In the last 24 hours, a series of important announcements have been made by Russia regarding the war in Ukraine: partial mobilisation affecting 300,000 people, referendums in the Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine about their annexation to Russia, stiffer sentences for crimes related to military service and the warning that Russia will use “all means at its disposal” to protect its territorial integrity.

Protests have broken out all over Iran, following the murder of a young Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, by Iran’s notorious morality police. Beginning in the Kurdish areas of Iran, the protests spread to more than 30 cities, including all the largest in the country: Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Tabriz and the so-called holy city of Qom. What started as a reaction against police brutality has quickly turned into a mood of rage against the regime as a whole.

The Italians have a phrase for it: È Finita la Commedia – the comedy is over. After 10 days of officially imposed ‘national mourning’, on Monday 19 September at Westminster Abbey – the historic church where Britain's kings and queens are crowned – the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth was held.

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron somberly announced at a cabinet meeting that the Ukraine war and climate change signalled the end of “an era of abundance”. Wait a moment, monsieur, when did the ‘era of abundance’ begin? Did we blink and miss

William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya's fifth president on Tuesday 13 September, a week after the Supreme Court rejected a challenge by his opponent in a close-fought election, in which Ruto received 50.5 percent of the vote against 48.8 percent for Raila Odinga. Neither of these reactionary bourgeois politicians offered any way forward for the Kenyan masses, who face increasingly intolerable conditions.

The International Marxist Tendency is out in force as new academic terms begin all around the world. Thousands of students will be signing up to our Marxist discussion groups and societies at universities and colleges from London to Lahore, Texas to Toronto. We will be sharing reports and social media posts of all these activities in the coming weeks: find us with the hashtag #CommunismOnCampus.

The last week has seen a spate of arrests against anti-monarchy protestors, as the establishment cynically utilises the Queen’s death to silence the left. But no amount of repression can hold back the rising tide of class struggle.

Editor’s note: At the eleventh hour, after 20 hours of talks lasting late into the night, President Biden and numerous officials in his administration convinced union leaders to accept a tentative agreement, averting an imminent national railroad strike. However, the terms of the “Presidential Emergency Board” constitute an effective wage cut over the next five years when factoring in inflation, as detailed in the article below. The ranks of the dozen railroad unions representing 115,000 workers must now vote to ratify the deal. At least one of these unions, the International Association of Machinists, has already voted to reject the terms of the Presidential Emergency Board agreement,

Following the death of the Queen, trade union leaders have cancelled planned strike action ‘out of respect’ to the Royal Family. But the Tories and bosses have not paused their class war. The labour movement must mobilise to topple their system.

Sweden’s most racist, nationalistic and out-of-touch election campaign in living memory has produced, appropriately enough, a government with a policy to make life worse for workers, while blaming it on immigrants. But no amount of racist slander can hide the enormous problems facing the Swedish masses. We must prepare for class struggle.

In the last few days, Ukrainian forces have made significant advances on the Kharkiv front, forcing the Russians into a disorganised retreat. Where did this surprise counteroffensive come from and what is its significance for the war overall?

After weeks of speculation, the rumour that a fuel price hike was coming was finally confirmed. The working class was hit with a 30-percent price rise. Starting on Saturday 3 September, the price of petrol shot up from 51 cent to 67 cents per litre, and diesel fuel from 35 cents to 46 cents per litre.

As the country’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II represented a bygone age of stability. Her passing marks the beginning of a new era of crisis; another crumbling pillar of the British establishment, heralding revolutionary upheavals.

With the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September, the British monarchy is once again in the media spotlight. Amidst a flood of reactionary apologias, Marxists must cut through the propaganda and tell the truth about the role of the monarchy in capitalist society. As a result, we republish here an article by Alan Woods, written in 1997 at the time of Princess Diana’s death, analysing the real nature of the monarchy and its position as a fundamental pillar of the British establishment. While the article does not deal with recent events, its in-depth assessment of the role of the Royal Family under capitalism continues to hold true today.

The 2022 national camp of Alziamo la Testa (“Let's raise our heads”), the first held by the youth organisation of the Italian Marxists, was a big success. We are particularly proud of what we have achieved in the last few years, and our progress was attested to at the event, which was attended by young revolutionaries from more than 26 cities, who were all thrilled to finally meet all the new comrades face-to-face after two years of the pandemic.