Around the world

The British military in Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city, is under attack. This is not from ’rogue elements’ of the former Ba’athist regime but local residents incensed at the lack of mains electricity and, ironically […]

John McAllion was for many years an outspoken Labour MP at both Westminster and Holyrood parliaments. 

Top bosses’ pay keeps going up and up. A recent survey by the Guardian newspaper found that the senior directors of the UK’s biggest 100 companies increased their income by a staggering 23% last year […]

George Bush has recently shown a keen interest in African affairs, from moves to combat the spread of HIV to the strengthening of diplomatic and military ties with a number of governments.

Labour’s free market policies to blame for rail and electricity woes.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) is still reeling from their drubbing in the May 1st elections to the Scottish parliament.

AS PREDICTED, the journey along George Bush’s ’road map’ to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is now decidedly ’off-road’.

The economic situation around here is disasterous. Official figures for inflation are 340% but economic analysts say that the actual figure is over 400%. The government tampers with figures in order to hide the seriousness […]

Blair’s web of deceit continues to unravel

“Nine bombings in as many months, almost 100 people dead, and some 200 injured: Bombay is in the midst of … the longest-running terror offensive any major Indian city has ever encountered…” (Editorial in ‘The […]

The first thing that made the teachers angry was the ’decentralisation’ of education. This is a government project that aims to transfer education financing, management and recruitment from the state to the regions. But there […]

After eight days of grim heroic struggles, the Obasanjo government was forced to reduce the recent increment in fuel prices by 15%. Now petrol officially is to sell at N34 per litre instead of N40, […]

COMING ON top of the controversy surrounding weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the death of scientist Dr David Kelly has brought about the most serious crisis that New Labour has faced since coming to power […]

The deaths of Saddam Hussein’s sons has not stopped the attacks on coalition forces.

WITH THE Assembly in long term suspension, the main political parties are once again enjoying the luxury of permanent opposition. They have suddenly found their voice again and are able to lay the blame on […]

BUSH’S VISIT to Africa, no doubt to pave the way for more privatisation contracts for US multinationals, has seen a lot of media interest in the continent that will be dropped as soon as Bush […]

THE LAST four weeks have witnessed mass protests in Iran as thousands have taken to the streets in opposition to the government of Mohammed Khatami.

An important case in defending women´s right to abortion was won on 10 July at the end of a lower court trial. SLP member Claudia Sorger (the Socialist Left Party is the CWI´s affiliate in […]

The struggle to defend the jobs and living standards of the workers at the Irtyishskii Foundry in Glubokii, near Ust-Kamenogorsk, in East Kazakhstan, has been stepped up and workers are appealing for support.

The entire labour movement should be outraged by the draconian actions of the National Office Bearers (NOBs) of the Chemical Paper, Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union.

THE REPERCUSSIONS of the RMT’s potentially historic decision were downplayed by New Labour spin doctors. But last week’s events show clearly how far the disenchantment and anger of ordinary workers towards New Labour have stretched […]

THE FOREIGN Affairs Select Committee spent four weeks investigating the reasons Blair gave for taking Britain into a war against Iraq. The title of their proceedings – ’The decision to go to war against Iraq’ […]

In 1996, hardly 2 years after the ANC was elected, the leadership, having long since buried the Freedom Charter, abandoned the Reconstruction and Development Programme, replacing it with the neo-liberal capitalist Growth, Employment and Redistribution […]

The eight-day Nigerian general strike, which ended on 8 July, was a marvellous demonstration of the strength of the working class and the weakness of the political class.

PALESTINIAN MILITIAS have declared a three month suspension in armed attacks against Israel and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has withdrawn from parts of the Gaza strip. There will be hopes worldwide that this is […]

Seven Socialist Party members have been elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS).

THE PEOPLE of Basra will "look back and remember what you did and recognise that as the start of their future and a life of hope and the possibility of prosperity," said Tony Blair to […]

Socialism 2003 took place over the weekend of the 28 and 29 June. Below are reports from the main rallies and interviews with participants.

By brute force, Robert Mugabe’s regime has for the moment survived the longest and most successful stay-away in Zimbabwe’s history. The ‘Final Push’, called by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), did not topple Mugabe, […]

The Joint Action Council Against Hike In Fuel Price (JACAHFP) wishes to salute the Nigerian working people for their observation today of the nation-wide strike action called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)) and the […]

For the third time in just over four years the Obasanjo regime has again increased the pump price of petroleum products from N26 per litre for petrol to N40 per litre, while kerosene and diesel […]

ARIEL SHARON appears to be biting the hand that feeds him. The assassination of another leading Hamas activist by an Israeli hit squad has further undermined George Bush’s efforts to put a lid on the […]

ON JUNE 12 the two central leaders of the French trade union movement came down to Marseille to address a mass rally at the end of a 260,000-strong demonstration. Bernard Thibault, leader of the Confederation […]

Just when George Bush and Tony Blair have been having difficulty proving that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the government of North Korea has been making open declarations that it is proceeding to […]

We in the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) strongly condemn the callous, provocative, entirely insensitive and anti-poor fuel price increase just announced by the Obasanjo regime.

During the first months of this year, city centres across Europe reverberated to the chants of the millions who took part in what was the biggest anti war movement in history. More recently the streets […]

The road map to ’peace’ in the Middle East is becoming soaked in blood. Since the Israeli army attempted to assassinate the deputy leader of the Islamic Palestinian organisation, Hamas, on 10 June, the number […]

"THE CLERICAL regime is nearing its end. Vigilantes commit crimes, the leader supports them," chanted defiant student protesters at Tehran university, Iran.

The ‘SME’ case now running in the Milan courts, which includes il Presidente del Consiglio, Silvio Berlusconi, among the defendants, may never get to the stage where it sentences him to prison, as happened with […]

THE US-led coalition forces occupying Iraq can’t get the country’s power supply going regularly nor can they create health and education services for local people.

GORDON BROWN’S Commons statement on the euro, the world’s biggest currency union, deliberately faced both ways. The government said it would try to "break down anti-euro prejudice", but it would not hold a referendum on […]

Peruvian workers have challenged the ‘state of emergency’ imposed by President Toledo.

Strikes and protest actions are continuing across France on a daily basis, against the Raffarin government’s pension ‘reform’ plans.

A SOLDIER from Warwickshire, Fusilier Bartlam aged 18, is being questioned following pictures of Iraqi POWs allegedly being mistreated.

THE RECENT decision by the United Nations (UN) to send troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the latest in a series of interventions on the continent of Africa, ostensibly to quell […]

AS TONY Blair jetted his way through the Gulf area, meeting Kuwaiti sheikhs, lecturing to British squaddies and kissing Iraqi children in one big photo-opportunity, evidence was growing that he and US president Bush lied […]

Across France in countless villages, towns and cities, French workers from both the private and public sector, students and young people demonstrated in their hundreds of thousands and took strike action on Tuesday 3 June, […]

More than 1 million workers in 18,000 workplaces all over Austria, a third of the entire Austrian workforce, took industrial action on 3 June – the country’s biggest strike since World War Two.

Mass strikes and demonstrations on Tuesday, 3 June, show a hardening mood of combativity and solidarity in the battle against pension reform.

AS STRIKES and demonstrations against public sector cuts sweep France, Germany, and Austria, the mainstream British press’s most prominent mention of this mass movement is in the gossip columns – apparently Madonna is upset because […]

"THIS is not a happy decision," said Israel’s right-wing prime minister Ariel Sharon last Sunday in Jerusalem. After a six-hour cabinet meeting which divided his Likud and far-right coalition allies, Sharon announced his reluctant acceptance […]

LOW-PAID hospital workers in east London, working for private contractors ISS Mediclean and Medirest have scored a victory in their fight for a living wage.

An attack on workers’ pensions by French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has combined with other issues, particularly education decentralisation, to fuel a massive response by workers the length and breadth of France.

Almost two million Peruvian workers and peasants are on indefinite strike, demanding higher wages and lower taxes.

The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria, on Tuesday, 27th May 2003, suspended four student activists of the university for one session for leading mass protests against increments in school fees.

Aceh

In the name of Liberalisation, the deadly disease of Privatisation has attacked the working class throughout India. It has killed and destroyed 250,000 factories and has thrown 25 million workers and their families into a […]

According to V. K. Gupta, one of the joint secretaries of the National Confederation of Bank Employees, 50 million took part in this historic strike. Some of the veterans of the movement say this was […]

Paris pictures home page.Five pictures on each page.   Photographer: Paul Mattsson   one two three four five six seven eight nine

The streets of Paris resounded to the beat of drums and marching feet, this Sunday (25 May). Music blared. Rail workers ignited red flares filling the air with smoke. It was a riot of colour. […]

"WE’RE BRINGING order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. …We’re helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new […]

THE RULING House of Saud is a rotten feudal monarchy, sitting on fabulous oil wealth and which supports American and British capitalist interests ahead of their own people. But its days could be numbered.

AS THE war against Iraq drew to a close, an opinion poll in Britain found that a majority of people, including those who supported the war, thought it would make the world a more dangerous […]

Following the official revelations of last month concerning the role of the "Italian intelligence services" in Iraq, the last fig leaf of Italy’s inactive participation in the invasion of Iraq has been taken away. Any […]

The International Socialists play an active role in the SSP. We are committed to building the SSP into a mass force with a clear socialist programme. We are also the Scottish section of the worldwide […]

GEORGE BUSH’S recently published road map to ending the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and achieving a ’viable Palestinian state’ by 2005, already looks set for failure.

The war in Iraq is the fourth ‘high-tech’ victory for US imperialism and its ‘allies’ in a little over a decade.

WITH 17 SOCIALIST, Green, health campaigners and left independents elected to the Scottish parliament the political establishment was rocked by the results of the recent Scottish elections.

CLARE SHORT left Blair’s cabinet with a bang. Her resignation speech contained a withering attack on the "control freakery" of the Blairite "clique" at the top of the party and Blair’s "presidential" rule by "diktat". […]

On 13 May, in the late afternoon, 200,000 people (according to the ÖGB, the Austrian trade union federation) marched through the streets of Vienna against the government’s pension ‘reforms’ (the police said "over 100,000" participated).

A peaceful protest by several hundred women in Kentau City, southern Kazakhstan, fighting on social issues and against police repression, was brutally attacked and broken up by police, and many of the protesters were arrested. […]

Some of them are Marxists, and some are simply opposed to the occupation. Whatever the reason, the army doesn’t know how to handle the new phenomenon of young immigrants who refuse to be drafted into […]

After just a couple of days of tremendous action, the leadership of the Israeli trade union federation, the Histraduth, called off a general strike on 30 April.

IN MAY 2002 24 security workers at Belfast international airport were sacked for going on strike. The events around the sackings have led some of those involved to suspect collaboration between the management and local […]

PUBLICATION OF George Bush’s long-awaited "road map" to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was greeted by suicide bombings in Israel by pro-Palestinian Islamists and a massive and bloody invasion by Israeli armed forces into the Gaza […]

TONY BLAIR hoped his Iraq ’victory’ would help New Labour in the 1 May elections. But rather than a ’Baghdad bounce’, it was more like a ’Baghdad trounce’. New Labour lost votes nationwide due to […]

Tuesday, 6 May, was a historic day for Austria. For the first time in decades the Ã-GB (Austrian trade union federation) called for a national day of action, including strikes. According to the Ã-GB about […]

GEORGE GALLOWAY’S name has been added to the notable list of those who stood against the might of the British political establishment and were subsequently ferociously witch-hunted and smeared.

"A WAR to remake the world" is how Michael Ledeen, a leading neo-conservative associated with the Bush government, described the war on Iraq. Exactly how the world could be remade was succinctly explained by White […]

PUBLICATION OF George Bush’s long-delayed ’road map’ to a Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement and an independent Palestinian state by 2005, was inched forward last week. But only after Palestinian president Yasser Arafat agreed, at the eleventh […]

April 29 saw up to 3,000 workers attend a morning open-air workplace meeting of the OMV (Austrian oil company) and other companies in Vienna in protest at the government’s attacks on the pension system. This […]

The first round of Presidential elections in Argentina have left former Peronist President Carlos Menem in a run off with the government backed Néstor Kirchner, also a Peronist standing for the Unión de Centro Democrático. […]

On 22nd April, 2003, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the re-election of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for a second term. According to the electoral body, […]

Following its "victory" in Iraq, North American imperialism, headed by the Bush/Rumsfeld duo, wants to use its "triumph" to strengthen its dominant world position. The invasion of Iraq was in the first place for oil […]

Amid growing charges of vote rigging Olusegun Obasanjo seems to be on course to be declared winner of Nigeria’s bitterly contested 19 April Presidential election. How stable his rule will be is a very different […]

May 1st will see the second elections to the Scottish parliament. After four years of devolution, extreme disappointment would sum up the mood of working class people towards the inability of the political establishment to […]

The Austrian ÖVP-FPÖ coalition government started its general attack on the country’s pension system while missiles hit cities in Iraq. The implementation of these "reform" plans will mean that working people can expect between 10% […]

SADDAM’S REGIME HAS crumbled (as we go to press, 11 April) under the impact of the US-British invasion, though fierce, sporadic fighting continues in Baghdad and other cities. Scenes of Saddam’s statues being torn down […]

On Saturday, 12 April, at noon, a peace vigil was held in the centre of Dunedin, beginning a day of action in solidarity with similar anti-war protests and demonstrations in other parts of New Zealand […]

Following its bloody conquest of Iraq, the US administration is now attempting to impose a ‘reconstruction’ plan on the broken country. But what does this mean for the working people of Iraq? Will they at […]

LAST WEEK, Bush and Blair were celebrating their ’victory’ over Iraq. But within a matter of hours it became clear that piecing Iraq back together again could prove much more difficult than the war itself.

Half a million people demonstrated in bright Spring sunshine on the streets of Rome last Saturday, 12 April. A record-breaking peace banner in the colours of the rainbow – one kilometre long and 13 metres […]

Leading up to the planned demonstration of 12 April, in Bangalore, there was a week-long campaign demanding, "No to war". In spite of the apparent ‘conquest’ of Baghdad, the action was quite successful in terms […]

THE WAR on Iraq has entered its end stage. Overwhelming US military might has broken the back of Iraqi military resistance on the ground. Despite a determined fightback by a number of Iraqi militias and […]

The military assault on Iraq by US and British imperialism is now reaching its ‘end game’. At the time of writing the Iraqi regime is in the process of disintegration. This military ‘triumph’ of Bush […]

One million members of seven different ‘unions of the base’ in Italy went on strike for eight hours last Wednesday, 2 April, to say no to war.

About 5 000 anti-war protestors marched from Klipspruit West, Eldorado Park, to Lenasia, south of Johannesburg. The march was led by the contingent of South African Human Shields who had returned from Iraq earlier in […]

US IMPERIALISM is paying for this war, unlike in the 1990-91 Gulf War when other countries financially under-wrote US war plans and paid for nine-tenths of it. So the US ruling class are determined that […]

"People say to me, you (the Iraqis) are not the Vietnamese. You have no jungles and swamps to hide in. I reply, ‘Let our cities be our swamps and our buildings our jungles’." (Tariq Aziz, […]

WHEN THE military chiefs and politicians feel the need to come onto the TV and insist that everything is going to plan in the war against Iraq, and that everyone is united, you know that […]

The Israeli government is using the imperialist war on Iraq and the fear of Scuds landing in Israel as a cover to launch its own weapon of mass destruction – a 11.4 Billion Shekel (£1.5 […]

Schröder’s policy statement amounts to a declaration of war on the workers, the unemployed and the pensioners. He has presented a catalogue of cruelty which severely cuts back the standard of living, the social security […]

Stop the war in Iraq.

Anti-war protesters in Kazakhstan burst into a television studio last week where the US ambassador was speaking about the war in Iraq. The protesters, all CWI members, unfurled a ’No to war’ banner, which was […]

Reflecting the massive opposition of Spanish people to the war in Iraq, the UGT – socialist trade union confederation – has called a two-hour general strike on Thursday 10 April.

Last Friday night, 28 March, the Socialist Party (SP – CWI in Australia) led a demonstration of over 500 outside a Liberal Party function where the Prime Minister, John Howard, was guest speaker.

GEORGE BUSH’S "road map" to a political settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, supposedly leading to a Palestinian state by 2005, is a cynical exercise in placating Arab opinion while US forces invade and occupy Iraq. […]

Stop the war in Iraq. Britain.

There is hardly a building in Sarajevo city that has not been damaged in some way by the conflict in the 1990s. Walls are pock marked with bullet holes. More often than not, blocks of […]

AS WE go to press, the battle for Baghdad seems about to begin. It is still too early to get an exact picture, but if the first phase of the war is anything to go […]

Three thousand mainly school students, after leaving school to strike against the war, marched through Melbourne on Wednesday 26 March against the war on Iraq. The numbers were slightly down on the last school student […]

Over one hundred secondary school students and workers took part in a demonstration against the war on Saturday 22 March, organised by the Kotli branch of the Jammu and Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP). 

Monday 24 March 2003

On 23 March, about 20,000 protesters from all over Sicily marched on the Sigonella US Navy Air Base. The base has operated since 1959 after US – NATO agreements. It is situated in Eastern Sicily, […]

Members of the CWI and the youth organisation ‘Young Guard’ organised a protest against US aggression in Iraq on 21 March.

Over 5,000 people demonstrated through the streets on Belfast on Saturday, 22 March, to express their opposition to the continued bombing of Iraq. Although this demonstration was smaller than that on 15 February, the mood […]

Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM – CWI in South Africa) and Socialist Student Movement, both affiliates of the Anti-War Coalition, joined the demonstration on Day X at the US Consulate in Johannesburg.

The ‘Blick’ newspaper – Swiss equivalent of the Daily Mirror – estimated that on Day X 100,000 Swiss people took to the streets, the majority of whom were school students and students. The biggest student […]

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sydney, Sunday 23 March, in yet another huge anti-war rally.

"Workers at the steel factory, Caterpillar, in Gosselies (near Charleroi) put down tools in protest against the war with Iraq", reports Belgian news agencies.

On Day X we left with an anti-war demo from the French-speaking ULB University. There were some 1,000 students and school students joined us. We discussed with the police to be able to go the […]

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called a demonstration in Brussels on 21 March. The demo, backed by the three main Belgian trade unions, was meant to be a protest against the GATS agreements in […]

Despite driving rain over 15,000 youth took to the streets on Friday 21 March, in Sao Paulo, to protest against the start of the war against Iraq. Thousands more have taken to the streets in […]

The Day X demonstration was big for Prague, but the second day of the war saw as many, if not more, out on the streets demonstrating. All the main political parties were there and all […]

On the evening of Day X, school students in Newcastle upon Tyne organised a sit down protest in the road. The police announced that, if the school students did not move in two minutes, they […]

Today, March 24, in Hamburg, Germany, 50,000 school students, apprentices and other students supported a local strike call made by Youth against War (Jugend gegen Krieg, JgW).

"The invasion of Iraq is a naked grab to secure the Iraqi oilfields for US capitalism and to secure imperialist control over the Middle East", said Joe Higgins, TD (member of the Dail, the Irish […]

On 23 March, the CWI in Japan, Kokusai Rentai, participated in an anti-war demonstration in Osaka. It was the biggest in the city so far. Around eight thousand participated.

Stop the war in Iraq. Pictures.

New Labours’ conference in Dundee was besieged by three days of mass protests. Fire-fighters, pensioners, and council workers all showed their anger at Blair’s policies. Above all, it was a chance for a new generation […]

In Madrid up to 1 million took to the streets against war on 22 March, according to the organisers (20,000 according to the government!).

Stop the war in Iraq. Pictures.

Stop the war in Iraq. cwi pictures.

The anti-war protests in Vienna and Salzburg on 20 March, partly led by the ISR and SLP, Austrian section of the CWI, demanded strike action by the unions as part of the international movement. Between […]

After the signing up of Italy by Bush onto the list of nations supporting the war, the Italian parliament yesterday officially conceded to the USA the use of bases and air space. Nevertheless demonstrations against […]

As the bombs started falling on Baghdad on March 20, over 50,000 people gathered spontaneously in Melbourne, Australia, for the first of many rallies to come.

Up to 2,500 people protested in Prague on Day X, which is a big step forward for the Czech anti-war movement.

Youth against War (JgK), a German-wide campaign of school students, students and apprentices, which was initiated by members of Socialist Alternative (SAV, the German CWI section) and International Resistance (the German section of International Socialist […]

Across Northern Ireland thousands of students walked out of schools on Day X, responding to the call from Youth Against War. The mood was determined.

A protest organised by various anti war groups including the Irish Anti War movement was held outside the Dail (Irish parliament) where a debate over the continued use of Shannon airport for US war aircraft […]

Millions have protested against the start of the US led imperialist war against Iraq. As the reports from CWI sections posted on this site show, many of the demonstrations have been led and dominated by […]

The first day of the US led imperialist assault on Iraq has hugely increased the disgust and opposition from workers and youth against this war, against US imperialism and against the right wing Portuguese government […]

The discovery that the bombing of Iraq had started was met by outrage, walkouts, road blocks and demonstrations involving up to 50,000 university and school students in Barcelona yesterday (Thursday), according to press reports.

As soon as the first bombs dropped on Baghdad, members of the United Socialist Party (USP) in Sri Lanka (section of the CWI) got to work making more than a hundred large hand-written posters with […]

Approximately 20,000 people lined the streets of Sydney just 3 hours after war was officially declared on Thursday (March 20), demanding Australian troops be withdrawn immediately and Liberal Prime Minister Howard end his slavish support […]

War has started. The US led imperialist assault against the people of Iraq means huge destruction and the loss of many lives. A high tech capitalist superpower is indiscriminately attacking a people already subjected to […]

SO THE ’liberation’ of the Iraqis is beginning – with massive carpet bombing. The US military have planned to use ten times the amount of bombs dropped in the whole of the last Gulf War […]

ON 15 March there was a new wave of anti-war action in New Zealand, mainly in South Island. In Christchurch, about 3,000 took part in a march against the war.

The CWI in Brazil, Socialismo Revolucionario (SR), held a very successful public meeting earlier this week on the war on Iraq at the University USP, in San Carlos, in the State of Sao Paulo. Over […]

Socialist Party member, Steve Bush, describes a spontaneous school strike against war that took place yesterday in the town of Tiverton in Devon, England.

A teachers’ union in a school in Hackney, East London, has announced its backing of a half day strike by students on Day X. Furthermore the local union will ask all its members to also […]

The right wing cabal surrounding George Bush in the White House are determined to go to war with or without United Nations backing. Tony Blair is also determined to be in on the act. Take […]

On 15 March millions of people marched against imminent war in over 2,000 cities worldwide. Below we carry reports from CWI members of important protests in Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Japan and Greece.

The final countdown has started towards Bush and Blair’s war on Iraq. Within days a murderous onslaught will be launched against the Iraqi people. Weapons like the devastating "Daisy cutter bombs", depleted uranium muntion and […]

Stop work to stop the war.

DESPITE THE biggest demonstration in the history of Britain and unprecedented anti-war protests, Blair is determined to go to war with Iraq over the next few days. Like Bush, he believes that vital capitalist interests […]

Stop work to stop the war.

A month since Sharon’s Likud party scored an election victory, and after long negotiations, the 75-year-old Prime Minister has managed to form a rightwing government based on a coalition of 68 out of 120 Members […]

The opposition to the US war plans has increased in Chile in the past weeks. This has undoubtedly been in part because of Chile’s presence on the UN Security Council. The International Women’s Day march […]

The youth section of the social democratic nation trade union federation (ABVV) has called a national school student and higher education student strike on Friday 21 March. The appeal has received the support of the […]

The closer war approaches the more intense Bush and Blair’s propaganda becomes. Bush, in his press conference last week, spoke as if the USA was under imminent threat of attack from Iraq that necessitated immediate […]

A call for work stoppages throughout Europe to protest against the war at midday on Friday 14 March was made by the European Trade Union Congress at a meeting of its Executive last week (6 […]

THOUSANDS OF people on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC, the Line that divides Pakistani Occupied and Indian Occupied Kashmir) in Kashmir, different cities in Pakistan and Europe, recently celebrated the 19th anniversary […]

THE FIRST phase of the US-led war against Iraq has started. American and British warplanes have stepped up their bombing of Iraqi defences in the ’no-fly zones’, targeting surface-to-surface missile batteries.

"ON FEBRUARY 12th, incredulous but enthralled, Bolivians watched live broadcasts of the army and the police turning their guns on each other. What ensued was perhaps the worst period of civil disorder the country has […]

THE HUGE parliamentary revolt last week against Blair’s war plans was all the more remarkable given that the Tory party officially lined up behind Blair and the payroll vote of Labour ministers and parliamentary secretaries […]

Over 10 000 school students took part in the walk outs, rallies or in other forms of protest in the schools on March 5th.

No to war in Iraq. Protests in Northern Ireland

The Bush administration suffered a serious blow to its war plans against Iraq after the Turkish parliament rejected, on Saturday 8 March, a draft law allowing the deployment of some 62,000 US troops to Turkish […]

The 2003 Scottish Socialist Party conference met recently against the backdrop of a likely war in Iraq and two months before the Scottish parliament elections.

Max Toynbee from Finham Park school reports:

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone D, i.e. the coordinating organ of all Nigerian students in all tertiary institutions in the South-West states is using this medium to officially solidarise with millions of […]

The re-formation of the coalition government between the People’s Party (ÖVP) and the far right Freedom Party (FPÖ) will leave many people in Austria angry, demotivated or frustrated. The fact that any other government coalition […]

ALL THE political commentators are busy speculating in Scotland on just how the massive anti-war mood, reflected in the 80,000-strong demonstration in Glasgow on 15 February, will translate into votes at the Scottish parliament election […]

AFTER THE magnificent events of 15 February, many hoped that worldwide demonstrations of tens of millions would halt the warmongers Bush and Blair in their tracks.

The US has mobilised a massive war machine, poised for an invasion of Iraq. Undoubtedly, the US has the military power to smash Saddam’s regime. But US imperialism will face major complications, especially in the […]

The Communication Workers’ Union in Britain has unanimously endorsed a call for action against war.

In an elemental tide of protest against US preparations to attack Iraq, millions marched against war on 15 February, an estimated 30 million in 600 cities. Big demonstrations took place in the United States, in […]

The recently launched campaign Youth Against War has organised a successful day of action on February 25th. The campaign was recently launched by different school students’, students’ and appretices’ anti war committees – many of […]

Iraq has been cruelly burdened with UN imposed sanctions for 14 years. In a recent article, based on a the forthcoming paper back edition of his book, ’The New Rulers of the World’ (Independent On […]

Last week-end saw dramatic scenes of direct action in Italy to stop the movement of US military supplies in the country. One major rail convoy was forced to stop and to re-route in a number […]

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Belfast.

Oggi i lavoratori hanno nuovamente fermato l’Italia. Gli effetti della crisi economica mondiale si fanno sentire anche in Italia,la cui economia deve affrontare anche motivi specifici di crisi. Su scala mondiale il sistema capitalistico sta […]

IT WAS a global revolt without precedent by the people against their political ’masters’. The worldwide anti-war protests on 15-16 February resounded with one voice to say ’No War’.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Sweden.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. New York.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. New York.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Switzerland

Biggest international protest in history

There was an anti-war demonstration in Osaka yesterday.  The organisers claimed 1,500. It was a very good demonstration and march.  The atmosphere was good – lots of youth and, surprisingly, a very large percentage of […]

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Greece.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. London.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. London.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Russia.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Sweden.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Austria.

On Saturday Catalonia marched to the slogan "Stop the war". Various towns and cities had their biggest ever demonstrations, including Gerona (40,000 – nearly half the population?!) but they were all dwarfed by the estimated […]

Yesterday’s anti-war rally in Melbourne was the biggest demonstration in the history of Australia. Over 200,000 people rallied outside the State Library at 5pm to hear speakers and then they had to wait over an […]

Around two million participated in the anti-war activities in London on 15 February: making it the largest political demonstration in British history.

In Santiago, Chile, about 1,500 people participated in a demonstration against the war called by Plataforma por la Paz – Platform for Peace. This is an alliance of various groups – particularly the Communist Party, […]

As "our" government supports every decision of the US administration, and former president Havel signed the letter of "eight", expressing complete support for the Bush-Iraq policy, people feel not just betrayed but angry. That is […]

In the city of Oulu, in Finland, the CWI participated on the February 15th demonstration as part of the Youth against the War campaign.

In the last three days of last week the anti-war mood in France snowballed. If asked in the week before the demonstration, most political activists would have said that 150,000 would demonstrate in Paris. It […]

Saturday saw the biggest anti-war demonstration in Germany for decades. Five hundred thousand from all over the country took to the streets of Berlin and paralysed the historical area from Alexanderplatz in the East of […]

Yesterday, as all over the world, Greece saw enormous anti war demonstrations.

Millions of people, up to 30 million according to some media reports, poured onto streets of cities and towns and villages around the world on 15 February in protest against Bush’s war plans (see list […]

Twenty thousand joined the anti-war demonstration in Belfast. It was organised by the Stop the War Coalition, a broad and loose group co-ordinated by the trade unions and including the Socialist Party, Socialist Youth and […]

Despite the government propaganda, around three thousand people demonstrated against the US plans to invade Iraq, in Tel Aviv on February 15.

After yesterday, there is no doubt whatsoever that Italy is against the war, whatever the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, might claim, reports CWI member Henry Silke from Sicily.

The international day of protest against war on Iraq was observed in Indian Occupied and Pakistani Occupied Kashmir. According to media reports over 2,000 people demonstrated against the war in Srinagar (capital of Indian Occupied […]

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world.

At least 80,000 people marched in the biggest demonstration Scotland has seen in 30 years. They came from all corners of the country, from the Islands to the cities to the smallest towns and villages. […]

Anti-war activists made their contribution to the worldwide opposition to the impending US war on Iraq in three demonstrations in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town on 15 February.

The latest opinion poll by the weekly magazine ‘Stern’ says that 71 percent of Germans are opposed to the war. Local demonstrations of up to 10,000 are taking place on an almost daily basis. Last […]

Media estimates put the number of anti-war demonstrators in central Melbourne today (14 February) at between 100,000 to 200,000. Organisers are quoted as saying the demonstration was well over the 200,000 mark.

One week after 60,000 workers and youth went onto the streets of Lisbon as part of a struggle for jobs, decent wages and to stop the bosses’ offensive, many thousands of workers and youth we […]

Colin Powell presented his speech to the UN Security Council on 5 February 2003. On the same day, according to the Spanish daily El Pais (14 February 2003), at the UN headquarters, an incident occurred […]

Tony Benn, the veteran British socialist, described the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in its coverage of Iraq as a "weapon of mass deception". This could be applied with equal if not greater force to Colin […]

The weekend beginning 14 February will see the biggest mobilisation of people demonstrating against war the world has ever seen. They are demonstrating against a proposed war on a devastated country where infant mortality is […]

FIFTEENTH OF FEBRUARY marks an historic day of anti-war protest worldwide. Never before have we seen a mass anti-war movement of this character before a war even starts. It is even bigger than the movement […]

With 220 000 US and British troops (including a quarter of the British army) surrounding Iraq, 300 US warplanes on airfields to its north and south, and a stockpile of 6 700 satellite-guided and 3 […]

A BARBAROUS WAR is being fought out in the Gulf. Never before has so much weaponry, of such lethal power, been hurled together on a single battlefield. In the first phase of the war, the […]

The final results of the Israeli elections are a clear victory for Prime Minister Sharon’s party, Likud, which won 38 seats, up from 21 in the outgoing Knesset (parliament) and double the number achieved by […]

Following the breakdown of the coalition between the conservative People’s Party and Haider’s far right Freedom Party last September, Austria held new elections in November that resulted in gains for the conservatives and a disaster […]

EVERY DAY more and more young people are getting involved in the anti-war movement. International Socialist Resistance (ISR) and Socialist Party members and supporters have been helping organise school and college walkouts against the war […]

IN OCTOBER 2002 US imperialism provoked a confrontation with the isolated and floundering Stalinist regime of North Korea. Revealing publicly the news (known to the US administration for some time) that Kim Jong-il’s regime had […]

At least 1,200 enthusiastic members and supporters of the National Conscience Party (NCP) attended a Lagos rally on 1 February 2003 launching the Nigerian election campaign of the Party. The NCP is the most radical […]

Rufus Olusesan, a worker, trade union activist, and DSM (Democratic Socialist Movement – CWI in Nigeria) member, was unjustly and arbitrarily sacked by the management of Nexans Kabelmetal Nigeria Plc, Ikeja, Lagos, who on 7 […]

Tony Benn, the veteran British socialist, described the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in its coverage of Iraq as a "weapon of mass deception".

In a speech before the House of Commons last week, Tony Blair said, “we do know of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq – we cannot be sure of the exact extent of these links”. Blair’s […]

International anti-war movement.

Federal (regional) state elections took place in Hessen and Lower Saxony, last Sunday. In Hessen the right wing Christian Democrats (CDU) went up by 5.4% to 48.8%, the best result for the Christian Democrats in […]

Members of the National Conscience Party (NCP), including members of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), organised an all-Lagos demo on Wednesday 22 January against the sudden imposition of high "processing" fees for all election candidates. […]

Recently, socialists explanation of the link between capital and political power have been graphically explained to Israeli citizens by many of the ’fine’ people of the Likud party leadership.

Prague – The independent federation of tram drivers (FRT) organised a one day strike on February 4 over wage claims. The main demand is that tram drivers wages would be equalized with the wages of […]

THE REACTIONARY ’STRIKE’ is the most serious crisis Chávez has faced since the failed coup attempt in April 2002. That coup was defeated by a spontaneous mass movement of the poor from the shantytowns with […]

The US administration is discussing the possible use of nuclear weapons against the people of Iraq, according to William M. Arkin, a military affairs analyst writing in the Los Angeles Times (26 January 2003).

In the midst of Venezuela’s worst economic crisis for decades, severe flooding killed thousands of people and brought air and sea ports to a standstill. Tony Saunois evaluates the effects of the disaster against the […]

WHEN US Secretary of State Colin Powell was asked if the planned war with Iraq was all about oil, he denied it, claiming "the oil of Iraq belongs to the Iraqi people" and would not […]

Monday’s (27 January) general elections in Israel saw Ariel Sharon’s Likud party double its vote to 37 seats. The Labour Party (which is the traditional party of the Israeli capitalists) plunged to an all time […]

It’s official. Six years of a New Labour government and four years of the Scottish Parliament has made little or no difference to the lives of millions of working class people in Scotland.

The second elections to the Scottish Parliament take place on May 1st 2003. May Day is the traditional day of celebration and commemoration for the international workers and socialist movement. But the first four years […]

ON 14 January an estimated 70,000 Turkish Cypriots – one-quarter of the northern Cypriot population – marched through divided Nicosia in support of a United Nations (UN) plan to re-unify the divided island.

MATTHEW RICHARDSON from Lincoln reports how, led by a fire tender and carrying a coffin to symbolise the demise of the fire service, 200 firefighters and supporters marched through the centre of Lincoln.

In January the Scottish Executive attempted to put an amendment – the abolition of Section 19 – through parliament which would have made it easier to to close fire stations in Scotland. It would have […]

"It was the only genuinely anti-war amendment. Both the SNP and the Liberal-Democrat amendments would have given the sanction to the UN Security Council to go to war. The Security Council is dominated by the […]

"This movement today, not Tony Blair, is speaking for the British people," declared Aslef member Andrew Murray, opening the Stop the War national conference. 800 activists came from local coalitions, political parties, trade unions and […]

A special congress of the Lagos State chapter of the National Conscience Party (NCP) was held in Lagos on Monday, 6 January 2003. The main purpose of the congress was to elect party candidates for […]

In the light of Hans Blix and the weapons inspectors’ report that there is no "smoking gun", conclusive evidence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, the prospect of an immediate war against Iraq […]

The Steel and Engineering Workers’ Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) picketed the Nexans’ Kabelmetal factory in Lagos on Friday 10 January 2003 to demand the reinstatement of Rufus Olusesan, a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement, […]

There were delegates representing many different sectors including women, students, youth, farmers, fisher folk, tribal rights activists, daliths (’untouchables’) and trade unionists. Peace/ anti-nuclear and environmental activists were also present. The Left parties also present […]

Even over Christmas and on New Year’s Day, there have been demonstrations of protest, with blockades, in a number of factories of the Fiat group (like Termini Imerese and Mirafiori).

Only two months after the swearing in of the Red-Green government, that had been re-elected to office only by the narrowest of margins, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) threatened his resignation. Speaking to the Executive of […]

The registration of the National Conscience Party (NCP) and twenty-one other political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) represents a major victory for the Nigerian working people in their struggle for democratic rights […]

Though hardly any of the political observers predicted a defeat for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), very few foresaw the huge victory that the protagonists of Hindu chauvinism managed to secure in the Gujarat elections […]

"The peace process is the most important issue in Sri Lanka today. The war shows the incapability of the capitalist class to develop society. It is extremely weak and dependent on reactionary elements to stay […]

The FIAT workers’ battle has taken on a European dimension. A two hour European strike of FIAT group workers has been called for 16/12, against the programme of group `restructuring’, already underway.

Following the defeat of the coup in April the CWI warned: "…it is now essential that the working class and oppressed in Venezuela seize the initiative and take the necessary steps to overthrow capitalism and […]

No ai processi politici !Verità su Genova! Libertà per tutti gli arrestati !No al governo Berlusconi!

WHILE THE US and British governments relentlessly prepare to attack Iraq as part of their ’war on terrorism’, a suspected al-Qa’ida cell blew up a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, packed with Israeli tourists. Most of […]

MANY FIREFIGHTERS and other workers will have looked on bewildered as the FBU (Fire Brigade Union) executive council called off the eight-day firefighters’ strike due to begin on 4 December.

AN INFLAMATORY Nigerian newspaper article connected to the Miss World contest sparked off bloody religious sectarianism in the northern city of Kaduna. The fighting later flared in the capital Abuja leaving 215 people dead, 1,200 […]

"THE GOVERNMENT has completely lost control of the agenda. This is no longer just a dispute between the FBU and the government: it has descended into a fight between the government and the whole union […]

Eye-witness report from Henry Silke, with references to the Irish links of the local fascists.

On Friday, November 8, 2002, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision dismissed the appeal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against the Federal Court of Appeal judgement of 26th July 2002 which had […]

Camera crews, reporters and members of the International Socialists (CWI) along with other Scottish Socialist Party members waited outside the Blackness Fire Station in Dundee for the 6 o’clock start to the first national fire […]

Kurdish people, known as the Kurds, live in an area that consists of south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and a part of Syria.

FORTY-THOUSAND PEOPLE from all over Europe flooded into Florence, Italy, for the European Social Forum, nearly double the number the organisers had been expecting.

MILLIONS OF big-business dollars were used by both major parties to campaign for votes. Both represent big business. The Republicans, however, push more aggressive pro-business policies and heavily outspent the Democrats, by $527.4 million to […]

The 10 October 2002 judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) conferring ownership of the oil-rich Bakassi peninsular on Cameroun has been received with shock and disbelief by many Nigerians, including ordinary working people.

The many hundreds of thousands of Italian protesters were joined by tens of thousands of foreign participants in the European Social Forum assembly and by others, like the French CGT union, who came to Italy […]

Never in living memory has a sitting president strengthened his party’s position in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in mid-term elections. This is in spite of the deepening economic recession.

From 1-3 November, the national conference of the German section of the CWI took place. It was the biggest conference of the German section ever.

THE ISRAELI ’national unity’ government coalition has collapsed following the withdrawal of six Labour ministers. Elections have been called for early next year.

"IT SEEMS that every 25 years when the Queen has a jolly, we have a strike."

When the National Party, traditionally the main capitalist party in New Zealand, was defeated at the polls in November 1999 workers breathed a collective sigh of relief. After fifteen years of neo-liberal ’reforms’ the new […]

In Naples, as everywhere else in Italy on 18 October, the general strike called by the Cgil trade union federation got support from a wide range of other organisations like Cobas, Sin.Cobas, the unemployed movement, […]

Last week’s general strike in Florence was very successful, with many factories practically empty. Local transport was on strike in the afternoon, when nearly everything stopped.

OVER 800 people, including a state minister, were killed by the Islamic militant groups during legislative assembly elections in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

Yesterday’s general strike surpassed all expectations as literally hundreds of thousands of angry workers and youth took to the streets in 120 cities across Italy. This was the second general strike in defence of article […]

THE BOMBING of a tourist area on the Indonesian island of Bali has been blamed by Western governments on the Jemaah Islamiah Islamic group with links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qa’ida terrorist network.

Maavak Sozialisti (Socialist Struggle) in Israel held its formal founding conference over the last weekend (11-12 October). 25 people (mostly young) participated in the event, which exceeded our expectations and was characterised by an enthusiastic […]

PEOPLE HAD been expecting this suspension and now fear that it could be permanent. We will now likely face a long drawn out political crisis with little hope of any agreement at the end.

VOTING TAKES place this month for the general secretary of NIPSA, Northern Ireland’s biggest trade union with a membership across all areas of the civil and public service. It can play a crucial role in […]

The terrifying carnage which ripped through the Sari nightclub at Kuta beach in Bali, Indonesia, has shocked working people and youth internationally. Hundreds have been left maimed and injured as the death toll rose to […]

Report of Democratic Socialist Movement conference, 5-6 October 2002

The Summer months in Italy saw only a temporary suspension of the open warfare between the classes provoked by the hated Berlusconi government. Now, with the World Cup and the August holidays well and truly […]

THIRTEEN DEMONSTRATORS were arrested on 30 September, including the general secretary of the left-nationalist National Awami Party (NAP), when police baton-charged and tear-gassed a peaceful demonstration protesting against the extension of the Mangla dam in […]

Today (October 5) 10,000 people, mainly youth, took part in an anti war demonstration called by the Florence Social Forum. This was part of a national day of action which saw over sixty demonstrations and […]

In Kenya 240,000 teachers have entered into their second week of a national strike action to demand an outstanding salary increment which they won in 1997 after the teachers paralysed the education system by going […]

A SEA of up to 400,000 protesters flooded into the Embankment, London on 28 September to say ’No’ to war against Iraq.

In the Central Asia republics, national and local power as remained in the hands of the former party elite, and with the exception of Kyrgizia, the president is the former communist party [former ruling party] […]

EVERYONE SAW the copious media coverage marking the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks. But how many saw mention that this month also marks the twentieth anniversary of the massacre of at least 1,500 […]

An enormous anti-war demonstration, which one TV station estimated at 450,000 – strong, marched through London on 28 September.

On 22 September, the Social Democrats and Greens succeeded in defending their government position in the national elections but with a very small majority.

UNDER PRESSURE at home and abroad, president Bush went to the UN on 12 September to call for action against Iraq.

Joan Littlewood, the radical theatre innovator who transformed British drama in the 1950s and 1960s, died on 20 September, aged 87.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called a two-day general strike for 1-2 October, to protest against the ANC government’s privatisation programme.

"Time for a change in Germany", was the title of last week’s right wing magazine, The Economist (London). This reflected the wish of the international and German capitalists for a new coalition government of the […]

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), the Nigerian affiliate of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), calls on the Nigerian working people and youth to oppose the planned military action by the US and its […]

LAST FEBRUARY, 70,000 people went to the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It was set up in opposition to the World Economic Forum of government ministers that took place at the same […]

TONY BLAIR said that he and Bush have decided to give Saddam Hussein "one more chance".

CWI analysis vindicated by events

The New Zealand general elections in July 2002 saw many unprecedented changes in voting patterns. The Labour Party was, with a small rise in support, able to remain in power by forming a new coalition […]

A THOUSAND people polled by The History Channel named the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon a year ago on 11 September as "the most memorable event in world history". This is […]

WILL THE United States go to war against Iraq? Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld appear determined to bring about a ‘regime change’ through a pre-emptive strike. They undoubtedly have the military power to destroy Saddam’s regime. […]

The last day of the Earth Summit completed the humiliation of the ANC government in what it had hoped would be its finest hour. ‘Civil society’ delegates walked out in disgust, Colin Powell was shouted down […]

ANC government harassment and sabotage cannot stop 30,000 marching. On Saturday 31 August, anti-globalisation activists were joined by thousands of workers, the unemployed and landless, who marched from the poor township of Alexandra outside Johannesburg […]

From August 14-19, a delegation of comrades from the United Socialist Party (USP) of Sri Lanka made an historic visit to Jaffna via Vavuniya. This follows a recent ceasefire between LTTE (Tamil Tigers) forces, fighting […]

Four activists from the Karaganda Confederation of Free Trade Unions in Kazakhstan are currently under arrest and are facing serious charges. This is a continuation of the type of repression doled out to worker activists […]

At least one quarter of the Czech Republic was flooded last week after flash floods. 14 people died because of the disaster (some of them did not leave flooded houses, and one died when a […]

New figures published last month by the Pesticides Residue Committee (PRC) for the British government have raised serious concerns over the safety of fresh fruit and vegetables, both imported and UK grown produce. The government […]

Text of a leaflet distributed to workers on strike on Monday 12 August 2002, by members of Maavak Sozialisti (Socialist Struggle)

Last week, the New Zealand Labour Party finalised negotiations with two minor parties allowing it to form the 47th parliament. With the Greens giving Labour leader Helen Clark no guarantee of support for the next […]

A new, positive development in the struggle for a genuine multi-party democracy in the country took place on Friday, 26th July, 2002, when the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, declared as unconstitutional, illegal, null […]

Farewell OAU. Welcome the AU! With enormous fanfair, pomp and pageantry, the African Union (AU), the new continental body being established by African states, was launched in Durban, South Africa, on 15th July, 2002. The […]

US PRESIDENT George Bush has rewarded his right-wing, anti-abortion Christian fundamentalist backers by blocking $34 million family planning aid to the United Nations Population Fund.

With a chant of  ’Genoa Libera’ 150,000 youth and young workers marched through the streets of Genova on Saturday. They marched to commemorate the year since the G8 summit which saw a police riot and […]

Cosatu’s announcement yesterday that it has lifted the suspension on the anti-privatisation programme and will be calling a two-day general strike on the 1st and 2nd October, is a direct result of the impact of […]

There has been a big stepping up of repression against the Workers Movement of Kazakhstan, a major working-class organisation. Criminal charges have been lodged against four members of its executive Saken and Ramil Dzhunosov, Ramil […]

FIGHTING BROKE out at last weekend’s annual Orange Order parade at Drumcree. Demonstrators threw missiles at police, resulting in 24 injured as well as two civilians. However, Drumcree is not the issue it was. The […]

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) calls on the Nigerian working people, labour and youth organisations and activists to rise up to fight the recent decision by the so-called Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register […]

The signing last Friday afternoon of a deal with the government and employers by the leaders of the two smaller trade union federations in Italy – the Uil and Cisl – has sparked a new […]

THOUSANDS OF Argentinians marched on the National Congress building in Buenos Aires on 28 June demanding the resignation of caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde.

"THE ENEMY doesn’t value human life", said George Bush when launching his "war against terrorism". Neither it seems do his troops after they bombed and blasted a collection of villages in Afghanistan killing up to […]

The crisis surrounding Mirafiori car plant and the whole Fiat Empire is sending shockwaves through Italian society. In America they say, “What’s good for General Motors is good for the USA”. In Italy the same […]

Kashmir has been fought over by India and Pakistan ever since British imperialism’s divide-and-rule partition of the subcontinent in 1947. The Kashmiri people have been brutally oppressed, denied democracy and self-determination, and suffered two wars […]

A GENERAL strike and mass protests in Peru, South America have forced the government to shelve its privatisation plans.

International solidarity needed!

The BBC current affairs programme, Panorama, recently broadcast a two part investigation on Northern Ireland that revealed more details of the dirty undercover war carried out for decades by the ‘security forces’. Most of the […]

As the spiral of violence in the Middle East escalates, possibly towards a wider war drawing in the surrounding Arab countries, US President Bush continues to show the incapacity of the leading imperialist power on […]

It has now become clear that the Austrian TUC is preparing for a de-mobilisation of the bus workers action. High up union officials have led the protests and a meeting of the TUC national body […]

"The sad statistics about African economic performance have become so familiar as almost to lose their ability to shock: that, for example, more than half the population lives on less than $1 a day, 250 […]

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Seville last Saturday in a massive anti-capitalist protest. The government and the police desperately tried to play down the turnout. The local police claimed up to 60,000 […]

Public bus transport throughout Austria is at a standstill today (25/06/02) as 3,000 drivers take strike action for 48 hours. The strike is in protest at an attempt by the right wing government to sell […]

The Nigerian electoral commission (INEC) has refused recognition to the National Conscience Party, the radical party led by Gani Fawehinmi. This is an attempt to prevent it taking place in the coming round elections for […]

Belgian CWI member, Els Deschoemacker, who took part in the general strike demonstrations in Seville yesterday spoke to Geert Cool: "The demonstrations yesterday were massive. Estimations say there were 200,000 in Seville. In Barcelona it […]

20 June 2002 – Today’s 24-hour general strike in protest at the Aznar government’s decision to cut unemployment benefits has ground much of Spain to a halt. BBC World Service comments, "The strike got under […]

Up to 1,000 social workers and administrative staff throughout Northern Ireland took part in a solid one-day strike yesterday (19 June 2002).

Results from last week’s parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic show that the social democrats (CSSD) won with 30.4%, followed by the communist party (KSCM) (18.8%), which is the highest vote for the KSCM since […]

Chirac’s victory in the second round of the French National Assembly elections has been widely presented as a further part of a European swing to the political right.

THOUSANDS OF building workers downed tools and walked off sites throughout Germany to demand a 4.5% pay rise. The strikers are also demanding a rise in the minimum pay rate for workers in the former […]

Several demonstrations are planned to protest against the World Bank’s Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) Conference in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, 24-26 June.

On 20 June, workers in Spain will strike for 24 hours against the imposition of a law that drastically cuts unemployment benefit.

Anti-capitalist protesters, trade unionists, and socialists will be demonstrating against the upcoming European Union summit to be held in Seville on 20-21 June 2002. CWI members and supporters from Spain and also from a number […]

Council elections in Sri Lanka have reinforced last December’s general election results with the United National Party strengthening its position further. It was bolstered, above all, by the cease-fire deal with the separatist Liberation Tigers […]

The second round of local elections affecting 25% of Italy’s electorate confirmed a big electoral swing against the Berlusconi forces after a year of his belligerent right wing government. Even in the North, the center-left […]

The results of the June 2 first round of the national assembly elections are not simply a right wing success and do not give a full picture of French politics.

Over the last few days, sectarian conflict has increased in various parts of Belfast. Both sides have blamed each other for starting the recent trouble. But what is the real cause of the outbreak of […]

"The latest is that yesterday, three youth, including children aged 16,12,and 8 were killed in the heaviest shelling in Nakyaal sector, where the prime minister of Pakistani Occupied Kashmir is holed up unable to move […]

An anti-war demonstration of hundreds organised by socialist and left activists in the Jammu and Kashmir National Awami Party (NAP) and National Student Federation (NSF) was attacked by members of the reactionary Islamic Hizb-Ul Mujahadeen […]

THIS WEEKEND’S Golden Jubilee celebrations survived a crisis – Buckingham Palace started burning down. After the public were evacuated and firefighters efficiently got the blaze under control, TV commentators asked the question on everyone’s lips: […]

Some ’lasting good’ will come out of the war against Afghanistan, promised Tony Blair last year. But promises given by capitalist politicians are usually written in sand, especially the kind made in wartime.

The first-round success of far-right leader, Jean-Marie le Pen, in the French presidential elections shocked the world. Hardly discussed, however, were the votes for the Trotskyist parties. Socialism Today interviews Alex Rouillard, organiser for Gauche […]

In a whole series of elections in Europe, far-right parties have made significant gains. The recent votes for Le Pen in France and the Pim Fortuyn List in the Netherlands have rocked the establishment parties […]

The world is nearer to nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The United States and the Soviet Union came close to a nuclear exchange, when Khrushchev based nuclear-armed […]

FOR THE people of Kashmir, India and Pakistan, the prospect of a war which may escalate into a nuclear conflict is terrifying. George Bush and Tony Blair claim to be horrified but the US and […]

Kashmir, India and Pakistan stand on the edge of a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. Two unstable regimes with nuclear weapons threaten to bring destruction to millions of people already suffering from poverty, disease and mass […]

AN ATTACK on an Indian army camp in Kashmir by Kashmiri separatists has increased tensions between India and Pakistan threatening a potentially horrific escalation in the region’s long-running conflict.

A CONFERENCE of CWI members in Kazakhstan earlier this month was a great success. 20 comrades attended from Karaganda, Zhambul, Pavlodar, Uralsk and Almata. Visitors from Russia and from the CWI also attended.

ON SATURDAY, 18 March thousands will march through the streets of London to protest at Sharon’s and the Israeli state’s murderous assaults on the Palestinians.

“The government accidentally helped us with their new economic plan. You get political discussions every time you buy cigarettes as they now cost more. There was a lot of anger in the street that we […]

In a few weeks time, it will be three years since the military were forced out of power. Looking back, it has been a period of pains and pangs for most layers of the working […]

On the 31st of May, 2002, thirty-two countries will begin a competition to determine who wins the World Cup, a trophy to determine the best footballing nation in the world so to say. While Nigeria […]

David Nellist, 1417, 52.8%

“SO MUCH has been transferred to the national level, and so much of the financial control is retained there, that being asked to vote in a local election is like being asked to select which […]

“THIS IS a disaster” – that was Burnley Labour leader Stuart Caddy’s response to the BNP winning three council seats in Burnley. That feeling is echoed throughout the country.

CWI Kashmir and Jammu section celebrates May Day.

Local authority elections took place in most parts of England on 2 May. We contested 30 seats. In general our votes increased [see table below]. By comparison, we received more than double the average Socialist […]

DURING PEACEFUL protests last year on May Day in London, the Metropolitan police at Oxford Circus penned thousands of people in, for several hours. Two of those held are to sue the police for wrongful […]

Le Pen’s success in reaching the second round of the French Presidential elections has highlighted the series of setbacks the so-called "centre-left" governments have recently suffered in European elections. This follows recent election gains for […]

Turnout

The Israeli army has withdrawn from Jenin, leaving a trail of destruction. People the world over have been shocked by the brutality of the invasion, including attacks on Red Cross/Crescent staff and reports of Palestinians […]

Devastation. Whole areas of Palestinian cities, from Bethlehem to Nablus, and especially Jenin, have been laid to waste. The siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters continue as we […]

As all the first-hand reports make abundantly clear, 16 April 2002 in Italy was a day like no other. The first 8 hour general strike in the country for 20 years was solid. The response […]

The celebrations by the ruling elite in Venezuela and the White House on Saturday 14 April following the removal of Hugo Chávez from power by a military coup were premature. Within a matter of hours […]

Today saw Italy’s first united general strike in 20 years.  All the unions were involved, even the CGT, a very right wing union. First reports are saying 95% of public sector workers took strike action. […]

Sharon’s bloody war of reoccupation in the West Bank and Gaza has destroyed whatever hopes lingered for the ‘peace process’ in the Middle East. Many working people around the world will now be asking if […]

"AS THE United States tries to mediate a truce in the Middle East, Israeli military planners are preparing for a major assault on Palestinian cities, towns, and refugee camps that would be broader and deeper […]

The signing of a peace accord between the Israeli government and the PLO leadership, which promises limited self-government in Gaza and Jericho, represents an extremely important change in the situation in the Middle East.

4,000 people, Palestinians and Jews, took part in a demo at A-ram junction on Wednesday 3 April at the IDF checkpoint at the entrance to Ramallah. The event, organised by radical women organisations, was meant […]

The members of Maavak Sotzialisti, the Israeli section of the CWI, call and actively campaign for the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli army from all of the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza […]

Saturday 23 March will be one of the most memorable days in the history of Italy. Three million people made their way towards the Circus Maximus, not far from the world-famous Coliseum, at the heart […]

The basis for the return of Berlusconi was created by the complete failure of the previous government, the ‘Olive Tree’ coalition, composed of the ex-Communist Party, now ‘rechristened’ as the Democrats of the Left (DS), […]

Hugo Chávez, elected president of Venezuela in 1998, heads the most radical populist government currently in power. Now, after four years, his regime is at a crossroads as social turmoil and conflict continues.

"There will be funerals. Caskets will come out of here even the commanders say that. What can I tell you, it’s not that Golani (a battle hardened infantry division) are afraid to die, surely we’re […]

The unabated communal carnage going on in the State of Gujarat in particular and the communal tension all over the country in general, is in a way the logical conclusion of the chauvinistic build up […]

The workers and young people of Italy are locked in a mighty battle with the Berlusconi government. 100,000 marched through the centre of Rome last Friday, 15 February, in a demonstration organised by the unions […]

The 13 December attack on the Indian parliament, alleged to be the work of the Islamic group, LET backed by the Pakistani military and security services triggered off the largest military build-up since the 1971 […]

The southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre hosted for the second year running the World Social Forum – billed as an alternative to the World Economic Forum, the international gathering of the representatives of capitalism, […]

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) wishes to express its profound sympathy with thousands of Nigerians who lost relatives and properties or sustained injuries as a result of the bomb explosions which took place at the […]

The 13 December attack on the Indian parliament, alleged to be the work of the Islamic group, LET backed by the Pakistani military and security services triggered off the largest military build-up since the 1971 […]

80,000 turned out in Belfast, despite the wind and rain, to support the trade union demonstration against sectarian attacks. This was bigger than any of the previous anti sectarian trade union rallies that have been […]

Argentina’s economic collapse has sparked a colossal movement. Presidents count their terms in days, sometimes hours, as worker and middle-class pressure forces them out.

The indefinite general strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress against the recent fuel price hike announced by the Obasanjo regime has been suspended after two days. The reason given by the NLC leadership was […]

Nigeria has been paralysed by a general strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC, the country’s main trade union federation).

"With five Presidents in less than two weeks, Argentina faces the deepest crisis in its history. The cancellation of elections convened for March and the installation of the Peronist Senator Eduardo Duhalde as the new […]

The latest increase in the prices of petroleum products by the Obasanjo government has justifiably been received with opposition and condemnation by most working people across Nigeria.

The crisis in Argentina deepened and became more intense in the last two or three years because of the application of extreme neo-liberal policies in the country under De La Rua’s government.

The situation is still very tense and if anything it is probably more tense since Blair’s visit to the Asian sub-continent writes a Kashmiri CWI member. Commentators have described Blair’s visit as a sightseeing tour […]

"It’s great that Cavallo’s gone…but they all have to go..we want a fair government of the people."

Despite US imperialism’s efforts to at least partly defuse the combustible situation in the region, including token declarations by Bush about support for a Palestinian state, Powell’s speech at the UN security council and special […]

On Saturday December 1, 2001 the Socialist Alliance (SA) held a national conference to agree a new constitution. The SA was founded by ourselves and others in the mid 90s with the aim of bringing […]

Italy is the European country which has seen the biggest and most widespread protests against the US bombing of Afghanistan. It is also the only country that has seen its prime minister urging the population […]

Italy is the European country which has seen the biggest and most widespread protests against the US bombing of Afghanistan. It is also the only country that has seen its prime minister urging the population […]

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) observes with great concern the sharp increase in religious and ethnic sentiments and tension in Nigeria in the aftermath of the 11th September terrorist attacks in the US and the […]

The past week has witnessed the start of a new stage in the US military’s attack on Afghanistan. Ground troops have been in action for the first time and air raids have begun on Taliban […]

In a matter of days a mass revolutionary movement has swept the autocratic regime of Slobodan Milosevic from power. After week long strike action, up to one million people converged on Belgrade on 5 October […]

The assassination of Israel’s tourism minister, Rehavam Ze’evi, by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the brutal response by the Israeli army brought the Middle East to the brink of war.

International Resistance, the anti-capitalist youth campaign initiated by the Left Socialist Party (the Belgian CWI-section) organised a school strike and an anti-capitalist youth march in Gent, on Friday 19 October. The main slogan of the […]

Last weekend saw a huge wave of protests against US and British attacks on Afghanistan. A magnificent mass mobilization of anything up to 500,000 took place in Italy, which was dominated by Rifondazione Communista -PRC. […]

"An Invasion of Peace", "An endless succession of colours" is how Liberazione – the paper of the Italian Communist Refoundation Party (Prc) – described the gigantic anti-war procession that made its way across 25 kilometres […]