Around the world

Towards the end of December 2002, CWI comrades in the CIS heard that the case of well known worker activists in Karaganda, Kazakhstan facing serious court charges (see previous reports) is coming to a conclusion. […]

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 […]

Mass privatisations started in 1994 and it took them four years to privatise allmost all main industries, oil and gas. More than 300 mines were taken over by transnational corporations from the West, more than […]

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.

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, was a city of protests last weekend. The reason for this was that Denmark was the holder of the EU presidency and all the European Union leaders were in town. […]

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 […]

Jagadish Chandra, New Socialist Alternative (Nava Samajavaadi Paryaya – the CWI’s section in India) spoke about the struggle against privatisation in India in an interview with Offensiv (newspaper of the Swedish section of the CWI) […]

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

EU/EMU kan inte bli något annat än storföretagens och de rikas vapen mot arbetare och ungdomar. Inom EU är det direktörer som bestämmer och politikerna som verkställer. Toppmötet i Köpenhamn kommer att bli ännu en […]

The early general elections in Austria held on 24 November saw a huge victory for the conservative Peoples party (ÖVP) of chancellor Schüssel, getting 42,3 % and becoming the largest party for the first time […]

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.

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 […]

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.

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, […]

26 October saw one of the largest anti-war demonstrations in Washington DC since the Vietnam War. The Demonstration was organised by ANSWER, a coalition developed by the ’Workers World’ organisation. The coalition started after the […]

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).

As anticipated, the Dutch government consisting of the Christian Democrats, the CDA, the liberal VVD and the hard right LPF (List Pim Fortuyn, whose leader was shot dead last May), collapsed on the 16 October. […]

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 Austrian section of the CWI (SLP) is standing in the 24 November general elections in Vienna and is in sixth place on the ‘voting list 6’. This is higher than the Liberals and a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

The horrific bombings at the nightclubs in Bali have left up to 300 Australians dead, the biggest toll since the 500+ killed in the Vietnam War. The victims were overwhelmingly young people, mainly working class […]

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

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]