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Netanyahu Moves to Expand Illegal Israeli Settlements in Syrian Golan Heights

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Israeli troops and military vehicles cross in and out of Syria through a gate in the boundary fence near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on December 15, 2024. (Photo: Mati Milstein/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the plan as “a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would move to expand settlements in the occupied and illegally annexed Golan Heights, exploiting the collapse of the Assad government to further entrench its control of Syrian land.

Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday that “strengthening” the Golan Heights is synonymous with “strengthening the state of Israel” and declared that “we will continue to hold onto it, make it flourish, and settle in it.”

According to Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli government “unanimously approved” the prime minister’s push to double the settler population in the Golan Heights.

There are currently dozens of Israeli settlements housing roughly 20,000 people in the territory, the bulk of which Israel unlawfully annexed in 1981 after occupying it during the 1967 war.

Israel’s settlement expansion plan sparked outrage from countries in the region, with Turkey’s foreign ministry condemning the decision Sunday as “a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.”

The foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia accused Israel of “sabotaging” Syria’s “prospects for restoring its security and stability.”

“The kingdom reaffirms that the occupied Golan is Syrian, Arab land,” the ministry added.

Israel’s military has wasted no time advancing on Syrian territory in the wake of Assad’s fall. As Drop Site noted over the weekend, “Israeli tanks have advanced into villages and towns in Syria’s Quneitra governorate, across from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, damaging streets, cutting down trees, and destroying electricity poles.”

“Israel ordered residents to evacuate their homes. When many refused, Israeli forces destroyed water supply networks and power lines in an attempt to force them out,” the outlet added.

On Saturday, as The Guardian reported, “Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes” after the Israeli defense minister announced the country’s forces “would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon—known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh—in positions they occupied last week.”

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the rebel group that helped drive Assad from power, denounced Israel’s “uncalculated military adventures” but said that “the priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.”

“Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations,” he said.

Israel’s push for settlement expansion in the Golan Heights comes amid the country’s large-scale, catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip, which Israeli forces are preparing to occupy indefinitely.

President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States is expected to embolden the far-right forces in Netanyahu’s government that are seeking to return settlements to Gaza and annex the West Bank.

Netanyahu said in a video statement that he had “a very friendly, warm, and important discussion” with Trump late Saturday about the future of the Middle East.

“I said we would change the Middle East and we are doing so,” the prime minister said. “I discussed with President-elect Trump the need to complete the victory.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingNetanyahu Moves to Expand Illegal Israeli Settlements in Syrian Golan Heights

Thousands Feared Dead in Impoverished French Territory of Mayotte After Cyclone Chido

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

A photo taken on December 15, 2024 shows residents sitting among piles of debris of metal sheets and wood after homes were destroyed by the cyclone Chido that hit France’s Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte. (Photo: Kwezi/AFP via Getty Images)

“You feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war,” said one resident. “I saw an entire neighborhood disappear.”

Undocumented migrants living in informal settlements in the French territory of Mayotte were among those whose lives and livelihoods were most devastated by Cyclone Chido, a tropical cyclone that slammed into the impoverished group of islands in the Indian Ocean over the weekend.

Authorities reported a death toll of at least 20 on Monday, but the territory’s prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, told a local news station that the widespread devastation indicated there were likely “some several hundred dead.”

“Maybe we’ll get close to a thousand,” said Bieuville. “Even thousands… given the violence of this event.”

Mayotte, which includes two densely populated main islands, Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre, as well as smaller islands with few residents, is home to about 300,000 people.

The territory is one of the European Union’s poorest, with three-quarters of residents living below the poverty line, but roughly 100,000 people have come to Mayotte from the nearby African island nations of Madagascar and Comoros in recent decades, seeking better economic conditions.

Many of those people live in informal neighborhoods and shacks across the islands that were hardest hit by Chido, with aerial footage showing collections of houses “reduced to rubble,” according toCNN.

“What we are experiencing is a tragedy, you feel like you are in the aftermath of a nuclear war,” Mohamed Ishmael, a resident of the capital city, Mamoudzou, told Reuters. “I saw an entire neighborhood disappear.”

Bruno Garcia, owner of a hotel in Mamoudzou, echoed Ishmael’s comments, telling French CNN affiliate BFMTV: “It’s as if an atomic bomb fell on Mayotte.”

“The situation is catastrophic, apocalyptic,” said Garcia. “We lost everything. The entire hotel is completely destroyed.”

Residents of the migrant settlements in recent years have faced crackdowns from French police who have been tasked with rounding up people for deportation and dismantling shacks.

The aggressive response to migration reportedly led some families to stay in their homes rather than evacuate, for fear of being apprehended by police.

Now, some of those families’ homes have been razed entirely or stripped of their roofs and “engulfed by mud and sheet metal,” according to Estelle Youssouffa, who represents Mayotte in France’s National Assembly.

https://twitter.com/DeputeeEstelle/status/1868318452487958920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1868318452487958920%7Ctwgr%5Ecb1d119dbd83328575226e14015be4fd31e516f5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fcyclone-mayotte

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People in Mayotte’s most vulnerable neighborhoods are now without food or safe drinking water as hundreds of rescuers from France and the nearby French territory of Reunion struggle to reach victims amid widespread power outages.

“It’s the hunger that worries me most. There are people who have had nothing to eat or drink” since Saturday, French Sen. Salama Ramia, who represents Mayotte, told the BBC.

The Washington Postreported that Cyclone Chido became increasingly powerful and intense—falling just short of becoming a Category 5 hurricane with winds over 155 miles per hour—because of unusually warm water in the Indian Ocean. The ocean temperature ranged from 81-86°F along Chido’s path. Tropical cyclones typically form when ocean temperatures rise above 80°F.

“The intensity of tropical cyclones in the Southwest Indian Ocean has been increasing, [and] this is consistent with what scientists expect in a changing climate—warmer oceans fuel more powerful storms,” Liz Stephens, a professor of climate risks and resilience at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, told the Post.

People living on islands like Mayotte are especially vulnerable to climate disasters both because there’s little shielding them from powerful storms and because their economic conditions leave them with few options to flee to safety as a cyclone approaches.

“Even though the path of Cyclone Chido was well forecast several days ahead, communities on small islands like Mayotte don’t have the option to evacuate,” Stephens said. “There’s nowhere to go.”

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingThousands Feared Dead in Impoverished French Territory of Mayotte After Cyclone Chido

Time to listen, Labour – stop arming Israel

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/time-to-listen-labour-stop-arming-israel

MPs show support for an immediate arms embargo outside parliament Photo: Jess Hurd

CROSS-PARTY MPs demanded action from the government today to put a halt to Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.

MPs debated petitions signed by over 100,000 people, calling for the immediate revocation of all arms export licences to Israel and 283,000 calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, which were delivered before the general election

Since last October, at least 45,000 in Gaza have been murdered by Israel, in which Britain has been complicit through supplying arms.

In September, the Labour government eventually banned 30 out of 361 licences in a move labelled “tokenistic” by campaigners.

During the debate, Labour MP John McDonnell said: “I think history will judge us all for not doing enough to stop this.”

The former shadow chancellor said that while he was pleased that the petition is taking place “there’s a level of frustration now I don’t think we can contain any more.”

He asked: “Why isn’t democracy being exercised here to stop this?”

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/time-to-listen-labour-stop-arming-israel

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA

Continue ReadingTime to listen, Labour – stop arming Israel

Emergency doctors hit out at NHS guidance on treating patients in corridors

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/emergency-doctors-hit-out-nhs-guidance-treating-patients-corridors

A support worker stands in a corridor as the first patients are admitted to the NHS Seacole Centre at Headley Court, Surrey, May 2020

EMERGENCY doctors have expressed concern today about a new guide on how to treat patients in corridors, saying it is “normalising the dangerous.”

NHS England recently produced guidance on “providing safe and good quality care in temporary escalation spaces.”

But the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said the “nonsensical” guidance is out of touch and that it is “not possible to provide safe and good quality care” in corridors or cupboards.

The guidance acknowledges corridor care is “not acceptable and should not be considered as standard,” but due to current pressures some hospitals are “using temporary escalation spaces more regularly — and this use is no longer ‘in extremis’.”

It suggests how staff can deliver the “safest, most effective and highest quality care possible” to patients in these circumstances.

In a statement yesterday, the college said: “Advice from arm’s length bodies that appear out of touch with what is happening in our departments was always going to be poorly received.”

The use of corridors will lead to long waits in emergency departments, “associated with measurable harm to patients,” it added.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/emergency-doctors-hit-out-nhs-guidance-treating-patients-corridors

Continue ReadingEmergency doctors hit out at NHS guidance on treating patients in corridors

Kemi Badenoch’s Climate Denial Tour

Original article by Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog

Vice president elect JD Vance and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch. Credit: JD Vance / X

The Conservative leader, who attacked “radical green absolutism” in a Washington DC speech, recently met with a host of influential anti-climate figures.

Speaking to an audience in Washington DC last week, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch declared that the conservative desire to “protect the natural world” had been “hacked, replaced by a radical green absolutism”. 

“Looking after our planet became an exclusive discussion about net zero and reducing emissions, and alongside it the growth of activist government to regulate it,” she said. 

Badenoch was giving the keynote speech at the centre-right International Democracy Union (IDU) Forum on 5 December. According to her team, she was in the U.S. to build ties with the Republican Party following the election of Donald Trump as the next president.

In keeping with her speech, the new friends that Badenoch spent time with during the trip – vice president elect JD Vance, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre – have spread climate science denial and received funding from the fossil fuel industry. 

Badenoch describes herself as a “net zero sceptic” and has suggested that the UK’s 2050 target for achieving net zero emissions would “bankrupt the country”. As DeSmog has reported, her political advisors have attacked the UK’s climate goals, and her campaign for Tory leader was backed by Neil Record, chair of Net Zero Watch, an arm of the Global Warming Policy Foundation climate denial group. 

Her ministers Priti Patel and Robert Jenrick have ties to the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. think tank behind the Project 2025 blueprint for a second Trump term, which proposes the rollback of climate policies and environmental protections. 

Here’s what you need to know about Badenoch’s new anti-green allies.

JD Vance

Badenoch reportedly had an hour-long dinner with vice president elect JD Vance, during which they “renewed their friendship”.

Vance has a history of dismissing human-caused climate change. In 2021, he told the American Leadership Forum, a U.S. Christian group: “I’m skeptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man”. He added: “It’s been changing, as others pointed out, it’s been changing for millennia.”

During this year’s U.S. presidential election, Vance repeatedly attacked the Biden administration’s climate policies as “the Green new scam”. 

Former venture capitalist Vance received a total of $352,000 (around £276,000) from the fossil fuel industry between 2019 and 2024, according to campaign finance database OpenSecrets. 

Ron DeSantis

The Tory leader also met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who ran to be the Republican nominee for president this year.

DeSantis, who endorsed Badenoch to be Conservative leader, has described climate change as a “religion” and has passed laws to curb action to tackle it. 

In October, when asked about the role of climate change in two hurricanes off the Florida Gulf Coast, DeSantis said: “I don’t subscribe to your religion.” 

Hurricanes are fuelled by warmer waters, meaning that more devastating hurricanes are directly linked to rising temperatures. Consequently, as the Florida Climate Center has pointed out: “A larger proportion of storms have reached major hurricane strength in recent years, along with an increase in rapid intensification events.”

DeSantis went on to defend the continued extraction of fossil fuels, saying climate action would involve: “Taxing [people] to smithereens, stopping oil and gas, making people pay dramatically more for energy; we would collapse as a country.”

Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a bill into law that would delete references to climate change from all state legislation. In May he posted on X in support of the bill: “Florida rejects the designs of the left to weaken our energy grid [and] pursue a radical climate agenda”.

Mike Johnson

Badenoch also reportedly met with Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives. 

In 2017, Johnson told a public meeting with constituents: “I am not a big proponent of the climate change data because I have seen data on the other side.” 

He added: “The climate is changing, but the question is, is climate changing because of natural cycles in the atmosphere over the span of history, or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.”

In reality, authors working for the world’s foremost climate science body, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have said that “it is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet”.

The IPCC has also stated that carbon dioxide “is responsible for most of global warming” since the late 19th century, which has increased the “severity and frequency of weather and climate extremes, like heat waves, heavy rains, and drought” – all of which “will put a disproportionate burden on low-income households and thus increase poverty levels.”

Johnson has repeatedly voted against action to tackle rising temperatures, including laws that would require oil and gas companies to disclose the climate risks of their activities, while supporting cuts to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

He has also received around $240,000 (more than £118,000) in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry, according to OpenSecrets. 

Pierre Poilievre

Badenoch’s North American trip also saw her visit Toronto, where she met with Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Canadian Conservative Party. 

Declaring that conservative leaders in Canada and the UK were “uniting over shared values”, Badenoch posted on X calling Poilievre “an impressive and thoughtful figure” and “a new friend and ally”. 

https://twitter.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1865587501684973612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1865587501684973612%7Ctwgr%5E77d16c26df5e280380dcfcf0aa21ab73231285ea%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.desmog.com%2F2024%2F12%2F12%2Fkemi-badenoch-climate-denial-tour-jd-vance%2F

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As DeSmog reported in March, Poilievre has voted against climate and environmental legislation nearly 400 times during his parliamentary career. 

Poilievre has also campaigned against a carbon tax in Canada, and has supported Canadian oil and gas extraction, calling it “the most ethical and environmentally sound in the world”.

The Free Press

Badenoch also recorded a podcast with The Free Press, a conservative platform which has published attacks on climate science and action. 

In 2022, it ran an article by climate crisis denier Michael Shellenberger arguing that the West’s “green delusions”, and its attempts to transition away from fossil fuels, had “empowered” Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. 

In September 2023, the platform published an article by U.S. scientist Patrick Brown, who heads a climate unit at Shellenberger’s Breakthrough Institute, claiming he had been pressured by Nature magazine to make a paper on wildfires fit a climate change “narrative” – claims rejected by the magazine and other scientists. 

Original article by Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog

Continue ReadingKemi Badenoch’s Climate Denial Tour