We publish here an article by a comrade from Socialist Appeal USA, who looks at the causes and impact of the Zika virus – an epidemic that is hitting the poorest communities in Brazil and across the South America and the USA. The spread of the Zika virus is yet another clear example of capitalism’s inability to solve the fundamental problems facing humanity.

Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister, has put himself at the head of the European Left and is touring the continent to gather support for his “DIEM25” (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025) project to reform the institutions of the European Union. Can such a Herculean task be achieved? Or is Varoufakis’ “Modest Proposal” of DIEM25 doomed to fail?

Jérôme Métellus of the French Marxists, Révolution, provides an assessment and analysis of the inspiring and militant mass movement of workers and youth in France against the hated and reactionary El Khomri labour law. What is the way forward for workers in this struggle?