Day: December 19, 2016

Europe
Reichsbürger

Reichsbürger plot: Russian ‘hybrid aggression’?

The Brussels-based pro-EU think-tank International Foundation for Better Governance (IFBG) is calling the apparent thwarted ultra-right plot to overthrow the German government by the so-called “Reichsbürger” movement “a classic example of the hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation.” The statement notes that chancellor Olaf Scholz, apparently one of those marked for “physical elimination” in the Reichsbürger plot, is a key supporter of Ukraine among Western leaders, and was chiefly responsible for the recent German donation of Gepard mobile anti-aircraft systems to the Kyiv government. IFBG concludes: “The circumstances demand that Russia must be completely isolated, receive the maximum possible sanctions and be recognised as a terrorist state by the parliaments of Western countries.” (Photo of 2013 Reichsbürger rally in Berlin via WikimediaCommons. Banner reads: “The German people, freed from Napoleon in 1813, freed from EU-fascism in 2013”)

Africa
uganda

Uganda-DRC joint offensive against ISIS franchise

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are continuing to pursue a joint military offensive launched late last month against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group that is now said to be integrated into the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). The ironically named ADF has carried out a string of recent attacks in Uganda, and has for years been terrorizing the DRC’s North Kivu province. The Ugandan and DRC militaries say they have captured some 35 fighters and “neutralized” four rebel camps. The campaign has included air raids and artillery strikes. (Photo via Africa Institute for Security Studies)

Oceania
torres strait

Strategic strait at issue in Australia-China rift

Amid trade wars, diplomatic tiffs and propaganda sniping, the ugliness between China and Australia seems set to escalate as Beijing enters an agreement with Papua New Guinea to establish an industrial foothold within the narrow Torres Strait. Radio Australia reports that community leaders in North Queensland, just across the strait from New Guinea, fear that China’s plan to construct the facility will jeopardize border security and threaten the commercial fishing sector. There are also concerns that Beijing will attempt to militarize the outpost, seeking to counterbalance the new US-Australian naval base planned for PNG’s Manus Island. (Map: Torres Strait Regional Authority)

Iraq

Popular protests rock Iraqi Kurdistan

Thousands took to the streets across Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region  to protest budget cuts and the lack of basic services. At least six were killed as security forces fired on protesting civil servants in Raniya, who have gone without pay for weeks. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) administration. Protesters armed with assault rifles attacked the local office of the KRG's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Raniya, where a curfew has now been imposed. (Photo: Rudaw)

COUNTER-REVOLUTION CRUSHES ALEPPO

by Ashley Smith, Socialist Worker

The combined forces of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shia death squads are reconquering Eastern Aleppo, according to reports—and with it, the last of the major cities liberated by the Syrian Revolution since 2011.

“Aleppo is being destroyed and burned completely,” Mohammad Abu Rajab, a doctor in Aleppo, said in a voice message quoted by the Guardian. “This is a final distress call to the world. Save the lives of these children and women and old men. Save them. Nobody is left. You might not hear our voice after this. It is the last call, the last call to every free person in this world. Save the city of Aleppo.”

After it was freed from regime control in 2012, Aleppo was “a symbol of the democratic alternative that could be Syria,” as Syrian revolutionary Joseph Daher put it.

That’s why Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies declared unremitting war against it. They subjected Eastern Aleppo to a siege to starve its people and force them to flee.

Continue ReadingCOUNTER-REVOLUTION CRUSHES ALEPPO 
East Asia

South Korea threatens free expression too…

As partisans of North Korea use threats to supress The Interview, South Korea's high court bans a pro-DPRK political party. Do you think either side grasps the irony?

The Andes

Venezuela, Bolivia: protecting or fighting the cartels?

Even as the White House censures Venezuelan officials for “narco-terrorist” ties, the Hugo Chávez government handed a top Colombian drug trafficking suspect, Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco AKA “Valenciano,” over to US authorities.

Greater Middle East

Yemen: new air-strikes target al-Qaeda

For the second time this week, air-strikes are reported from Yemen—this time against purported al-Qaeda targets in the country’s north, leaving 34 dead.