This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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By Giles Dexter, RNZ News political reporter
The Defence Force is sending a plane to the Middle East to assist any New Zealanders stranded in Iran or Israel.
The C-130J Hercules, along with government personnel, will leave Auckland on Monday.
Airspace is still closed in the region, but Defence Minister Judith Collins said the deployment was part of New Zealand’s contingency plans.
- READ MORE: Leaders in US-affiliated Pacific react to surprise strikes on Iran
- NZ group slams Israeli ‘hoodwinking’ of US over nuclear strikes — Peters calls for talks
- US bombs Iranian nuclear sites – Iran fires missiles at Israel
- US strikes: Ignore the propaganda, 10 forces will shape the Iran-Israel war
- Other Middle East crisis reports
“Airspace in Israel and Iran remains heavily restricted, which means getting people out by aircraft is not yet possible, but by positioning an aircraft, and defence and foreign affairs personnel in the region, we may be able to do more when airspace reopens,” she said.
The government was also in discussions with commercial airlines to see what they could do to assist, although it was uncertain when airspace would reopen.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said New Zealanders should do everything they could to leave now, if they could find a safe route.
“We know it will not be safe for everyone to leave Iran or Israel, and many people may not have access to transport or fuel supplies,” he said.
‘Stay in touch’
“If you are in this situation, you should shelter in place, follow appropriate advice from local authorities and stay in touch with family and friends where possible.”Peters reiterated New Zealand’s call for diplomacy and dialogue.
“Ongoing military action in the Middle East is extremely worrying and it is critical further escalation is avoided,” he said. “New Zealand strongly supports efforts towards diplomacy.
“We urge all parties to return to talks. Diplomacy will deliver a more enduring resolution than further military action.”
NZ’s Defence Minister Judith Collins and Foreign Minister Winston Peters address the media . . . “Look, this is a danger zone . . . Get out if you possibly can.” Image: RNZ/Calvin Samuel It will take a few days for the Hercules to reach the region.
New Zealanders in Iran and Israel needing urgent consular assistance should call the Ministry’s Emergency Consular Call Centre on +64 99 20 20 20.
New Zealand hoped the aircraft and personnel would not be needed, and diplomatic efforts would prevail, Collins re-iterated.
The ministers would not say where exactly the plane and personnel would be based, for security reasons.
Registered number in Iran jumps
Peters told reporters the number of New Zealanders registered in Iran had jumped since the escalation of the crisis.
How the New Zealand Herald, the country’s largest newspaper, reported the US strike on Iran today. Image: APR “We thought, at a certain time, we had them all counted out at 46,” he said. “It’s far more closer to 80 now, because they’re coming out of the woodwork, despite the fact that, for months, we said, ‘Look, this is a danger zone’, and for a number of days we’ve said, ‘Get out if you possibly can’.”
There were 101 New Zealanders registered in Israel. Again, Peters said the figure had risen recently.
He indicated people from other nations could be assisted, similar to when the NZDF assisted in repatriations from New Caledonia last year.
Labour defence spokesperson Peeni Henare supported the move.
“I acknowledge the news that the New Zealand Defence Force will soon begin a repatriation mission to the Middle East, and thank the crew and officials on this mission for their ongoing work to bring New Zealanders home safely,” he said.
While he agreed with the government that the attacks were a dangerous escalation of the conflict and supported the government’s calls for dialogue, he said the US bombing of Iran was a breach of international law and the government should be saying it.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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French police have arrested four suspects in connection with a knife attack on exiled Lao democracy activist Joseph Akaravong, including the man who stabbed and seriously wounded the activist before fleeing the scene, local media reported Wednesday.
The main suspect – a man in his 30s who stabbed Akaravong three times in the throat and torso on Saturday – was arrested on Tuesday in Nîmes, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) from the city of Pau, Pau public prosecutor Rodolphe Jarry said in a statement on Wednesday. The suspects were not named.
Akaravong was rushed to a hospital in Pau in critical condition after the attack. His condition has since stabilized, Jarry told French media.
The public prosecutor’s office in Pau has launched an investigation into what they are referring to as an “attempted assassination.” Authorities did not confirm if the attack was politically motivated at this time, reported France’s Le Monde.
Human rights advocates say the attack fits a broader pattern of targeting activists abroad. Rights group Manushya Foundation described the attack as an example of “transnational repression.”
“The attack on Joseph is part of a dangerous and escalating pattern, in which authoritarian regimes continue to monitor, pressure, and even harm activists across borders,” the foundation said in a statement.
Akaravong, one of the most prominent critics of the communist government in Laos, fled the Southeast Asian nation in 2018 after criticizing the collapse of a saddle dam at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project in Attapeu province that killed dozens of villagers. He was granted political asylum in France in March 2022, the foundation said.
According to the Manushya Foundation, Akaravong was attacked while he was meeting with another Lao woman activist who had recently traveled to France after completing a five-year prison sentence in Laos last September for her criticism of the government on Facebook.
The foundation did not name the woman activist, but last September, Houayheuang Xayabouly was freed from prison in southern Laos. She was arrested in September 2019 after she criticized the government on Facebook for delaying a flood rescue effort.
In recent years, other Lao activists have gone missing or faced violence both inside Laos and outside the country, typically in neighboring Thailand.
The Pau public prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to RFA’s request for comments.
Written by Tenzin Pema. Edited by Mat Pennington.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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As tensions between Iran and Israel continue to mount, a 46-second video compilation showing missiles hitting urban areas in the night is being widely circulated with claims that it shows Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Tel Aviv on June 14, a day after Israel launched one of its biggest aerial assaults in an alleged bid to stop Tehran’s nuclear pursuits.
The compilation comprises three separate videos. The first one shows a series of distant explosions, from incoming missiles, lighting up the night sky near a highway. A few vehicles are seen plying on the road while others are parked by the roadside. The second clip shows a cascade of missiles raining down in the distance, filmed from what appears to be a residential balcony. The final clip is recorded from inside a moving vehicle and shows a missile hitting the ground just a few metres away from the car.
Also Read: 2024 video of missile attack on Sevastopol, Crimea, viral as Iran’s recent offensive on Israel
X user @WLbir shared this compilation on June 14, 2025, claiming it showed the live situation in Tel Aviv. (Archive)
At the time of writing this, the post had over 350,000 views.
Another X user, @Yemenimilitary, also shared the video with the caption, “Tel Aviv is being taught a lesson.” (Archive)
At the time this article was written, the post had over 708,000 views.
Similarly, another X user, @F5xLyB7vFWa4ies shared the video and alleged that the video captures military actions in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Archive)
Several other social media users also shared the video with similar claims.
Click to view slideshow.Fact Check
We fact checked each of the clips in the compilation separately.
Clip 1: A reverse image search on a few key frames from the video led us to an Instagram post by Creative Community for Peace (@ccfpeace) from October 1, 2024. According to the caption, the footage depicts a missile attack launched by Iran and Hezbollah on Israel during that time.
View this post on InstagramClip 2: A similar reverse image search led us to a Reddit post from October 1, 2024. The caption accompanying the video clearly states that it shows an Iranian ballistic missile strike targeting the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
Clip 3: We repeated the process and found the same clip on YouTube uploaded on October 2, 2024, by TRT world, a Turkish public broadcast service. The video description reads, “A passenger in a car captured the moment an Iranian missile struck, after Tehran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel.”
Based on these findings, we were sure that none of the clips used in the compilation were from the recent conflict. They have been available online since at least October 1, 2024, when Iran launched a large-scale missile attack against Israel to retaliate against the strikes on Gaza and Lebanon, as well as to avenge the assassinations of senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas and Hezbollah.
To sum up, all three clips included in the widely circulated video compilation are not of the escalation between Iran and Israel in June. These visuals are at least eight months old.
Also Read: Video available online since October 2024 falsely linked to current Israel-Iran conflict and Video shared in January 2025 as fireworks in Berlin now viral as visuals from Israel-Iran airstrikes
The post More old videos of missile strikes viral as Iran’s June attack on Israel appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A video showing two massive explosions is being widely circulated on social media amid rising tensions between Iran and Israel. Tensions between the two countries have escalated since Friday, June 13, following Israel’s military strike against its long-standing rival. Soon, Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes against Israel, with explosions heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the largest cities there.
Amid this, several images and videos are viral on social media, allegedly showing destruction on both sides.
An X user who shared the video of the two explosions suggested that this was happening in Jaffa, Israel. The caption, in Arabic, said “Breaking – Hebrew media: “Iran has gone mad on us, they are bombing us mercilessly. — Video: Jaffa is burning”. (Archive)
عاجل إعلام عبري | جن جنون ايران علينا، يقصفونا بدون رحمة.
— بالفيديو: يافا تحترق
pic.twitter.com/RoN3D2pBqt— همام شعلان || H . Shaalan (@osSWSso) June 13, 2025
Several other X users shared the same video with the same claim. (Archives- 1, 2, 3, 4)
Fact Check
Upon a reverse image search of the keyframes of the viral video, we found several instances of the same video online, going as far back as March 2024.
A March 24, 2024, report by Daily Mail featured the same video titled “Major alert as Putin fires Russian cruise missile over NATO territory for 39 seconds sparking growing concern over escalation of the Ukraine war”. The report also used a screenshot from the viral video with the caption, “Meanwhile Ukraine subjected Russian-annexed Sevastopol in Crimea to one of the heaviest bombardments of the 25-month war (pictured above: Sevastopol under missile attack)”
Click to view slideshow.The attack on Sevastopol in Crimea was also reported by The Telegraph on March 24, 2024. The publication used the same video in its report, stating that the Ukranian military struck two Russian warships and other facilities in Sevastopol. The attack reportedly involved Storm Shadow missiles, which were supplied to Ukraine by the United Kingdom. Ukraine further claimed that Russian landing ships Yamal and Azov were hit during the mission.
Thus, the viral video being shared with claims that it shows Iran’s attack on Jaffa near Tel Aviv, Israel, is from last year and unrelated. Alt News was able to trace the purported visuals back to March 24, 2024, and found that it showed Ukraine’s attack on Sevastopol, Crimea.
The post Video of missile attack on Sevastopol, Crimea, in 2024 viral as recent Iranian offensive on Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, Israel appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shinjinee Majumder.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Laura Flanders & Friends and was authored by Laura Flanders & Friends.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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In a press briefing on May 11, 2025, chiefs of the Indian army, air force and navy shared details on Operation Sindoor. During the briefing, Air Marshal AK Bharti said India destroyed airbases and radar centres in Sukkur, Rafiqui, Rahim Yar Khan, Chaklala (Noor Khan), Bholari, Sargodha and Jacobabad in response to Pakistani attacks.
Soon after this, a video began circulating on social media with claims that these showed the destruction at the Noor Khan (Chaklala) airbase. The airbase is located in the Rawalpindi area, around 10 kilometres from Islamabad.
X user Karma Yogi (@karma2moksha) shared the video and wrote, “Pakistan’s Noor Khan Airbase. As per the shared video, the damage is huge.” (Archive)
Several other X handles, including @munish_pat1980, @amjaviya and @Yashwant_Saroha also shared the video with the same claim.
Fact Check
On looking at the viral video closely, Alt News noticed that there were only passenger planes and nothing resembling a fighter jet on the tarmac. At the 00:52-minute mark in the video, the word ‘Sudan’ can be seen on the tail of one of the planes.
We performed a reverse image search using a few frames of the viral clip and found the same video uploaded on Instagram by a user named ‘@africanaviators_official’ on March 31, 2025. The caption of the post said these were tragic scenes from Khartoum International Airport in Sudan that show a large number of aircraft being destroyed during clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in May 2023. It also says that the Sudanese army took back control of the Khartoum International Airport from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A longer version of this video was shared by X handle @smutoro on March 31. The post said that the Khartoum Airport was destroyed by RSF fighters. At the 04:31-minute mark in the video, the words ‘Blue Bird Aviation Company Limited’ can be seen on the damaged plane as well as on the signboard of an aircraft workshop. Blue Bird Aviation is a private airline company from Sudan established in 1989. Thus there is ample evidence that the video is from Sudan and not Pakistan.
According to a report published by Al Jazeera on March 26, the Sudanese army recaptured Khartoum International Airport from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in March 2025, two years after the war.
To sum up, this viral video shows an airport destroyed in a clash during the civil uprising in Sudan, not Pakistan. Social media users wrongly shared it as scenes from Pakistan’s Noor Khan airbase after it was destroyed by the Indian armed forces.
The post Video from Sudan shared as visuals of Pakistan’s Noor Khan airbase after Indian attack appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.
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Against the backdrop of the recent India-Pakistan armed conflict, Iranian media and Pakistani social media handles shared a video claiming that Pakistan army had destroyed the Adani-owned Hazira port in Gujarat by attacking it with multiple missiles.
Iran-based media organisation Tasnim News posted the video on its official X handle @Tasnimnews_Fa claiming that a fire had broken out at an Indian airbase in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat after a Pakistani airstrike. (Archived link)
Jackson Hinkle, an American political commentator, influencer and host of the show Legitimate Targets, also made the same claim by sharing a video on X (formerly Twitter). The post was later deleted. (Archived link)
Several Pakistani handles @AthSa01, @Rahil__AD, @_iMAKsays also claimed that the Adani Airport in Gujarat had been destroyed.
Fact Check
Alt News performed a reverse image search with some key frames of the viral video. This led us to a news report by The Irish Sun published on July 7, 2021. Alongside a screenshot of the viral video, the report states that the sound of the explosion in the ‘oil tanker’ at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port was heard several miles away and glass from several nearby buildings also shattered due to its impact.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, a container ship docked at Jebel Ali Port, one of the world’s largest ports, caught fire after an explosion in Dubai, the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates, on July 7, 2021. The Dubai Media Office (DMO) reported that the fire was eventually brought under control and there were no casualties, stating that the cause of the explosion was unknown.
Alt News also noticed that X user Saeed M from Dubai had shared this video on July 8, 2021, claiming it to be of the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai.
To sum it up, this viral video actually depicts the explosion of an oil container at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port 4 years ago. Some media outlets and Pakistani users are sharing it with the false claim that the Gujarat port was destroyed in Pakistani retaliation following ‘Operation Sindoor’.
ALSO READ: Pakistani accounts released fake video claiming that 52 Indian Army soldiers were killed
The post Pak propaganda: 2021 Dubai fire video shared as Adani-owned Hazira port gutted in missile attack appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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India launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 6 and 7, targeting nine terror camps in Pakistan. The strikes come follow the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed.
On the morning of May 7, India’s ministry of external affairs held a press conference about the military strikes. The Press Information Bureau live-streamed this. In this briefing, a video of attacks against India over the past few years was shown. About a minute into it, visuals of an explosion on a road with text saying ‘Pulwama Attack, 2019’ and ‘40 dead, 5 injured’ appeared on screen.
On February 14, 2019, 40 security forces personnel were martyred in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, in an attack carried out by a suicide bomber with alleged links to terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.
But having tracked this video before, Alt News knew there was a mismatch.
Visuals Not of Pulwama?
In 2019 and 2020, Alt News had published fact checks about the video shown in the May 7 MEA briefing as visuals of the Pulwama attack. We had found the same video posted on YouTube in 2008; the caption suggested the visuals were from Iraq.
The 2008 YouTube video is CCTV footage by a street camera. The time stamp on the screen shows the explosion happened on February 9, 2007, 3:55:26 pm, which is 12 years before the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
We then looked for reports on such an attack in Iraq around February 2007 and found some information on the UK government’s website on British fatalities during their military operations in Iraq. According to this, Private Luke Daniel Simpson of the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment was injured in a roadside bomb explosion on February 9, 2007. He later succumbed to injuries.
Alt News could not confirm whether the video is of the same roadside bomb as shown above. However, that much is clear that the footage shown by the Indian government during the May 7 briefing was not of the 2019 Pulwama attack.
The post In first MEA briefing on Op Sindoor, 2007 footage of Iraq explosion shown as visuals of 2019 Pulwama attack appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Kinjal.
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Even as as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following military strikes between the two countries, unverified images and videos claiming to be related to the conflict have flooded social media. One such video is being shared by Pakistani social media handles with the claim that Pakistan had struck an Indian military base in Amritsar, Punjab.
A fortnight after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam had killed 26 people, Indian armed forces in the early hours of May 7 launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine sites in Pakistan and PoK from where attacks against India had been planned and directed. The Union ministry of defence described the action as “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”, with no Pakistani military facilities having been targeted. Late on May 7, reports came in of heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan on forward villages along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu and Kashmir killing at least 16 civilians. They also attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India including in Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot and Amritsar, among other places, using drones and missiles. These were neutralized by India’s integrated counter UAS grid and air defence systems. Subsequently, Indian armed forces targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan in a proportionate response, and neutralized the air defence system in Lahore.
Against this backdrop, a user named Hanuman tweeted the video and wrote that Pakistan attacked the military base in Amritsar in which numerous casualties were reported with several seriously injured. (Archived link)
Pakistan strikes military base in Amritsar.
Numerous casualties reported, with several critically injured.#IndiaPakistanWar#OperationSindoor #Pakistani pic.twitter.com/bQW0WgQRYH— HANUMAN (@Hanuman231) May 7, 2025
A Pakistani user shared this video and called it an attack by Pakistan on India’s Amritsar military base. (Archived link)
A user named Voice of India also made the same claim while tweeting the video. (Archived link)
Interestingly, many users including BJP leader Shaurya Mishra and The Jaipur Dialogues shared the same clip describing it as visuals of an Indian attack in Sialkot, Pakistan.
Click to view slideshow.Fact Check
Alt News performed a reverse image search of a few frames from the viral video, which led us to a video uploaded by a Chilean media outlet on February 4, 2024. The accompanying caption states that this video depicts a fire in Chile’s Valparaiso region. This makes it clear that this video is at least a year old and has no connection with the recent tensions between India and Pakistan.
INCENDIO REGIÓN DE VALPARAÍSO
Achupallas, Viñs del Mar
@accionciudadanachile https://t.co/bwYi8DgRuJ#instagood #IncendiosForestales #IncendiosIntencionales pic.twitter.com/xBHpYrwUqG— Acción Ciudadana Chile (@chile_accion) February 4, 2024
An account named @WallStreetApes tweeted this video on March 1, 2024, stating that this was a scene of a fire in Texas.
NEW Resident Video Of The Texas Fires Posted
Texas Resident Said “Evacuating terrible to see how the houses of neighbors and friends burn down more painful is to see the scorched animals running away. May god help us.”
American Is Crying While Filming This Texas Fire Footage pic.twitter.com/p9G2dT2PmM
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) March 1, 2024
Iran’s official news agency IRNA used this video in an article on April 14, 2024, claiming that this video showed Iranian missiles attacking the Negev sector of southern Israel.
Alt News cannot confirm the origin of this video from any of the three incidents. However, in the course of our investigation, we found enough evidence to conclude that the viral footage has been present online for at least a year and hence has no connection to the recent tensions between India and Pakistan.
The post Same video shared as Pak attack in Amritsar and Indian strike in Sialkot. In reality, it shows neither appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A 9-second-long video showing a few young boys crouching in a field while a loud bang goes off resulting in smoke has gone viral on social media. In the clip, after the loud noise is heard, one person collapses to the ground and a few moments later, laughter can be heard.
Referring to the loud noise in the clip as a gunshot, social media users sharing this video have linked it to the April 22 attack in Kashmir, in which 26 civilians were killed by terrorists. They claim that the laughter in the background is proof that when tourists were being shot dead, Kashmiri by-standers cheered on the reprehensible act.
On April 30, X user Janardan Mishra (@janardanmis) posted the viral video, with a caption in Hindi which roughly translates to: “Tourists were being shot dead and local Kashmiri ‘pigs’ stood there laughing… After this video, if any leftist motherf***** trumpets the ideals of Kashmiriyat, please take off your shoes and beat them up.”
At the time this article was written, the post had been shared more than 3,000 times. (Archive)
The same day, X account @ProfSudhaanshu also shared the video with a similar claim. The post has now been taken down but the last time Alt News checked when it was live, it had raked up over 120,000 views. Here’s an archived version of the now-deleted post.
Another X account, @IRinitiPandey, posted the video with a similar claim. (Archive)
The same video was amplified across X by several other users. (Archives: 1, 2, 3)
Click to view slideshow.The video was also viral on Facebook with similar claims. Screenshots below:
Click to view slideshow.Fact Check
To verify the truth behind the viral video, we broke it down into several key frames. We then ran a reverse-image search on one of these, which led us to a YouTube video from April 3, 2025, which is 19 days before the Pahalgam terror attack.
This clip in this YouTube short is exactly the same as the video that was recently viral and associated with the Pahalgam terror attack. We also found a Facebook reel uploaded on April 3 that features the same video.
It’s possible that the video was from earlier, but we were unable to find when exactly it happened. We know for sure that the viral clip was available on the internet since April 3, 2025, at least.
We have reached out to the Facebook account that shared this video on April 3 to understand what was happening in the clip. The story will be updated if and when they respond.
To conclude, a video, which has been on the internet since April 3, 2025, was falsely linked to the April 22 Pahalgam attack with hateful remarks against Kashmiris.
(With inputs from Oishani Bhattacharya)
The post Video shared on April 3 falsely linked to April 22 Pahalgam terror attack to malign Kashmiris appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Prantik Ali.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Photograph Source: Office of Vice President of the United States – Public Domain
It’s all happening so fast. If they are not attacking some agency like the Department of Education or a cultural institution such as the Kennedy Center or Smithsonian Museum, they’re launching some personal vendetta against a lawyer or law firm, imposing tariffs right and left, rounding up and deporting people with green cards or rattling on about an eventual third term. It’s hard to keep track of the entirety of the shock and awe of the Trumpian assault. But every once and awhile, amidst the overwhelming noise and horrors, a phrase appears that puts everything in perspective. And JD Vance has done just that.
The Vice-President recently announced the Trumpian temporal view of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
This is what Vance said on March 29, 2025, at the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland:
“And, you know, one of the things I heard was, well, what about the many Danes who lost their lives in the war on terror fighting alongside the United States? Well, look, we obviously honor the sacrifice of our Danish friends in the war on terror 20 years ago, just as, for example, the French honor the sacrifice of Americans in Normandy 80 years ago. But recognizing that there are important security partnerships in the past does not mean that we can’t have disagreements with allies in the present about how to preserve our shared security for the future. And that’s what this is about.”
What is this about? It’s much more than just Greenland. It’s about the relationship between the past, present and future. Vance refers to honoring Danish friends in the war on terror 20 years ago just as the French honor American sacrifices 80 years ago. Both of those honorings are about the past. The former Appalachian hillbilly is arguing that today’s discussions about Greenland are not related to the past; they are about disagreements in the present and preserving U.S. security in the future. The Yale Law School graduate sees history as irrelevant to the present and future.
Now history has different directions. One is linear with time moving in a straight line. In this timeline, the past disappears since time moves inexorably forward. What happened before has no relevance to what is happening now and what will happen in the future. Each day brings a new and different perspective.
The other historical time is circular, with time continually returning to some basic truths about human nature and how we live. The seasons come and go, the same human frustrations and joys repeat only in different forms. According to circular time, our lives have not fundamentally changed despite all the technological trappings of modernity. We reread and watch Greek plays and other classics because their stories speak to us here and now.
What does it mean for the president of the United States and those around him to have a linear sense of time? To them, nothing that has come before matters; all they accomplish is unique with no precedents. That’s what makes Vance’s phrase so crucial and frightening.
Who does Trump call for advice? To whom does he listen for previous knowledge? Trump and Musk have fired tens of thousands of government workers who have institutional memories. Did anyone in on the recent Signalgate scandal bother to ask experts how to securitize a conference call? Obviously not. In Trumpian linear time, everything begins with him and his administration. There is no collective, institutional memory. Trump joyfully mocks and insults his predecessors.
Nothing from the past has any relevance in Trump’s world except that he is the greatest of all time. At a rally in Michigan just before the November 5, 2024, election, Trump boasted that Border Patrol agents declared him “the greatest president in history” and “better than both Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.” He didn’t have to say it himself; he quoted others saying what he believes.
A very different example of humility is that when John F. Kennedy was elected president, one of the first things he did was to call wise men such as the former Governor of Illinois Adlai Stevenson II and Dean Acheson, the former Secretary of State under President Truman to ask their advice. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy spoke with former President Dwight Eisenhower to review the situation. Experience mattered.
In response to Vance’s comments, the Danish Foreign Minister said, “But let me be completely honest: we do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies. And I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.” Allies are part of circular time. Trust and confidence require experience. Trump/Vance’s linear time has no place for friendships, alliances or common experiences; it’s only about current interests. Contrary to the Danish Foreign Minister, Trump and Vance do not treat Denmark as an historic ally in their current desire for Greenland.
History and culture are intertwined. Can one imagine what kind of cultural events DJT and Melania will present at the White House and Kennedy Center, the Village People performing “Y.M.C.A.” or Queen singing “We are the champions”? Remember Pablo Casals playing in the East Room of the White House for the Kennedys or Aretha Franklin singing at Barrack Obama’s inauguration?
For the attacks on the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Museum and universities are not just anti-intellectualism; they are brazen attacks on history and culture. There is no reason to read only dead white males, but there is certainly no reason to ignore history and culture. More bluntly, there is no reason not to read. The dismantling of the Department of Education is more than just a bureaucratic erasure of a federal department.
Trump, Vance, Musk and Company are the epitome of linearity. Their efficient, creative destruction is ahistorical. It all starts and ends with them. The Trumpian vision is that history is the last 25 seconds on some screen with him on the home page.
But what goes out comes back. There are forces that even the most modern technology cannot deny. We are witnessing a great tragedy unfolding with no Greek chorus to tell us what will happen as the play develops. The circle will come back. It always has; it always will.
The post JD Vance’s Trumpian Attack on Time appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Daniel Warner.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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If you thought SignalGate was bad, wait until you hear about ArchiveGate. Trump illegally fired the National Archivist—the first president in U.S. history to do so since the position was established in the 1930s. This wasn’t just about a change in leadership; it was revenge on the Archivist’s office alerting the DOJ about Trump’s stolen classified documents, which were stored around Mar-a-Lago, a known hub for foreign spies.
But it gets worse. Marco Rubio, who is currently the Trump/Putin lackey Secretary of State, is also serving as the acting National Archivist. This unprecedented conflict of interest raises serious concerns. Rubio is juggling three major roles—Secretary of State, head of USAID, and now, National Archivist. This gives him the power to greenlight the destruction of government records, including his own, without any checks and balances.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity of our political system, overseeing the administration of the Electoral College, preserving government records, and ensuring transparency. Now, with Rubio in control, we face the potential destruction of key documents and rewriting of history that could threaten our democracy. It’s another avenue for Trump to lead a coup to stay in power, like his failed “fake electors” scheme to try to overturn the 2020 election.
As one listener points out in her commentary, edited for clarity, shared in a recent Gaslit Nation salon, we must stay vigilant of these corrupt moves. ArchiveGate is part of a broader plan to hold on to power. But remember, the people are the ultimate force. Together, we can stop this.
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Show Notes:
Reject Hypernormalization: Gaslit Nation Launches New Project, Survey https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/survey-reject-hypernormalization
Trump’s firing of the U.S. government archivist is far worse than it might seem: The National Archives and Records Administration does more than just preserve documents: It’s the scaffolding of the American political system. https://www.fastcompany.com/91277620/trump-firing-national-archivist-colleen-shogan
House Dems cite ‘fundamental conflict’ of Rubio’s acting appointments atop USAID and National Archives: Lawmakers’ concerns stem from a March 11 memo instructing USAID employees to prepare for mass destruction of agency records. https://www.govexec.com/management/2025/03/house-dems-cite-fundamental-conflict-rubios-acting-appointments-atop-usaid-and-national-archives/404013/
The ‘fake electors’ and their role in the 2020 election, explained https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/20/fake-electors-charges-trump-2020-election/
This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Two Cambodian generals accused of planning a deadly grenade attack on a demonstration in 1997 are scheduled to go on trial in Paris next week –- the first time a judicial body has sought to determine accountability for the notorious incident.
A French judge will interview witnesses in the case against Hing Bun Hieng and Huy Piseth from March 19-21, exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy said on Facebook on March 8.
Blasts from four grenades that went off in a park on March 30, 1997, where protesters had gathered killed 16 people and injured 150 others, blowing off the limbs of some. Sam Rainsy, the leader of the rally, is thought to have been the target of the attack but was uninjured.
Hing Bun Hieng was the commander of then-Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit, while Huy Piseth was the commander of the army’s Brigade 70, which is responsible for capturing or killing high-value targets.
An FBI report indicated that Cambodian authorities possessed prior knowledge of the attack and that there was a possibility the attackers colluded with the bodyguard unit.
Sam Rainsy is carried to safety after a grenade attack on a group of demonstrators outside the National Assembly building in Phnom Penh, March 30, 1997. (AFP)Former opposition party lawmaker Men Sothavarin told Radio Free Asia on Monday that the French judge has summoned victims and witnesses, as well as Hing Bunhieng and Huy Piseth, to appear before the court.
“If they do not come, the court will try them in absentia,” he said of the two commanders.
No one was arrested
On the day of the attack, protesters had gathered in a Phnom Penh park across the street from Cambodia’s National Assembly to denounce the judiciary’s corruption and lack of independence.
According to eyewitness accounts, the people who threw the grenades ran toward Hun Sen’s riot gear-clad bodyguards, who allowed them to escape.
Because American citizen Ron Abney was among those seriously injured, the FBI sent investigators to Cambodia in the weeks after the attack. The bureau’s report was declassified in 2009.
But no one has ever been arrested for the attack, despite the large toll of death and dismemberment.
However, warrants for the arrests of Huy Piseth and Hing Bun Hieng were issued in 2021 by Judge Sabine Khéris, the deputy chief of investigation at the Paris Court of Justice.
The warrants were issued following a complaint by Sam Rainsy and his wife, Tioulong Saumura, who live in exile in France.
The court at first also summoned then-Prime Minister Hun Sen, but the French government later blocked the warrant, citing French law that gives immunity to heads of government.
‘Bodies all over the place’
Brad Adams, a former U.N. human rights worker, told RFA that he will give testimony at the court next week. In an interview, he recalled arriving at the park about 10 minutes after the blasts.
“There were bodies all over the place,” he said. “It is one of the worst things I have seen in my entire life.”
He described a scene in which soldiers actively interfered with efforts to help the wounded. When the police arrived a short time later, they just stood around.
“The only assistance came from civilians,” he said.
Hing Bun Hieng is now deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and also serves as the commander of Hun Sen’s family bodyguard unit.
Huy Piseth is currently a secretary of state at the Ministry of National Defense and deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son.
Hing Bun Hieng told RFA on Monday that he will not appear before the court or send a lawyer in his place. The case only arose because of Sam Rainsy’s emotional and unsubstantiated accusations, he said.
“He has accused me for more than 30 years, but there has never been any proper evidence,” he said. “Are there any photos showing me ordering the tossing of the grenades?”
He also denied any role in the attack during a 2022 interview with RFA in which he dared anyone to present evidence to the contrary.
“I already clarified this [with the FBI]. I wasn’t involved,” he said. “I don’t know anything.”
Hing Bun Heang was sanctioned by the U.S. government in June 2018 over his unit’s alleged role in the attack, as well as several other assaults on unarmed Cambodians.
Huy Piseth didn’t immediately respond to RFA’s attempt for comment this week. He has previously acknowledged to the FBI that he ordered the deployment of the 70th Brigade to the park on the day of the attack.
Translated by Sum Sok Ry. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Khmer.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
