I wrote a book about why the left should support Chinese socialism and why all peace-loving people should stand up against the US-led New Cold War. It's called 'The East is Still Red – Chinese socialism in the 21st century'. Get it from Praxis Press: redletterspp.com/collections…

You taught us this just as well / That the rich man heaven is the poor man's hell Peter Tosh, Burial (1979) If capital celebrated the first round of the Brazilian elections, it’s mourning the second round. The São Paulo stock exchange fell 17 percent this morning – the steepest fall since 1992 – and the Brazilian real suffered its biggest drop against the dollar in more than 30 years. “Markets were broadly positioned for a Bolsonaro victory”, and clearly they really liked the idea of deregulation and austerity, pushing the cost of capitalist crisis onto the poorest households. We needn’t feel too sorry for these scoundrels.

Lula has won. What a joy, what a relief, what a stunning victory! The stakes were extremely high. For Brazil’s democracy: Flávio Bolsonaro promised to rewrite the 1988 Constitution, overhaul the judiciary and go after the Supreme Court that convicted his father. For Brazil’s working class: a Bolsonaro government would mean austerity, deregulation and an attack on the gains of the last four years, from Brazil’s exit from the UN Hunger Map to the abolition of the six-day working week. For the planet: under Lula, Amazon deforestation has more than halved. Bolsonaro promised agribusiness and mining a free hand. For Latin America: seven far-right candidates have won presidential elections in the region in 18 months, with the overt backing of Washington. Brazil would have been the biggest prize yet for the Donroe Doctrine. For the world: Brazil is a founding member of BRICS, a consistent voice for peace and multipolarity, and an opponent of genocide in Gaza. A Bolsonaro government would have signed up to Trump’s Shield of the Americas, and aligned Brazil with the US and Israel against Palestine, Iran, Russia, China and the Global South. What turned things around between the first and second rounds? More than anything: mass mobilisation. The left went into the streets and fought. Trade unions, students, social movements and oppressed groups mobilised on a scale not seen for years, with street rallies, door-knocking, and a concerted push to reach the more than 30 million Brazilians who didn’t vote three weeks ago. The government also gave them something concrete to fight for, with legislation ending the six-day work week and providing debt relief for families. It became abundantly clear that the choice facing voters was between, on the one hand, workers’ rights, sovereignty and democracy; and on the other, austerity, Trump and the militias. The mobilisation of the last few weeks offers important clues on how to sustain this victory. Progressive forces will have to stay organised, stay vigilant, and remain on the streets to defend the result, defend the Constitution, and push the government forward against a hostile Congress and Senate. Meanwhile, it’s pretty obvious that the PT and its allies must work to rebuild their mass base. A party founded in the factories of São Paulo now has to deepen its efforts to adapt to a 21st-century economy; to organise app drivers, delivery riders, informal workers and young people, and contest the spaces where a well-funded far right has been building its influence. The election victory is huge, but it won’t mean much if the left doesn’t work to expand popular power. Parabéns, Lula. Parabéns, o povo brasileiro! May this victory be the beginning of a new era for Brazil.

Bora Lula! For the working class of Brazil, for the Afro-Brazilian, for the indigenous, for the women, for the LGBTQ, for the Amazon, for sovereignty, for dignity, for democracy, for culture, for BRICS, for multipolarity, for Latin America, for the world.

In “the only democracy in the Middle East”, there’s a fine line between election campaigning and ethnic cleansing.

China, Cuba, Russia, Nicaragua and others stand with Iran in a strong statement responding to US threats to bomb Iran’s nuclear energy facilities. “Iran and 11 other countries have warned that attacks against nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards must never be accepted as normal, stressing that such actions violate international law and threaten nuclear safety and global non-proliferation efforts. “The statement was issued by Belarus, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe, addressing the prohibition of attacks and threats against nuclear sites dedicated to peaceful purposes. “The countries reaffirmed the inalienable right of all states to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination.” presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/10…

The Pentagon has finally won its war on tai chi and calligraphy classes! Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the Department of War has designated Confucius Institutes a national security threat, with a sinister mission “to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students”. It is unclear how language lessons, calligraphy classes, tai chi sessions, Lunar New Year celebrations, and the occasional dumpling-making workshop threaten anyone’s national security. Meanwhile, China isn’t unique in promoting its culture abroad. Britain has the British Council, France the Alliance Française, Spain the Instituto Cervantes. The US State Department runs hundreds of “American Spaces” around the world. Apparently the US regime has reached the conclusion that any exposure to Chinese culture; any contact with Chinese people; any appreciation of Chinese civilisation; any notion of friendship and cooperation with China is a danger to white supremacy and the global imperialist order. Which, in a sense, it is. But that’s not the same as being a threat to national security. Anyway, this ship has sailed. Sensible young people in the US despise their own regime and are increasingly appreciative of China’s role in promoting peace, its leadership in climate action, and its commitment to improving the lives of ordinary people. Crass McCarthyism will solve no problems and will only make the US government look more ridiculous in the eyes of its own citizens and the world.