/02

Defence White Paper puts Australia on war footing against China - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/27/whit-f27

The “Defence White Paper,” published by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Coalition government on February 25, amounts to a declaration that Australian imperialism, in alliance with the United States, is preparing for war against China. The document incorporates all the military commitments made by the former Labor Party government to the anti-China US “pivot to Asia” in November 2011, as well as additional undertakings made to Washington by the Coalition under former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent over the coming years on the greatest expansion of the Australian armed forces since World War II.

#australie #défense #armée #chine #guerre #pacifique #asie_pacifique

More mass shootings in the US - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/27/kill-f27.html

Since Jason Dalton, a 45-year-old insurance adjuster and Uber cab driver, randomly opened fire on eight people, killing six, in multiple locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan last weekend, at least three additional mass killings have occurred in the US. Shootings in Kansas, Washington state and Arizona have resulted in the deaths of 14 people.

#états-unis #armement #armes #armes_légères #massacres

German news magazine Der Spiegel urges war against Russia - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/25/spie-f25.html

The lead article in the latest issue of German news magazine Der Spiegel, entitled “Putin’s aggressions,” is a barely concealed call for war against Russia. The author, Mathieu von Rohr, claims that decisive action by the west against Russia is the key issue in global politics.

#russie #guerre #presse #média

European Union pushes for energy independence from Russia - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/17/nord-f17.html

In the midst of growing conflicts over the expansion of the German-Russian Nord Stream pipeline, the European Union (EU) Commission has taken steps over the past week to reduce European dependence on Russian gas supplies. The Slovakian deputy President of the EU Commission Maroš Šefčovič indicated in an interview that the EU Commission intends to block the construction of the Nord Stream II pipeline. The EU Commission is thereby opposing the position adopted by the German and Austrian governments.

With a 40 percent share, Russia controls by far the largest portion of the European energy market. While Germany imports a third of its gas from Russia, some Eastern European countries rely on Russian supplies for between 80 and 90 percent of their gas.

#russie #europe #gaz #guerre_du_gaz #énergie

US push on South China Sea falls short at ASEAN summit - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/17/asea-f17.html

President Barack Obama concluded the first-ever summit with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders to be held in the United States with a press conference yesterday that elaborated no major initiatives. While the two-day gathering at Sunnylands, California took place against mounting US tensions with China over the South China Sea, the final declaration made no specific reference to the maritime disputes, despite Washington’s wishes.

Over the past year, the Obama administration has ramped up pressure on Beijing, demanding a halt to land reclamation activities and alleged militarisation in the South China Sea. The US Navy has twice mounted so-called freedom of navigation operations, deliberately intruding within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit around Chinese-administered islets, most recently at Triton Island on January 30.

#chine #états-unis #mer_de_chine_méridionale

Europe at the breaking point - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/17/pers-f17.html

This weekend’s Munich Security Conference, which brought together European and international officials, exposed deep and bitter divisions wracking European capitalism. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ public attack on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy in the European refugee crisis, in which Valls demanded even more vicious attacks on refugees, was among the sharpest of a whole host of conflicts that erupted.

Having dismissed Merkel’s policy as “unviable in the long run” the day before the summit, Valls said Paris was “not in favor” of her proposal to distribute throughout Europe hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing imperialist wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, on the basis of a quota system. “We need a very clear message that ‘Now, we don’t take any more refugees,’” he declared.

#europe #migration #réfugiés #asile #allemagne

Woman at the Window: Oratorio remembers the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/16/orat-f16.html

http://www.wsws.org/asset/db64f1dc-ea63-4e88-88ad-b4ce35df945H/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire_on_March_25_-_1911.jpg?rendition=image240

On February 4 and 5, students at the Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in Los Angeles performed Woman at the Window: The Triangle Factory Fire. The work is an oratorio about the tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City in 1911 in which 146 people died. The incident was the deadliest industrial disaster in US history. The new work was written by students who performed it under the guidance of musicians from the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

#sweatshop #états_unis

Closure of Balkan refugee route deepens rifts in the EU - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/16/refu-f16.html

Closure of Balkan refugee route deepens rifts in the EU
By Martin Kreickenbaum
16 February 2016

Diplomatic tensions between the EU member states are intensifying in the run-up to the meeting of heads of state and governments this week. The issue of what measures can better seal off Europe against refugees is further inflaming these conflicts.

While the countries of the “Visegrad Group,” consisting of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, together with Austria, are insisting on the complete closure and militarization of the Macedonian-Greek border in order to strand refugees in Greece. Germany, France and Italy, above all, reject such a step, which would mean the de facto exclusion of Greece from the Schengen Area.

#réfugiés #migrations #asile #balkans

Inequality, class and life expectancy in America - World Socialist Web Site
►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/15/pers-f15.html

A study by Brookings Institution economists released Friday documents a sharp increase in life span divergences between the rich and the poor in America. The report, based on an analysis of Census Bureau and Social Security Administration data, concludes that for men born in 1950, the gap in life expectancy between the top 10 percent of wage earners and the bottom 10 percent is more than double the gap for their counterparts born in 1920.

For those born in 1920, there was a six-year differential between rich and poor. For those born in 1950, that difference had reached 14 years. For women, the gap grew from 4.7 years to 13 years, almost tripling.

#états-unis #pauvreté #inégalités #discriminations

Inequality, class and life expectancy in America - World Socialist Web Site
►http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/15/pers-f15.html

Voilà, le recul de l’espérance de vie est aussi acté aux USA et comme chez nous, il touche uniquement les #classes pauvres dont les conditions de vie se sont lourdement dégradées ces dernières décennies. Le #capitalisme dans toute son ignoble splendeur.

The United States ranks among the worst so-called rich countries when it comes to life expectancy. But its low ranking is entirely due to the poor health and high mortality of low-income Americans. According to the Social Security Administration, life expectancy for the wealthiest US men at age 60 was just below the rates for Iceland and Japan, two countries with the highest levels. Americans in the bottom quarter of the wage scale, on the other hand, ranked just above Poland and the Czech Republic.

Life-expectancy is the most basic indicator of social well-being. The minimal increase for low-income workers and the widening disparity between the poor and the rich is a stark commentary on the immense growth of social inequality and class polarization in the United States. It underscores the fact that socioeconomic class is the fundamental category of social life under capitalism—one that conditions every aspect of life, including its length.

The Brookings Institution findings shed further light on the catastrophic decline in the social position of the American working class. They follow recent reports showing a sharp rise in death rates for both young and middle-aged white workers, primarily due to drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide. Other recent reports have shown a dramatic decline in life expectancy for poorer middle-aged Americans and a reversal of decades of declining infant mortality.

It is no mystery what is behind this vast social retrogression. It is the product of the decay of American capitalism and a four-decade-long offensive by the ruling elite against the working class. From Reagan to the Obama administration, Democrats and Republicans alike have overseen a corporate-government assault on the jobs, wages, pensions and health benefits of working people.

#inégalités #espérance_de_vie

Fatal rail crash in Bavaria - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/10/germ-f10.html
#Allemagne #accident #train #transport

Ten people were killed early Tuesday morning in a head-on collision between two trains near Bad Aibling in Upper Bavaria, Germany. Both train drivers and two conductors were among the dead. According to rescue workers, 90 more were injured, 55 of them seriously. Seventeen people remained in critical condition as of Tuesday evening.

Shortly before 7 a.m., the two commuter trains collided on the track between Holzkirchen and Rosenheim. According to the schedule, the trains were not authorized to travel on the single-track line at the same time.

One of the trains was scheduled to wait at one of two passing points, either in Kolbermoor or Bad Aibling. Instead, they sped toward each other at approximately 100 kilometres per hour. Their paths crossed on a wooded hillside near the Mangfall canal, preventing the drivers from seeing what was up ahead. As a result, the trains collided at full speed.

Records show “intentional destruction” of dashcams by Chicago cops - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/02/dash-f02.html

In the latest example of criminal police conduct within the Chicago Police Department, records examined by DNAinfo show that the widespread lack of audio on police dashboard cameras is due to an intentional campaign of tampering.

This adds a further dimension of cover-up to recent cases of police violence in the city which have sparked ongoing protests. In the case of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by a CPD officer in 2014, only two of the five vehicles at the scene had working dashcams, and no vehicle had working audio.

#police #meurtre #états-unis #violence #vidéo #caméras #surveillance #contrôle #preuves

Father of girl killed by Pennsylvania cop charged with murder - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/02/girl-f02.html

Vraiment encore une histoire de ouf à l’américaine où un juge accuse le père du meurtre de sa fille abattue par un policier qui a tiré sur le père, transpercé son bras avant de venir se loger dans le coeur de la jeune fille !

http://www.wsws.org/asset/f41c0fe2-d200-402d-85a4-db47e69ece0O/Ciara+Meyer.jpg?rendition=image240

Ciara Meyer was standing behind her father when Steele fired his handgun at the man. The bullet passed through Donald Meyer’s arm, shattering his bone, before striking the girl, who was home sick from school that day. Ciara Meyer was pronounced dead at the scene. The bullet hit her heart and lungs, according to an autopsy.

Authorities claim that Donald Meyer aimed a rifle at Steele, who therefore withdrew his holstered weapon and fired in self-defense. They do not claim that Meyer actually fired his gun.

“Meyer’s reckless conduct, knowing his daughter was standing behind him, triggered a chain of events that tragically led to the death of Ciara Meyer,” District Attorney Andrew Bender told the media, in justifying the murder charge.

#police #meurtre #états-unis #violence