“Israel has resumed its aerial bombardment of Gaza. The latest cease-fire, which lasted two months and led to the release of 33 Israeli hostages and 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, never made it out of its first stage. The Israeli government has now adopted a strategy of inflicting overwhelming violence until Hamas capitulates by releasing the remaining hostages. Ukraine and Russia have accepted a limited cease-fire. Both sides have agreed to stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure, but neither has actually adhered to this condition. U.S. President Donald Trump, who coaxed both sides toward this cease-fire, is reportedly furious. This week, Moscow and Kyiv agreed to extend this partial cease-fire to the Black Sea, though here, too, they don’t seem in a rush to stop their attacks. No serious analysts, including those in Russia, expect this cease-fire to hold.” (03/29/25)
“Germany has said it ‘will not give in’ and that Europe must ‘respond firmly’ as US President Donald Trump targets [American buyers of] imported cars and car parts with a 25% tax in his latest tariffs. Other major world economies have vowed to retaliate, with France’s president branding the move ‘a waste of time’ and ‘incoherent,’ Canada calling it ‘a direct attack,’ and China accusing Washington of violating international trade rules. Shares in carmakers from Japan to Germany sold off. In the US, General Motors dropped 7%, while Ford fell more than 2%. Trump has threatened to impose ‘far larger’ tariffs if Europe works with Canada to do what he describes as ‘economic harm’ to the US. The fresh car tariffs will come into effect on 2 April, with charges on businesses importing vehicles starting the next day.” (03/27/25)
“In cities across Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, hundreds of Palestinian civilians marched against Hamas. It was the largest protest against the militant group since it sparked a war with Israel more than 17 months ago. Clearly, the fear of harsh retribution by Hamas for speaking out is falling among the territory’s 2 million residents as they face further war devastation. Yet more telling was what drove protesters to set aside their fears: a claim of innocence. In one video on the platform X, a man in the northern city of Beit Lahia yells to a crowd, ‘We are a peaceful people. … We just want to live.’ One construction worker told the German Press Agency, ‘We shouldn’t have to keep paying the price for leaders who only care about their own power.’ A slogan on one sign read, ‘We refuse to be the ones who die.'” (03/26/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Not for what they’re going through, obviously, but for what they have: Their supremely authentic culture, with its deep roots and ancient connection to the land. One of the very, very few good things that the Gaza holocaust has brought into this world is a deluge of footage of Palestinians living their lives, interacting with each other and relating to their loved ones as they find ways to get by in this nightmare. Westerners like me have been quietly watching these video clips on our little screens in our homes, and watching the various films, documentaries and shows that have been made about Palestinian life over the years, and taking it all in.” (03/27/25)
“There’s no getting around the fact that Signal-gate was a blunder. In soccer terms, it was an own goal, a totally unnecessary screw-up that set back the Trump team. But the team is still winning and the opposition is still in total disarray and fighting among themselves. Let’s hope lessons have been learned. It’s hard to believe that, of all the people on planet Earth, it was Jeffrey Goldberg, America’s most rabidly anti-Trump journalist, who could have been ‘inadvertently’ patched into a sensitive Signal group chat of the national security Cabinet discussing sensitive plans for military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. But that’s what President Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is telling us.” (03/26/25)
“U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem landed in Colombia on Thursday as part of a tour of three Latin American nations to discuss immigration, crime and deportation. Her trip comes amid a souring in relations between the Trump administration and the Colombian government – long the United States'[s] closest ally in the region. Tensions between the two countries rose in January over accepting flights of immigrants deported from the U.S. Noem sat down with the country’s foreign minister Thursday morning, and is set to meet with Colombia’s leftist leader and police to discuss efforts to fight organized crime later. Colombian President Gustavo Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump, both populists [sic], share diametrically opposed views over key issues like combatting crime and the American government’s role in Latin America.” (03/27/25)
“On the corner of West 25th Street and Broadway, a sea of blood-stained hands gather silently amid the noises of Midtown Manhattan. As tourists and locals rush across the intersection, some attempt to decipher the demonstration. A sign in Serbian Cyrillic reads, ‘Love for students, the ocean divides us, the fight connects us.’ After 15 minutes, the crowd breaks their silence, embracing one another through a shared goal, to show support for the students of Serbia. This demonstration is part of a larger student-led resistance sweeping Serbia over the past three months. After the deadly collapse of a canopy at a newly renovated railway station that claimed the lives of 16 people in Novi Sad, the country’s second-largest city, public outrage has sparked a monumental fight against corruption.” (03/27/25)
“In the two months since Donald Trump became president, the Democrats have engaged in a one-note mantra in which they insist the administration ‘is not normal.’ But do the Democrats own a mirror? Because if there is any normalcy on their side of the aisle, it seems to be in deep hiding. It is not normal, for example, that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY] and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] refuse to condemn the violence and destruction directed at Teslas and their owners across the nation. How hard is it – as some lower-level Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khanna [D-CA] have done, to just say, ‘Hey, it’s never OK to destroy personal property over politics?'” (03/27/25)
“BBC correspondent Mark Lowen has been deported from Turkey after being arrested in Istanbul on Wednesday, the BBC has said. Lowen had been in Turkey for several days to report on the ongoing protests that were sparked by the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s arrest last week. Imamoglu — who is being held in jail on corruption charges he denies — is seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival. He has been selected by his party as presidential candidate in the 2028 election. In a statement issued on Thursday, the BBC said: ‘This morning (27 March) the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours.’ On Thursday morning, he was presented with a written notice that he was being deported for ‘being a threat to public order,’ the statement said.” (03/27/25)
“A county clerk in New York refused Thursday to file a more than $100,000 judgment from Texas against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, setting up a potential challenge to laws designed to shield abortion providers who serve patients in states with abortion bans. A Texas judge last month ordered Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices north of New York City, to pay the penalty for allegedly breaking that state’s law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. The Texas attorney general’s office followed up last week by asking a New York court to enforce the default civil judgment, which is $113,000 with attorney and filing fees. The acting Ulster County clerk refused. ‘In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office. …’ Acting Clerk Taylor Bruck said in a prepared statement.” (03/27/25)
