alanjjohnstone
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Jonathan Cook on the Labour Party
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/keir-starmer-western-imperialism-back-core-labour-policy
“The ugly new face of Labour politics under Starmer is becoming ever harder to conceal. Under cover of rooting out the remnants of Corbynism, Starmer is not only proving himself an outright authoritarian…He is also reviving the worst legacies of a Labour tradition that cheerleads western imperialism and cosies up to racist states – as long as they are allies of Washington and ready to buy British arms…”
The USA exonerates itself of war crimes in Syria
“Gen. Garrett found that the ground force commander made the best decisions that he could, given the information he had at the time, given a very lethal, very aggressive threat, in a very confined space,” he added. “It is deeply regrettable… we apologize for the loss of innocent life.”
Zelensky is proposing to extend martial law in the country – but what does that involve?
In Ukraine, it gives the military leadership the power to intervene in areas of civilian life – for example by introducing curfews, prohibiting travel and conducting searches of civilians’ homes and vehicles.
It also suspends a raft of rights that civilians have in peacetime, including:
The inviolability of private homes
The right to private correspondence and phone conversations
The right to freedom of movement, including to leave Ukraine
The right to hold peaceful meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations
The rights to work, carry out entrepreneurial activity and to go on strike
The right to education
Under martial law since the invasion, curfews have been imposed at various times in cities around the country.Men aged between 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving the country, although there are some exceptions, such as fathers of more than three children.
The US right is gaining legitimacy from foreign leaders
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/18/cpac-conference-budapest-hungary-viktor-orban-speaker
Orbán argued this week that the western world was “committing suicide” through immigration.
“I see the great European population exchange as a suicidal attempt to replace the lack of European, Christian children with adults from other civilizations – migrants,” Orbán declared
David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas was booked on one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder in relation to the attack at the Geneva Presbyterian Church, California
Chou, a United States citizen of Chinese descent, had travelled from Las Vegas and targeted the Taiwanese community out of animosity towards Taiwan and recent tensions between the island and mainland China.
There is now a black, gay, immigrant, Karine Jean-Pierre, as the public disseminator of presidential lies to the media.
The return of state capitalism?
Moscow said Renault’s Russian assets had now become state property. It is the first Russian nationalisation of a major foreign business since the invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey’s president has restated his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining Nato – just hours after they said they would seek membership.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the two Scandinavian nations need not send delegations to convince Turkey, a key Nato member, of their bids. He is angered by what he sees as their willingness to host Kurdish militants.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61472021
Meanwhile NATO holds one of the biggest-ever military exercises in the Baltics is now under way. Named “Hedgehog”, the drills involve 10 countries, including Finland and Sweden.
Some 15,000 troops are involved in the exercise in Estonia, making it one of the largest military drills held in the country since 1991. The exercise is taking place 64km (40 miles) from Russia’s nearest military base. It is intended to simulate an attack from Russia on Estonia.
Biden has approved the redeployment of US troops in Somalia, reversing a decision by his predecessor Donald Trump.
The deployment was requested by the Pentagon to support the fight against militant group al-Shabab.
In Sweden, the governing Social Democrats said they backed joining the security alliance, paving the way for the country to apply.
Ukrainian Anarchists
https://libcom.org/article/after-war-may-declaration-anarchists-ukraine
“From the national liberation war to the social revolution!”
Just words, not deeds
At the first Global Covid-19 Summit, which took place last September, the administration mentioned the need for a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for vaccines as one of its key takeaways. This time, the efforts to suspend intellectual property rules at the WTO were notably missing from the White House’s summit fact sheet.
