India

Global carbon emissions hit record high in 2024

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high in 2024, with still no sign that they've peaked, according to a "carbon budget" assessment by the UK-based Global Carbon Project. Researchers found that burning of oil, gas and coal emitted 41.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2024, a 0.8% increase over 2023. When added to emissions generated by land-use changes such as deforestation, a total of 45.8 billion tons of CO2 was emitted in 2024. At this rate, the researchers see a 50% chance that global warming will exceed the 1.5 Celsius warming target set by the Paris Agreement within six years. The findings come as the UN climate talks open in Azerbaijan, where the parties are ostensibly negotiating ways to meet the Paris targets. But the leaders of the biggest carbon emitters—those nations responsible for 70% of 2023 emissions—did not bother to attend the gathering. (Photo of Azerbaijan oilfields: Indigoprime via Wikimedia Commons)

Syria

Podcast: against hippie fascism

Once-time peacenik icon Tulsi Gabbard has joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr in defecting to the now openly fascist and even Nazi-embracing MAGA camp—actually becoming members of the Trump transition team. Meanwhile, the Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, likewise enamoured of Vladimir Putin and the dictators in his orbit (including mass murderer Bashar Assad), is being represented by a former Trump attorney in her bid to get on the ballot in swing state Nevada. Beyond the threat that she could serve as a spoiler and throw the election to Trump, this raises questions about the cooptation of segments of the American left by MAGA-fascism. It is no longer just the old-school sectarian "tankie" left that's in danger of taking the fascist lure in a Red-Brown alliance, but the pacifist, cannabis-friendly "green" left as well. In Episode 244 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg raises the alarm. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. (Image via Freedom Leaf)

Progress on making ecocide an international crime

Three Pacific island nations have proposed that ecocide become a crime under international law, which would see the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecute cases of environmental destruction alongside war crimes and genocide. The move by Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa is unlikely to see fast results but is expected to force ICC member states to at least consider the question. The initiative could one day lead to company leaders, or even nations, facing prosecution. However, ICC member states notably do not include China, Russia, India or the United States. (Photo: Stefan Müller via Wikimedia Commons)

Podcast: world war or world revolution?

In Episode 239 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg provides an overview of the protest waves and uprisings going on across the planet—in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, China, Serbia, Venezuela, and in Israel. This as worldwide protests in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza continue. Amid ongoing protests against Netanyahu in Israel, there have also been protests against Hamas in Gaza. Despite internal dangers and contradictions in all these upsurges, there is a sense that we could be approaching a revolutionary moment such as that seen in 2011—the year of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. And with the planet on an accelerating trajectory toward world war, the linking of these upsurges through conscious solidarity and the infusion of anti-war content to their demands is urgently mandated. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo via Twitter)

India lifts ban on civil servants joining RSS paramilitary

The Indian government has removed a 58-year-long policy forbidding civil servants and bureaucrats from joining or associating with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an opposition leader revealed. Jairam Ramesh, a member of Parliament with the Indian National Congress, posted a photo on Twitter of the memorandum lifting the ban by the Department of Personnel & Training. In his post, Ramesh noted that the ban was put in place in response to the assassination of independence leader Mohandas Gandhi by RSS militant Nathuram Godse in 1948. The initially temporary ban was made permanent in 1966. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely perceived to be "on the same page" as the RSS, and his Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has long-standing ties to the right-wing Hindu paramilitary organization. This has been protested by the opposition as contrary to the spirit of India's secular constitution. The result of India's elections for the lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, was announced in June, with the BJP-led coalition winning a third consecutive term. (Photo: Suyash Dwivedi via Wikimedia Commons)

Diego Garcia detainees in bureaucratic limbo

Lawyers for some of approximately 60 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seekers stranded on the British-held island of Diego Garcia have appealed to the UK's new Foreign Minister David Lammy to intervene after the US blocked them from visiting the island for a hearing set to take place this week. The US runs a secretive military facility on the island, and issued the decision to bar the legal team on a "confidential" basis, citing "national security." The lawyers are accusing the island's government—the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) administration—of illegally detaining their clients, who have been confined to a small camp for nearly three years after fleeing Sri Lanka and India by boat. The BIOT administration claims to have no role in negotiating permission for the visit, but lawyers for the asylum-seekers say the administration has a duty to persuade the US to allow the hearing to take place and ensure the rule of law on the remote British territory. (Photo via TNH)

India: security forces launch new anti-Naxal ops

Indian security forces killed at least 29 Naxal insurgents in Kanker Bastar district of Chhattisgarh state this month. The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) carried out the joint operation in what the BSF called "a major crackdown against the Maoist menace." Among those reported killed was a top Naxal commander, Shankar Rao. A large cache of weapons was also reported to have been seized in the operation. Chhattisgarh is one of several states, mostly in east-central India, officially designated as affected by Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). (Map: Wikipedia)

Farmers’ march on Delhi met with repression

Amnesty International released a statement decrying the Indian government's disproportionate restrictions on the right to peaceful protest instated to quell the "Dilli Chalo" (on to Delhi) farmers protest. In response to farmers' cross-country mobilization to protest agricultural policies, Indian authorities imposed limitations on group gatherings, erected barricades along the route of the march, and used tear-gas and rubber bullets against the farmers. (Photo: Ravan Khosa via Wikimedia Commons)

Burma: key border city falls to rebels

Burma's ruling junta acknowledged that it withdrew its forces from a key city on the border with China after it was seized by an alliance of ethnic rebel armies. The fall of Laukkai is the most significant defeat the junta has suffered since the self-declared Three Brotherhood Alliance launched its offensive in northeastern Shan state in October. Days earlier, at least 150 junta soldiers fled across the border into India's Mizoram state, driven from their outposts in Burma's northwestern Chin state by the rebel Arakan Army. The soldiers turned themselves over to a detachment of India's paramilitary Assam Rifles, and had to be flown back to Burmese territory. (Map: PCL)

India: army investigates civilian deaths in Kashmir

The Indian army initiated an investigation into the deaths of three civilians in the Poonch district of Jammu & Kashmir territory. The individuals were reportedly in army custody following a militant attack that claimed the lives of four soldiers. In the aftermath of the attack, the army detained eight civilians from Topa Pir village in Poonch for questioning. Residents allege that the civilians were arbitrarily picked up and denied communication with their families. Their bodies were discovered under mysterious circumstances near the Pakistan border. The affair has led to outrage and protests in the already volatile region. (Photo: Kashmir Global via Nationalia)

India in peace deal with (some) Assam rebels

The Indian government and the state government of Assam signed a peace agreement in New Delhi with the rebel United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), aiming to end over 40 years of insurgency. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma highlighted the importance of moving towards similar peace initiatives with other “separatist" and "insurgent" groups in the state, including Bodo, Karbi, and Adivasi rebels. However, ULFA-Independent, an intransigent faction, was excluded from the negotiations, and remains in arms. (Photo: K. Aksoy via CounterVortex)

Taliban hydro scheme raises tension with Pakistan

The Taliban regime's announcement of plans for construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Kunar River is escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The 480-kilometer Kunar River originates in the Hindu Kush mountains of central Afghanistan and merges with the Kabul River, which in turn flows into Pakistan to join with the Indus. The proposed reservoir and use of the Kunar's waters for irrigation within Afghanistan would mean less water for agriculture in Pakistan, officials protest. One Pakistani provincial official said that a unilateral decision by the Taliban to build the dam "will be considered a hostile act against Pakistan." Jan Achakzai, information minister for the border province of Balochistan, warned of "severe consequences," including "potential conflict." (Photo: Peretz Partensky via Wikimedia Commons)