On Wednesday 9 March, South Koreans went to the polls to decide who will rule over them from the Blue House for the next five years. Yoon Suk-yeol of the hard-right conservative People Power Party (PPP) won out in the end, with a campaign based on reactionary, misogynistic demagogy. This result exposes the complete inability of the liberals to defend the interests of workers, women and the oppressed. The South Korean workers must prepare an independent class fight against the new government, and the capitalist system it represents.

It has now been two weeks since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Since then, the hypocritical Western imperialists and their lackeys in the media have been pouring forth endless denunciations of Russia's actions.

We are happy to announce that The Spark, the Taiwanese supporters of the International Marxist Tendency, have launched their own printed publication, New Youth. This is a big step forward for the forces of Marxism in the country and will help our ideas find a whole new audience.

The German capitalist class and its government are using Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine as an opportunity to advance their own militarist and imperialist agenda. The German Marxists of Der Funke expose the repulsive hypocrisy and warmongering of their ruling class, and make an appeal to combat the scourge of war with international solidarity. As the dominant power in the EU and a willing henchman in the service of the interests of US imperialism through NATO, the German ruling class has played a central role in the formation and escalation of this long-running conflict in Ukraine.

What is being called “Egypt’s #MeToo movement” has made headlines around the world since 2020, with high-profile sexual predators being called out online. Meanwhile, the country’s regime has been pushed onto the back foot on the question of sexual violence and women’s oppression during recent years. This question is bound up with the fate of the Egyptian Revolution. Those who want to rid Egypt of violence against women must turn towards the working class and raise the call: time’s up for Sisi!

Across the world, an epidemic of violence against women, femicide, and domestic abuse plagues society. This is yet another symptom of a sick system. Capitalism is the disease. To end sexism and oppression, we must fight for revolution.

Were we to believe the war propaganda of the western imperialists, we would have to conclude that the current crisis in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, when Putin ordered Russian troops to enter Ukraine. This is a reactionary imperialist war that we oppose, but our opposition has nothing to do with the hypocritical denunciations of the West. In fact, the crisis has a long background in which western imperialism has played an aggressive role – in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe.

Today is the birthday of the grandson of Leon Trotsky, Esteban Volkov. Over the course of his life, Volkov has fought to preserve the historical truth about Trotsky’s life and work, against the smears of the Stalinists and bourgeois historians. In particular, Volkov has preserved a unique monument to Trotsky’s legacy: the Leon Trotsky House Museum in Coyoacán, Mexico, which was once home to Volkov and his grandparents, Natalia Sedova and Leon Trotsky. On the occasion of his birthday, the International Marxist Tendency would like to send revolutionary greetings to this lifelong champion of Trotsky’s legacy.

We publish here a document written in 2016 by the leadership of the IMT as part of a discussion about the role of imperialism today and the character of China and Russia. We think it can serve to clarify questions that have been raised in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukraine crisis has confirmed the dictum that "the truth is the first victim of war". In this talk given to British Marxists on Tuesday 1 March, Jorge Martín of the International Marxist Tendency cuts across the lies and war propaganda. He explains the real causes of this war, its background, the imperialist ambitions of both Russia and the West, and the hypocrisy of western imperialism throughout the course of this conflict.

A data leak has revealed that the major Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, has been managing the assets of global oligarchs, corrupt politicians and drug barons for decades. Clients included the sons of former Egyptian tyrant Hosni Mubarak, ousted Algerian dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and Eduard Seidel of the Siemens scandal, the biggest German corruption affair in recent years.

‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has cynically used Russia’s attack on Ukraine as an excuse to attack the anti-imperialist left, and to prove his loyalty to the establishment. The labour movement must fight the enemy at home, not the ‘enemy within’.

The EFF’s recent campaign of ‘labour inspections’ at restaurants in Gauteng is a reactionary descent into the xenophobic politics of the right-wing parties like ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance. These right-wing outfits are very small on a national scale, but their message has been amplified by opportunist elements in the bigger parties such as the DA and the ANC. Now, scandalously, the EFF has joined in the fray.

The first casualty of war is truth. This is also the case of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Marxists need to be able to cut through the fog of lies and war propaganda and analyse the real reasons behind the conflict; what has caused it; and the real interests that lie behind the excuses and justifications of the different parties involved. Above all, we must do so from the point of view of the interests of the world working class.

Alan Woods (editor of marxist.com) provides an update on the situation in Ukraine. Since Russia's invasion, a barrage of propaganda has been pumped out by the Western media, contributing to an atmosphere of utter hysteria, with the papers now screeching about the threat of a Third World War. Meanwhile, the imperialist leaders continue to display disgusting hypocrisy in their condemnation of Putin's 'violation of Ukraine's national sovereignty', having never shied from warfare in pursuit of their own interests in the past. Marxists must reject the cynical message of 'patriotism' and 'national unity', as we continue to