The UN Human Rights Council on Oct. 7 voted to create a special rapporteur on human rights in Russia. The resolution was adopted on a vote of 17 in favor, 6 against, and 24 abstentions. The Council authorizes the rapporteur… Read moreUN appoints rapporteur on human rights in Russia
Tens of thousands of conscription-age Russian men have fled to neighboring countries since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization of military reserve troops to fight in Ukraine. The tide has grown in recent days amid fears that the Kremlin will impose an… Read moreMass exodus of Russian youth
Legendary transportation activist George Bliss will be presenting a slideshow and hosting a discussion of his 1991 trip to China at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) in New York City on Friday Dec. 9. What would NYC be like if we got rid of cars and everybody rode bikes? In 1991, Bliss and filmmaker Ted White visited Guangzhou, China (then pop. six million). Only one in a thousand owned cars. Bikes cost about $50. There was no theft because cheap attended bike-parking was everywhere. Riding en masse was fun, and traffic flowed safely and efficiently with almost no red lights. The term "critical mass"—first applied to this phenomenon by Bliss in White's film Return of the Scorcher—soon became a rallying cry in the global bike movement. While that China is long gone, its legacy points to the city we could yet have, even half a world away. (Photo: George Bliss)
From Anarchist Black Cross Belarus, June 10: A full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for over three months now. The anarchist movement has responded to the Russian invasion in different ways during these three months—some have begun unconditionally… Read moreBelarus: anarchist statement on Ukraine war
Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova announced May 14 that her office is preparing war crimes cases against 41 suspects, on charges including “the bombing of civilian infrastructure, the killing of civilians, rape and looting.” Venediktova has said that her office is investigating… Read moreUkraine preparing multiple war crime cases
Belarus has served as a staging ground for one leg of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Kyiv officials warn that Belarusian forces may join Putin’s war effort. But resistance to the Russian aggression is emerging in Belarus—apparently including acts… Read moreBelarus: ‘partisans’ sabotage rail lines to Ukraine
In Episode 115 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to dissect Vladimir Putin’s ultra-cynical fascist pseudo-anti-fascism. Putin presides over Nuremberg-type mass rallies celebrating war and conquest, spews overtly genocidal rhetoric, and prepares concentration camps for the Crimean Tatars. Alexander Dugin, “Putin’s Rasputin” and… Read morePodcast: against Putin’s Big Lie
Police detained more than 4,300 people in over 50 cities across Russia on March 6, as activists mounted a second wave of protests against the invasion of Ukraine. From Moscow and St. Petersburg to the Siberian city of Irkutsk and the Pacific port of… Read moreNew wave of anti-war protest sweeps across Russia
As Russia suffers more territorial losses on the ground in eastern Ukraine, figures close to the Putin regime are escalating both the frequency and blatancy of their threats to use nuclear weapons. Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's region of Chechnya who has mobilized his regional forces to fight in Ukraine, stated on social media platform Telegram: "In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the…use of low-yield nuclear weapons." Kadyrov's comment came as Russian forces retreated from Lyman, a key city in Donetsk oblast—mere days after Putin had declared the entire oblast as annexed. Former president Dmitry Medvedev stated that if Kyiv continues its offensive on annexed territory, Russia could be "forced to use the most fearsome weapon against the Ukrainian regime." (Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense via BAS)
As Putin finally ordered his forces across the Ukrainian border into the breakaway Donbas region, the Russian anarchist group Autonomous Action issued a statement to the world, entitled “Against annexations and imperial aggression.” It reads: “We urge you to counter the Kremlin’s aggression… Read moreRussian anarchists call for anti-war resistance
Legendary transportation activist George Bliss will be presenting a slideshow and hosting a discussion of his 1991 trip to China at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) in New York City on Friday Dec. 9. What would NYC be like if we got rid of cars and everybody rode bikes? In 1991, Bliss and filmmaker Ted White visited Guangzhou, China (then pop. six million). Only one in a thousand owned cars. Bikes cost about $50. There was no theft because cheap attended bike-parking was everywhere. Riding en masse was fun, and traffic flowed safely and efficiently with almost no red lights. The term "critical mass"—first applied to this phenomenon by Bliss in White's film Return of the Scorcher—soon became a rallying cry in the global bike movement. While that China is long gone, its legacy points to the city we could yet have, even half a world away. (Photo: George Bliss)
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim AA Khan announced that his office has filed applications for arrest warrants before the Pre-trial Chamber against two leading Taliban officials accused of committing crimes against humanity. Khan stated that his office collected solid evidence suggesting that the "supreme leader" of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the chief justice of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," Abdul Hakim Haqqani, committed the crime of persecution on the basis of gender, violating Article 7 (1) (h) of the Rome Statute. He said that these Taliban officials have been persecuting Afghan women and girls, as well as any persons who don't follow their ideology, over the last four years. He said that the requested warrants are based on a wide range of evidence, including testimonies, official statements, and forensic reports gathered by a specialized investigation team. (Photo: VOA via Wikimedia Commons)
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