CounterVortex weekly headlines
Lebanon: humanitarian crisis under Israeli bombardment
UN officials warn of a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon as death tolls mount from Israeli air-strikes. Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council: "Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon and we should all be alarmed by the escalation." Human Rights Watch has called for urgent UN action, reporting that some 1,600 Israeli strikes have killed at least 700 people, including 50 children, and injured thousands in the span of four days. The UN Refugee Agency reveals that some 90,000 Lebanese residents had been displaced.
https://countervortex.org/blog/lebanon-humanitarian-crisis-under-israeli-bombardment/
Mali: jihadist militants attack Bamako
The al-Qaeda-linked JNIM group carried out a major attack in Mali's capital, Bamako, with reports suggesting that up to 70 people were killed and hundreds more wounded. Jihadist fighters attacked the city's airport—damaging a plane used by the World Food Program—and stormed a military police school. JNIM only makes rare forays into Bamako, and may be sending a message to the ruling junta that it remains a potent force despite operations launched against it.
https://countervortex.org/blog/mali-jihadist-militants-attack-bamako/
Ecuador moves toward return of foreign military bases
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa announced a decision to introduce a bill amending Article 5 of the constitution, to permit the establishment of foreign military bases in the country. A video Noboa posted announcing the decision was recorded at the military base in Manta, Manabí province. Established in 1999, the base had previously been leased to and operated by the United States military to combat drug trafficking. Ecuadorian activists long protested the presence of the US military. Upon taking power in 2007, left-populist president Rafael Correa—under whom the current constitution was enacted—stated that the lease would not be renewed, resulting in the US military formally leaving the Manta base in 2009. But the statement from Noboa's office asserts: "Ecuador is facing a battle against transnational crime. This requires a strong national and international response."
https://countervortex.org/blog/ecuador-moves-toward-return-of-foreign-military-bases/
France deploys anti-riot police to Martinique
The French government deployed the special anti-riot police, the Republican Security Companies (CRS), to Martinique in response to ongoing protests over the rising cost of living on the French-ruled Caribbean island. The deployment marks the first time CRS units have been sent to Martinique since they were banned from the territory in December 1959, following violent protests in departmental capital Fort-de-France that drew widespread criticism over heavy-handed police intervention.
https://countervortex.org/blog/france-deploys-anti-riot-police-to-martinique/
Criminal suit over Trump-Vance libel of Haitian immigrants
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, a non-profit organization advocating for Haitian immigrants, filed criminal charges against Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance, his running mate in the current presidential race. The charges, brought before the municipal court in Ohio's Clark County, stem from false claims made by Trump and Vance alleging that Haitian immigrants in the town of Springfield were abducting and eating local pets. In the court filing, HBA claims that the comments by Trump and Vance have incited anti-immigrant sentiment, resulting in threats and harassment of local Haitian immigrants and those who support them. The complaint calls on the court to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance on charges including aggravated menacing and telecommunications harassment.
https://countervortex.org/blog/criminal-suit-over-trump-vance-libel-of-haitian-immigrants/
Storms and floods kill hundreds around the globe
Typhoons, storms and flooding have killed hundreds and left millions homeless across four continents in recent days. More than 600 people—mostly in Vietnam and Burma—died when Super Typhoon Yagi, one of the strongest typhoons to hit Southeast Asia in decades, tore through the region, triggering landslides. In China, Typhoon Bebinca battered the commercial capital, Shanghai, forcing more than 400,000 people to evacuate. In Europe, at least 23 people died when Storm Boris dumped five times September's average rainfall in a single week. In the United States, parts of North and South Carolina recorded 45 centimeters of rain in 12 hours—a statistic so rare it's considered a once-in-a-thousand-year event. Inevitably, the wild weather has been devastating for more vulnerable countries. In conflict-affected northeastern Nigeria, half of the city of Maiduguri is under water after a local dam overflowed following torrential rains; recently emptied displacement camps are being used to shelter the homeless. In neighboring Chad, meanwhile, flooding has killed more than 340 people in the country's south.
https://countervortex.org/blog/storms-and-floods-kill-hundreds-around-the-globe/
Audio:
CounterVortex meta-podcast: ranting against the apocalypse
In the first CounterVortex meta-podcast of February 2018, we noted the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' decision to advance the minute hand of its Doomsday Clock to two minutes of midnight. The clock was most recently moved to 90 seconds to midnight in January 2023, in light of the Ukraine war—the closest it has ever been. The clock did not move forward in 2024, despite Israel crossing the genocidal threshold in Gaza—a conflict now spreading to Lebanon, with potential to ignite the entire Middle East and even the world. The threat of Iran being drawn into the conflict could bring its patron Russia nose-to-nose with Israel's patron, the United States. This comes just as Vladimir Putin has announced a revision to Russia's nuclear weapons doctrine, allowing a first strike if its territory is attacked even by a non-nuclear state that is backed by a state with nuclear weapons. This appears to add frightening credibility to the mounting nuclear threats from Moscow. Amid all this, small efforts at Jewish-Arab co-existence by the besieged peace camp within Israel point to the potential for the ongoing protests against Netanyahu to take on an explicit anti-war character. In Episode 245 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg makes the case that such measures, however seemingly modest, constitute a counter-vortex to humanity's general downward spiral toward devastating war, ecological collapse and fascism. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.
https://countervortex.org/blog/countervortex-meta-podcast-ranting-against-the-apocalypse/
Support CounterVortex:
Remember: We are the alternative to the alternative. We receive NO foundation sponsorship. We are 100% reader-supported! Our operating expenses are over $2,000 a year—not counting production time and labor. Please give what you can.
1. Become a basic Subscriber on Patreon for $5 per month
The CounterVortex podcast now has 68 Patreon subscribers. Let’s jack it up to 70.
https://www.patreon.com/countervortex
2. Become Supporter on Patreon for $10 per month
Become a Patreon subscriber for $10 per month, and you get to choose a topic for one episode per year on the CounterVortex podcast.
https://www.patreon.com/countervortex
3. Become a Major Rant Enabler for $25 per month!
We now have five Major Rant Enablers. If you can afford it, please become the sixth.
https://www.patreon.com/countervortex
4. Become a Paypal subscriber
We now have five monthly subscribers on Paypal—in New York, NY, Brooklyn, NY, Austerlitz, NY, Elkins Park, Penn., and Los Angeles, Calif. We ask a minimum of only $5 per month. Who's next?
https://countervortex.org/support-us-2/
5. Make a single payment with PayPal:
Whatever you can afford is greatly appreciated.
https://countervortex.org/support-us-2/
6. Send a check to:
CounterVortex
44 Monroe St. #B44
New York, NY 10002
Checks should be payable to CounterVortex.
7. Become a social media volunteer:
We now have a volunteer to maintain the CounterVortex Instagram page. We still need tech-savvy people to help us extend our reach. Please be in touch if that's you!
https://countervortex.org/contact-us/
8. Just spread the word about CounterVortex!
Share our links on social media, forward this email, etc.
Thank you!
Read our Daily Report:
http://countervortex.org/dailyreport
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/CounterV0rtex
https://twitter.com/GlobalGanjaRpt
https://twitter.com/Billydub420
Please spread the word about CounterVortex!
CounterVortex Family of Websites