This year's US presidential elections are a repulsive demonstration of the utter bankruptcy of American bourgeois democracy, at a time of unprecedented crisis and polarisation. No matter who wins, American workers and youth lose. Given the nightmare US capitalism has foisted on the country and the entire world, what is needed above all is a mass socialist party that will fight for the interests of working people.

At 8pm on Monday, gunmen armed with assault rifles opened fire on the streets of Vienna. So far there are reports of four deaths and 15 wounded, of which seven are in a critical condition. Starting in Seitenstettengasse, the attackers carried out shootings at six different places in the inner district of the city. In addition to the civilian casualties, one of the attackers has been shot by police forces. An unknown number of other terrorists have, for now, managed to escape into the city. This is the first major terrorist attack in Austria in 45 years.