Around the world

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 […]

In diesem Kampf gegen Studiengebühren geht es um mehr. Es geht um die Fragen: Wer hat in Zukunft noch Zugang zu Bildung? Zu wie viel Bildung? Und zu welchen Bedingungen?

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 […]

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 […]

The EU-summit in Seville was confronted with a very big anti-capitalist demonstration on the evening of Saturday June 22. There were hundreds of thousands demonstrators, probably around 300.000! The demonstration remained peaceful and was very […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 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.

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 RECENT Dutch elections were nothing short of an earthquake, expressing frustration and disappointment with the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA). The winners were the Christian Democratic Party, which was in government from 1918-94 (longer than […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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.

It is clear that the liberal/social-democrat Purple government has been severely punished. The government parties lost in total 44 seats in the 150 seat parliament.

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.

The extreme right Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, was shot dead 6 May, on the premises of the national radio station in Hilversum. This single act has shaken Dutch society, including the complacent Dutch establishment who […]

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 […]