The world’s so-called “super election year”, in which over 50 countries are scheduled to go to the polls, has been inaugurated in Taiwan with a consequential presidential and legislative election. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate William Lai Ching-te prevailed, but the party lost its legislative majority and a significant amount of support. Against this backdrop, a new era of instability lies ahead for Taiwan and the security situation around East Asia.

Last night, US and British airstrikes rained down dozens of sophisticated bombs over the heads of some of the world’s poorest people. The hands of the western imperialists are drenched with the blood of the Gazan people, but up until now they could hide behind the fact that whilst, yes, they may have supplied the guns, the bombs, the money and the political cover for the slaughter, they didn’t directly pull the trigger. No, they always insisted the slaughter should be carried out with “moderation”, with “proportionate force”. Now in Yemen, they have directly intervened, recklessly escalating the conflict in the region. We say: hands off Yemen! Down with the imperialist murderers!

Palestinian journalists Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Sunday, while driving to interview victims of a previous bombing. The deaths raise the total number of journalists killed in three months of Israel's war to at least 79, the highest of any year of conflict in a single country on record, and more than the entirety of WW2.

Sunday 21 January marks 100 years since the death of history’s greatest revolutionary. Join Alan Woods and Rob Sewell, authors of the upcoming biography In Defence of Lenin, at the launch of a global campaign to commemorate Lenin’s life and works. The meeting will take place at Hanover Primary School Sports Hall, N1 8BD in London at 15:00 GMT and will also be streamed live on our YouTube channel. You can buy tickets to the in-person event here.

For those who want to understand the person of Lenin it is imperative to read him for themselves. However, with 45 volumes of Collected Works (in English), this is a significant challenge and really the work of a lifetime. Therefore, Wellred Books’ upcoming biography of Lenin, In Defence of Lenin, is as close to an accessible work you are going to get which presents his ideas and their relevance for today in a relatively concise and concentrated form.

Yesterday, 9 January, we saw on the news across the world a scene of unprecedented violence in Ecuador, mainly in Guayaquil, but also in the capital Quito. What is happening, and why?

Israel describes its ethnic cleansing in Gaza as a "war against Hamas", and calls any support for Palestine "terrorist sympathy". At the same time, Israel has done everything possible to strengthen Hamas’ grip on Gaza, as a counterbalance to the socialist and secular currents of the Palestinian freedom struggle. So who is really fuelling terrorism?

Some on the left draw a parallel between Milei's authoritarian drift in Argentina and the "fujimorazo" in Peru in 1992, when Fujimori used his constitutional powers to establish a de facto dictatorship in the Andean country. But this does not hold up. On the contrary, in Argentina we are heading for a process of mass upheaval.

The Canadian section of the IMT has announced the relaunch of its newspaper under the banner: Communist Revolution. This bold new publication comes off the back of the explosive growth of the IMT in Canada over the recent period, and lays the foundation for the launch of a new Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) at this year’s Montreal Marxist Winter School in February. We publish below the comrades’ announcement and explanation of the need for a revolutionary communist newspaper in Canada today.

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?

Hamlet: Words, words, words. (Shakespeare)

“And when they have created a wilderness, they call it Peace.” (Tacitus)