… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Tag: China

  • Outrage After Israeli Occupation Forces Shoot Live Rounds at Foreign Diplomats in West Bank

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

    Members of an international diplomatic delegation scramble for cover after coming under Israeli fire during a May 21, 2025 visit to the besieged Jenin refugee camp in the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine. (Photo: Mohammad Ateeq/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

    Among those shot at were representatives of three nations that threatened “concrete actions” if Israel doesn’t end its assault and siege on Gaza and others that support a genocide case against the country.

    Israeli occupation forces fired what they called “warning shots” at a large delegation of international diplomats visiting the besieged Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Wednesday, an incident many critics said was an attempt to intimidate countries that just two days earlier issued an ultimatum to stop annihilating Gaza and others that have joined a genocide case against Israel.

    Palestinian officials were briefing a group of more than 20 diplomats about the crisis in the illegally occupied West Bank—where Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians including hundreds of children since October 2023 while pushing ahead with massive land theft and colonization—when they came under fire.

    According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the delegation “deviated” from the route approved by Israeli occupation authorities “and entered an area where they were not authorized to be,” prompting Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers to fire “warning shots to distance them away.”

    “The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused,” the ministry added.

    Israeli soldiers intentionally fired at a delegation of about 30 Arab & EU diplomats, ambassadors and consuls, visiting Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank. Israel claims “it was an accident” and that they fired “warning shots” because they “felt in danger”. Israel was trying to intimidate them.

    [image or embed]
    — Anonymous ( @youranoncentral.bsky.social) May 21, 2025 at 6:06 AM

    Israeli media reported IDF troops fired shots in the air. However, video footage of the incident appears to show soldiers aiming their guns and firing straight ahead in the direction of the diplomats as they scrambled for cover. Israeli officials have often been caught lying about the actions of IDF troops in Palestine.

    The delegation included diplomats from the European Union and countries including Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, India, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

    On Monday, three of those countries—France, the United Kingdom, and Canada—issued a rare joint statement condemning Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the ongoing Israeli campaign to conquer and indefinitely occupy all of Gaza and ethnically cleanse much of its population.

    On Tuesday, the U.K. announced it is suspending negotiations with Israel on a free trade agreement, explaining that “it is not possible to advance discussions on a new, upgraded FTA” with a government “that is pursuing egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza including extermination and forced starvation.

    The U.K. additionally sanctioned three far-right Israeli extremists, including settler leader Daniella Weiss, as well as three illegal settlement outposts and two groups “that have supported, incited, and promoted violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.”

    Also on Tuesday, European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas—who is the E.U.’s foreign policy chief—said the 27-nation bloc would review its political and economic agreement with Israel in light of the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza.

    Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, Spain, and Turkey have either joined or expressed support for the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice—which last year found that Israel’s 58-year occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza is an illegal form of apartheid that must be ended as soon as possible.

    Israel’s 592-day assault and siege on Gaza has left more than 189,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and over 2 million others forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

    The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called Wednesday’s “heinous crime” against the diplomats.

    “The delegation was undertaking an official mission to observe and assess the humanitarian situation and document the ongoing violations perpetrated by the occupying forces against the Palestinian people,” the ministry said. “This deliberate and unlawful act constitutes a blatant and grave breach of international law and of the fundamental principles of diplomatic relations as enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

    Kallas said Wednesday that “any threats on diplomats’ lives are unacceptable.”

    “Israel is also a signatory to the Vienna Convention, I mean the obligation to guarantee the security of all foreign diplomats,” Kallas noted. “We definitely call on Israel to investigate this incident and also hold accountable [those] who are responsible for this.”

    The governments of other countries whose diplomats were targeted on Wednesday condemned the incident, with some, including France and Italy, summoning their Israeli ambassadors.

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

    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
    UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
    UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.

  • Global food prices surge amid Trump’s tariff war

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    Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Photo: UN Food and Agriculture

    The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index registered a 1% rise in April in comparison to March and a 22% rise compared to the same month last year.

    Global food prices recorded an increase in April largely due to the tariff war waged by Donald Trump’s administration in the US, the UN agency Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said in a report last week. 

    Major food products such as cereals, dairy products, and meat registered a rise in their prices across the globe in April in comparison to March.

    Grains and cereals such as wheat, rice, and maize make the largest component of FAO’s food price index. Their prices increased the most, raising its index by 1% month over month. 

    The price of dairy products increased by 2.4% month over month while the price of meat soared by 3.2%, making life significantly more difficult for people. Compared to the same month last year, dairy prices rose by 22.9%.

    Year over year, the global food prices were higher by 7.6% in comparison to April last year.

    The rise in food prices is attributed to several factors, including the seasonal rise in demands. However, the FAO notes that the main driver of the increase is the tariff policies announced by the Trump administration in the US in early April.

    “Adjustments to the US’ import tariff policies-including the exemption to Mexico, the leading importer of US maize, and a 90 day pause on import tariffs above 10% for several other trading partners-further contributed to the upward price pressure,” the FAO said.

    Fulfilling his threats to impose high tariffs on most of its trade partners Trump announced its “reciprocal tariff” policy in early April. Imports from most of the countries faced tariffs ranging between a minimum 10% to a whopping 145% against China. 

    Trump later suspended the imposition of reciprocal tariffs for three months, seeking bilateral agreements with several countries. However, the announcement of the high tariffs has already created uncertainty in the global economy. 

    Rise in food prices impacts the poor the most

    Though the FAO acknowledged there were several factors impacting the rise in global food prices, such as the reduction in wheat exports from Russia due to sanctions, the war in Ukraine, and a weaker US dollar, the tariff war made the “strongest impact.”

    Several economists and experts have already warned of a rise in local food prices, due to the Trump administration’s tariff policies creating a similar or worse impact than the war in Ukraine did in its initial months. 

    The global food markets are closely interconnected so major global events may affect prices at the local level – just as they did in the initial days of the war in Ukraine, after European and US sanctions led to a reduction in Russian wheat. 

    According to the FAO, its food price index recorded its highest jump in March 2022, immediately after the war in Ukraine started. The rise in prices at the time intensified a cost of living crisis even in relatively richer countries in Europe and intensified food insecurity in the developing and poorest countries.

    Increases in food prices affect the poor the most as their share of expenditure on food is higher. It is expected to intensify the existing food crisis situation in most of the developing and poorer countries in Asia and Africa.

    If Trump’s tariff war drags on, the prices of fertilizers will also see a jump, affecting agricultural production in the developing world and affecting the prices of food products further, claims Lotanna Emediegwu, who teaches economics at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

    US and European sanctions have already negatively affected the global supply of fertilizers from Russia.

    Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
    Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
    Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
    Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.

  • Global South leaders join Victory Day events in Moscow as Europe stays away

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    Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

    Marking the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Global South leaders are gathering in Moscow, while EU remains absent

    Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia/X

    Early high-level events marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany are underway in Russia, where the traditional Victory Parade on Friday, May 9, will welcome a host of world leaders and other guests to commemorate the Red Army’s role in the liberation of Europe. According to Russian authorities, 29 countries have confirmed their leaders will attend the event, including Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

    Victory Day, falling on May 8 in most of Europe and on May 9 in Russia due to time zone differences, marks the official surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945. Although the date holds deep historical significance for Europe, its political leaders will be largely absent from this year’s events in Moscow. Slovakia is the only EU country to appear on the latest list of attendees, ignoring warnings from the bloc’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, who implied there would be ‘consequences’ for European officials participating in the event. Her threats mark the latest episode in a long-standing campaign of historical revisionism led by the EU, aimed at minimizing and obscuring the Soviet Union’s role in the liberation of Europe in World War II.

    Honoring Red Army’s role in defeating Nazi Germany

    In contrast to the EU, Global South leaders attending the events expressed their respect and acknowledged those who fought for liberation. At the beginning of his visit, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated simply: “It was the Red Army that liberated Europe.” Similarly, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of maintaining an accurate historical perspective on World War II and applying its lessons to the present, particularly when it comes to resisting Western domination.

    “Eighty years ago, the forces of justice around the world, including China and the Soviet Union, united in courageous battles against their common foes and defeated the overbearing fascist powers,” Xi wrote in an article for the Russian Gazette. “Eighty years later today, however, unilateralism, hegemonism, bullying, and coercive practices are severely undermining our world.”

    Despite efforts by Western governments to demonize the Red Army, many around the world still remember the USSR’s decisive role in the antifascist struggle, the immense sacrifices it made during the war, and the international solidarity it championed. “The peoples of the world have not forgotten who, in 1945, liberated them from Nazi enslavement and destruction,” stated Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, ahead of Victory Day.

    “Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the great victory over fascism, we must remember the origins of Nazism,” he added. “Imperialism, which gave birth to that plague, is not a thing of the past. It is no coincidence that today our former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition are erasing us from the list of victorious countries.”

    Left movements reclaim antifascist legacy for today’s struggles

    Although communist groups across Europe circulated statements honoring the Red Army’s role in World War II, some also voiced concern about the context of this year’s central commemoration in Russia – just as much as the revisionism of core EU countries

    Read more: Italy marks 80 years since liberation with calls against genocide and militarism

    It is in the spirit of reclaiming the resistance, that left and progressive groups across the region are organizing their own events. In Belgium, for example, activists have rallied around long-standing demands to re-establish May 8 as a public holiday. In former Yugoslav countries, actions will affirm the relevance of antifascism today, particularly in connection with solidarity for Palestine and mobilizations against genocide. All these events are not limited to remembrance: they aim to resist efforts to rewrite history in service of the Global North’s current political agenda.

    Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

  • China has identified how to fight back against Trump’s tariffs, and is not ready to back down

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    Chinese goods arrive at the Port of Los Angeles. But arrivals from China are decreasing. ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA

    Chee Meng Tan, University of Nottingham

    US ports are now starting to see scheduled shipments from China decline as the result of Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. The port of Los Angeles, the biggest port for Chinese goods in the US, is predicting scheduled shipments in early May to be about a third lower than the same time last year.

    Declining numbers of ships arriving stocked with Chinese imports are likely to affect US supermarket shelves soon, and after warnings from US supermarket bosses, Trump responded by saying trade talks between the US and China were under way in the past few days. But Chinese president Xi Jinping quickly denied talks were happening, suggesting he has no intention of backing away from a fight with the US.

    As one of the most powerful leaders in the history of the People’s Republic of China, Xi has fashioned himself as a nationalistic icon. So if China perceives Trump’s tariffs as a bully tactic designed to undermine it, backing down from a confrontation with the US would seriously undermine Xi’s strongman image and rhetoric.

    This is something that Trump probably hadn’t considered. At a rally marking his 100 days in office, the US president was still suggesting that China would just back down and “eat the tariffs”.

    While tariffs appear to be the primary weapon in the trade war, China might have more tactics to hit back at Trump and the US economy. The question is what might they be?

    A few weeks ago it seemed like Washington might punish China’s lack of willingness to negotiate with more tariffs, but now it’s clear that Trump is willing to make a deal and is trying to get China to come to the table. Trump is now implying that US tariffs on China could come down substantially. And US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has called the trade war with China “unsustainable”.

    Leveraging agriculture and energy

    China has reduced its reliance on US farm imports since the trade war began in Trump’s first presidency. This is bad news for Washington as agriculture is one few sectors in the US that actually has a large trade surplus with China. The 125% retaliatory tariffs will harm the sector’s profitability.

    But China’s retaliatory tariffs aren’t the only issue American farmers have to contend with. As the trade war escalates, China has been using bureaucratic hurdles to restrict US agricultural products from entering China and as a potential negotiation tool. For instance, China has delayed the renewals of export license renewals of US pig farmers, and refused to renew licenses of poultry farmers for “health and safety” reasons.

    Beijing’s actions might be designed to particularly hit the economy in core Trump supporting states. A major part of Trump and the Republican party’s base lies in “red states”, such as Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, all have significant farming communities. Focusing on agricultural issues is a tactic that Beijing realises will hit home with Trump voters.

    Out of the 444 US counties designated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as farming-dependent, 77.7% voted for Trump during the 2024 US presidential election. So, any hardship faced by the agriculture sector due to Trump’s own actions is likely to lose him support from a major political base. And with mid-term elections in 2026, Trump has to tread carefully when antagonising Beijing.

    Another support base that Beijing might seek to undermine is those involved in the fossil fuel sector. In the past, the US has been a top supplier of natural gas to China.

    China has not imported natural gas from the US since early February 2025, and has sought its natural gas from Australia, Indonesia, and Brunei. As the trade war continues, it is unlikely that the US would be able to sell its natural gas to China anytime soon, and this will have an impact on the energy industry – one of Trump’s major political support bases.

    Restricting minerals

    Another huge problem that the US faces stems from China’s restriction of the export of critical minerals. They include seven rare earth minerals namely samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. While these are used in the clean energy and automobile sectors, the biggest concern would come from the US defence complex.

    These critical minerals are used in manufacturing fighter jets, submarines, missiles, and radar systems. China has an effective monopoly on the extraction and processing of rare earths, while the US lacks such capabilities. This means that China’s export restrictions are likely to affect America’s defence industry, while Beijing rapidly expands its ammunition and military technology.

    The White House probably anticipated export restrictions of critical minerals from China. After all, Beijing had banned the export of critical minerals to Japan in 2010 over a fishing trawler dispute, and stopped exporting “dual-use” metals that can be used to produce civilian and military technology, such as gallium, germanium and tungsten.

    What’s next?

    For the last few years, China has been trying to overcome an ailing economy that was primarily fuelled by a real-estate crisis. Trump probably expected China to buckle under pressure and come crawling to the negotiation table. After all, the Chinese Communist Party needs to fix its economy fast. The establishment has long relied on delivering economic prosperity to legitimise its rule over China.

    Right now the tit-for-tat battle continues. By April 11, US tariffs on China peaked at 145%, while China’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods reached an unprecedented 125%.

    Although it is clearly fighting back, China could go even further by selling off US treasuries and increasing US interest rates and thus borrowing cost. But unlike Trump, Xi often plays the long game. After all, Trump’s term as president will be over in less than four years, while Chinese president Xi has no term limits. All the latter has to do is exercise patience, and a friendlier US president might come around.

    Chee Meng Tan, Assistant Professor of Business Economics, University of Nottingham

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

  • Rolling the Dice on Mass Death

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    Original article by Roger Hallam republished from Roger Hallam. I have not asked to republish this article, expect that it will be ok.

    Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Image by Raban Haaijk.

    This month, the world’s elites will throw the first dice on how many millions they will have killed for their greatest of all crimes.

    As of 28 April 2025, Asia is being battered by a brutal, life-threatening heatwave. Millions of people – right now – are facing unbearable temperatures. In many places it’s over 40°C. In some areas it’s approaching 46°C. In the Philippines, the heat index – the ‘feels like’ temperature – is hitting 53°C. That’s deadly.

    People are collapsing in the streets. Children, the elderly, the poor – they’re the first to go. This isn’t just uncomfortable. It’s lethal. Heatstroke. Organ failure. Death in under six hours if you don’t have air conditioning – and most people don’t.

    Crops are failing. Water supplies are drying up. Whole regions are becoming uninhabitable. In China, places like Zhejiang and Jiangsu have already hit record-breaking temperatures. In Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand – vast populations are at risk. In West Asia, where conflict and poverty already devastate lives, the heatwave is tipping people over the edge.

    Let’s be absolutely clear: this is just the beginning. And it’s not a natural disaster – it’s a crime scene. A direct result of thirty years of lies, inaction, and wilful destruction by the people at the top – fossil fuel executives, politicians, and the liberal classes who let them get away with it.

    This is the first phase of climate genocide. And it’s happening now.

    So here we are. We’ve finally arrived.

    2025 will be the second year in a row that global temperatures sit above 1.6°C. That’s not a statistic. That’s a death sentence – for millions. From this point on, every month is a roll of the dice. And if it lands on a six? The wet bulb threshold is breached – that deadly combination of heat and humidity where your body can’t cool down. People without air conditioning – the majority of humanity – die in six hours. That’s it. Game over.

    Billions of people – in poor city slums, in rural villages, in places no one in power cares about – are now inside a roulette wheel of death. Waiting for their number to come up. That is what the ruling elites have created. That is what the liberal and professional classes have enabled – through cowardice, distraction, and silence. They could have stood up. They could have resisted. They chose not to. They are complicit.

    The consequences? Beyond catastrophic. And if you sit back now, shrug your shoulders, and go back to your life – you are handing over the final keys. You are helping to lock in human extinction within the next ten years. If it hasn’t already been sealed.

    Let’s stop pretending we don’t know what’s coming.

    Do the numbers. We’re already at 1.6°C. Another 0.4°C rise is expected over the next decade. Add 0.5°C when air pollution clears and no longer cools the atmosphere. Add 0.3°C from the carbon lag – the delay between what we emit and when it shows up. Then add the collapse of forests, the melting permafrost, the methane, the wildfires.

    We’re on track to blow through 3°C before 2050.

    What does that mean? Ask the British insurance industry – they’ve already said it: 4 billion people dead. Half the human race. And that’s just the start. Because 3°C triggers feedbacks in the Earth system that take us past 5°C – the point where the human body, the human brain, life itself, no longer functions. That’s extinction. Everyone. Gone. Forever.

    And even if there was just a 10% chance of this happening – which there isn’t, it’s now the central scenario – then to take that risk, to sit on your hands, is the greatest crime in history.

    And if you still do nothing now, at this moment – then what are you?

    Join the free Revolution in the 21st Century Convention next month!

    Rev21 is hosting an online global convention this May, bringing together leading activists, writers, scientists, and changemakers to confront the realities of social and ecological collapse—and to begin designing the revolution we need. Held via Zoom with multiple talks, workshops, and breakout spaces, it’s a space to learn, connect, and collaborate on what 21st-century revolution can look like: holistic, nonviolent, and rooted in real relationships. For some, it’s a powerful networking moment; for others, it’s a first step into serious action. With solidarity pricing and an open invitation to those ready to shape the future, this isn’t just an event—it’s the beginning of a revolution.

    Join the Convention

    Original article by Roger Hallam republished from Roger Hallam. I have not asked to republish this article, expect that it will be ok.

    Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
    Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
    Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
    Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.