To all the sceptics who were moaning about the end of the Egyptian revolution after the coming to power of the Muslim Brotherhood earlier this summer, the recent uprising of the Egyptian masses should serve to teach them an important lesson. Whatever the degree of religious belief or nationalist feelings there may be at any given moment in time, this cannot stop the class contradictions that exist in capitalist society from eventually coming to the surface.

On the morning of November 15, Israel carried out the extrajudicial killing of Hamas military leader Ahmed al-Jabari. This act sparked off a new and deadly conflict between Israel and Gaza. This whole affair has all the hallmarks of a premeditated provocation. In this struggle, the IMT stands firmly on the side of the oppressed and against the oppressors. The Gaza crisis can be the match that reignites all the combustible material that has accumulated in the Middle East. It will mark a new stage in the ongoing Arab Revolution.

$6-billion and over a year of campaigning later, and it would appear that the status quo remains. Obama is still the president; the Democrats control the Senate; and the Republicans control the House of Representatives. On the surface, "nothing has changed." Taken at face value, this is correct. As we have explained many times before, both Obama and Romney are defenders and advocates of the capitalist system. Nothing fundamental was going to change no matter who won. However, looks can be deceiving.

Tomorrow, Americans will go to the polls to elect a new president. Despite the what the corporate press may trot out, there is little choice for the US working class; Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both represent two sides of the same coin -- the interests of Wall Street and the so-called "1%". There are underlying pressures growing within US society and regardless of who is elected president, these will eventually come to the fore. Here, we re-publish an article from the US Marxists of Socialist Appeal.

The suffering of the people of Pakistan is largely unknown in the West. Yesterday Malala Yousafzai was brutally shot by gunmen as she was returning home from school. Masked assassins stepped onto a bus filled with terrified children, identified her, and shot her at point blank range in the head and neck. A veil of silence has been carefully drawn over the number of people killed every day by American drones and Taliban murders. But recently a small corner of the curtain was raised as the result of this particularly appalling event.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has won, yet again, the presidential elections on Sunday October 7, with a comfortable margin of 54.84% against the 44.55% of his opponent Henrique Capriles. This is another victory for the Bolivarian revolution which should be used in order to carry out the revolution to the end. The turnout was an amazing 81%, beating even the previous record of the 2006 presidential elections which saw a 74% turn out. This showed the extremely polarised nature of this campaign, in which both camps mobilised all of their supporters.

The presidential election due on October 7 represents a decisive moment in the history of Venezuela. The outcome of this election will have a major impact throughout the continent and internationally. It goes without saying that the Hands Off Venezuela campaign is actively supporting the Bolivarian candidate Hugo Chávez and fighting against any attempt of the oligarchy and imperialism to sabotage the elections. The Marxist tendency stands firmly for the re-election of Hugo Chávez. Why have we taken this position?

24,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union are on strike against the dictates of Democratic Party mayor Rahm Emanuel and his corporate backers. This is the first time in 25 years that the CTU has gone out on strike, and comes in the shadow of the upcoming US presidential election. This marks a new chapter in the nationwide struggle between public-sector unions and the Democratic Party.

As we take a break for the summer, we publish this special statement produced by our international sister website, In Defence of Marxism, on the Euro-crisis. The crisis of the euro resembles a long drawn-out death agony. There is one “decisive” summit after another, each proclaiming a definitive end to the euro crisis. The markets rally for a few hours or days and then fall once more. The index of the European stock markets resembles a thermometer that tracks the process of a terminally sick patient. This turbulence in the markets is an accurate reflection of the state of mind of the bourgeoisie, characterized by extreme nervousness. This in turn is a reflection of the fact that the present crisis is unparalleled in its scope. The bourgeoisie finds itself adrift in uncharted waters with no map or compass.

As in 2006, mass street protests have erupted in Mexico against electoral fraud by the ruling class. Accounts of massive vote-buying by the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) have prompted as many as half-a-million people, mainly youth, to come out to the streets of Mexico City. As a first step, the candidate of the left, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, should call for more protests, demonstrations, and occupations. But the lesson of 2006 is that such a movement can only succeed if it is the launching pad for an all-out general strike.