Exiled leaders of Russia’s Itelmen, Kamchadal, Udege, Shor, Saami and Selkup indigenous peoples issued a statement on March 10 declaring that they are “outraged by the war President Putin has unleashed against Ukraine. At the moment, the entire population of Ukraine is in grave danger. Old people,… Read moreRussian indigenous leaders protest Putin’s war
Amid quickly escalating tensions over Ukraine, Russia has lodged a diplomatic protest with the US embassy in Moscow, claiming that a US nuclear submarine penetrated Russian territorial waters near the Kuril Islands. According to Moscow’s Defense Ministry, a Virginia-class US… Read moreSubmarine incident in flashpoint Kuril Islands
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)
In Episode 102 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg interviews Joanna Chiu, author of China Unbound: A New World Disorder, on the precipitous rise of the People’s Republic as a world power, and the dilemmas this poses for human rights… Read morePodcast: China Unbound with Joanna Chiu
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Dec. 13 warned that Moscow will deploy intermediate-range nuclear weapons if NATO does not accede to demands to stop arming Ukraine and guarantee an end to eastward expansion of the alliance. His remarks came… Read moreRapid nuclear escalation, East and West
As Trump and Hegseth explicitly broach the surrender of Ukrainian territory to Russia, a poorly positioned Zelensky is acceding to demands that he turn a large portion of his country's strategic mineral wealth over to the US in compensation for military aid. Especially at issue are Ukraine's significant reserves of lithium—critical to de facto "co-president" Elon Musk's e-vehicle interests. In announcing a new lithium refinery in Texas, Musk called the mineral "the new oil." The premium on Ukraine's strategic minerals is elevated by China's perceived design to establish control over the planet's rare earth elements. However, as Zelensky is quick to emphasize, nearly 20% of Ukraine's mineral resources are in areas under Russian occupation. (Map: ResearchGate)
Human Rights Watch on Nov. 12 accused the corporate sponsors of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics of ignoring China’s crimes against humanity in its far western region of Xinjiang, thus “squandering the opportunity” to pressure China to address its “appalling human rights… Read moreCorporate sponsors of Beijing Olympics under pressure
In Episode 97 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg dissects the geopolitics of the new James Bond movie, No Time to Die, and how the Daniel Craig reboot of the series has finessed the cultural icon’s role in the New Cold… Read morePodcast: 007 in the New Cold War
A Hong Kong district court on Oct. 25 found delivery worker-turned-activist Ma Chun-man guilty of incitement to secession for his actions at over 20 protests and in several interviews last year. Famously dubbed “Captain America 2.0” by local news media for dressing… Read moreHong Kong: second conviction under national security law
The first “patriots only” vote under Hong Kong’s new political system was held Sept. 19, to choose members for a 1,500-member Election Committee—although only some 360 of the seats were actually contested. Voting was restricted to some 5,000 individuals representing different professions and… Read moreHong Kong: ‘patriots’ in, democrats out
Four key members of the group behind Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Massacre vigil were arrested Sept. 8. The arrests came the morning after the activists publicly refused a police demand for information as part of a “national security” probe into the… Read moreMembers of HK Tiananmen vigil group arrested
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Aug. 2 charged pro-democracy activist Au Nok-hin and Cantopop singer Wong Yiu-ming, AKA Anthony Wong, with “corrupt conduct” for allegedly breaching election laws by having Wong perform two songs at a rally for Au in… Read moreHong Kong: crackdown on dissident Cantopop
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