A new strain of Mpox is tearing through Central Africa. Since the start of the year, 13 African countries have reported more than 22,800 Mpox cases and 622 deaths, which represents a 160 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023. This is likely only a fraction of the real number. What is clear is that, four years on, nothing has been learned from COVID-19.

Barely a month after the CCP’s pompous 20th Party Congress, anger from below is bursting to the surface. Last week, the Foxconn mega-factory in Zhengzhou, Henan saw a violent confrontation between workers and the police over wage theft by management, and in the past two days, large and violent protests have been reported in many major cities, targeting the regime’s draconian lockdown measures, which have become a focal point for widespread discontent. As we have long predicted, the deep crisis of Chinese capitalism is beginning to spur the masses into action.

Not long ago, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime was proudly flaunting its successes in containing the COVID-19 pandemic compared to much of the rest of the world. Now, however, one of its major economic centres, Shanghai, is suffering from a surge of the Omicron variant, made worse by bureaucratic blunders.

Big demonstrations broke out in Brussels in November and December. In the former, 35,000 protested efforts by the government to blame the people for the course of the pandemic crisis, and impose stricter control measures. Sentiments of disgust, and distrust towards the establishment, underpin these protests, following intermittent lockdowns and a host of broken promises by the government, combined with the double standards of the measures taken thus far. All of this has caused disorientation, perplexity and anger that has pushed people onto the streets. Meanwhile, the threat to fire unvaccinated staff in healthcare and other sectors has led to strike action being called by the

A worrying new variant of COVID-19 has emerged, designated B.1.1.529 or Omicron. This strain was an inevitable product of the reckless pursuit of short-term capitalist interests, which are dragging out this seemingly endless pandemic nightmare.

This document was approved by delegates at the 2021 World Congress of the International Marxist Tendency (full report here). It provides our general analysis of the main processes taking place in world politics, at a time marked by unprecedented crisis and turmoil. With dynamite in the foundations of the world economy and the COVID-19 pandemic still casting a shadow over the global situation, all roads lead to intensified class struggle.

Whilst Tory ministers celebrate so-called ‘freedom day’, coronavirus is ripping through society, leading to mounting health problems and pressures on the overstretched NHS. Once again, the Tories and bosses are putting profits before lives.

The Tories have confirmed plans to lift all remaining COVID restrictions on 19 July. But society will not return to ‘normal’. The period ahead will be one of contagion, capitalist crisis, and class struggle. Workers must organise and fight back.

The ruling class is doing everything in its power to assist the evolutionary development of SARS-CoV-2, to become more infectious and vaccine resistant. In their myopic incompetence and sheer disregard for human life and scientific evidence, the capitalists are helping to ensure this pandemic drags on for years and continues to wreak havoc on billions of lives. 

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 in the town of Odemira, which led to a lockdown being imposed upon two local parishes, has exposed a festering wound on Portugal’s social fabric. The outbreak has brought to light conditions of modern slavery, involving human trafficking and the exploitation of migrant workers, living under extremely precarious conditions, which contributed to the outbreak of the disease.

Earlier this month, an independent panel commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) published the findings of its research into the international response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, the report places the blame for the crisis exactly where it belongs: with bourgeois politicians and capitalist bosses. In this period of widespread barbarism and untold suffering, the WHO report shows the brutality at the heart of the ruling class’ response to the pandemic, as well as the ease with which it could have been avoided.

On Saturday, while millions of households were distracted by Britain’s “nil points” Eurovision performance, a leaked Public Health England report found its way to the Financial Times.

A worrying new strain of the coronavirus has emerged from the nightmarish second wave in India, which some scientists fear could spark yet another wave in Britain (where it has gained a foothold), and set back the global fight against the pandemic. This “double mutant” strain, which seems to be more transmissible than previous iterations of the virus, is spreading globally. The hapless Tory administration in Britain is making all the same blunders that provoked the catastrophic surge of infections last winter.

As the second wave of COVID-19 wreaks havoc across the country, the plight of the working class in Bangladesh is worsening. The situation has not yet reached the proportions seen in India just yet, it could soon get to such levels as the ruling class hasn’t taken any measures to provide basic health facilities and vaccines to the millions of workers who live in poverty.

Nepal is no exception as the world faces a new surge of COVID-19. With new cases increasing daily, Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population claims that the total number of infections stands at 343,418, while reporting 3,362 deaths. For the last several days, 8,000 cases have been reported daily.