Category: Protest and Unrest
Trump’s LA intervention sets the stage for a bigger political showdown
LONDON – The clashes between rioters and federal and California National Guards troops now unfolding in Los Angeles have played out in typical American fashion, with exaggerated claims and disputes about the interpretation of supposedly grand constitutional principles. US President Donald Trump claims that, had he not deployed a total of around 5,000 troops, Los Angeles “would be burning”. But Ms Karen Bass, Los Angeles’ mayor, argues that law and order was never truly threatened in her city, and that…
Trump warns protests at military parade will be met with force
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump warned people on June 11 against protesting at the weekend military parade in Washington marking the US Army’s 250th anniversary. “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Mr Trump told reporters in the White House’s Oval Office. Law enforcement agencies are preparing for hundreds of thousands of people to attend the June 14 parade, US Secret Service special agent in charge Matt McCool said on…
UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway sanction Israeli Cabinet ministers
Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway said Tuesday they have imposed sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers for allegedly “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich face asset freezes and travel bans from the five countries. The ministers are champions of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The decision by Western governments friendly to Israel was a sharp rebuke of Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank and of settler…
Marines arrive in LA under Trump orders as protests spread to other cities
LOS ANGELES – Hundreds of US Marines arrived in Los Angeles overnight and more were expected on June 10 under orders from President Donald Trump, who has also activated 4,000 National Guard troops to quell protests despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders. Los Angeles has seen days of public outrage since the Trump administration launched a series of immigration raids on June 6, though local officials said the demonstrations on June 9 were largely peaceful….
When Ideas Become Too Dangerous to Platform
Professor Gigi Foster delivered a TEDx talk titled The Manipulators’ Playbook at the University of New South Wales in 2024. It was an examination of how, in times of crisis, fear and conformity can be deliberately harnessed by those in power to manipulate public behaviour. Her message was a call to defend the freedom to question authority and think independently. The local TEDxUNSW team had worked closely with Foster to ensure her talk met TEDx standards. ”But when the video was submitted to TED’s US headquarters for publication on YouTube, it was rejected. Across the digital landscape, we’re witnessing a broader pattern…
US decision to sanction ICC judges ‘deeply corrosive’ to justice: UN rights chief
Mr. Türk was responding to an announcement by Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, on Thursday, of measures targeting the judges, who are overseeing a 2020 case of alleged war crime committed in Afghanistan by US and Afghan military forces, and the 2024 ICC arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Defence Minister. “I am profoundly disturbed by the decision of the Government of the United States of America to sanction judges…
Did the Feds Label You a Covid “Violent Extremist?”
Biden administration policy-makers hated you more than you knew. From the start of the Covid pandemic, I warned that the feds were vilifying anyone who failed to kowtow to the latest commands. In October 2023, I wrote: “Federal bureaucrats heaved together a bunch of letters to contrive an ominous new acronym for the latest peril to domestic tranquility. The result: AGAAVE—’anti-government, anti-authority violent extremism’—which looks like a typo for a sugar substitute. The FBI vastly expanded the supposed AGAAVE peril by…
Canada’s Role in a Shifting Global Order — with Mark Carney | Prof G Conversations
Mark Carney, Canada’s 24th Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party, joins Scott to discuss the country’s economic outlook, how Canada fits into a shifting global order, and whether the U.S.-Canada relationship can be repaired amid rising trade tensions.
Video: Bodies of eight missing paramedics found in Gaza mass grave
The Palestine Red Crescent says it’s located the bodies of eight of the nine paramedics who went missing about a week ago. The medics had been surrounded by Israeli forces while responding to the scene of an attack in Rafah. Gaza’s Health Ministry says their bodies had been discovered in a hole, and that some were bound and had gunshot wounds to the chest. Mads Gilbert, professor of Emergency Medicine at Norway’s University of Tromso weighs in.
Jeep & Chrysler parent Stellantis lays off 900 US workers as tariffs bite
In sum:
Stellantis pauses production in Mexico and Canada due to tariffs
Automakers face 25% import tax on imported autos
UAW criticizes Stellantis for unnecessary layoffs
US automaker shares fall sharply
South Korea Removes Its Impeached President and Regains Direction
South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol has been removed from office, four months after his shortlived attempt to impose martial law sparked a prolonged political crisis. The Constitutional Court on Friday announced in a unanimous verdict that it would uphold parliament’s vote to impeach Yoon last year over his failed power grab, stripping him of office and ending his presidency less than three years into his five-year term. A presidential election will be held within 60 days. Han Duck-soo, a…
Anti-war Russian Scientist at Harvard Med Detained by U.S. Border Agents
U.S. immigration authorities detained and revoked the visa of a Russian scientist who opposes the war in Ukraine and had been conducting genetic research at Harvard Medical School, her friends and colleagues said this week. Ksenia Petrova was stopped at Boston Logan International Airport on Feb. 16 after returning from a personal trip in France. U.S. officials revoked her research visa for failing to properly declare frog embryos she had brought with her, according to The Harvard Crimson. U.S. Customs…
US and Germany are torching Tesla cars, US also burning Tesla charging stations and shooting up Tesla dealerships
1. Germany Several Tesla vehicles were set on fire in Germany on Friday, as protests against Elon Musk’s car company continue across the world. German police said that four vehicles were set ablaze in the Plänterwald and Steglitz neighborhoods of Berlin, and that political motives could not be ruled out. Newsweek reports: Tesla sites have been targeted by protesters around the world following Musk’s appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency in President Donald Trump’s administration. The electric…
Will Musk avoid all repercussions of bribery in taking Verizon’s FAA contract?
Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink, is in talks to potentially take over a $2.4 billion contract from Verizon with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade airspace management systems. While the contract hasn’t been officially transferred, FAA officials have begun seeking funds for a possible Starlink deal, according to sources familiar with the situation. These instructions were reportedly given verbally, which is unusual and suggests an effort to avoid creating a paper trail. Obtaining a federal contract through ties to…
Trump’s ‘bald power grab’ could set US on path to dictatorship, critics fear
Unusually for him, Donald Trump made no great fuss as he signed one drily worded executive order last Tuesday. Public attention was distracted that day – by the headline-grabbing drama of Elon Musk bludgeoning his way through the federal bureaucracy, by immigrants deported to Guantánamo Bay, and by the torrent of other directives Trump has issued since his inauguration last month. But Trump’s 69th executive order of his second presidency, under the deceptive title of “Ensuring accountability for all agencies”,…
Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land
The villa is stunning. The private swimming pool; the lush, landscaped terrace with firepit; the long dining table with its expansive balcony view; the pingpong table; the piano. But the jewel in the crown, according to the Airbnb listing, is the experience of watching the sun rise over the nearby mountains from the luxury of the generous master bedroom. The villa with views of the Judean mountains is in a settlement located on land seized from Palestinians and considered illegal…
