CounterVortex weekly headlines

Jul 07, 2025

Congress approves Trump's mass deportation force

Donald Trump's draconian immigration policies are to get a massive injection of cash thanks to the omnibus budget bill that the president signed into law on July 4. The bill includes over $170 billion in funding for new detention centers, deportation operations, border wall construction, and other anti-immigration initiatives. While this outlay is to be spread out over five years, critics point out that it surpasses the annual military budgets of any country on Earth except for the US and China. The bill, which narrowly passed in the House with no Democratic support, represents a massive shift of funds from basic social programs such as Medicare to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose budget will now overshadow that of the FBI. The ICE detention budget is to now outstrip that of the federal Bureau of Prisons, aiming at capacity to hold over 100,000 detainees.

https://countervortex.org/blog/congress-approves-trumps-mass-deportation-force/

Europe, Ukraine to establish tribunal for crime of aggression

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset agreed to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The agreement, supported by all 46 Council of Europe member states, will establish a tribunal to address crimes of aggression in response to Russia's ongoing invasion. The crime of aggression refers to the decision by a state leader to wage a war that violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. The tribunal's jurisdiction may also extend to Russian allies participating in the conflict.

https://countervortex.org/blog/europe-ukraine-to-establish-tribunal-for-crime-of-aggression/

US removes sanctions amid Syria transition

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that terminates the majority of US sanctions imposed on Syria and associated designated persons. Lifting of the sanctions will represent a significant opportunity for the ravaged Syrian economy. Sanctions against people and entities tied to the ousted Bashar Assad regime, terrorist organizations, and human rights abusers will remain in place. While the Syrian government welcomed the relief, the United Nations expressed the need for "genuine political inclusion" during Syria’s political transition. Critics have recently questioned the "promise of real change" in the country after the establishment of an electoral process that does not allow for a direct public vote to seat the new People’s Assembly.

https://countervortex.org/blog/us-removes-sanctions-amid-syria-transition/

Algeria: Kabylie independence at issue in press freedom case

A court in Algeria sentenced French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes to seven years in prison on charges of "glorifying terrorism" and "possessing propaganda harmful to the national interest." Gleizes was arrested in Tizi Ouzou, in the restive Kabylie region, after interviewing the president of football club JS Kabylie. Authorities alleged the interviewee had ties to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which Algeria designated a "terrorist group" in 2021. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the sentence "is a clear indication of the government's intolerance of press freedom."

https://countervortex.org/blog/algeria-kabylie-independence-at-issue-in-press-freedom-case/

Protests rock Togo after 'constitutional coup'

At least seven have been killed and many more injured in anti-government protests that broke out in Togo's capital, Lomé. The demonstrations were called over recent constitutional reforms that could cement President Faure Gnassingbé's long hold on power. Gnassingbé, who has ruled since his father's death in 2005, was sworn in last month as president of the Council of Ministers, a powerful new post without term limits, allowing him to be re-elected by Parliament indefinitely. Gnassingbé's family has ruled Togo since 1967. The new "Hands Off My Constitution" movement denounces the government reform as a "constitutional coup."

https://countervortex.org/blog/protests-rock-togo-after-constitutional-coup/

Hong Kong bars 'national security' offenders from union organizing

The Hong Kong Legislative Council passed a law that bans anyone convicted of a "national security" offense from forming or holding a leadership position within a union. The new law amends the Trade Union Ordinance, introducing a lifetime ban on union organizing for such offenders. The move comes just as Hong Kong's last remaining active pro-democracy party, the League of Social Democrats, announced that it is disbanding, citing fear of prosecution under the National Security Law. The territory's largest labor confederation, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), was forced to disband in 2021.

https://countervortex.org/blog/hong-kong-bars-national-security-offenders-from-union-organizing/

Audio:

Podcast: Zohran Mamdani and municipal resistance

Donald Trump is threatening to have Zohran Mamdani denaturalized and deported under the archaic Cold War-era Communist Control Act if he continues with New York's "sanctuary city" policy as mayor. A Justice Department memo has already set the machinery for "denaturalization" of citizens in motion. But the Islamophobic, xenophobic and old-school Red Scare backlash to Mamdani's political rise could provide the breaking point in which localities coast-to-coast refuse to cooperate with Trump's fascist agenda—vindicating Murray Bookchin's theories of radical municipalism. In Episode 285 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg argues that Mamdani's ascendance, whatever the limitations of his personal politics, heightens the contradictions in American society in a salubrious way, and may even open revolutionary possibilities.

https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-zohran-mamdani-and-municipal-resistance/

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