In Episode 110 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg rants against the current greenwashing of nuclear power, and hype about a supposedly “safe” new generation of reactors. Every stage of the nuclear cycle is ecocidal and genocidal. Uranium mining has… Read morePodcast: Nuclear power? No thanks!
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met with the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, at Gudaibiya Palace in the capital Manama, to discuss boosting trade and diplomatic ties, which were first established in 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords. Cohen said he hoped this would be a precedent for "normalization" of Israel's relations with other Arab states. Tellingly, the meeting came as Israel and Bahrain are each facing hunger strikes in their prisons, with political detainees protesting harsh conditions and restrictions on their basic rights. (Map: PCL)
In a referendum Dec. 12, voters in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia rejected independence by an overwhelming 96%. The vote was the final of three mandated by the 1998 Nouméa Accord with the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), which had… Read moreChina factor in New Caledonia anti-independence vote
France has dispatched hundreds of army troops to the overseas territory of French Guiana, to hunt down outlaw gold miners who have destroyed thousands of hectares of rainforest along the Maroni River over the past months. But apprehending the garimpeiros is nearly impossible; they abandon their… Read moreFrench troops hunt outlaw miners in Guiana
France, now in the process of drawing down its military presence in West Africa’s Sahel nations, has criticized plans that could see Russian mercenaries brought to Mali, where jihadist groups tied to ISIS or al-Qaeda operate in large parts of… Read moreRussian mercenaries to Mali?
France’s highest court on Sept. 7 overturned a lower-court decision to dismiss charges of complicity in crimes against humanity by cement company LaFarge, which is accused of paying ISIS and other militant groups at least 13 million euros to keep… Read moreFrench firm charged with abetting ISIS atrocities
More than 500,000 people are in need of emergency assistance in Haiti’s southern peninsula, where last week’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake has killed more than 2,100 people and injured more than 12,200. Aid and medical efforts are hampered by debris-strewn roads, rain from… Read moreHaiti: gang warfare hinders earthquake recovery
The tri-border region where the Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali come together is the scene of fast-mounting massacres by presumed Islamist militants. At least 80 people were killed in an ambush in Burkina Faso on Aug. 18. The target… Read moreMounting massacres across Africa’s Sahel nations
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged states to dismantle systematic racism against African and African-descendent peoples, in a June 28 report focusing on law enforcement around the world. “The status quo is untenable,” Bachelet said. “Systemic racism needs a systemic response…. Read moreUN: end systemic racism in law enforcement
France is to reduce its forces battling jihadists in the Sahel—a seven-year deployment that has failed to stem the violence, and which has proved increasingly unpopular both in the region and domestically. President Emmanuel Macron said on June 10 there would… Read moreFrance announces Sahel drawdown
President Idriss Déby of Chad died following injuries sustained in fighting against rebels in the country’s north, authorities announced April 20. The president’s son, Gen. Mahamat Kaka, is said to be serving as interim president. Déby had just been declared provisional winner of another… Read moreChad: president killed as rebels advance
Amnesty International condemned the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and its partners from the Russian private military company Wagner Group for perpetration of war crimes, including the murder and torture of civilians. Summary executions and massacres appear to have targeted ethnic Fulani men, in what is described as a campaign of ethnic cleansing. A landmark human rights case has been filed before the African Court on Human & Peoples' Rights (ACtHPR) by TRIAL International, the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) against FAMa and Wagner for their role in repeated atrocities and massacres, most famously that at Moura in March 2022. (Photo via Lansing Indstitute)
