An unprecedented number of wildfires have set Europe alight in the past month. Nine Mediterranean countries have been hit, leading to many people losing their homes and even their lives. These are the deadly consequences of capitalism’s climate catastrophe.

As reported previously, the recent coup in Niger and the response from surrounding West African states is intensifying the rising tensions and political instability in the region.

We are witnessing a profound crisis of legitimacy and moral decomposition of the entire capitalist system. Former US President Donald Trump's latest legal drama is just one more in a ceaseless succession of establishment scandals, blunders and internecine disputes at all levels. From parliament, to the police, to the press, to religious institutions – every pillar of bourgeois rule is rotting from the inside out. Why is this happening, why now, and what does it mean for the class struggle?

The establishment of military rule in Niger represents a turning point in the Sahel. Considered an important bastion of stability by western powers, the rapid fall of the French-backed government in Niamey is only the latest in a series of anti-French coups in a region beset by instability and imperialist interference. Whilst using anti-colonialist rhetoric, which is echoing powerfully across Africa, these new regimes are turning to Russia for support, setting up a new, important front in the clash between western imperialism and Russia.

British capitalism is stumbling from one crisis to the next. In their effort to subdue stubbornly-high inflation, the ruling class is set to provoke a new slump. Enormous pressures are building in society. Revolutionary explosions impend.

The fall of the short-lived Second French Republic in December 1851 marks one of the most rapid and complete reversals in modern political history. Born out of the February Revolution of 1848, the Republic appeared to promise a new era of progress and democracy for the whole of Europe. But this proved to be a false dawn. In less than four years the most democratic republic on Earth was transformed into its opposite: the naked dictatorship of Napoleon III.

Bereaved Afghan families have accused the British Special Air Service (SAS) of summarily executing up to 80 unarmed men between 2010 and 2013, as part of a policy to kill “all fighting-age males… regardless of the threat they posed”. This latest war crime accusation against British Special Forces during the war in Afghanistan is yet another blow to the credibility of a rotten establishment, which has exposed the naked barbarity of imperialism and the capitalist system.

More and more workers and youth all over the world are being drawn to the ideas and banner of communism, much to the anger and anxiety of the bosses, bankers and bourgeois politicians. The final episode of the International Marxist Radio podcast explains "Why We Are Communists". You can watch a video of the discussion on our YouTube channel and listen to the audio version on your preferred podcast streaming platform.

On Saturday, 29 July the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), celebrated their 10th anniversary with a mass rally of 100 000 supporters at Johannesburg’s FNB stadium. This was an impressive turnout, which shows the party’s mass appeal particularly with the active layers of the youth.

In a break from his usual Hollywood blockbusters, Christopher Nolan’s latest release offers a dramatic and tense look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the bomb’, exploring the politics of McCarthy-era America along the way.

From 21-23 July, the Progressive Youth Alliance (youth and student wing of the Pakistan section of the International Marxist Tendency) held a three-day Marxist school at beautiful Banjusa Lake near Rawalakot in Kashmir. The event attracted students, youth, and workers from across the country and provided a valuable opportunity for young revolutionaries to discuss Marxist theory, amid Pakistan's worst economic crisis, and utter political bankruptcy. The school gathered 220 participants in all, who engaged in important discussions on topics such as Pakistan and world politics, philosophy, economic theory and revolutionary strategy.

Boris Kagarlitsky, one of the most prominent left-wing sociologists in Russia, was arrested on 25 July, and taken to Syktyvkar (Komi Republic, Russia) on 26 July. The same day, the local court placed him in custody for two months on “justification of terrorism” charges. If the court finds him guilty, Kagarlitsky could spend up to 7 years in prison.

The prominent Russian left-wing intellectual and academic Boris Kagarlitsky was detained by the Russian security services FSB on July 25, on the basis of a criminal investigation against him for “justifying terrorism”. He was transferred to Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, where a tribunal decreed his preventative arrest. He can be held until September 24.

Amidst a rising tide of class struggle in Trinidad and Tobago, local elections are to be held on 14 August. Yet, it’s expected that the turnout will fall to its lowest in decades. This reflects a rejection of the capitalist establishment and the need for a revolutionary alternative for workers and the youth.

The Venezuelan Communist Party is facing a campaign of attacks, slanders, and a coup to usurp its legal and electoral registration from its democratically elected leadership, carried out by the PSUV and the government. The following statement of solidarity was approved unanimously by the leadership of the International Marxist Tendency at a meeting of its International Executive Committee this week. The sections and groups represented (from 30 countries) are listed at the end.