CounterVortex weekly headlines

Dec 29, 2025

US strikes supposed ISIS targets in Nigeria

Following through on threats made last month, President Donald Trump announced on social media Christmas Day that he had ordered air-strikes against Islamic State targets in Nigeria, ostensibly in retaliation for the group’s targeting of Christian communities. Trump’s post did not specify where the military action took place, though the Pentagon’s Africa Command later stated that the strikes were in “Soboto State” —an obvious misspelling of Sokoto state, in Nigeria’s northwest. The Nigerian government confirmed the bombings, stating that they were conducted in a “joint operation” —but added that the strikes had “nothing to do with a particular religion.”

https://countervortex.org/blog/us-strikes-supposed-isis-targets-in-nigeria/

Amnesty International: block vessel carrying arms to Israel

Amnesty International urged all states to prevent the Portuguese-flagged Holger G vessel, carrying munition components bound for Israel, from docking at their ports. Having departed from India in November, the cargo is destined for Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and its subsidiary IMI Systems. Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research and campaigns at Amnesty, said: “The hundreds of tonnes of deadly cargo on board the Holger G must not reach Israel. There is a clear risk that this colossal transportation would contribute to the commission of genocide and other crimes under international law against Palestinians.”

https://countervortex.org/blog/amnesty-international-block-vessel-carrying-arms-to-israel/

US imposes sanctions on two more ICC judges

The US government announced sanctions on two judges from the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court due to their “illegitimate targeting of Israel.” The sanctions bar the named individuals from entry into the US, and extends to their family members. The measures also block any assets the individuals hold in the US. The move came after the ICC rejected Israel’s legal challenge to the case that has been opened over possible war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Both of the targeted judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, voted in favor of rejection of the appeal.

https://countervortex.org/blog/us-imposes-sanctions-on-two-more-icc-judges/

Iran: halt execution of women’s rights activist

United Nations experts urged Iran to immediately halt the execution of Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a 67-year-old electrical engineer detained at Lakan Prison in Rasht. In their statement, the experts detailed severe procedural violations, including arrest without a warrant, prolonged solitary confinement, a trial lasting less than 10 minutes via video conference, and denial of access to a chosen lawyer. The experts emphasized that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran ratified in 1975, restricts the death penalty to the “most serious crimes,” involving intentional killing. Experts noted that Tabari’s case—involving the possession of a banner with a protest slogan and an unpublished audio message—did not meet this threshold. The banner bore the words “Woman, Resistance, Freedom” —a popular slogan from the 2022 protests in Iran.

https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-halt-execution-of-womens-rights-activist/

China condemns US seizure of Venezuela-linked tankers

Chinese officials condemned the US seizure of oil tankers headed from Venezuelan ports, calling the acts a “serious violation of international law.” The protest came days after US troops boarded and seized the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries. According to the White House, while the ship was not on the US Treasury’s sanctioned vessel list, it carried state-owned oil as part of Venezuela’s “shadow fleet.” Reports have indicated that the Centuries was headed for China. Days earlier, the US seized the M/T Skipper, which the Justice Department claimed was “being used in an oil shipping network supporting Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force,” two US-designated “foreign terrorist organizations.”

https://countervortex.org/blog/china-condemns-us-seizure-of-venezuela-linked-tankers/

Chile’s turn to the hard right

The rising wave of far-right populism has arrived in Chile with the victory in the presidential race of José Antonio Kast, an ultra-conservative who campaigned on fighting crime and carrying out mass deportations. Emulating Donald Trump, Kast exploited a backlash against migrants—especially Venezuelans—and pledged to build a separation wall on the border with Peru. His victory marks the country’s sharpest shift to the right since the restoration of democracy after the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet 30 years ago—an era and figure that Kast has openly admired.

https://countervortex.org/blog/chiles-hard-right-turn/

Audio:

Podcast: MAGA-fascism and the struggle in Nigeria

With his Christmas air-strikes on Nigeria, Trump is blundering into a conflict fundamentally driven by desertification related to the very climate change that he denies, and which now threatens democratic rule throughout the West African region. While the Muslim-Christian sectarian strife that Trump hypes is a large element of the situation, the violence has gone both ways. Furthermore, making Christians the perceived beneficiaries of imperialist intervention is only likely to exacerbate the tensions and make Christians more of a target. In Episode 310 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an in-depth and unsparing look.

https://countervortex.org/blog/podcast-maga-fascism-and-the-struggle-in-nigeria

Feature:

BURMA: JUNTA-CONTROLLED ELECTORAL ‘SHAM’

Trouble-torn Burma is heading for the first general elections since the military coup of February 2021 that ousted a democratically elected government. The seating of a new parliament will mark the re-opening of the bicameral body which was suspended when the military junta seized power. However, several prominent political parties will be barred from the three-phase polling to start on December 28—including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which won the last general elections held in November 2020. The new elections, with only parties approved by the military junta participating, are rejected by the opposition as a “sham.” And there will be no voting in the nearly half of the country now under the control of the armed resistance loyal to the rebel parallel government, CounterVortex correspondent Nava Thakuria speaks to opposition activists in clandestinity, who demand that the world reject the junta’s controlled elections.

https://countervortex.org/burma-junta-controlled-electoral-sham/

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