alanjjohnstone
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ALB, the article link points out that at present the NUS is not in receipt of any government funds. It is a pre-emptive gesture to ‘smear’ the NUS as institutionally anti-semite, a similar tactic as done with the Labour Party.
UK government is cutting links with the National Union of Students because of concerns about anti-Semitism. Universities minister Michelle Donelan said it meant the NUS would not be eligible for government funding.
A useful resource
clarification on UK law
Biden is planning to urge states and cities to use unspent money from last year’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package to further increase police funding, NBC News reported
Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia on Friday set July 17 as a date for a referendum on joining Russia.
The 16-strong executive of Wakefield constituency Labour party (CLP) has resigned en masse, accusing Keir Starmer of stitching up the selection of a candidate for the forthcoming byelection. Labour sources suggested Starmer’s office had been keen to keep Hemingway, deputy leader of Wakefield council, a left-winger, off the list
Palestinian-American Shireen Abu Akleh was not a Muslim but a Christian. Her funeral procession was attacked by Israeli police.
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/5/13/journalist-shireen-abu-akleh
Jonathan Cook analysis
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/shireen-abu-akleh-was-executed-send-message-palestinians
The Athens Declaration
We stand with the people of Ukraine, as we stand with every people suffering invasion, displacement and occupation.
We demand an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian forces and a comprehensive Peace Treaty guaranteed by the European Union, the United States and Russia in the context of the United Nations.
We urge respect for International Law and all refugees, who must have their rights protected and offered a place of safety regardless of ethnicity, religion etc.
We oppose the division of the world in competing blocs that invest in rampant militarism, hyper-modern weapons of mass destruction and a New Cold War.
We believe that lasting peace can be achieved only by replacing all military blocs with an inclusive international security framework that de-escalates tensions, expands freedoms, fights poverty, limits exploitation, pursues social and environmental justice and terminates the domination of one country by another.
With these thoughts in mind, we call upon democrats across the world to join forces in a New Non-Aligned Movement. In this context, we view non-aligned, democratic and sovereign nations working together as the route to lasting peace and a world that can avert climate catastrophe and bequeath to the next generation a decent chance at creating the conditions for globally shared prosperity.
Fine sentiments but its realisation is very much something else and can be judged by the lack of coverage by the media.
Extremism
A majority of Republicans support the possible use of force to preserve the “traditional American way of life”, according to a 2021 George Washington University Politics Poll. Among Democrats the number was 15%.
When asked if a time will come when “patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands”, 47% of Republicans agreed, as opposed to 9% of Democrats.
About one-third of Republicans also agreed that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country”, according to a 2021 survey from the Public Religion Research Institute. Among Democrats, the number was 18%.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/13/missouri-republicans-violent-rhetoric-eric-greitens
Oil drilling bonanza promises to earn Guyana roughly $150bn over the life of the oilfields, estimated at 30 years. For good or ill, that represents a huge change in fortune for a country of 800,000 people, where more than 40% live below the poverty line of $5.50 (£4.20) a day. [if it ever trickles down – ajj]
“All of those that have exploited their oil resources to develop their countries should not be telling Guyana ‘leave your oil in the ground’,” Arjoon says.
“Norway is always used as the best example of a nation that utilises oil, and it is said that they have the best model for natural resources. So why should Guyana be any different? Who is to say that little Guyana, which has been blessed with so much abundant resources including oil, should not take advantage?”https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/12/exxon-oil-deal-guyana-climate
Ukraine starts the war crime trials
Another demonstration by Ukrainian families for the rescue of the besieged soldiers.
“…Relatives and supporters of the Ukrainian fighters holed up in the Azovstal steel plant demonstrated in Kyiv on Thursday, pleading for them to be rescued.
Many of the civilians holed up at the plant have been evacuated but no deal has been reached with Moscow on allowing out hundreds of fighters, some of whom are wounded.
Demonstrators, mostly women, marched through central Kyiv, holding banners and chanting, “Save defenders of Mariupol, save Azovstal,” “Glory to the heroes of Mariupol,” and, “Save the military of Azovstal.”Maria Zimareva, whose relative is among the Azov battalion fighters, said tearfully:
“I want all the defenders who are there to return home so that they can continue a normal life with their children and relatives.”
“People holed up in the steelworks were dying of wounds that could normally be treated,” said Tetiana Pogorlova:
“Nobody attempts to save them. There is nothing we can do except for gathering at such demonstrations and making demands on our authorities.”
Mariupol resident Alina Nesterenko was also at the demonstration in the capital:
“The conditions they are in are horrible. I have no words to describe them. That’s why we are here. We are begging, we are pleading in every possible way, we are asking for our loved ones to be saved.”
I stand to be corrected but the Russians offered surrender terms and permit their evacuation to these forces which was rejected by the Ukrainian government who prefer martyrs.
Putin’s decision not to call the invasion a war actually helps Russian troops to oppose participation, according to this article of Russian army resistance to the war
