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Israeli cabinet meets on West Bank annexation

The Israeli cabinet will convene to discuss annexation of areas of the West Bank, local media report. The discussion has been called in light of the recently-approved settlement construction plan spearheaded by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which will see some 3,400 housing units built in the West Bank's contentious E1 area between Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement bloc. This follows approval of a Knesset resolution in favor of annexing the entirety of the West Bank. The motion, which passed 71-13, declared that the West Bank is "an inseparable part of the Land of Israel, the historical, cultural and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people," and that "Israel has the natural, historical and legal right to all of the territories of the Land of Israel." (Photo: delayed gratification via New Jewish Resistance)

MAGA-fascism and the struggle in El Salvador II

Kilmar Abrego García, released from extrajudicial detention in El Salvador, now fights deportation to Uganda. Hundreds of the Venezuelans sent by the US to the Salvadoran prison gulag have now been returned to Venezuela in a prisoner swap. But El Salvador remains on the growing list of human rights offendors cultivated by the Trump regime as surrogate detention states. The Trump State Department's farcical "Human Rights Report" seeks to sanitize dictator Nayib Bukele's anti-crime police state. And adding to the Orwellian nature of the Trump-Bukele axis, the US Justice Department has dropped charges against MS-13 leaders who collaborated in the consolidation of the new Salvadoran dictatorship. In Episode 293 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg exposes the perverse charade. (Photo: Policía Nacional Civil de El Salvador via InfoDefensa)

Still no accountability for China’s crimes against Uyghurs

Amnesty International condemned the lack of accountability for the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghur Muslims in western Xinjiang region, noting that nearly three years have passed since a groundbreaking UN report detailed gross violations of international law against the ethnic group. In interviews with Amnesty, distraught family members recounted being prohibited from any form of contact with their loved ones, many of whom were suddenly taken away and imprisoned without due process or formal charges. They spoke of how they have remained in the dark for years about whether their relatives are alive, and how lack of transparency has meant fear and anguish, with one family member describing the uncertainty as a "wound that never heals." (Photo: Amnesty International)

Vietnam: Khmer Krom people face escalating repression

UN human rights experts condemned what they described as escalating repression against the Khmer Krom people in Vietnam, urging authorities to cease targeting minority communities through security laws, and to release those detained for peaceful activity. The experts reported that Khmer Krom rights defenders, including Theravada Buddhist monks, face systematic harassment and criminalization for peaceful efforts to promote indigenous identity, cultural expression and religious freedom. The experts further condemned government claims that indigenous and minority cultural identity threaten national security and public order. (Image: Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization-UNPO)

Amnesty sees potential Israeli war crimes in Lebanon

The Israeli military's extensive destruction of civilian property and agricultural land across southern Lebanon must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said in a new research briefing. The report, entitled "Nowhere to Return: Israel's Extensive Destruction of Southern Lebanon," documents the demolition of more than 10,000 civilian structures between October 2024 and January 2025. Amnesty concluded that the destruction, often carried out with manually laid explosives and bulldozers while Israeli forces were in control of the areas, occurred outside active combat and without the "imperative military necessity" required under international humanitarian law. (Photo via Amnesty International)

DRC prosecutor seeks execution of Kabila for M23 ties

The public prosecutor of the Democratic Republic of Congo requested the death penalty for former president Joseph Kabila during proceedings before the High Military Court in Kinshasa. Kabila, who governed the country from 2001 to 2019, is being tried in absentia on charges of treason and war crimes for his alleged ties to the M23 rebel group, which has waged a long-running insurgency in the country. He has consistently denied the allegations. (Map: PCL)

Syria

Continuing attacks on Druze population in Syria

UN human rights experts expressed deep concern over continuing violence against the Druze population in the Suwayda region of Syria. Since the outbreak of fighting in mid-July, the UN experts said they have received reports of "killings, enforced disappearances, abductions, looting, destruction of property, and sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls." The experts especially emphasized the prevalence of gender-based attacks, reporting that an estimated 105 Druze women and girls have been abducted by armed groups in connection with the Syrian interim authorities. (Map: PCL)

Global monitor confirms famine in Gaza City

A report released by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) program found that a "famine is currently occurring in Gaza Governorate," the district covering Gaza City, and is "rapidly spreading" under seige conditions imposed by Israel. Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates are also approaching the IPC's criteria for famine. Multiple international aid agencies and organizations have renewed their calls for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate an "unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives." (Photo: Jaber Jehad Badwan via Wikimedia Commons)

Podcast: Trump for War-is-Peace Prize

In Donald Trump's perverse ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize, he is citing his supposed diplomatic victories in ending six conflicts: Armenia-Azerbaijan, Congo-Rwanda, Israel-Iran, India-Pakistan, Thailand-Cambodia and Egypt-Ethiopia. In Episode 292 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines each of these examples, and breaks down how claims to have won "peace" are either extremely overstated or (more often) total Orwellian jive. The implication that Russia-Ukraine will be next, as Putin escalates his aggression, puts a hideous crown on the irony. (Image via Twitter)

Nebraska gets fed-funded migrant detention center

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced the opening of a new immigration detention center in the southwest corner of the state. The National Guard said called the move a step in supporting "the president's initiatives for homeland security." The present McCook "Work Ethic Camp," run by the state Corrections Department, will be transformed from a minimum-security facility, and its holding capacity will be expanded to approximately 300. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the new center, dubbed "Cornhusker Clink," is to be a partnership between Nebraska and the DHS. Secretary Kristi Noem remarked that the partnership aims "to remove the worst of the worst out of our country." The new detention center mirrors Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz," from which deportations have already started to occur. (Image: Change.org)

Condemn imprisonment of Qatar Baha’i dignitary

Human Rights Watch condemned the five-year prison sentence handed down to Remi Rowhani, a Baha'i religious dignitary, following a a months-long trial by Qatari authorities. Rowhani was charged for promoting an ideology that casts doubt on the foundations of Islam, an accusation stemming from several social media posts by members of the Qatari Baha'i community. The court cited article 259 of the Penal Code—which states that whoever casts doubt on the tenets of Islam, or "calls upon, or favors or promotes another religion," faces a maximum of five years in prison. (Photo via ECDHR)

US warships menace Venezuela

Three US Aegis guided-missile destroyers have been dispatched to waters off the coast of Venezuela, as part of what the Trump administration calls an effort to counter threats from Latin American drug cartels. The mobilization follows Washington's decision to increase the bounty for the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, doubling it to an unprecedented $50 million. In response to the increased US military presence in the Caribbean, President Maduro announced plans to mobilize 4.5 million members of the territorial militia across the country. "Rifles and missiles for the rural forces! To defend Venezuela's territory, sovereignty and peace," he proclaimed. (Photo: US Navy via Latin America Reports)