Headlines at the World Socialist Web Site today:
1. Mobilize the working class to defend French student protests, stop war!
Over the last week, protests at high schools across France against austerity and police repression have grown into a direct confrontation with the state. The occupations began on September 21 at a high school in Créteil, outside Paris, spread nationwide during the September 29 public sector strike and escalated after that one-day strike.
A quarter of France’s approximately 3,000 high schools have been blockaded by students or preemptively shut down by the government to prevent youth from gathering.
Anger is mounting over the brutal police crackdown launched by lame-duck President Emmanuel Macron. More than 5,000 people, most of them minors, have been arrested since Monday, and many were rushed before kangaroo courts. Videos of police assaulting youth have been seen by millions. They show police firing a tear-gas grenade launcher into a 14-year-old boy’s face at point-blank range in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, grabbing a 14-year-old girl by the throat in Alençon, and leaving a youth near Balzac High School in Tours at risk of losing an eye.
On Thursday, the movement spread to the universities. There were blockades at 29 universities that morning, among them campuses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Montpellier, Rennes, Rouen, Reims, Poitiers, Dijon and Brest. On Friday, an all-trade union alliance of the CGT, CFDT, FO, FSU, UNSA and SUD issued a joint call for a national education strike on Tuesday, October 6.
The ruling class clearly fears an outcome like May 1968, when protests against mass arrests of students at Sorbonne University led to the eruption of the greatest general strike in French history.
French authorities are carrying out emergency shutdowns of public transport in major cities. In Marseille and Grenoble, transit authorities and the unions jointly shut down the entire system, supposedly to protect transit workers from assault by protesters, stranding large numbers of commuters. In Toulouse, transit service to the university district was cut off, and trams were halted in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
The Macron government and the neo-fascist National Rally (RN) both denounced the protests as a communist plot by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s populist France Unbowed (LFI) party. At an emergency cabinet meeting, an aide to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported that French intelligence declared the protests “a manoeuvre” by LFI “and its ultra-left proxies.” RN leader Marine Le Pen called them “riots organized by professionals and overseen by France Unbowed members of parliament.”
But the all-trade union alliance, like Mélenchon and his political satellites, is trying to channel, not to lead, the protests. Among significant layers of workers and youth, the all-trade union alliance is discredited for selling out the 2023 mass strikes against Macron’s massively unpopular pension cuts. It wore down and ultimately shut down the largest strike movement in France since 1968, after top union officials went on television at the height of the strike to declare that they were terrified of social anger against Macron.
In a video posted Thursday, Mélenchon called on voters to back him in next year’s presidential election and promised a return to the policies of the Socialist Party (PS) governments of the 1980s and 1990s. Stating that PS Minister Lionel Jospin had met with high school protesters in 1986 and 1990, “and two-three days later, 4.5 billion were given,” Mélenchon added, “Go on, get out the billions. I know how that’s done.”
But what is emerging is not a national protest movement that will be resolved by reforms granted under pressure by capitalist governments. It is an irreconcilable class conflict between the capitalist oligarchy and the police state, on the one hand, and workers and youth opposed to austerity, neo-fascism and war, on the other. Moreover, it is a conflict that is unfolding on an international scale.
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Strikes and social protests are erupting across Europe. In Portugal, public administration workers held a one-day national strike for a 15 percent wage increase, the opening of a wave of workplace actions planned for October and November. On Thursday, high school students in Liège carried the French movement into Belgium. In Germany, young people continue to protest against remilitarization and conscription.
The issues driving the protests, from overcrowded classrooms and unaffordable rents to low wages and conscription, are directly connected to an escalating economic crisis, the expansion of war and the subordination of all of society to the interests of the capitalist oligarchy.
France, like most of Europe, is staggering under the combined impact of US tariffs, a US blockade of Persian Gulf energy amid the war on Iran, the loss of Chinese markets, surging military spending for the war with Russia and unsustainable sovereign debt. Since 1996, the wealth of France’s billionaires has grown fourteen-fold, to more than €1.1 trillion, while its sovereign debt has grown five-fold, to more than €3.5 trillion. Lecornu’s €54 billion austerity budget and the neo-fascist RN’s call for €125 billion in cuts express the oligarchy’s refusal to tolerate any meaningful reform.
The crisis of European capitalism finds its sharpest expression in the reckless escalation of the war with Russia. The European powers are preparing to blockade Kaliningrad, even though Moscow has warned it would respond with nuclear weapons. The tens of billions of euros diverted to the military in France and across Europe are meant to prepare wars of plunder abroad and also to build up the forces of repression at home. The protests now erupting across the continent show the class conflict those forces are being readied to suppress.
The decisive issue posed by these struggles is how they can be unified and developed into a conscious political movement of the working class against austerity, neo-fascism and war. The student protests cannot defeat the state apparatus on their own. Their struggle poses the necessity of turning to the working class, while workers must come to the defense of the youth against police repression and link this fight to the mounting struggles over wages, jobs, housing, social services and war.
The Parti de l'égalité socialiste (PES) advances the formation of independent committees of action in schools, universities and workplaces, elected by those engaged in struggle and independent of the trade union bureaucracies and the parties of the capitalist establishment. Such committees would provide a means for students and workers to coordinate their actions, oppose police repression and arrests, break through the isolation imposed by the union apparatuses, and prepare a broader movement of the working class.
2. Protests over Palantir involvement in NHS as Burnham and Labour’s links exposed
Health workers, patients and campaigners protested across Britain on Thursday, demanding that the National Health Service cut ties with Palantir. More than 40 protests were held at hospitals and Integrated Care Boards across England as well as in city centers.
3. Northern Ireland education union leaders sanction ineffective “work to rule”, reject strike action
Strike ballots must be honored and used as a springboard for a unified campaign across the public sector against austerity, budget cuts and privatization.
4. Latest UK COVID-19 Inquiry report documents impact of privatization, wasted resources and cronyism
Authored by Baroness Heather Hallett, the report documents cost-cutting in pivotal logistics, £10 billion wasted on inadequate or unused PPE, and millions lost to unpursued fraud.
5. Glasgow City Council reinstates fire-and-rehire threat against thousands of council workers
Neither Unite nor the GMB has indicated they will break off negotiations with Glasgow City Council in the face of threatened mass dismissal notices to enforce pays cuts against Unison members.
6. Budget crisis prompts closure of oldest natural history museum in the Western Hemisphere
The 198-year-old Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, which has ceased operations, holds one of the world’s largest collections of scientific specimens and a historic display of dinosaur fossils.
7. Québec Solidaire: Hollow reformist promises to legitimize austerity and Québécois chauvinism
Since its formation 20 years ago, QS has lurched steadily right and fully integrated itself into the political establishment as the “left” flank of the Quebec independence movement, which articulates the interests of a faction of Quebec’s capitalist elite.
This committee firmly believes that we must break out of the isolation imposed on us by the USW and expand our strike to other sections of the working class if we are to emerge vicgtorious. And we have extremely favourable conditions to do just that.
9. Brazil’s elections being held under shadow of imperialist intervention and fascist threat
The main illusion promoted in these elections by the PT, the union federations and the pseudo-left is that, despite all criticisms of the government, it is now necessary to unite around Lula to avoid the disaster of a return of the Bolsonaros. The record of the past four years exposes this claim as a farce.
10. Bolivia jails prosecutor investigating Trump operative Cerimedo on Washington’s orders
The arrest makes clear the abject subordination of Paz and the Shield of the Americas governments to Washington and confirms that the Cerimedo case had opened a Pandora’s box. It threatened to expose the money, disinformation machinery and alleged drug-trafficking ties behind the far-right governments Washington has helped bring to power across the region.
11. Union election at Audi and contract vote at Volkswagen in Puebla, Mexico amid mass layoffs
As the Volkswagen union in Puebla calls off a strike to push a sub-par deal and the Audi union leader is reelected, a former Audi worker describes to the World Socialist Web Site how the “independent” unions have served the company from the start.
12. St. Paul USPS workers found Rank-and-File Committee
The future of the Postal Service will not be decided in our favor if workers remain isolated and passive. Our strength lies in our unity.
More than a month after the original September 1 expiration date, the United Steelworkers is keeping tens of thousands of workers on the job while negotiating concessions behind closed doors.
14. US truckers stop work to protest skyrocketing diesel costs
Truck drivers across the United States parked their rigs on October 1 in response to skyrocketing diesel prices brought about by the US war against Iran, alongside ballooning insurance costs, low freight rates, and inaction on broker transparency.
Posts from truckers online as well as interviews with truck drivers by the WSWS indicate that primarily owner-operators participated in the strike and were also joined by smaller trucking companies who also shut down for the day. The full scale of Thursday’s action remains unclear, but it is likely that hundreds, and perhaps thousands, took part.
Calls for action had been circulating on social media for the past two weeks. The mainstream media dismissed them as an online “hoax” based entirely on the fact that it lacked official sanction from the trade unions or other official organization, who refused to support it once calls began to circulate. But the spontaneous character of the action, organized by truckers themselves over social media, makes this action more significant, not less. Drivers also utilized AI to assist with organizing, generating flyers that made calls to action and highlighted demands.
The independent and spontaneous action is a significant development in an important section of the working class. Truckers move cargo valued annually at $10 trillion in America, or roughly 70 to 71 percent of all domestic freight by weight
Thursday’s action comes just weeks after 300 Mexican drivers blockaded the commercial ports of entry at Mexicali, Mexico and San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico in protest of the mass revocations of some 25,000 B-1 visas by the Trump administration over the past year. Their actions held up an estimated $800 million per day in cargo and sent Washington and Mexico City into crisis mode. The blockade was organized on WhatsApp by 1,024 truckers, without the involvement of the unions, companies, or the Morena party of Mexico.
15. United States blocks UN pandemic preparedness declaration
CDC Director Erica Schwartz cited “divisive ideologies” and the unfinished fight over pathogen sharing and drug patents that has stalled the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
16. Part 3: Democratic Party runs more than 60 military-intelligence candidates for Congress
While there are no self-acknowledged CIA agents among the new crop of Democratic candidates drawn from the national-security apparatus, there are a large number with intelligence careers, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Intelligence, Naval Intelligence, the National Security Agency and the FBI. These are, it should go without saying, highly political agencies, steeped in hostility to any form of socialist or anti-imperialist sentiment. In light of that, when reviewing these candidates, it is necessary always to consider the question: what accounts for their decision to enter politics as Democratic candidates for Congress, and for the Democratic Party’s welcoming response?*****
A notable feature of the new crop of military-intelligence Democrats is the number that have held high-level positions in the White House, the State Department, or both. These are not military positions, but do involve setting and executing national security policy at the highest levels of the capitalist state. And State Department postings are frequently the cover given to CIA agents deployed overseas.
At the event in Detroit hosted by the Library Street Collective, Tyler spoke about both his art and the broader issues related to the death penalty and the inhuman conditions inside US prisons including his own frame-up.
The Trump administration is sending the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and three amphibious warships carrying about 2,000 Marines to the Middle East. The ships will reinforce the US forces arrayed against Iran with as many as 10,000 sailors and Marines, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing US officials.
The deployment follows US President Donald Trump’s threat before the UN General Assembly on September 22 to “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly” and to “drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations.” Two days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the General Assembly that Iran’s “murderous regime will be toppled,” declaring: “This evil regime will fall, and we will all celebrate that day.”
The buildup puts the White House on a course to massively accelerate the war following the US midterm elections on November 3, which are expected to reflect the overwhelming unpopularity of the war among workers and young people. But while the Democrats may be the beneficiaries of the elections, they have pledged, like Trump, to ensure the subjugation of Iran to American interests.
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The buildup against Iran is proceeding alongside the escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia, which Moscow has answered with the threat to use nuclear weapons if NATO moves to cut off Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.
“Russia would be ready to use all its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory if NATO countries try to isolate Kaliningrad region from the rest of the country,” the Russian embassy in Ireland wrote on September 29.
Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated the threat Thursday at the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, a Russian foreign-policy forum. “If it comes to a direct attack on the Russian Federation—in this case, Kaliningrad, although it could potentially involve other territories as well—the question of Russia using all the weapons at its disposal would inevitably and immediately arise,” he said.
Asked about Russia’s warning at a Euronews conference in Brussels on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded: “We will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
19. September US jobs data shows stagnant employment and lagging wages, as AI-driven layoffs deepen
The September US Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, which was greeted as positive by Wall Street, showed that workers face worsening employment opportunities and wages that continue falling behind inflation.
20. Christa Pike in critical condition in Nashville hospital after failed execution attempt
Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, has called the botched execution “deeply disturbing” and a “tragedy.” He has ordered a third-party review and called off the state’s remaining execution this year, that of Gary Wayne Sutton, scheduled for December 3. But Lee had refused Pike clemency two days before the execution, and on Thursday he stressed that “the people of Tennessee have determined that the death penalty is the appropriate penalty for the most heinous crimes in the state.” He has not responded to calls from Pike’s attorneys to commute her sentence.
Responsibility for what took place in the death chamber rests with the US Supreme Court, which stands at the head of a justice system that failed Pike. On September 29, the justices denied Pike’s request for a stay without a single noted dissent. The next morning, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the execution to consider a claim arising from the state’s own about-face: After years of branding Pike a liar about her abuse, Tennessee conceded in August that it “does not dispute the terrible things” she suffered. Within hours, the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority vacated the stay by a 6-3 vote, so that Tennessee could carry out the killing before her death warrant expired at midnight.
Pike’s attorneys had warned the courts months earlier that a blood disorder, thrombocytosis, and her small, fragile veins would make IV access difficult and could turn the execution into torture. A court-appointed special master dismissed their concerns. “Her concerns were called ‘speculation,’” the Friday motion states. “They were laughed off, scoffed at, and dismissed.”
What followed was a procedure marked by IV failure, chemical burning and severe medical complications. The execution team struggled for an hour just to establish two IV lines. Attorney Randy Spivey counted “seven needles used in her left arm alone, one of which appeared to be bent when it was pulled from her arm.” After the first dose of pentobarbital, Pike told her spiritual adviser that her arm felt like it was about to burst open and asked the officials standing over her whether it was supposed to feel that way. She asked them to “please try up on my shoulder higher.” A second dose was administered. Spivey said her right arm turned purple and began to blister.
The filing contends that at least part of the lethal drug never entered her bloodstream. “Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body,” the motion states. “Instead of remedying this failure, TDOC elected to prepare a backup set of syringes … and then administered another lethal dose of pentobarbital.” The motion seeks to preserve all evidence related to the execution and calls the state’s conduct “reckless” and “incompetent.”
Much of what happened took place behind a closed curtain. Media witnesses listened to Pike snoring until 8:53 p.m., when the microphone was cut and they were ordered out. At about 9:15 p.m., as media witnesses were briefing reporters outside, an ambulance and fire truck arrived at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, lights flashing. Her attorneys say they have not been able to see her since.
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The failed execution has reignited the debate over capital punishment. “This failed attempt is the worst we’ve ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era,” said Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Amnesty International USA called it “an extreme display of cruelty and the latest reminder that the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”
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More than 2,000 people remain on death rows across the United States. Last year, 47 were executed, the most since 2009. So far in 2026, 29 executions have been carried out, more than half of them in Florida (16), followed by Texas (6), Oklahoma (3), Alabama (2), Arizona (1) and Tennessee (1).
The torture of Christa Pike brings into sharp focus the character of capital punishment in America as a vindictive instrument of class rule, used to terrorize the population. This is happening as popular support for the death penalty stands near its lowest level in half a century—52 percent in Gallup’s 2025 poll. The political establishment, Republican and Democrat alike, is not responding to this sentiment but defying it, while debating only the most “effective” means of killing.
The fight to abolish the death penalty cannot be left to governors, the courts or the parties of big business. It is part of the struggle of the working class against the capitalist system, which breeds poverty, abuse and violence and answers them with the executioner.
The role of the subjective factor is crucial in the current objective situation. The task of the SEP is to bring socialist consciousness into the working class.
22. Another interest rate rise intensifies social and political crisis in Australia
The rate rise deepens the cost-of-living crisis for working-class households and intensifies the pressure of the financial markets on the Albanese government to further slash social spending.
23. Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
Australia:
Bangladesh:
India:
New Zealand:
Pakistan:
"Peace for the world! Down with war!"
