The Republic of Lithuania formally referred the situation in Belarus to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sept. 30, citing alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated by the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. The referral, submitted by Minister of Justice… Read moreLithuania calls on ICC to investigate crimes in Belarus
With Lebanon under bombardment and the world awaiting Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attacks on its territory, fears mount that Iran’s nuclear facilities could be targeted—which, in addition to being an environmental disaster in its own right, could represent the crossing of a moral threshold toward the use of nuclear weapons. So two theaters of the world conflict—the Middle East and Ukraine—now constitute a looming nuclear threat. Meanwhile, the other horsemen of the apocalypse continue their relentless advance—climate change, cyber-based disinformation and the ultimate replacement of humanity by artificial intelligence. In Episode 246 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg looks for glimmers of hope in emerging signs of human resistance—such as the East Coast dockworkers’ strike, which is demanding a ban on all automation at the ports. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: CounterVortex)
The UK announced that it will transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, now ruled as the British Indian Ocean Territory, to Mauritius after more than two centuries of control. A joint statement issued by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth hails the accord as an “historic political agreement on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.” The UK-US military base on the archipelago’s principal island of Diego Garcia will remain operational for an initial period of 99 years to ensure its continued “vital role in regional and global security.” The UK will be “authorised to exercise the sovereign rights of Mauritius” on Diego Garcia. The decision follows two years of negotiations over the future of the islands between the two nations. (Map: Republic of Mauritius)
Amnesty International highlighted the failure of successive Iraqi governments to ensure justice, truth and reparation for the lethal crackdown on the 2019 Tishreen (October) protests. A new report reveals ongoing impunity five years after nationwide demonstrations that led to hundreds of deaths and disappearances, and thousands of injuries among the protesters. The Tishreen demonstrations, which began Oct. 1, 2019, saw hundreds of thousands of Iraqis taking to the streets to demand jobs, improved public services, and an end to government corruption. Amnesty found that they were met with “serious human rights violations and crimes under international law…including the excessive and unlawful use of lethal force by anti-riot police, counterterrorism forces and members of Popular Mobilization Units.” According to Amnesty’s analysis of information from Iraqi courts, out of 2,700 criminal investigations opened, only 10 arrest warrants have been issued against suspected perpetrators, and a mere seven convictions have been handed down. (Photo: JURIST)
Iran launched scores of ballistic missiles into Israeli territory, in what it described as an exercise of its “legitimate right to self-defense under the UN Charter.” In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attacks aimed to avenge the deaths of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC general Abbas Nilforoushan. Gen. Nilforoushan was apparently killed in the same strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in which Nasrallah was slain. The Iranian attacks came hours after Israel announceda ground incursion into Lebanon, and as UN experts warned of the dire consequences of regional hostilities. (Image: Pixabay)
Twenty-six countries expressed their support for a legal initiative to hold the Taliban accountable at the International Court of Justice for systematic human rights violations against women and girls in Afghanistan. In a joint statement, the countries emphasized Afghanistan’s obligations under international law, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international bill of rights for women. Since the Taliban’s seizure of de facto power in 2021, Afghan women and girls have faced severe violations of their rights. The Taliban government has taken various measures to limit their participation in public life and has engaged in systematic discrimination, which has been called “gender apartheid.” (Photo: 12019/Pixabay via Jurist)
In the first CounterVortex meta-podcast of February 2018, we noted the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists‘ decision to advance the minute hand of its Doomsday Clock to two minutes of midnight, citing the threats of nuclear weapons, climate change and “cyber-based disinformation.” The clock… Read moreCounterVortex meta-podcast: ranting against the apocalypse
UN officials warn of a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon as death tolls mount from Israeli air-strikes. Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council: “Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon and we should all be alarmed by the escalation.” Human Rights Watch has called for urgent UN action, reporting that some 1,600 Israeli strikes have killed at least 700 people, including 50 children, and injured thousands in the span of four days. The UN Refugee Agency reveals that some 90,000 Lebanese residents had been displaced. (Photo: UNICEF/Dar Al Mussawir via UN News)
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, a non-profit organization advocating for Haitian immigrants, filed criminal charges against Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance, his running mate in the current presidential race. The charges, brought before the municipal court in Ohio’s Clark County, stem from false claims made by Trump and Vance alleging that Haitian immigrants in the town of Springfield were abducting and eating local pets. The allegations have sparked outrage and fear within Springfield’s Haitian community. In the court filing, HBA claims that the comments by Trump and Vance have incited anti-immigrant sentiment, resulting in threats and harassment of local Haitian immigrants and those who support them. The complaint calls on the court to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance on charges including aggravated menacing and telecommunications harassment. (Image via Twitter)
Typhoons, storms and flooding have killed hundreds and left millions homeless across four continents in recent days. More than 600 people—mostly in Vietnam and Burma—died whenSuper Typhoon Yagi, one of the strongest typhoons to hit Southeast Asia in decades, tore through the region, triggering landslides. In China, Typhoon Bebinca battered the commercial capital, Shanghai, forcing more than 400,000 people to evacuate. In Europe, at least 23 people died when Storm Boris dumped five times September’s average rainfall in a single week. In the United States, parts of North and South Carolina recorded 45 centimeters of rain in 12 hours—a statistic so rare it’s considered a once-in-a-thousand-year event. Inevitably, the wild weather has been devastating for more vulnerable countries. In conflict-affected northeastern Nigeria, half of the city of Maiduguri is under water after a local dam overflowed following torrential rains; recently emptied displacement camps are being used to shelter the homeless. In neighboring Chad, meanwhile, flooding has killed more than 340 people in the country’s south. (Photo: CounterVortex)
The French government deployed the special anti-riot police, the Republican Security Companies (CRS), to Martinique in response to ongoing protests over the rising cost of living on the French-ruled Caribbean island. The deployment marks the first time CRS units have been sent to Martinique since they were banned from the territory in December 1959, following violent protests in departmental capital Fort-de-France that drew widespread criticism over heavy-handed police intervention. (Map: PCL)
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa announced a decision to introduce a bill amending Article 5 of the constitution, to permit the establishment of foreign military bases in the country. A video Noboa posted announcing the decision was recorded at the military base in Manta, Manabí province. Established in 1999, the base had previously been leased to and operated by the United States military to combat drug trafficking. Ecuadorian activists long protested the presence of the US military. Upon taking power in 2007, left-populist president Rafael Correa—under whom the current constitution was enacted—stated that the lease would not be renewed, resulting in the US military formally leaving the Manta base in 2009. But the statement from Noboa’s office asserts: “Ecuador is facing a battle against transnational crime. This requires a strong national and international response.” (Map: PCL)
