Yesterday night, Islamist forces under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered Aleppo, Syria's second largest city. For the first time in the history of the Syrian Civil War, terrorists are freely flying the flag of the Islamic State across the city of Aleppo - armed and trained by the Turkish state as well as the United States and UK. Roads leading out of the city remain blocked by the cars of thousands of civilians fleeing from HTS forces.

The pro-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have entered and secured the majority Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood of Aleppo in order to defend the area against the Turkish-backed ethno-nationalist Free Syrian Army and HTS.

Russian forces in coalition with the Syrian Arab Army under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad have begun an aerial counter-attack to retake the city from terrorist and imperialist forces. Regional states such as Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia have reiterated their position in support of the internationally recognised legitimacy of the Syrian Arab Republic.

After a year-long campaign by Palestine Action, Barclays has completely divested from Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms manufacturer. 🇵🇸

Palestine Action has carried out over 50 direct actions against Barclays branches, including smashing windows and covering buildings in red paint.

Prior to today, Barclays held more than 16,000 shares in Elbit Systems, valued at over £2.5 million.

?BREAKING: President Zelensky has been told that Ukraine is “too corrupt” for NATO Membership. 

This comes just one month before the NATO summit, where Zelensky is expected to be told that he must take additional measures to combat corruption before membership talks can proceed.

Despite the US's assurances to the Soviet Union in the early 1990s that NATO would not expand “one inch eastward”, NATO members agreed in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance. 

Following the 2014 Euromaidan coup, Ukraine intensified its efforts to join NATO, formally applying for membership in 2022 in a move that is widely recognised as the key cause of the devastating conflict in the region.

Ukraine has long struggled with corruption, an issue that has only become more apparent since 2014. The Ukrainian military includes battalions made up of neo-Nazis, and several high-profile scandals have occurred in recent months. 

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index places Ukraine in the ‘red zone’, ranking it 104th out of 180 countries.

Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Starting in Shanghai in 1921 with just 57 members, the CPC’s membership has since grown to 98 million, making it the second-largest political party in the world. ??

From 1921 to 1949, the CPC led the Chinese people in their struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism. They successfully drove out the Japanese invaders in 1945 and defeated the Kuomintang to establish the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Following this victory, the CPC took on the task of rebuilding China from the ruins of the “century of national humiliation,” leading systematic large-scale socialist construction and achieving economic and social progress unparalleled in human history.

Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, from 1949 until 1976, caloric intake doubled, GDP and literacy rates quintupled, gross industrial output increased 40-fold, and life expectancy rose by 31 years, representing the most rapid sustained increase in a major country.

In 1978, under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership, China adopted the reform and opening-up policy. Since then, China has transformed from one of the world's poorest nations to an upper-middle-income country, lifting almost a billion people out of poverty.

The remarkable story of the CPC demonstrates to the world that socialism is a viable and successful alternative to the capitalist world system, where resources are used to uplift people rather than generate profit.