

California hunger striker dies as prison conditions deteriorate

By Jack Hood, 21 February 2012

Christian Alexander Gomez, a 27 year-old inmate, died last week at the Corcoran State Prison in California after four days on a hunger strike to protest poor conditions.

New in Russian

Свободу Брэдли Мэннингу!

Заявление Джерри Уайта, кандидата в президенты США от ПСР, 21 февраля 2012 г.

В качестве кандидата в президенты США от Партии Социалистического Равенства я осуждаю преследование Брэдли Мэннинга (Bradley Manning) и требую его немедленного освобождения.

New in French

Votez Égalité socialiste en 2012!

Déclaration de Jerry White, candidat du PES à la présidence américaine, 21 février 2012

Je suis fier d'être le candidat à la présidence pour le Parti de l'égalité socialiste. Avec ma collègue qui se présente comme vice-présidente, Phyllis Scherrer, je vais faire campagne pour les intérêts de la classe ouvrière sur la base d'un programme socialiste dans cette année électorale critique.

Les travailleurs en Allemagne et en Europe doivent défendre la classe ouvrière grecque

Par Ulrich Rippert, 21 février 2012

La classe ouvrière européenne et tout particulièrement les travailleurs allemands doivent venir en aide à la population grecque.

New in German

Der Gefängnisbrand in Honduras – ein Verbrechen des Kapitalismus

Von Bill Van Auken, 21. Februar 2012

Das schreckliche Feuer in Honduras, dem 350 Gefängnisinsassen zum Opfer fielen, ist nicht nur eine Tragödie, sondern ein Verbrechen, für das die herrschenden Familien von Honduras letztlich die Verantwortung tragen.

Bundespräsidentenwahl: Allparteienkoalition für Gauck

Von Peter Schwarz, 21. Februar 2012

Mit Joachim Gauck ist ein Kandidat ausgewählt worden, der zwar keiner Partei angehört, aber für die Fortsetzung der Sparpolitik steht und in allen sozialen und politischen Fragen äußerst konservative und rechte Standpunkte vertritt.

EU-Finanzminister erhöhen den Druck auf Griechenland

Von Christoph Dreier, 21. Februar 2012

Ob Griechenland in die Insolvenz oder gar zurück zur Drachme getrieben wird oder ob die Regierung zunächst zu einer weiteren Runde Sozialangriffe angehalten wird und die Banken bedient werden, ändert nichts daran, dass den griechischen Arbeitern die ganze Last der Krise aufgebürdet wird.

UN-Abstimmung als Schritt zur Militärintervention in Syrien

Von Chris Marsden, 21. Februar 2012

Die Unterstützung der Vereinten Nationen für die Rücktrittsforderung der Arabischen Liga an den syrischen Präsidenten Bashar al-Assad ist ein weiterer Schritt zur Militärintervention

Portugal:
Massiver Widerstand gegen Arbeitsmarktreform

Von Paul Mitchell, 21. Februar 2012

In der portugiesischen Bevölkerung wächst der Widerstand gegen die so genannte Arbeitsmarktreform und die Sparorgien der rechten Regierung.

Other Languages

Perspective

Drones come to the US

21 February 2012

The legalization of drone flights inside the United States has ominous implications for democratic rights.

Earlier Perspectives »

Socialist Equality Party (US) Election Campaign

SEP supporters discuss election campaign with students in Ann Arbor, Michigan

By Janel Flechsig and Matthew Brennan, 21 February 2012

As part of the Socialist Equality Party's 2012 election campaign for Jerry White, a WSWS reporting team visited the campus of the University of Michigan to promote a meeting on Tuesday.

Free Bradley Manning!

Statement of Jerry White, SEP candidate for US president,
20 February 2012

SEP candidatesVote Socialist Equality in 2012!
Statement by Jerry White, SEP candidate for US president

13 February 2012

Video: ‪Cooper Tire workers speak with SEP candidate‬

17 February 2012

Video: Jerry White visits Cooper Tire picket line

16 February 2012

Jerry White delivered a statement on February 15 in Findlay, Ohio. More than 1,000 workers at Cooper Tire have been locked out since November for opposing a concessions contract.

Visit the Socialist Equality Party campaign site »

Workers Struggles

Germany: Verdi prepares to agree wage cut for public transport workers

By Franz Schobert and Carola Kleinert, 21 February 2012

The protest strike called by the unions was aimed primarily at blowing off steam and exhausting transport workers' justified willingness to fight.

PSA auto workers protest threat to close Aulnay, France plant

By our reporters, 21 February 2012

Workers marched Saturday in a protest called by unions at the PSA plant in the east Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois against the planned closure of the site in 2014.

Workers Struggles: The Americas

21 February 2012

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

More on the lockout of Cooper Tire workers »

Arts Review

DescendantsAlexander Payne’s digestible The Descendants; Steven Soderbergh at an impasse with Haywire

By Joanne Laurier, 21 February 2012

The Descendants, set in Hawaii and starring George Clooney, deals with the ancestral connections of a family confronting a painful tragedy. Haywire is a political spy thriller that gives a pass to the intelligence community.

posterBritish Agent (1934): Early Hollywood looks at the Bolsheviks

By Tony Williams, 18 February 2012

In Michael Curtiz’s 1934 British Agent, based on the memoirs of a British spy, the first days of the Russian Revolutionary government are treated with some degree of honesty.

An interview with Chad Freidrichs, director of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

By Fred Mazelis, 17 February 2012

The director of the documentary about public housing in the US, speaks to the WSWS.

Socialist Equality Party

Sri Lankan SEP condemns government attack on the party’s rights

By our correspondents , 20 February 2012

The SEP and ISSE in Sri Lanka held a public meeting last Monday against the military’s banning of a meeting and the intimidation of SEP members in Jaffna.

SEP (UK) public meetings: For a general strike to bring down the Cameron government!

This Week in History: February 20 - February 26

25 years ago: Brazil debt moratorium rocks world finance

On February 20, 1987 Brazil's President José Sarney announced a moratorium on payment of the country's debt to the International Monetary Fund.


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50 years ago: John Glenn becomes first American to orbit Earth

On February 20, 1962 NASA astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth when his satellite, Friendship 7, passed three times around the earth.

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75 years ago: Sit-down strike wave spreads

Two weeks after the Flint, Michigan sit-down strikers forced General Motors to offer concessions and recognize their new union, workers across the US and in other countries occupied their workplaces.

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100 years ago: The Battle of Beirut

On February 24, 1912, Italy attacked the Ottoman port of Beirut as part of its bid to annex Ottoman territory in the Italo-Turkish war.

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Commentary

Obama hails record GM profits
The wage-cutter in chief

By Patrick Martin, 20 February 2012

US sends drones over Syria as fighting spreads

By Alex Lantier, 20 February 2012

Honduras’s prison inferno: A crime of capitalism

By Bill Van Auken, 18 February 2012

Workers in Germany and Europe must defend the Greek working class

By Ulrich Rippert, 18 February 2012

Franco’s heirs prosecute Spain’s judge Garzón

By Alejandro López and Chris Marsden, 17 February 2012

Crisis in Detroit

Detroit to cut early morning bus services

By Naomi Spencer, 18 February 2012

Visit the CAUS web site »