US hits Russia oil companies with sanctions as Moscow as Moscow holds nuclear drills
The United States hit Russia’s major oil companies with sanctions on Wednesday and accused the Russians of a lack of commitment toward ending the war in Ukraine, as Moscow conducted a major training exercise involving nuclear arms. The new sanctions were unveiled one day after plans for a summit between...
Lawyers for Cuban man deported by Trump to Africa demand to know his health condition after going on hunger strike in prison
Roberto Mosquera del Peral was one of five men sent to the small kingdom in southern Africa in mid-July as part of the US deportation programme to Africa. It has been criticised by rights groups and lawyers, who say deportees are being denied due process and exposed to rights abuses.
Trumps calls them ‘Hate America’ rallies but the ‘No Kings’ protests expose unease with current regime
While protests earlier this year – against Elon Musk’s cuts and Trump’s military parade – drew crowds, organizers say this one is uniting the opposition. Top Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders are joining what organisers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.
‘Truce is not peace’: In the media, truce means bombing has stopped, in Gaza it’s a frightened breath and an ache of survival
The truce there is a short breath between two suffocations. And here, the calm feels like betrayal. Words lose meaning when you know the distance between language and reality is measured in pain. I saw a short video of a woman still searching for her son’s body under the rubble – even after the truce. She said: “The war didn’t stop inside me.”
How Trump’s family mega-dollar business interests in Qatar kowtowed Netanyahu into signing Israel-Hamas peace deal
Qatar has also played an increasingly critical role in helping the US broker diplomatic deals. In recent years, Qatar played a role in helping Nato and US arrange the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Iran–US prisoner swap, and the release of Ukrainian children from Russia. More recently, it has been a key mediator and drafter of ceasefire plans to end the genocide in Gaza.
WHO director: Bill Gates has bragged about making $550m from vaccines for Covid-19, which he ‘and others now admit was not a dangerous virus’
Dore pointed out that a previous WHO director, Margaret Chan, admitted to begging donors for money, which she said was spent on projects highly linked to their preferences. “Bill Gates basically is the biggest funder to the WHO and he basically dictates what they do, and it basically comes down to what’s going to pad his bottom-line,” Dore said.
UN to whittle down peacekeeping missions by 14,000 troops in response to US funding strains
UN peacekeeping operations have grown dramatically. At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, there were 11,000 UN peacekeepers. By 2014, there were 130,000 in 16 peacekeeping operations. Today, around 52,000 men and women serve in 11 conflict areas in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
