Headlines at the World Socialist Web Site today:
1. Trump signs tax and spending bill: A ruling class celebration of dictatorship and austerity
President Donald Trump turned a White House bill signing ceremony on Friday into a ruling class celebration of militarism and social counterrevolution, enshrined in the sweeping tax and spending bill passed by Congress the day before.
Staging this grotesque display of reaction and militarism on July 4—the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—Trump hailed his “big, beautiful bill” as the largest tax cut, the largest spending cut and the largest investment in “border security” in American history. The measure will have devastating consequences for millions of people, as it funnels trillions more into the pockets of the top 1 and 0.1 percent.
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The connection between the social counterrevolution at home and the eruption of US imperialist violence abroad was on full display. Alongside Republican congressional leaders, Trump welcomed military personnel from Whiteman Air Force Base, including the pilots and crew of the B-2 bombers that attacked Iran last month. B-2s roared over the White House in a chilling spectacle of militarism.
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The media has echoed Trump’s boasting. The New York Times published a fawning article yesterday—under the headline “From Court to Congress to the Mideast, Trump Tallies His Wins”—stating that there is “no doubt that, at least on his terms, Mr. Trump can claim accomplishments one after another.”
While there are a few “asterisks — dissenting views and serious questions about the wisdom and durability of the path on which he has set the nation,” the Times wrote, “there is little argument that, in fewer than six months since returning to office, Mr. Trump, for better or worse, has driven the nation in new directions through muscular use of presidential and political power, with neither Congress nor the courts serving as much of a check on him.”
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Trump is increasingly isolated from the broad mass of the population, which is moving into struggle and seeking a new perspective to fight back against the oligarchy. The strike by 9,000 municipal workers in Philadelphia, which shut down the city’s July 4th celebrations yesterday, is an initial indication of the emergence of the working class.
2. Jacobin magazine on Mamdani’s primary victory: “Compromise! Compromise! Compromise!”
Following Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, Jacobin magazine has published a series of articles along the same theme: Reinforcing the political domination of the Democratic Party while tamping down any expectations among those who voted for Mamdani.
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As the president is erecting a dictatorship, unleashing the state against immigrants and political opponents, and openly declaring that he alone will decide who governs New York, the DSA insists that workers and young people must submit to Wall Street and the Democratic Party.
This is a recipe for disaster. Trump’s fascism is not an aberration but the outcome of a capitalist system in deep and insoluble crisis. The only viable alternative is for the working class to intervene in this crisis with its own revolutionary solution. That is what Jacobin and the DSA exist to prevent.
3. Thai prime minister suspended from office
The claims against Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra stem from a phone call with Cambodia’s former long-time prime minister Hun Sen, leaked on June 18. The two discussed a border dispute that led to a military clash between Thailand and Cambodia on May 28 that led to the death of a Cambodian soldier. Paetongtarn’s opponents claimed she had made Thailand look weak and moved against her to carry out what is in essence a judicial coup.
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The political crisis unfolding in Thailand is not the result of a phone call. Rather the bitter factional infighting reflects sharp tensions within the ruling class, amid declining economic growth and worsening geo-political conflict. Thailand faces the prospect that Trump will next week impose his threatened 36 percent tariff on Thai exports to the US.
4. Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator reinstated to represent Australia at Venice Biennale
The decision constitutes a significant blow against the efforts of the pro-Zionist lobby, aided and abetted by Australian Labor governments, state and federal, and the Liberal-National Coalition, to intimidate and silence all public opposition to Israel’s mass murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Like their counterparts internationally artists, writers, actors, musicians, academics, health workers, students and journalists are frontline targets, falsely accused of antisemitism and persecuted for speaking out against the Gaza genocide.
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The reinstatement of Sabsabi and Dagostino came just a week after journalist Antoinette Lattouf won federal court action against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for sacking her in December 2023. Lattouf was illegally sacked for sharing a Human Rights Watch post condemning Israel’s use of starvation in Gaza.
The court ruled that Lattouf had been terminated by ABC management to “appease the pro-Israel lobbyists” who had campaigned to have her dismissed because “she held political opinions opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.” She was awarded $70,000 in compensation.
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As the World Socialist Web Site insists, the defense of artistic freedom and other basic democratic rights is “inseparably linked to the fight against the capitalist profit system itself, the source of these reactionary assaults on democratic rights, the Gaza genocide and other imperialist war crimes.”
This is the struggle that creative workers need to join.
5. European heatwave threatens the lives of thousands
Record high temperatures of above 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded in Spain and Portugal, with temperatures of 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) recorded across parts of France and Italy—and expected in Germany in the next days as the heatwave moves east.
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It is likely that the heatwave will kill many thousands across the continent. A study published in Nature Medicine estimated that there were 47,690 heat-related deaths in Europe in 2023. Statistician Pierre Masselot told Politico that this heatwave could kill 4,500 people across Europe just between June 30 and July 3.
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Overwhelming scientific evidence points to the role played by increasing greenhouse gas emissions in increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves. A report from scientists at the World Weather Attribution estimates that half the world’s population—4 billion people—experienced an additional 30 days of extreme heat caused by climate change in the year from May 1, 2024 to May 1, 2025.
Despite the frequently repeated pledges from capitalist governments to cut emissions, the amount of annual CO2 emissions continues to rise every year. Multiple governments have hypocritically affirmed their belief in the need to reverse climate change, while opposing taking the urgent measures required.
6. Flooding in Central Texas leaves at least 13 dead and 20 children missing
A catastrophic flood has engulfed Central Texas, leaving at least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 children still missing as of Friday. The disaster, which has centered on the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, has devastated communities, destroyed infrastructure and triggered an unprecedented search and rescue operation.
Among the most devastating aspect of this tragedy is the ongoing search for dozens of missing girls at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp, where families are desperately awaiting news of their loved ones.
The origins of this disaster can be traced to the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry, which developed in the Gulf of Mexico before moving inland and unleashing extraordinary amounts of rain across Central Texas. Meteorologists have reported that some areas received up to 15 inches of rain in just a few hours, with the National Weather Service (NWS) documenting a staggering rise in the Guadalupe River of 26 feet in just 45 minutes.
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Scenes of devastation are everywhere. Roads, bridges and highways have been washed away, leaving entire communities isolated. RV parks and neighborhoods along the river have been obliterated, with homes and vehicles carried downstream by the raging waters. Thousands of people remain without electricity, and many communities are cut off from emergency services.
Families have turned to social media, posting photos and pleas for information about missing loved ones. Temporary shelters and reunification centers have been established in Kerrville and surrounding towns, but the sense of uncertainty and fear among the public is palpable.
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As the floodwaters begin to recede, the full extent of the devastation is becoming clear. Experts have long warned that such disasters would become more frequent and severe, yet the lack of focus on such an inevitability by government officials has once again exposed the way the public is being left helpless in the face of nature’s fury.
The loss of life and anguish experienced by so many families in Texas because of this disaster were not inevitable. Climate scientists and disaster preparedness experts have repeatedly called for investment in climate resilience, emergency infrastructure and public safety measures to mitigate the impact of such events.
Ward SakeikOn Thursday, Ward Sakeik—a 22-year-old college graduate, professional wedding photographer, Texas homeowner and newlywed—held a press conference just 48 hours after her release from immigration detention. She had been imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for 140 days and faced deportation to “the borders of Israel” for the crime of being born a stateless Palestinian.
Despite a court order blocking her removal from Texas, ICE agents attempted to deport Sakeik on three separate occasions, most recently on June 30.
At Thursday’s press conference, Sakeik—often holding back tears—spoke powerfully in defense of human and democratic rights, while exposing the torturous and inhumane conditions inside the US immigration gulags.
“I was handcuffed for 16 hours without any water or food on the bus,” she said. “I was moved around like cattle. The US government tried to dump me in a part of the world where I had no idea where I was going, what I was doing."
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Sakeik explained that while she was detained, she and the other women imprisoned with her used art as a form of expression. “I asked the women that I was jailed with to work on an art project with me that I wanted to hang in my office at home,” she said. “I asked them to draw their flags and to write next to the flags what their country represented.
“We drew together, and they shared the most beautiful stories,” Sakeik said. Some of the flags remained unfinished, she explained, because “I was transferred for deportation,” while others “were unfortunately deported before I was able to add on more flags.”
She said the collage, which featured over 25 flags, “was not even half of the countries that were with me. This is all from the beautiful women I was detained with—they are absolutely remarkable.”
Sakeik said the women she was detained with “come here for better lives and are voiceless and helpless. A lot of these women don’t have the money for lawyers or media outreach. They come here to provide for their families and that is pretty much it.
“They are mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers. They are superheroes. They are humans, and their lives hold value. And I will continue to fight with them, for them every single step of the way. I’m not going to stop."
8. Sri Lanka: SEP/IYSSE campaigns for meeting against war on Iran
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka has found strong support among workers, students and youth for its upcoming public meetings against the imperialist US-Israel war on Iran.
Two public meetings entitled “Oppose US-Israel war on Iran!” will be held: A Zoom meeting on Sunday, July 6, and an in-person meeting at Veerasingham Hall in Jaffna on July 8.
9. China is the target of the US-Vietnam trade deal
Vietnam’s official state media reported that the head of the country’s ruling Communist Party, President To Lam, had a phone call with Trump on Tuesday. The two sides had reached a consensus in a “fair and balanced reciprocal trade agreement framework.”
It was anything but that. Vietnam had a gun held at its head, with the threat that a 46 percent tariff if it did not capitulate would devastate its economy. Bloomberg economists have estimated that even the lower 20 percent tariff could lead to a 25 percent fall in Vietnamese exports to the US, and a possible 2 percent cut in its growth rate.
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In typical fashion, Trump used Orwellian language—where words have their opposite meaning—to describe the deal.
“It will be a Great Deal of Cooperation between our two Countries,” he wrote on his social media.
Having imposed major tariffs on the US side, Trump secured agreement from Vietnam that all American goods entering the country would be duty free.
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The so-called “deal” has more the character of the unequal treaties imposed on colonies in the heyday of imperialist rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries than any genuine trade negotiation. Its implications go far beyond Vietnam.
It will be the template for the agreements that the US attempts to impose on other countries, whether they be advanced or less developed economies, above all to disrupt supply lines originating in China.
10. Australia: Queensland government nervously prepares austerity amid global volatility
The 2025‒26 budget provides no measures to address the cost-of-living crisis, does nothing to fix overburdened and deteriorating social services, and continues to spend billions on infrastructure and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, all to benefit big business.
Yet this was falsely depicted by the government and the media as a “no austerity” budget. That reflects the anxiety in the government and the ruling capitalist class as a whole about the danger of social unrest, both in Queensland and nationally.
11. Brazil’s ruling Workers Party faces crisis ahead of internal elections
Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is the Workers Party (PT)’s likely candidate in next year’s presidential election. In his third term as president (2003-2010 and since 2023) and the PT’s fifth since the beginning of the century, Lula is carrying out a capitalist austerity program as workers face deteriorating conditions and rising inflation. Lula’s popularity rating has been gradually dropping since the end of last year, including in regions and sections of the population that voted overwhelmingly for him in 2022.
The leadership committee of the German government - a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union CDU, Christian Social Union CSU, and Social Democratic Party SPD - met for five hours on Wednesday evening to discuss cuts to the country’s tax on electricity. The result: the government’s previous announcement remains in place. The electricity tax will only be reduced for large companies and not for ordinary consumers, as originally agreed in the coalition agreement.
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The cuts the federal government is currently planning to the citizen's income benefit are massive. Direct reductions in the monthly standard rates (€536 per month for singles) are to be imposed through a new 'basic social security system.' Inflation adjustments will then only apply to standard rates, not to rent and heating costs.This would result in families, so-called 'needs-based communities,' having to move into increasingly smaller, cheaper apartments. Another proposal is to require existing assets to be used up immediately together with the abolition of current waiting periods.
Central to this, however, will be the tightening of sanctions and a 'work requirement.' This ties in directly with the Nazis' treatment of the poor and unemployed. The introduction of compulsory work and forced labor were part of the Hitler regime's efforts to support the war economy. Under the Nazi regime, the accusation of 'work-shyness' was used to characterize people as 'asocial.' These people were then arrested, deported to concentration camps as early as 1938, forced to work, and later murdered.
13. Australia: Midwives protest staffing cuts at Sydney’s RPA Hospital
Around 50 midwives and nurses held a demonstration outside Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on Tuesday, to protest cuts to staffing in the hospital’s birthing center. The inner-west facility is one of the major public hospitals in the city.
Staff were told on the afternoon of Friday, June 27 that, beginning Tuesday, just six midwives would be rostered on each shift in the birth unit, down from the current eight on the day and night shifts and ten on the afternoon shift.
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Over the past two years, nurses have repeatedly displayed a willingness to fight real-wage cutting pay “offers” from the Labor government, only to be shepherded into the anti-worker Industrial Relations Commission by the union, which is enforcing a nine-month strike ban.
The role of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) and other health unions underscores that to fight for their jobs, wages and conditions, health workers need a new perspective. There is no way forward within the union framework of appeals to management, governments or the pro-business industrial courts.
On Thursday night, two striking sanitation workers were struck by a suspected drunk driver late Thursday night in the Port Richmond neighborhood. According to police, a 40-year-old man driving a Chevy Tahoe jumped the curb, hitting a 36-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman who were seated in chairs on the picket line.
The male victim suffered critical injuries, including severe head trauma, and underwent surgery overnight. The woman, who is pregnant, was fortunately treated for less serious injuries and is expected to recover. Police are investigating to find if there were any motives behind the incident.
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Philadelphia’s municipal work stoppage entered its fourth day Friday, impacting the “Welcome America” Fourth of July festival as multiple headlining performers pulled out of the event, declaring solidarity with the striking workers. Over 9,000 city employees in (AFSCME) District Council 33 remain on strike into the weekend.
15. Ontario Canada’s York Region fires paramedic for her opposition to the Gaza genocide
The firing of [Katherine] Grzejszczak is part of a global assault by the ruling elites in all of the major imperialist powers against the mass opposition and disgust voiced by millions of people to Israel’s imperialist-backed slaughter in Gaza. In Germany, the US, Britain, and elsewhere, protests have been banned, activists deported and detained, and meetings shut down by governments desperate to silence opposition to their complicity in the most horrific crimes since the Nazis. Media-orchestrated witch-hunts against artists, cultural figures, and others who have used public platforms to speak out against the genocide have accompanied and helped fuel these state-led provocations.
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The dismissal of Katherine Grzejszczak for her political views raises fundamental political questions for the working class that must be carefully worked through. Workers must understand what social forces are attacking basic democratic rights and why, and what social forces have the class interest and the ability to defend these rights.
The genocide of the Palestinians is a component part of the ongoing imperialist campaign of war to re-divide the world. Beset by a world capitalist system lurching from crisis to crisis, American and Canadian imperialism are openly planning for a war with China, and waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. The Canadian ruling class is set to more than double spending on war, and preparing to massively slash social spending and the public sector workforce. It is attacking the rights of immigrants and refugees. In every respect, it is adapting itself to the emergent fascist dictatorship in the United States, upon which it depends to advance its own predatory imperialist interests.
The wages and conditions of the working class are being attacked across the board. Rotten concession contracts are being forced onto angry and resistant workers in every economic sector, with the assistance of the government and the trade union bureaucracy. Income and wealth inequality are skyrocketing.
The continued accumulation of obscene wealth by a handful of billionaire oligarchs and the waging of world war are incompatible with democratic forms of rule. Democracy stands in the way, and so the ruling class is dispensing with it.
16. A scientist’s perspective on the “smuggling” charges against University of Michigan postdocs
The political frame-up of University of Michigan (U-M) researchers and Chinese citizens Yunqing Jian and Chengxuan Han continues. Both Jian and Han remain in federal custody without bond, facing up to 20 years in prison for what under ordinary circumstances would result in a fine for failing to follow protocol. Jian is charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud related to the fungus Fusarium graminearum, while Han faces charges of smuggling common non-hazardous biological materials (C. elegans roundworms and plasmids) and making false statements. Plea negotiations are underway for both researchers.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is the only organization at U-M that has called for the defense of Jian and Han.
17. SOAS student appears at pre-trial hearing on UK terror charge
A student from University of London’s School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) charged under the Terrorism Act for defending the right of the Palestinian people to resist Israel’s illegal occupation appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday.
Sarah, 21, a Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at SOAS, was charged under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act (2000) on March 4, 2025 for allegedly “inviting support for a proscribed organization” (Hamas) for remarks she made in the first days of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza in October 2023.
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After the hearing, Sarah addressed supporters who rallied outside the Old Bailey: “We’re at an unprecedented time in terms of the repression that is facing this movement. And we have to be clear about what it is that we have to do, what our responsibility is right now.
“We need to fight like hell to protect ourselves, to protect Palestine, to continue to defend our rights to free speech, to protest, to assembly, our right to defend Palestine.”
18. Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Bangladesh:
Garment workers protest killing of a co-worker
India:
Outsourced NHM workers in Uttarakhand strike over non-payment of wages
Punjab: Mohali Municipal Corporation sanitation workers walk out
West Bengal LPG bottling plant workers in Parganas strike for pay rise
Pakistan:
Police attack protesting Pakistan government employees outside the Karachi Press Club
Australia:
Qantas engineers begin industrial action for pay rise
Qantas air freight pilots take industrial action in pay dispute
Grill’d fast-food restaurant workers strike over low pay and exploitation
Queensland nurses and midwives escalate action in pay dispute
I-MED radiology workers in Victoria hold another strike for a pay rise
Crown forklift manufacturing workers in Victoria strike for pay rise
19. Free Ukrainian socialist and anti-war activist, Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Bogdan Syrotiuk and Leon Trotsky
