ISRAR HUSSAIN, a 42 year old taxi driver and father of six children, was stabbed to death in Oldham in the early hours of Saturday morning. He had responded to a request for a taxi. His passenger attacked him, slitting his throat with a knife. Israr collapsed on the pavement. A number of passers-by tried to give him first aid, but he died shortly after arriving in hospital.
THERE WERE two sharply contrasting faces of 2002: the mushrooming resistance to the priorities of the world's leaders, and more evidence of the cost of those priorities. We saw the biggest political demonstrations in Europe since the Second World War.
Against capital and against war COMMENTATORS declared the anti-capitalist movement dead at the start of the year. How wrong they were. In February 70,000 gathered at the second World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and 20,000 marched in New York, at one point chanting, "George Bush is a terrorist."
THE IDEA that refugees in Britain drive down wages and cause unemployment has been blown apart by research released last week. "Immigration is found to have, if anything, a positive effect on the wages of the existing population. Using the most robust data source available, an increase in immigration of 1 percent of the non-migrant population leads to a nearly 2 percent increase in non-migrant wages," says the research summary.
GEORGE BUSH'S US government openly threw itself behind attempts to overthrow President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela last weekend. As it did so the country drew close to civil war. The opposition has launched a campaign very similar to that which culminated in the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile 29 years ago.
SINCE WORLD War Two the US has been the dominant world power. In some ways that power has declined substantially, like in its share of wealth and production. In other measures it has increased-military force. America's predecessor in world control understood very well what was happening as World War Two drew to a close.
"SUPERBUG SWEEPS Hospitals". "Sharp Rise In Superbug Deaths". These were just some of the headlines in the papers last week. The spark was a study in the British Medical Journal showing hospital deaths from the "superbug" MRSA had risen. MRSA is a bacterium resistant to key antibiotics.
THE GOVERNMENT sent out a clear message this week that nobody should rely on the state pension to look after them in old age. The pensions green paper was published after Socialist Worker went to press, but statements in advance had set out some key elements.
ROLLING IN money, completely cut off from the vast majority of people, and stark staring bonkers. That's the picture of the Blairs and their circle that emerges from the scandal surrounding Cherie Blair's property dealings. Millions of working class people will be outraged that the Blairs casually buy up flats for over half a million pounds for their son when he goes off to college.
CHEERS WENT up in Hyde Park on Saturday as Fire Brigades Union (FBU) national official John McGhee announced, "20,000 people have marched today." The rally was the culmination of a determined march through central London by firefighters, control staff, their families and other trade unionists.
"MOST FBU members are sick to death with New Labour," says Paisley firefighter Billy Coates. "I'd say the majority in Scotland are now withdrawing from funding the Labour Party. On my station it's 100 percent."
WHAT THE media say, and how they say it, obviously matters. Dictators are always keen to control TV and newspapers. These days they also try to restrict what their citizens can read on the internet. The Blair government knows the media matter. Why else does it constantly try to "spin" news coverage? The left cares too. We get cross when a big demonstration gets little or no news coverage.
