For most readers in the United Kingdom, the line separating Lebanon from what was then Mandatory Palestine appears as a distant, static feature of ‘Middle Eastern’ geography. Yet this border—finalised in April 1924—was anything but inevitable. It emerged from eight turbulent years of diplomacy, rivalry, miscalculation, and competing national projects.
What might seem like a minor administrative undertaking between France and Britain was, in reality, a complex struggle involving imperial strategists, Zionist leaders, and early Lebanese nationalists.
Lebanon and Palestine—an accidental fault line: The legacy of Sykes–Picot
The story begins in May 1916 with the Anglo-French exchange of notes that produced the Sykes–Picot Agreement. The arrangement partitioned the eastern Mediterranean into three spheres:
an “international zone”
a British coastal corridor encompassing Haifa and Acre
and a French zone stretching further north.
The line separating the French and international areas happened—almost inadvertently—to slice through existing Jewish agricultural settlements. No one in London or Paris imagined that this detail would soon complicate every subsequent negotiation.
Britain’s rising leverage and the Balfour factor
What was still a theoretical map in 1916 became an urgent reality two years later. As the First World War progressed, Britain—not France—found itself bearing the military burden in the Levant. And with the Balfour Declaration of November 1917, Britain formalised a political alliance with an increasingly influential Zionist movement.
When Allied forces established the Occupied Enemy Territory Administrations in September 1918, Britain expanded its control northwards to include the Safed region. France accepted this reluctantly, but it triggered a deeper Franco-British contest over what, exactly, “Palestine” should include.
At that time, “Palestine” was not a political unit but an Ottoman geographic description referring to the districts of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre. Britain nonetheless intended to create a new entity under its mandate—one that required clear northern limits.
Where should Palestine end? Britain’s ambiguity vs. Zionist precision
For Britain, the exact location of the northern boundary was of limited strategic importance. For Zionist leaders, however, it was existential. A viable future state, they argued, needed access to the water resources of the Upper Galilee, particularly the Litani River and the springs near Mount Hermon.
In February 1919, the Zionist Organisation presented to the Paris Peace Conference a proposed border running south of Sidon, looping inland along the Litani, crossing into the Golan, and returning southward. Their justification was economic: water, not scripture.
France rejected the proposal immediately, insisting on the original Sykes–Picot line as its baseline demand. Two incompatible claims—French and Zionist—were now firmly established.
Lebanese nationalism enters the frame
France strengthened its position by backing the ‘nascent Lebanese nationalism’ that it had secretly been nurturing. In August 1919, it sponsored a Maronite delegation led by Patriarch Elias al-Howayek, who argued in Paris for a larger, autonomous Lebanon under French mandate.
France thus gained its own local partner—much as Britain had the Zionists—turning the border question into a three-way contest.
The Deauville Proposal: When theology became geography
Seeking compromise, Britain issued the Deauville Proposal in September 1919. For the first time, London adopted the formula that Palestine should stretch “from Dan to Beersheba”—a biblically inspired definition drawn from a historical atlas by Scottish theologian Adam Smith.
Ironically, while British statesmen invoked scripture, Zionist leaders avoided it: they believed their case was stronger when framed around irrigation, agriculture, and economic viability.
Yet this biblical reference would prove decisive. Because the British misidentified ancient “Dan” as the village of Banias, they unintentionally restricted their own negotiating flexibility. The Litani River lay far beyond this point, making its inclusion diplomatically—and scripturally—awkward.
French hard lines: The Litani must remain Lebanese
By February 1920, the French position was unambiguous: the Litani River, in its entirety, must remain within Lebanon.
For the Zionist movement, this was a serious blow. Chaim Weizmann personally pressed both French and British officials, warning that Palestine without the Litani, the upper Jordan, and the Yarmouk “would not be an economically independent state.”
But French resolve, combined with Britain’s biblical framing, left little room for manoeuvre.
Tel Hai and the shift in territorial calculations
A turning point came in March 1920 with the Tel Hai incident, which elevated Zionist security concerns in the Upper Galilee.
Responding to this, France proposed in June a border that pushed slightly north from the coast at Ras al-Naqoura, then curved inland to include Metulla and the Hula Valley as a finger projecting into Lebanese territory.
This compromise kept the Litani entirely within Lebanon while ensuring that Jewish settlements in the far north remained inside Palestine.
The final push: Zionist appeals fall on deaf ears
From summer to winter 1920, Zionist diplomacy intensified. Weizmann wrote impassioned letters to British leaders arguing that the Litani was “vital” for Palestine’s future and of marginal value to Lebanon. His pleas gained sympathy but no political traction.
British officials charged with negotiating the final agreement found themselves boxed in. As one diplomat candidly wrote, discussions had been constrained by “the historical basis”—a euphemism for the biblical map that Britain itself had introduced.
The 1920 agreement and Its aftermath
On 23 December 1920, Britain and France reached a preliminary agreement, adopting the French proposal for the Lebanon–Palestine boundary. A joint commission finalised the demarcation in February 1922. The British Cabinet approved it the following year.
The final treaty made only passing reference to water rights, focusing mostly on the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers. The Litani—whose inclusion Zionists had pursued relentlessly—was not mentioned at all.
One small section of the border between Metulla and Banias was left open for potential adjustment, but the broader framework was settled. Britain and France had drawn a line that still shapes Middle Eastern politics today.
A legacy still visible today
What emerged between 1916 and 1924 was not merely a boundary but a political geography that continues to influence conflict dynamics in the Levant.
The sections disputed today—such as the Shebaa Farms, the Golan edge, and the village of Ghajar—are direct outgrowths of compromises, cartographic misunderstandings, and imperial rivalries of that era.
For Britain, this history is a reminder of how decisions made in distant conference rooms echoed across a century. For Lebanon, the Zionist entity, and Palestine, it remains a lived reality—one that demonstrates how borders drawn with indifference or ambition can become permanent lines of tension.
It’s pleasing to see US war secretary Pete Hegseth panicking on TV — and so he should. Hegseth is one of the most buffoonish characters yet produced by the US political system and the War on Terror. This slicked-back fool with far-right tattoos is currently doing all manner of gymnastics. Basically, his killing of survivors of an early ‘narco-terrorist’ strike in the Caribbean has backfired. Now he’s being accused of war crimes — and it’s got him in a blind panic.
For context, the US has been carrying out strikes on targets in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September. It claims it is fighting a ‘war’ against ‘narcoterrorists’. So far the US has killed over 80 people across 21 strikes. Legal experts (we’ll return to these shortly) and politicians, including Republicans, have cited the absence of evidence to support either the Trump narrative or the killings.
Now, another group of lawyers has said the Hegseth/Trump narrative on Venezuela is bullshit — my words, not theirs.
Pete Hegseth’s buck passing antics
A lot of US rhetoric focuses on Venezuelan cartels. We note, not for the first time, that Venezuela produces very little fentanyl or cocaine, though it is a transit point for drugs being moved. Not that that means the US can attack Venezuela, because drugs are a criminal — not war-fighting — matter.
Venezuela does haveproven oil reserves bigger than those of Saudi Arabia. You can do the extremely complex equation on ‘why the US is interested’ at home. You could also factor in that Trump just pardoned a convicted large scale drug dealer (who is also, funnily enough, the former president of Honduras). Juan Orlando Hernández was serving a 45 year sentence for smuggling 400 tons of cocaine into the US. Until two days ago on 2 November 2025, that is. Such is Trump’s concern about drugs, he just let this guy go scot free.
A hyper-focus on the legality — or not — of one single Trump administration strike, risks missing the point. Legal experts point to the bigger issue at stake: that the entire US build-up is unlawful. There have also been suggestions that the strike was a ‘war crime’. But that’s problematic too. Experts say what has happened can’t be a war crime: because there isn’t a war. Calling the spate of killings ‘war crimes’ may be giving the operation a ‘warrior’ legitimacy which Trump and Hegseth crave.
No. The United States is not in an armed conflict with any cartel or criminal gang. That means the law of armed conflict (LOAC), also known as international humanitarian law (IHL), does not apply to the military operations that began on Sept. 2.
All the killings, they emphasised, have been “unlawful”:
Domestic criminal law and international human rights law both prohibit these kinds of lethal strikes outside of armed conflict — such killings are known as murder and extrajudicial killings, respectively. All 21 strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats, killing 83 people to date, have been unlawful.
Pete Hegseth killing shipwreck survivors
Just Security also cleared up the questions about whether it was lawful to kill people clinging to a bombed boat. In case that was confusing for anyone… it’s not.
They said:
Killing shipwrecked survivors is clearly illegal and as unlawful as targeting those individuals with lethal force in the first place. If the United States were in an armed conflict (it is not), it would be illegal to target shipwrecked survivors at sea.
They also pointed out the killings were not ‘war crimes’, because there is not war underway:
…war crimes are committed only during an armed conflict, and the United States was not (and is not today) in an armed conflict with the reportedly targeted group.
Killing the two shipwrecked survivors should be considered an extrajudicial killing under international human rights law, or murder under U.S. domestic law. An order to kill them would be unlawful whether in armed conflict or not.
The crime of aggression
It’s not exactly wrong to question the lawfulness of that one ‘double tap’ strike on 2 September. But it can lead to myopia. The big picture is about unlawful aggression against Venezuela. And that context is vital. Asked if the buildup of U.S. forces and threats to attack were lawful, Just Security said: “No”.
Now bear with me for some turgid Legalese:
Shows of force, such as exercises, are legal if designed to show resolve, as in the case of demonstrating a willingness to defend against an unlawful armed attack. But Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and customary law prohibit States from even threatening to use force unlawfully if the threats are communicated to the threatened State, coercive, and capable of being carried out.
Senior U.S. officials, including the President, have openly and coercively suggested the forces could be used against Venezuela, and the U.S. military is obviously capable of mounting a large-scale attack against that State.
Since the United States has no legal basis for using force against Venezuela or any drug cartels operating there (see above), the build-up with the accompanying threats is unlawful.
In short, the entire mission, which Hegseth has named Operation Southern Spear, centres on an unlawful act of aggression. Drugs may be bad, Maduro may be bad, narco-terrorists may be a real thing in some sense: but none of that gives the US a licence in law to threaten, cajole, airstrike or invade anywhere — ever.
I don’t expect to see Pete Hegseth in court soon.
We may never know the full details of Trump’s dirty war in the Caribbean. As US reporter Ken Klippenstein has pointed out this week, we are dealing with the unaccountable CIA/Special Forces killing machine built during the War on Terror. But we can know the lawfulness of the strikes and the build-up. So let’s get those right, shall we?
If you’ve bought a computer in the past few years, you may have noticed that RAM chips are much more expensive. Unfortunately, this situation looks set to worsen:
Micron, a major manufacturer of RAM chips, says it is exiting the consumer memory business and focusing on chips used in data centers (AI)
As we reported, generative AI has failed to live up to its promise. It’s also clearly in the late stages of a speculative bubble which looks primed to burst. Additionally, the world recently discovered that seemingly:
AI services cost a lot more to run than we thought.
AI services make a lot less money than we thought.
Modern data centres may not be financially viable because they have to replace their chips so often.
This makes it the strangest time for a company to abandon its profitable and useful business. Unless Micron knows something we don’t, it’s like they’re boarding the Titanic just as everyone else runs for the lifeboats.
The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage.
Micron has made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments.
If you’ve not heard of ‘Kalshi’ before, it’s what’s known as a ‘prediction market’.
If you’ve not heard of prediction markets, hold on to that feeling, because you won’t enjoy your enlightenment:
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion." pic.twitter.com/M1gf0leJFV
Prediction markets are exchanges where people can bet on event outcomes. The bets are usually made by purchasing binary contracts that pay out if the event unfolds the way you expect. In this context, binary means there are only two outcomes — often yes or no — and your contract bets on one of them.
So basically they’re like sports betting except you can bet on pretty much anything. They’re also more annoying than sports betting, because they use nerd words like ‘binary’ and have the whiff of crypto about them.
Prediction markets aren’t exactly like betting, of course, as CCN explain:
Prediction markets might sound confusing, but their core concept is actually quite simple: you trade “tiny” stocks in real-life events. Oftentimes, each stock pays $1 if something happens and $0 if it doesn’t. The price between those numbers tells you the crowd’s odds.
For example, a prediction market might ask: “Will Bitcoin be above $100,000 on December 31?”
If the “Yes” share trades at $0.70, the market indicates there’s about a 70% chance it will happen. The price fluctuates as new information becomes available, such as the announcement of a new Bitcoin ETF.
. …
In other words, think of them like a stock market for questions, rather than companies.
Much like cryptocurrency, this stuff seems more complicated than it is because you can’t figure out what possible benefit it presents to society.
Eventually, you accept the purpose is simply to give the rich a new means to extract wealth from us.
Kalshi—’Financialise everything’
In the video at the top, they ask co-founder Tarek Mansour how he plans to follow through on his plan to make prediction markets bigger than the stock market. The interesting part of his response was this:
The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion.
He also says:
we are living in a world where like, we have an abundance of information, but there’s a lot of noise. And like, we don’t really understand what’s real from what’s not. And prediction markets are an antidote to that.
They do a very, very good job at distilling information and surfacing truth to people. And you’re seeing this sort of massive shift where people are using them whenever they think about questions about the future, whenever they’re debating about anything.
And I think that trajectory is going to keep going.
That’s a new consumer habit that I don’t think is going to be undone.
Are you confused about what’s going on in the world?
Well don’t worry, because you can financialise your confusion, and that will clear things up somehow.
Jesus christ.
It’s no wonder people are responding like this:
to be clear, "financialize everything" means they want to find ways to generate revenue without creating anything tangible or useful. they want to profit without producing anything. that means you will, somehow, end up in debt. https://t.co/cL9mmhyuUy
I don’t know a single person who believes the future is going to be better than the past, and the reason is the spread of this kind of psychocapitalist technofascist ideology. the project of humanity in the 21st century should be ridding the world of it by any means necessary. https://t.co/6tWJbrVMYc
We are in hell. Saying prediction markets are helping bring truth to the surface is one of the most psychotic things I've ever heard someone say https://t.co/EYviytMBYS
it is not only legal but totally normalized and never commented on by anyone in our media. CNN, by partnering with Kalshi, is going to be “reporting on the news” now while offering the chance to wager on these events. On mass death, starvation, dispossession and genocide. 2/2
Prediction markets aren’t just predicting world events; they’re also shaping them.
When you attach a financial incentive to something happening, you give people a reason to make it so. This is why losers kept turning up at women’s basketball games and hurling dildos at the court, injuring at least two children in the process (you can learn more about that in the following video):
We don’t know how long it will take before UK politicians start pushing this shit on us, but we do know Reform took a £9m donation from a crypto guy, so it can’t be too long before the Kalshi come sniffing around them.
In other words, don’t bet on the UK escaping this fresh hell.
“Holidays are coming”, in association with Coca-Cola. But this year an awkward truth is chasing them all the way.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is currently tailing the annual Coca Cola Christmas truck tour across the UK, in a bid to persuade shoppers to boycott Coca-Cola this festive season.
An ad-van branded as part of PSC’s Don’t Buy Apartheid campaign is joining local PSC activists who are staging protests at truck-stop locations.
Coca-Cola and land theft
PSC says its own van’s presence aims to counter the soft-drink giant’s high-profile seasonal advertising. And it’s exposing the truth about Coke’s role in helping Israel sustain its theft and military occupation of Palestinian land.
Coca-Cola’s exclusive franchisee in Israel, the Central Bottling Company, operates a regional distribution centre and cooling houses in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone. This is an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.
In July 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion which found that Israel’s decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory was unlawful. Also that its “near-complete separation” of people in the occupied West Bank breached international laws concerning racial segregation and apartheid.
Corporations that are enabling these violations of international law must be held accountable.
PSC argues that through its operations in the Atatrot Settlement Industrial Zone, Coca-Cola is providing the economic underpinning for Israel’s control of Palestinian land, and fuelling Israel’s escalating violence across the West Bank.
Seeing past the branding
Ben Jamal, PSC Director said:
The Coca-Cola truck purports to symbolise Christmas cheer but behind the festive lights and expensive advertising lies the company’s very real involvement in Israel’s land theft and military occupation.
By operating facilities in an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem, Coke is giving the green light to Israel’s ongoing military assaults and ethnic cleansing across the West Bank.
This Christmas, we’re urging the public to look beyond holiday branding and consider the real-world impact of what they buy.
By boycotting Coca-Cola, we can hit the corporation’s profits and ensure it faces real consequences for enabling Israel’s crimes.
Choosing apartheid-free options is a simple but powerful act of solidarity with Palestinians.
PSC’s action and call for a boycott follows criticism already facing Coca-Cola’s 2025 Christmas campaign. This includes recent media coverage of the public backlash against the brand’s AI-generated holiday advert.
PSC states it hopes to ensure this year’s conversation also includes scrutiny of the human rights impacts of Coca-Cola’s business operations.
PSC is calling on shops, cafés and venues across Britain to stop stocking two product categories:
Firstly, Israeli agricultural produce, including avocados, peppers, herbs and dates. These commonly come from Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law.
All of Israel’s settlements have been judged to be unlawful by the world court – the International Court of Justice. They sit on land forcibly taken from Palestinians and rely on resources unlawfully extracted from occupied territory.
Secondly, Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola’s exclusive franchisee in Israel operates facilities in an Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.
This corporate presence contributes to entrenching settlement infrastructure and therefore forms part of Israel’s system of military occupation and apartheid.
PSC’s call comes amid Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and escalating military assaults, land grabs and settler violence across the occupied West Bank.
In 2025 alone, Israeli forces have killed over 220 Palestinians in the West Bank. Meanwhile 1,500 Palestinian homes and structures have been demolished to make way for Israel’s expanding illegal settlements.
The organisation is urging retailers to instead stock what it calls “apartheid-free alternatives”. These include locally sourced or ethically certified soft drinks such as Gaza Cola.
PSC argues that such boycotts offer people in the UK a meaningful way to support human rights and push global brands like Coca-Cola to act in line with international law.
Palestinian journalist and film-maker Juman Quneis will be speaking at the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival tonight. And ahead of the event, she told us why she’s come all the way from the occupied West Bank to speak about her film The Loud Silence.
Juman Quneis: “they chose a different way”
Juman Quneis was studying in Leeds in 2023 when Israel’s genocide in Gaza escalated, and she chose to make a film about the local Women in Black group – “a loose international network of women calling for peace”. The 29-minute documentary, the festival explains, looks at:
both the power of silent protest, and the many factors influencing the women involved. They talk very movingly of their varied religious beliefs, the impact of other struggles for justice, and deep personal grief and loss.
As Quneis told the Canary, the film looks at how Leeds Women in Black gather:
in the city centre in Leeds every Tuesday, wearing black and standing in silence, holding black cards and signs, reading ‘stop genocide against Gaza’, ‘stop killing children’, ‘stop killing women’.
Quneis explained the women’s motivation, saying:
They chose to express their hope and their willing to stop genocide, to stop killing children and women. They chose a different way to say that, to express the grief, the sadness, the sorrow towards victims of war.
She added:
They felt like it’s human to take a stance towards what’s going on. And they are trying to do something. They describe it as a small thing, as a few things, towards what’s going on in Palestine. But I feel like it’s a big thing, and it’s an important thing. So I would like that people who watch this film, they believe, as women in black believe, they could do any small thing, but it matters. It has an impact.
When the women hand leaflets out to the public, Juman Quneis pointed out:
it educates people about Palestine with very trusted information, taken from international organisations that verify that these figures are right and true.
‘Under occupation, nothing is normal’
Jumam Quneis also highlighted the ongoing horrific situation people are living through in occupied Gaza:
The situation in Gaza is, I can’t describe it, because people don’t live normally. They don’t have houses, they don’t have streets, they don’t have infrastructure, they don’t have schools, they don’t have hospitals… They live with the minimum of basic needs in their life. Still, now, lots of people are looking for… clean water to drink, and spaces to live in.
And she added that, while Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is different, it’s also a massive challenge:
In the West Bank, which is the second part of Palestine, where I live, where I came from, in Ramallah, for example, we have a different challenge. We have the challenge of settlers who are occupying our land, who are depriving us from movement between our cities, from collecting olives, from reaching out to our universities and schools, and also who take over the resources of water and who take the land also.
So it’s a different challenge, but still, we are, as I told you, under occupation. Nothing is good, nothing is nice, nothing is normal.
Despite the ongoing suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, however, Juman Quneis’s film is a reminder that any action people around the world can take in solidarity with the Palestinian people matters.
To highlight damage caused by the oil and gas industry, campaigners from Fossil Free London interrupted the World Energy Council Assembly’s dinner at the Hilton in Mayfair on 3 December.
Oil and gas executives had gathered to present and receive industry “achievement awards”. Award nominees and attendees included Shell, BP, and Ithaca Energy.
Campaigners chanted “no awards for climate criminals”, as they were dragged out of the building by security.
The protest comes after devastating flooding has killed at least 1,250 people across much of southeast Asia in recent days. Human-caused climate breakdown has increased the intensity of such extreme weather events.
Oil damages
A report recently found that oil and gas giants are responsible for €25 trillion in climate damages. Now, survivors of Super Typhoon Odette in the Philippines are suing Shell for damages, in a legal first for holding big oil accountable for its role in climate destruction.
Robin Wells, Director of Fossil Free London said:
Whilst executives drink champagne in tuxedos, the world floods outside. They pat themselves on the back for the ‘deal of the year’, whilst their projects sign death warrants for communities in the Global South and future generations everywhere.
How can it be that business as usual awards the fossil fuel corporations that depend on the systematic destruction of our life support systems? The science is clear: every new oil field is an act of violence. We crashed their party to remind them that history will not give them an award; it will put them on trial.
To highlight damage caused by the oil and gas industry, campaigners from Fossil Free London interrupted the World Energy Council Assembly’s dinner at the Hilton in Mayfair on 3 December.
Oil and gas executives had gathered to present and receive industry “achievement awards”. Award nominees and attendees included Shell, BP, and Ithaca Energy.
Campaigners chanted “no awards for climate criminals”, as they were dragged out of the building by security.
The protest comes after devastating flooding has killed at least 1,250 people across much of southeast Asia in recent days. Human-caused climate breakdown has increased the intensity of such extreme weather events.
Oil damages
A report recently found that oil and gas giants are responsible for €25 trillion in climate damages. Now, survivors of Super Typhoon Odette in the Philippines are suing Shell for damages, in a legal first for holding big oil accountable for its role in climate destruction.
Robin Wells, Director of Fossil Free London said:
Whilst executives drink champagne in tuxedos, the world floods outside. They pat themselves on the back for the ‘deal of the year’, whilst their projects sign death warrants for communities in the Global South and future generations everywhere.
How can it be that business as usual awards the fossil fuel corporations that depend on the systematic destruction of our life support systems? The science is clear: every new oil field is an act of violence. We crashed their party to remind them that history will not give them an award; it will put them on trial.
Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul were again arrested, earlier this month, by Israeli occupation forces (IOF). Over the years, they have been repeatedly detained by the IOF. Although Mahmoud has now been released, his brother Mohammed remains in prison under administrative detention.
Administrative detention—repeated arrests for the al-Balboul brothers
On June 9, 2016, Israeli occupation soldiers raided the al-Balboul family home in Bethlehem late at night. They blew down the door and stormed into the house with dogs. They arrested Mohammed and Mahmoud, and detained them under administrative detention. This means the brothers were held without charge or trial, for renewable six-month periods, while the evidence against them was kept secret, even from their lawyers. Mohammed had previously endured 14 months of detention when he was 17. Two of these months were in solitary confinement. This time he received a six-month order, while Mahmoud was given five months.
By July 4, 2016, the brothers launched an open hunger strike in Ofer and Ramon prisons. They consumed only water and refusing vitamins or salt. This came in solidarity with hungerstriker Bilal Kayed. Kayed had served 14 and a half years, and on the day he was supposed to be released he was sentenced to six months of administrative detention. He then went on hunger strike.
Prison raids followed, with guards punishing strikers, but the al-Balbouls persisted despite deteriorating health. Mohammed suffered temporary blindness and massive weight loss, Mahmoud was nearly paralysed. The prison authorities denied their mother permission to visit, making their suffering even worse.
Hunger strike
The brothers were on hunger strike for more than two months, to protest their administrative detention. Both were eventually hospitalized amid coma risks. Israeli courts gave permission for hospital staff and Israeli occupying authorities to force-feed them, which is considered a form of torture, but the brothers rejected it. The Palestinian Prisoners Society warned of imminent death, highlighting administrative detention’s toll on thousands. The brothers’ actions drew solidarity strikes from more than 100 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.
On September 21, 2016 the brothers ended their strike after reaching an agreement that secured their release.
A Palestinian family tormented by the Israeli occupation
In 2008, undercover occupation forces, disguised as Palestinian civilians, assassinated their father, Ahmad al-Balboul. They ambushed a car carrying al-Balboul and three other Palestinians. The Israeli occupation forces opened fire without warning, killing all four men instantly. They had accused Ahmad of leading the Fateh-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Bethlehem.
The brothers’ 15-year-old sister Nuran served three months in Israeli occupation prisons, from April 2016, after she was stopped by the IOF at a checkpoint and accused of carrying a knife. Nuran claimed she had no knife, but was arrested after arguing with a female soldier whilst trying to visit Jerusalem with her Aunt.
The al-Balboul brothers are just two of the many thousands of Palestinians that the occupation locks up in its prisons. No one is spared from this carceral regime, where youths, the elderly, sick and pregnant are imprisoned regardless. More than 450 children, and 53 women are currently detained. Almost 3580 detainees are administrative detainees, held indefinitely without trial. Thousands more have been abducted in Gaza. Neglect, malnutrition and torture of prisoners by Israeli prison authorities are systematic, as confirmed in a new report by Physicians for Human Rights. ‘Israel’ has killed at least 94 Palestinian detainees since October 7, 2023.
Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul were again arrested, earlier this month, by Israeli occupation forces (IOF). Over the years, they have been repeatedly detained by the IOF. Although Mahmoud has now been released, his brother Mohammed remains in prison under administrative detention.
Administrative detention—repeated arrests for the al-Balboul brothers
On June 9, 2016, Israeli occupation soldiers raided the al-Balboul family home in Bethlehem late at night. They blew down the door and stormed into the house with dogs. They arrested Mohammed and Mahmoud, and detained them under administrative detention. This means the brothers were held without charge or trial, for renewable six-month periods, while the evidence against them was kept secret, even from their lawyers. Mohammed had previously endured 14 months of detention when he was 17. Two of these months were in solitary confinement. This time he received a six-month order, while Mahmoud was given five months.
By July 4, 2016, the brothers launched an open hunger strike in Ofer and Ramon prisons. They consumed only water and refusing vitamins or salt. This came in solidarity with hungerstriker Bilal Kayed. Kayed had served 14 and a half years, and on the day he was supposed to be released he was sentenced to six months of administrative detention. He then went on hunger strike.
Prison raids followed, with guards punishing strikers, but the al-Balbouls persisted despite deteriorating health. Mohammed suffered temporary blindness and massive weight loss, Mahmoud was nearly paralysed. The prison authorities denied their mother permission to visit, making their suffering even worse.
Hunger strike
The brothers were on hunger strike for more than two months, to protest their administrative detention. Both were eventually hospitalized amid coma risks. Israeli courts gave permission for hospital staff and Israeli occupying authorities to force-feed them, which is considered a form of torture, but the brothers rejected it. The Palestinian Prisoners Society warned of imminent death, highlighting administrative detention’s toll on thousands. The brothers’ actions drew solidarity strikes from more than 100 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.
On September 21, 2016 the brothers ended their strike after reaching an agreement that secured their release.
A Palestinian family tormented by the Israeli occupation
In 2008, undercover occupation forces, disguised as Palestinian civilians, assassinated their father, Ahmad al-Balboul. They ambushed a car carrying al-Balboul and three other Palestinians. The Israeli occupation forces opened fire without warning, killing all four men instantly. They had accused Ahmad of leading the Fateh-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Bethlehem.
The brothers’ 15-year-old sister Nuran served three months in Israeli occupation prisons, from April 2016, after she was stopped by the IOF at a checkpoint and accused of carrying a knife. Nuran claimed she had no knife, but was arrested after arguing with a female soldier whilst trying to visit Jerusalem with her Aunt.
The al-Balboul brothers are just two of the many thousands of Palestinians that the occupation locks up in its prisons. No one is spared from this carceral regime, where youths, the elderly, sick and pregnant are imprisoned regardless. More than 450 children, and 53 women are currently detained. Almost 3580 detainees are administrative detainees, held indefinitely without trial. Thousands more have been abducted in Gaza. Neglect, malnutrition and torture of prisoners by Israeli prison authorities are systematic, as confirmed in a new report by Physicians for Human Rights. ‘Israel’ has killed at least 94 Palestinian detainees since October 7, 2023.
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reveals a painful reality that reflects the scale of the humanitarian disaster left behind by the war, with nearly six thousand cases of amputation recorded over the past two years of aggression, most of them direct injuries caused by continuous bombing. In Gaza, amputees are left to fend for themselves due to the lack of rehab centres and healthcare in general.
The ministry emphasises that all amputees require complex rehabilitation programmes lasting several years, at a time when Gaza’s dilapidated health system is unable to meet the growing needs, amid the destruction of most specialised centres and equipment.
In Gaza, amputees are everywhere
Official figures show that a quarter of amputation cases are children; that is, one in four amputees lost a limb before reaching full adulthood. These young people, who were supposed to live their childhoods in schools and playgrounds, found themselves facing permanent disabilities and physical and psychological challenges beyond their age and capabilities.
Their suffering does not stop at physical injury, as thousands of wounded people are living under severe psychological and social pressure. Fitting prosthetic limbs requires equipment that is not available, physical therapy requires centres that have either been destroyed or are completely out of service, and psychological support is, according to institutions, virtually non-existent despite the urgent need for it, especially for children who are dealing with the trauma of amputation and the loss of loved ones and homes.
At the same time, health institutions are documenting thousands of ‘life-changing’ injuries that require long-term care, putting additional pressure on a medical system that is barely able to provide basic services.
Physical therapy centres are desperately needed
Health and humanitarian agencies emphasise that the rehabilitation sector in Gaza is in need of a comprehensive rescue plan that includes rebuilding physical therapy centres, providing prosthetic limbs and spare parts, training local staff in the latest rehabilitation techniques, and offering specialised programmes for children that take into account their motor, psychological and educational development.
According to humanitarian organisations, this is one of the most pressing issues in Gaza today, as it is directly linked to the ability of thousands of wounded people to return to normal life, study, work and reintegrate into a society exhausted by war.
While amputees face an uncertain future, the provision of rehabilitation and psychosocial support services remains a top priority, no less important than food and medicine, and indeed a fundamental pillar in rebuilding the people of Gaza after one of the most severe ordeals in its history.
Poland is Europe’s largest fur producer and the world’s second largest, behind China. But on 2 December, the president signed legislation banning fur farming, with an 8-year phase-out.
Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland, said:
Moments ago, I signed the Animal Protection Act, which introduces a ban on fur farming in Poland. This is a decision that Poles have awaited for many years. A decision that reflects our compassion, our civilizational maturity, and our respect for all living creatures.
The lower house of parliament had previously voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ban, with MPs uniting across party lines in a rare show of cross-party consensus. Around 3 million foxes, raccoon dogs, chinchillas and minks currently live on Polish farms annually.
Co-drafted by the Polish branch of animal protection charity Open Cages, and MP Małgorzata Tracz, the key provisions include:
Immediate ban on establishing new fur farms
8-year transition period for existing operations
Degressive compensation for breeders over the first 5 years (incentivising early exit)
12 months’ severance pay and career transition support for farmworkers
Tiny wire cages
Connor Jackson is CEO of the UK animal protection charity Open Cages and director of an award-winning documentary on Polish fur farming. He said:
Fur farming is the epitome of everything wrong with how we treat animals, so I’m absolutely delighted by Poland’s decision to ban it. The idea of keeping millions of foxes and minks in tiny wire cages all their lives until they go mad, all for a bit of fur on a coat that no one needs, beggars belief. But I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Open Cages is calling for a ban on the import of fur into the UK. Jackson added:
We did the right thing by banning fur farming within our own shores in 2000, but as long as we import and sell fur in our stores, we are still supporting this industry.
Fur typically comes from intensive farms with foxes, minks and raccoon dogs confined to small cages for their entire lives. The carnivorous minks commonly bite the skin off of each other when kept in cages in fur farms. Foxes routinely suffer from severe psychological stress and physical injury. Slaughter methods involve anal electrocution for foxes, and gas chambers for minks.
The movement against fur has been building momentum for many decades, with the UK leading the way by banning fur farming in the UK in 2000 on ethical grounds. Since then, 23 other countries have banned the practice.
In 2012, members of Open Cages in Poland released the first footage from Polish fur farms, documenting shocking conditions across 52 farms owned by large producers.
A double standard for the UK
Despite the UK deeming that fur was too cruel to be farmed within its shores, it remains legal to import and sell fur from countries like Poland. A coalition of UK animal advocacy organisations called Fur Free Britain is calling for an import and sales ban. This year, a petition to ban imports was delivered to the Prime Minister with one and a half million signatures.
Claire Bass, senior director of public affairs at Humane World for Animals UK, said:
The fur farming ban in Poland demonstrates how the world is turning its back on fur. Banning fur farming here in the UK yet continuing to import fur from overseas is a double standard that millions of British people, and more than 200 cross-party politicians, want to see ended. The fur trade is cruel to animals, dangerous to public health and totally unnecessary. This move by Poland should be a wake-up call for Westminster. The Labour Government promised a huge boost to animal welfare and backing Ruth Jones’ Private Members’ bill is a crucial way to start delivering on that.
The world is facing an unprecedented fossil fuel boom based on Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) development. According to a new mapping project launched on 2 December, 279 new LNG projects are in the planning stage around the world.
Banks pushing fossil fuel
Backed by global banks, this is driving gas expansion and will add billions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions, destroying any hope of achieving global climate goals.
It also threatens the health and wellbeing of local communities and impacts biodiversity. The organisations behind the new ExitLNG website are urging the banks involved to withdraw their support.
A new online map identifies plans to build 279 new LNG projects, showing the extent of countries impacted by LNG expansion. The site also highlights the companies involved, the banks that finance them, and the risks for communities and biodiversity.
US and China leading the charge
It shows that the United States is dominating the boom in LNG exports, accounting for 40% of the increase in planned export capacities (38 projects), driven in part by US President Donald Trump’s fossil fuel agenda, followed by Russia (20%, 18 projects) and Qatar (8%, 3 projects).
The highest number of planned import facilities are in the Asia Pacific region, with the most terminals in China (34% of the increase in planned import capacities, 49 projects), followed by India (8%, 11 projects) and Vietnam (7%, 14 projects).
Final investment decisions for new export terminals have surged in 2025, adding to the expected wave in gas supply, according to the International Energy Agency. This is driving the development of new gas fields and threatening international targets to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5C.
Overall, the new export facilities are estimated to generate more than 10bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions by 2030, comparable to the annual emissions of the United States and the European Union combined.
Steering us towards disaster
Justine Duclos-Gonda, Oil & Gas Campaigner at Reclaim Finance, says:
The worldwide rush to build is steering us towards disaster – for the climate and for local communities, and we will all pay the price. It is no wonder that people are increasingly raising their voices against these projects, which threaten their health and livelihoods. But despite these concerns, banks keep pouring billions into LNG expansion, regardless of the social and climate costs.
QatarEnergy and the US-based company Venture Global are the biggest export terminal developers, with their planned LNG export terminal projects that will result in emission of over 1.2bn tonnes of CO2e by 2030.
The French major TotalEnergies ranks fifth, with projects estimated to result in over 300m tonnes of CO2e by 2030.
We don’t need fossil fuel expansion
Ruth Breech, LNG Campaign Manager at Rainforest Action Network, says:
Communities are suffering from climate impacts and economic devastation. Liquefied gas is making things worse. The world does not need any fossil fuel expansion: not a single new frack field, pipeline, LNG tanker or terminal. Yet, the US government, fossil fuel companies, banks and insurance companies are pushing gas around the globe, creating the biggest fossil fuel buildout of our lifetime.
Despite these impacts, global banks have continued to back LNG developers, funneling US$174bn into LNG expansion between 2021 and 2024.
Three quarters of this support comes from just five countries: the United States, Japan, China, Canada and France, with three banks (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and JPMorgan Chase) each contributing over US$10bn.
European banks including Santander, ING, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, and Groupe BPCE are also identified as among the top financiers of LNG expansion.
The organisations are urging banks to recognise the impacts of LNG and adopt comprehensive policies to end all financial services for new LNG projects and the companies developing new LNG facilities.
There was a moment after Donald Trump’s second election when the cowardly American media outlets kowtowed to Trump. Seemingly, they thought that Trump hadn’t just won the White House; he’d also won the culture:
Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are now at the stage where they are whining that they are getting pushback from their viewers and guests for going to meet Donald Trump and kissing the ring.
Now, after less than a year back in power, Trump has completely squandered the ill-deserved respect he had. As such, celebrities like Carpenter clearly see no down side to speaking out against him. And fair play to Sabrina, she didn’t hold back.
The video Carpenter took offence to was promoting the US Immigration and Customer Enforcement agency (ICE). When people describe ICE as a ‘Gestapo’, it’s because they run around in masks abducting people off the street and causing trouble:
This is what happens after ICE disappears people. Your city/community is forced to spend tax dollars cleaning up the mess they leave behind. My neighbor had a gun pulled in his face today as he documented an ICE abduction. ICE is evil #ICEpic.twitter.com/j0N0CrRMZx
“ICE pepper sprayed a disabled woman using a cane, after an abduction raid in her neighborhood. A St. Paul, MN PD Officer then shoves her down hard to the ground after she was already incapacitated and stumbling backwards. (11/25/25)” pic.twitter.com/JgkJg5tb0P
with ice kidnapping folks off the streets, who’s to say this isn’t a guy pretending to be ice who’s kidnapping this lady to assault her again? a comment said this could be the guy who assaulted her in the first place. it’s horrifying https://t.co/R2bgtEvl4G
Given that Trump is a petty, vindictive narcissist who spends too much time on social media, he’ll no doubt respond to Sabrina at some point. As with everything he, it’ll only makes his polling worse…still…we can’t imagine that exchange going well for him.
After all, this is the guy who’s currently trying to convince people who are feeling the pinch that the concept of ‘affordability’ is a “Democrat scam”:
This is objectively some of the worst messaging from a politician in history https://t.co/6uTNCKB2qY
A Palestinian para-cycling team and a Los Angeles social justice apparel brand are joining forces. For Your Viewing Pleasure (FYVP), led by a Palestinian-Native American designer, has released a four piece collection with the Gaza Sunbirds.
100% of the profits will go towards the Gaza Sunbirds’ aid and community projects in the strip as well as their international sporting missions.
The cycling team’s story
This collaboration tells the story of 20 athletes who refused to give up despite amputation, bombardment and famine.
After six years of training under Israeli occupation, the Gaza Sunbirds aim to make history by sending Palestine’s first ever para-cyclists to the Paralympics and FYVP will bring them closer to this dream.
A powerful part of the journey to the LA 2028 Games, working with the brand will build awareness of the cycling team’s mission in the US market.
FYVP holds a prominent position in the LA community and the significance of this project is in its reflection of grassroots efforts between two Palestinian-led groups to support the future of Gaza on the ground and on the international sporting stage.
The launch coincides with this year’s Giving Tuesday and its refocus on doing good following the frenzied spending of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, in order to encourage conscious consumerism.
FYVP designs pieces that spark conversations around Palestinian liberation, refugee solidarity, and LGBTQIA+ equality.
As a queer, female-owned brand committed to collective liberation, these values align deeply with the Gaza Sunbirds cycling team.
It is this intersection between solidarity, advocacy, and fundraising that brings them together. And it portrays an extension to FYVP’s mission that “what you wear is a platform for your beliefs”.
The collection
Featuring both a short and long sleeved t-shirt ($52 & $65), sweatshirt ($75) and two tote bags ($42), the collection holds the story of the Gaza Sunbirds team at its heart.
The designs embody the concept of resilience, the symbolism of the Palestinian flag, and the importance of amplifying the cause of mobility justice.
In tandem with this concept, the Gaza Sunbirds and FYVP hope to bring forward conversations about intersectionality and connect the struggles of oppressed groups in order to amplify their respective missions.
This shows in FYVP’s conviction in every step of the production process, where they work exclusively with immigrant-owned and run businesses in LA.
FYVP co-founder Lara Salmon said:
People of conscience around the world are now seeing the direct correlation between systems of oppression. I think social media and independent journalism has pulled back the veil on military and police brutality, from Palestine to the illegal ICE kidnappings unfolding across the U.S.
For the Gaza Sunbirds and FYVP, there are three pillars to the sporting mission tied to this collaboration: representation, resistance and recognition.
The impact of Israel’s occupation goes beyond permit refusals: the Israeli army has killed more than a thousand athletes during two years of attacks on Gaza.
Representation
Representation carries great significance, especially in the context of continued Israeli sportswashing such as the recent participation of the Israel Premier Tech cycling team at races across Europe this Summer.
For Palestinians, the sporting arena is one of the only global settings where their country is widely and officially acknowledged.
It is also a place where they can show their strength and resilience, inspiring the thousands of children in Gaza who have lost limbs and hope due to Israeli aggressions.
Gaza Sunbirds cycling team co-founder Karim Ali said:
The Gaza Sunbirds are showing the world that disability, bombardment, and a lack of resources will not hold them back and that they will continue to advocate for their community.
From world class cycling competitions to garments worn proudly by a supportive international community, their flag will fly proudly and always carry hope.
It’s the final day of the Palestine Action judicial review. To mark it, 18 international organisations have signed the following solidarity statement on UK state repression.
International solidarity statement on UK state repression – taking action to prevent a genocide is not terrorism
On 5 July 2025, the UK government enforced the unprecedented decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
This is a dark time for democracy and a deeply oppressive moment for those of us who take action against the arms trade and against complicity in genocide and mass and structural violence.
Prior to proscription, support for Palestine Action was widespread. It crossed movements, classes, ethnicities, and age groups.
Direct action and civil disobedience that directly target the tools of war have a long-standing history in the transnational peace and anti-war movements. People who would not themselves climb on top of an arms factory roof, or attend marches or other campaigning events, have supported those who did. This support did not disappear overnight when hundreds of thousands woke up as potential ‘terrorist’ supporters on the morning of 5th July.
Since the proscription, police have arrested 2710 people holding signs in support of Palestine Action, and Palestine solidarity groups that organise peaceful protests have been threatened with arrest or even had access to their funds cut off indefinitely.
In one case, three people were arrested for holding placards saying ‘Oppose Genocide. Ban Starmer not Palestine Action’. During the application for a Judicial Review challenging the proscription, government lawyer James Eadie stated these arrests were “police overreach” and that the placards are “lawful” under the legislative provision permitting campaigning for de-listing.
In the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and elsewhere, Palestine Action supporters and pro-Palestine activists have been increasingly surveilled, restricted and repressed.
Palestine Action’s proscription also exposes the UK government’s routine instrumentalisation of counter-terrorism laws to persecute marginalised groups and individuals that challenge injustice and violence against civilians in ways that it does not approve—especially in this moment of heightened solidarity with the Palestine liberation movement.
In this sense, the proscription starkly exposes this pernicious misuse of counter-terrorism laws against those who ideologically challenge the government by seeking to end arms supplies to a genocide.
The UK government shared in a court hearing that its basis for proscription was that 3 out of almost 400 group actions reached the ‘terrorism’ threshold, and that Palestine Action had sought to influence the government, despite its main target being the arms companies and contractors that supply Israel.
This draconian and indiscriminate response to the group’s actions is of course unsurprising given the ever-closer union between the UK government and the arms industry and the many ways in which the arms industry influence is tied-up with government in western arms producing countries.
The far-reaching implications of these developments for our movements – and for the already limited tools at our disposal to challenge potentially illegal arms transfers – cannot be overstated.
As organisations and groups that campaign, advocate and litigate against the arms trade, we will not stay silent while our governments are continuing to supply arms to Israel (such as parts for F-35 jets via the global programme) – especially when the legal pathways – through which the government claims we should be able to challenge transfers that clearly violate international law – are failing us.
In many cases, governments have themselves admitted that there is a ‘clear risk’ that Israel will use them to commit serious international law violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that it is unequivocally clear that Israel is unwilling to comply with international law.
Our governments are failing us. They manipulate to their benefit the application of arms trade regulatory frameworks at the international, regional and domestic levels. Instead of taking the only moral and law-compliant option available to them—the imposition of a full two-way arms embargo—they continue to supply arms to Israel.
The UK government’s latest move to criminalise as ‘terrorists’ groups and individuals doing what they feel is necessary to stop an unfolding genocide, is the most repressive and dangerous response so far.
It paves the way for other governments to do the same and gives governments and courts a green-light to dismiss legal challenges against the arms trade.
So our message is clear.
We denounce governments’ complicity in genocide and mass structural violence, and will continue to strongly condemn and repudiate government actions that enable the arms trade to Israel and other such contexts.
While as organisations or individuals, some of us may not be organising, advocating for or taking part in direct action, we are adamant that such actions, as part of our solidarity with the Palestinian people’s freedom and liberation struggle, do not amount to acts of ‘terrorism’, and we will continue to support the legal challenge against proscription.
We will resist the UK government’s repressive actions and will continue demanding that all governments and arms companies immediately impose and comply with a two-way embargo on all arms supplies to Israel.
Arusha, Tanzania – The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) Appellate Division has upheld a decision regarding the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). In November 2023, the First Instance Division of the EACJ dismissed a case that four East African civil society organisations filed in November 2020.
This has disappointed the East African Crude Oil Pipeline-Project Affected Persons, who view the court as having shut the door of justice on them.
“A heavy blow to justice”
The Court ruled that the case filed by Natural Justice (Kenya), Africa Institute for Energy Governance Uganda, Center for Food and Adequate Living Uganda, and the Center for Strategic Litigation (Tanzania) fell outside the required filing period.
The StopEACOP Coalition believes the judges have chosen to treat a profound question of people’s rights, environmental survival, and climate justice as a mere procedural file.
In doing so, they have delivered a heavy blow to the promise of regional justice and cast a deep shadow over the Court’s own credibility as the body tasked with ensuring adherence to the East African Community Treaty.
We strongly condemn the ruling made by the East African Court of Justice, which has told millions of people across the region that technicalities matter more than their lives, their land, and their future. That is not neutrality nor objectivity. It is a choice in favour of oil companies and the governments that serve them.
The StopEACOP Coalition maintains that the decision to dismiss the case on procedural grounds
prevents examination of the substantive issues.
These include land compensation disputes, transboundary impacts, and environmental impacts including impacts on water sources and protected areas.
It also concerns the project’s overall alignment with the East African Community Treaty on its commitments to sustainable development, the protection of human rights, and the responsible and ethical management of transboundary resources.
Mamdoo continued:
In refusing to hear the harms of EACOP on a technical pretext the legitimacy of this Court now hangs by a thread, and history will have to decide whether it was a forum for justice or simply an office providing cover for corporate plunder.
Negative impacts of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline
Independent bodies and local and international civil society organisations have documented the negative impacts of the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline project.
Problems include irregular land acquisition processes, potential risks to the Lake Victoria basin that over 40million people depend on, and human rights violations.
Similar concerns have just been raised by civil society groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo following disastrous pollution recently observed by local communities. This was subsequently corroborated by a scientific report published by Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, pertaining to cross-border oil developments in the region.
To that end, civil society groups in DRC under the banner “Our Land Without Oil” have taken their government, the government of Uganda, and the Secretary General of the East African Community to the EACJ over an ecological disaster, disrupting the livelihoods of fisher communities in Lake Albert and Lake Edward as a result of lake asphyxiation and chemical contamination linked to oil activity in the region.
While the StopEACOP Coalition holds out hope for this legal effort, the dismissal of yesterday’s case sends a chilling message to all those seeking regional remedies for regional harms: that even the highest court in the Community may refuse to hear evidence when powerful interests are at stake represents a gravely concerning injustice.
Recheal Tugume, an East African Crude Oil Pipeline-impacted community member from Hoima, said:
We must insist that the Court, and all regional institutions, do better. We will continue to demand that they live up to their mandates. But this ruling also shows us that we cannot afford the illusion that these institutions will save us.
Our survival depends on continuing the struggle on every front and with every tool available to us, organising in our communities, confronting financiers and insurers, challenging governments, and building a renewable energy future for our communities.
The StopEACOP Coalition is an alliance of local groups, communities, and African and global
organisations.
It has been calling for a stop to the proposed pipeline and associated oil fields at Tilenga and Kingfisher.
The campaign is gathering momentum, building pressure on the remaining supporters and financiers of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
To date, 43 banks and 30 (re) insurers have already ruled out support for EACOP.
Vinzons is a quiet coastal town in the eastern Philippines province of Camarines Norte in Bicol. With a spread out population of about 45,000. it is known for its rice production, crabs and surfing beaches in the Calaguas Islands.
But the town is really famous for one of its sons — Wenceslao “Bintao” Vinzons, the youngest lawmaker in the Philippines before the Japanese invasion during the Second World War who then took up armed resistance.
He was captured and executed along with his family in 1942.
One of the most interesting assets of the municipality of Vinzons — named after the hero in 1946, the town previously being known as Indan — is his traditional family home, which has recently been refurbished as a local museum to tell his story of courage and inspiration.
“He is something of a forgotten hero, student leader, resistance fighter, former journalist — a true hero,” says acting curator Roniel Espina.
As well as a war hero, Vinzons is revered for his progressive politics and was known as the “father of student activism” in the Philippines. His political career began at the University of Philippines in the capital Manila where he co-founded the Young Philippines Party.
The Vinzons Hall at UP-Diliman was named after him to honour his student leadership exploits.
Student newspaper editor
He was the editor-in-chief of the Philippine Collegian, the student newspaper founded in 1922.
At 24, Vinzons became the youngest delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention and six years later at the age of 30 he was elected Governor of Camarine Norte in 1941 — the same year that Japan invaded.
In fact, the invasion of the Philippines began on 8 December 1941 just 10 hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in Hawai’i.
The invading forces tried to pressure Governor Vinzons in his provincial capital of Daet to collaborate. He absolutely refused. Instead, he took to the countryside and led one of the first Filipino guerilla resistance forces to rise up against the Japanese.
His initial resistance was successful with the guerrilla forces carrying out sudden raids before liberating Daet. He was eventually captured and executed by the Japanese.
The bust of “Bintao” outside the Vinzons Town Hall. Image: Asia Pacific Report
The exact circumstances are still uncertain as his body was never recovered, but the museum does an incredible job in piecing together his life along with his family and their tragic sacrifice for the country.
One plaque shows an image of Vinzons along with his father Gabino, wife Liwayway, sister Milagros, daughter Aurora and son Alexander (no photo of him was actually recovered).
A family of Second World War martyrs . . . their bodies were never recovered. Image: Asia Pacific Report
According to the legend on the plaque:
“Wenceslao Vinzons with his father disappeared mysteriously – and were never see again. The Japanese sent out posters in Camarines Norte expressing regret that on the way to Siain, Quezon, Vinzons was shot while attempting to escape. ‘So sorry please.’
“The remains of the body of Vinzons, his father, wife, two chidren and sister have never been found.”
The Japanese Empire as portrayed in the Vinzons Museum. Video: APR
Imperial Japan showcase
One room of the museum is dedicated as a showcase to Imperial Japan and its brutal invasion across a great swathe of Southeast Asia and the brave Filipino resistance in response.
A special feature of the museum is how well it portrays typical Filipino lifestyle and social mores in a home of the political class in the 1930s.
The tourist author, Dr David Robie (red t-shirt) with acting curator Roniel Espina (left), Tourism Officer Florence G Mago (second from right) and two museum guides. Image: Asia Pacific Report
When I visited the museum and talked to staff and watched documentaries about “Bintao” Vinzons’ life, one question in particular intrigued me: “Why was he thought of as a ‘forgotten hero’?”
According to acting curator Espina, “It’s partly because Camarines Norte is not as popular and well known as some other provinces. So some of the notable achievements of Vinzons do not have a high profile around in other parts of the country.”
Based at the museum is the town’s principal Tourism Officer Florence G Mago. She is optimistic about how the Vinzons Museum can attract more visitors to the town.
“We have put a lot of effort into developing this museum and we are proud of it. It is a jewel in the town.”
The Vinzons family home . . . now refurbished as the town museum under the National Historical Institute umbrella. Image: Asia Pacific Report
As activist groups around the world observe December 1 — flag-raising “independence” day for West Papua today marking when the Morning Star flag was flown in 1961 for the first time — Kristo Langker reports from the Highlands about how the Indonesian military is raising the stakes.
SPECIAL REPORT:By Kristo Langker in Kiwirok, West Papua
While DropSite News usually reports on, and from, parts of the world where the US war machine operates, in this story, the weaponry in question is made by a multinational French weapons manufacturer and Chinese manufacturer.
However, you will see the structure is the same — the Indonesian government using drones and helicopters to terrorise and displace the people of West Papua, while the historical reason imperial interests loom over the region stems from a US mining project in the 1960s.
The videos in this story are well worth watching — exclusive interviews with the guerilla group fighting off the drones and airplanes with bows and arrows.
A still from a video of Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano bombing and strafing the mountains of Kiwirok on October 6, 2025. Video: Lamek Taplo and Ngalum Kupel, TPNPB
On 25 September 2025, Lamek Taplo, the guerilla leader of a wing of the West Papua National Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat, or TPNPB), left the jungle with his command to launch a series of raids on Indonesian military posts.
Indonesia had established three new military posts in the Star Mountains region in the past year, according to NGO Human Rights Monitor, with sources on the ground telling Drop Site News that nearby civilian houses and facilities — including a church, schools, and a health clinic — had been forcibly occupied in support of the military build-up.
5 Indonesian soldiers shot
Despite being severely outgunned, the command shot five Indonesian soldiers, killing one, while suffering no casualties themselves, according to Taplo and other members of his group.
The raids continued for three more days. The command shot the fuselage of a helicopter and burned five buildings that Taplo’s group claimed were occupied by Indonesian security forces.
Taplo was killed less than three weeks later by an apparent drone strike. During an October 13 interview a week before his death, Taplo, a former teacher himself, told Drop Site why TPNPB targeted a school:
“It’s because they (Indonesian military) used it as their base. There’s no teacher — only Indonesians. I know, because I was the teacher there, too . . . Indonesia sent ‘teachers’. However, they’re actually military intelligence.”
School building set on fire by the TPNPB on September 27, 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
Indonesia has laid claim to the western half of New Guinea island since the 1960s with the backing of the US. For the past year, the Indonesian military has ramped up its indiscriminate attacks on subsistence farming villages, especially those that deny Indonesian rule.
The military presence has been growing exponentially after the October 2024 inauguration of President Prabowo Subianto, who is implicated in historic massacres in Papua from his time as commander of Indonesia’s special forces — called Komando Pasukan Khusus or “Kopassus”.
According to witnesses interviewed in Kiwirok and its surrounding hamlets, and documented in videos, there are now snipers stationed along walking tracks, and civilians have been shot and killed attempting to retrieve their pigs.
Indonesian retaliated
Indonesia immediately retaliated against TPNPB’s September attacks by sending two consumer-grade DJI Mavic drones, rigged with servo motors, to drop Pindad-manufactured hand grenades.
One drone targeted a hut that Taplo claimed did not house TPNPB but belonged to civilians.
No one was killed as the grenade bounced off the sheet metal roof and exploded a few meters away. The other drone flew over a group of TPNPB raising the Morning Star flag of West Papua but was taken down by the guerrillas before a grenade could be dropped.
Ngalum Kupel TPNPB celebrating the capture of a drone. September 28, 2025.
Holding the downed drone and grenade, Taplo likened the ordeal to Moses parting the Red Sea for the escaping Israelites: “It’s like Firaun and Moses . . . It was a miracle.”
Then joking: “The bomb (grenade) was caught since it’s like the cucumber we eat.”
Lamek Taplo holding a downed DJI Mavic drone and Pindad grenade on 28 September 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
Over the next few weeks, a series of heavier aerial bombardments followed.
Video evidence
Videos taken by Taplo show two Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft darting through the air, followed by the thunderous sound of ordnance hitting the mountains.
Despite the fact that thousands of West Papuans have been killed in bombings like these since the 1970s, Taplo’s videos are the first to ever capture an aerial bombardment from the ground in West Papua, owing to the extreme isolation of the interior.
In fact, many highland West Papuans’ first contact with the outside world was with Indonesian military campaigns.
Ostensibly a counter-insurgency operation against a guerrilla independence movement, these bombings are primarily hitting civilians — tribal communities of subsistence farmers.
The few fighters Indonesia is targeting are poorly armed lacking bullets, let alone bombs — and live on ancestral land with their families. The most ubiquitous weapon among these groups remains the bow and arrow.
Taplo told Drop Site the bombings began on Monday, October 6.
“Firstly they (Indonesia) did an unorganised attack: they dropped the bomb randomly . . . they just dropped it everywhere. You can see where the smoke was coming from.
“Even though it was an Indonesian military house, they just dropped it on there anyway. That was the first one; then they came back. The first place bombed after was a civilian house; the second was our base.”
Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano bombing and strafing the mountains. October 6, 2025
Former Dutch colony
West Papua was a Dutch colony until 1962, when Indonesia, after a bitter dispute with the Netherlands, secured Washington’s backing to take over the territory.
Just three years after Washington tipped the scales in favour of Indonesia in their dispute with the Netherlands, the nationalist Indonesian President Sukarno was ousted in a US-backed military coup in 1965.
Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian leftists (or suspected leftists) were killed in just a few months by the new regime led by General Suharto.
Indonesia’s acquisition of West Papua is often treated as an event peripheral to this coup, yet both events held a symbiotic relationship that would become the impetus for many of the mass killings perpetrated by Indonesia in West Papua.
Forbes Wilson, the former vice-president of US mining giant Freeport, visited Indonesia in June 1966, and in his book, The Conquest of Copper Mountain, he boasts that he and several other Freeport executives were among the first foreigners to visit Indonesia after the events of 1965.
Wilson was there to negotiate with the new business friendly Suharto regime, particularly regarding the terms of Freeport’s Ertsberg mine, which was set to be located under Puncak Jaya — the tallest mountain in Oceania.
This mine eventually became the world’s largest gold and copper mine and Indonesia’s largest single taxpayer. The mine’s existence was one of the primary reasons Indonesia gained international backing to launch a vicious Malanesian frontier war against the native and then-largely uncontacted Papuan highlanders.
The “war” continues to this day, though it is largely unlike other modern conflicts.
Like frontier ‘wars’
Instead, the concerted Indonesian attacks are most comparable to the US and Australian frontier wars. Indonesia, one of the world’s largest and most well-armed militaries, is steadily wiping out some of the world’s last pre-industrial indigenous cultures and people.
West Papuans have fought back, forming the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or OPM) and its various splinter armed wings, whose most prominent one is the TPNPB.
Due to the impenetrable terrain of the mountain highlands, the Indonesian military has difficulty fighting the TPNPB on the ground, often instead resorting to indiscriminate aerial bombardments.
The TPNPB’s fight is as much about West Papuan independence as it is an effort by localised tribal communities and landowners using whatever means to prevent Indonesian massacres and land theft.
“No army has ever come to protect the people. I live with the people, because there’s no military to protect my people,” Taplo said in a video sent just before his death.
“From 2021 until this year 2025, I have not left my land; I have not left the land of my birth.”
In October 2021, the Indonesian military launched one of these bombing campaigns in the remote Kiwirok district and its surrounding hamlets in the Star Mountains — deep in the heart of the island of New Guinea.
Little information
Because of this isolation, very little information about these bombings trickled out of the mountains — save for a few images of unexploded mortars and burning huts.
Only a handful journalists, including the author of this article, have been able to visit the area, and it took years and multiple visits to the Star Mountains for the full scale of the 2021 attacks to be reported.
It was eventually revealed that the Indonesian assaults included the use of most likely Airbus helicopters that shoot FZ-68 2.75-inch rockets, designed by French multinational defence contractor Thales, and reinforced by Blowfish A3 drones manufactured by the Chinese company Ziyan.
These drones boast an artificial intelligence driven swarm function by which they litter villagers’ subsistence farms and huts with mortars improvised with proximity fuzes manufactured by the Serbian company Krušik.
A largely remote, open-source investigation by German NGO Human Rights Monitor revealed that hundreds of huts and buildings were destroyed in this attack. More than 2000 villagers were displaced, and they still hide in makeshift jungle camps.
“The systematic nature of these attacks prompts questions of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute,” the report noted. Additionally, witnesses interviewed by this author gave the names of hundreds who died of starvation and illness after the bombings.
With little food, shelter, weapons, or even internet to connect them to the outside world, many of the thousands of Ngalum-Kupel people displaced since 2021 are displaced again — likely to die without anyone knowing — mirroring countless Indonesian campaigns to depopulate the mountains to make way for resource projects.
Long-term effects
The impact of the latest wave of attacks in October 2025 is likely to be felt for years, as the bombs destroyed food gardens and shelters and displaced people who were already living in nothing more than crowded tarpaulins held up by branches, while having already been forced to hide in the jungle after the 2021 bombings.
“It is the same situation with Palestine and Israel — people are now living without their home,” said Taplo.
Lamek Taplo (standing) in jungle camp on 15 October 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
On 6 October 2025, Indonesia retaliated further, deploying two aircraft that aviation sources confirmed to be Brazilian-made Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano turboprops. These planes were filmed bombing and strafing the mountains.
Drop Site confirmed that some of the shrapnel collected after these attacks is from Thales’s FZ 2.75-inch rockets — the same rockets used in the 2021 attacks.
Shrapnel from Thales FZ rockets on 6 October 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
In January this year, Thales’s Belgium and state-owned defence company, Indonesian Aerospace, put out a press release titled: “Indonesian Aerospace and Thales Belgium Reactivate Rocket Production Partnership,” which boasted the integration of Thales designed FZ 2.75-inch rockets with the Embraer Supertucano aircraft.
Though these were not the only ordnance deployed, some of the impact zones measured over 20m, and the shrapnel found in these craters was far heavier and larger than that from the Thales rockets.
Shrapnel ‘no joke’
“It’s no joke. It was long and big. It could destroy a village . . . ” said Taplo before picking up a piece of shrapnel around 20cm long.
“This is five kilograms,” he said, weighing the remnants.
Inspecting Impact zone from bombings on 6 October 2025.
A former Australian Defence Force air-to-ground specialist told Drop Site that the large size of the shrapnel and nature of the scarring and cratering indicate that the bomb was not a modern style munition. It was most likely an MK-81 RI Live, a variant of the 110kg MK-81 developed and manufactured by Indonesian state-owned defence contractor Pindad.
“This weapon system is unguided, and given the steep terrain, it is unlikely that a dive attack could easily be used, providing the enhanced risk of collateral damage or indiscriminate targeting given the weapons envelope,” the specialist said. Pindad did not respond to Drop Site’s request for comment.
Shrapnel from MK-81 bombs on 12 October 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
Photos from a February Pindad press release about the development of the MK-81 RI Live show these bombs loaded on an Indonesian Embraer Supertucano.
An Indonesian Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano loaded with the Pindad MK-81 RI Live in February, 2025. Image: PT Pindad Public Relations Doc
A week later, Indonesia hit again. At around 3am, on October 12, a reconnaissance aircraft flew over the camp where Taplo’s command and their families were sleeping, waking them just in time to evacuate before another round of bombs were dropped == again, most likely the MK-81 RI Live.
Bomb strike on video
Taplo captured the bomb’s strike and aftermath on video. Clearly shaken, he makes an appeal for help, saying “UN peacekeeping forces quickly come to Kiwirok to give us freedom, because our life is traumatic . . .
“Even the kids are traumatised; they live in the forest, and seek help from their parents, ‘Dad help me. Indonesia dropped the bomb on the place I lived in.’”
On the morning of October 19, a drone dropped a bomb on a hut near where Taplo was staying. Initially, the bomb didn’t detonate, leaving enough time for civilians to evacuate the area.
After the evacuation, Taplo and three men returned to remove the ordnance, which then detonated and instantly killed Lamek Taplo and three others — Nalson Uopmabin, 17; Benim Kalakmabin, 20; and Ike Taplo, 22.
The bodies of slain TPNPB members on October 19, 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
Speaking to Drop Site just hours after Taplo was killed, eyewitnesses say the drone was larger than the DJI Mavics deployed earlier and were similar in size to the Ziyan drones from 2021.
Photos taken of the remnants of the bomb show the tail of what was most likely an 81mm mortar.
“The presence of drones — similar to that of DJI quadcopters and [with] improvised fins for aerial guidance — have been employed [just as] ISIS used those weapons systems in Syria,” the former Australian Defence Force air-to-ground specialist told Drop Site.
The mortar piece that killed Commander Lamek Taplo and three others. October 20, 2025. Image: Ngalum Kupel/TPNPB
Plea to Pacific nations
On October 26, civilians in Kiwirok sent an appeal to the government of Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island nations. So far, there has been no response, despite these bombings occurring on Papua New Guinea’s border.
The last communication Drop Site received from Kiwirok indicated that the bombings were continuing and the mountains still swarmed with drones — limiting any chance of escape.
Pictures posted on social media in November by members of Indonesian security forces, those stationed in Kiwirok, give some insight into the level of zeal with which Indonesia is fighting this campaign.
An Indonesian soldier can be seen wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a skull wearing night vision goggles, a gun, and a lightning bolt forming a cross behind it. The caption reads “Black Zone Kiwirok.”
A “Black Zone Kiwirok” T-shirt on 19 November 2025. Souurce: Instagram post by Indonesian soldier
Another photo shows soldiers sitting in front of a banner which reads “Kompi Tempur Rajawali 431 Pemburu” — a reference to the elite “Eagle Hunter” units set up in the mid 1990s by then-General Prabowo Subianto to hunt down Falantil guerillas in Timor Leste.
As there has been no record of these units being deployed in Papua — nor of an “Eagle Hunter” unit made up of soldiers from the 431st Infantry Battalion — it is unclear whether these banners are just Suharto-era nationalism on display, or if they signify that these units have been revived.
A “Kompi Tempur Rajawali 431 Pemburu” regimental banner on 19 November 2025. Source: An Instagram post by Indonesian soldier
On his final phone call with the outside world, just before the signal cut out, Taplo vowed to continue the TPNPB’s fight: “We will fight for hundreds of days . . .
“We will fight . . . This war is by God. We have asked for power; we have prayed for nature’s power. This is our culture.”
Four Papuan political prisoners have been sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment on treason charges.
But a West Papua independence advocate says Indonesia is using its law to silence opposition.
In April this year, letters were delivered to government institutions in Sorong West Papua, asking for peaceful dialogue between Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto and a group seeking to make West Papua independent of Indonesia, the Federal Republic of West Papua.
Four people were arrested for delivering the letters, and this triggered protests, which became violent.
West Papua Action Aotearoa’s Catherine Delahunty said Indonesia claims the four, known as the Sorong Four, caused instability.
“What actually caused instability was arresting people for delivering letters, and the Indonesians refused to acknowledge that actually people have a right to deliver letters,” she said.
“They have a right to have opinions, and they will continue to protest when those rights are systematically denied.”
Category of ‘treason’
Indonesia’s Embassy based in Wellington said the central government had been involved in the legal process, but the letters fell into the category of “treason” under the national crime code.
Delahunty said the arrests were in line with previous action the Indonesian government had taken in response to West Papua independence protests.
“This is the kind of use of an abuse of law that happens all the time in order to shut down any form of dissent and leadership. In the 1930s we would call this fascism. It is a military occupation using all the law to actually suppress the people.”
Delahunty said the situation was an abuse of human rights and it was happening less than an hour away from Darwin in northern Australia.
The spokesperson for Indonesia’s embassy said the government had been closely monitoring the case at arm’s length to avoid accusations of overreach.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Oracle is the database and cloud computing company which is owned by Larry Ellison. Ellison wasn’t that well known in the UK until recently, but he became infamous after it was revealed he backs the Tony Blair Institute.
Larry Ellison, Oracle founder and Trump fan, gave £300m to the Tony Blair Institute. Oracle already holds £1 billion in existing UK government cloud contracts with the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and DWP. In November 2025, the Home Office quietly extended Oracle’s deal by… pic.twitter.com/8RWaNfrLJc
There are many technologies which are labelled ‘AI’, but the most notable in recent years has been ‘generative AI’ — i.e. the tech which drives text, image, and music generators like ChatGPT, Sora 2, and Suno.
In simple terms, these systems are predictive engines, which means they generate content by predicting what happens next. While this technology is impressive, it suffers from ‘hallucinations’, which is the technical term for ‘making stuff up’. These hallucinations are an intrinsic part of the generative process, and as of right now there seems to be no way of stopping them.
One key problem with the generative AI boom is that the hallucination problem makes this technology impractical for many work places. It’s difficult to rely on software which works well sometimes but shits the bed when you’re not expecting it. The issue creates a situation in which users have to handhold their AI tools, and this means the time AI saves is lost in other ways. This is why one report found 95% of AI pilots failed, and another found 42% of companies abandoned their AI initiatives in 2025.
The other issue is AI companies like OpenAI have been attracting investment by claiming generative AI — a predictive technology — will one day turn into general artificial intelligence, a thinking technology. Some people believe this is possible; others do not:
This may bruise the egos of scaling believers like @sama and @DarioAmodei who’ve bet billions, but, no — AGI won’t magically “emerge” just by making LLMs bigger. No memory. No world model. Just pattern-matching. The problem is the *architecture* — not the size.
Regardless of who’s right, the current state of play is:
These companies are not making significant profit from AI products.
There are no signs that their tech will magically turn into AGI.
Or that was the state of play, anyway. A recent leak revealed by tech journalist Ed Zitron showed that:
Open AI’s services cost a lot more to run that we thought.
Open AI’s services make a lot less money that we thought.
Exclusive: Based on documents viewed by this newsletter, OpenAI spent over $12.4 billion on inference from 2024 to September 2025. As part of its Microsoft revenue share, it sent $493.8m in 2024/$865.8m Jan-Sep 2025, implying lower revenues than previously reported.
www.wheresyoured.at/oai_docs/
Hello @NintendoEurope@Nintendo@NintendoAmerica this video confuses me as a consumer and makes me think less of Pokémon and Nintendo as a brand. I will never be purchasing any Nintendo related merchandise or watching any Pokemon related media because of this video. https://t.co/MAQumaIk9c
These data centres cost billions and use significant amounts of electricity:
Data centres consume 5% of America’s electricity, up from 2% a decade ago. The International Energy Agency projects nearly 10% by 2030. More at today’s Chartbook Top Links: pic.twitter.com/5K4AiXOAo8
Additionally, it turns out the GPUs data centres are using are advancing so quickly that they need to be replaced every few years, as CITP blog reports:
One unnamed Google architect assessed that GPUs running at 60-70% utilization—standard for AI workloads—survive one to two years, with three years as a maximum. The reason: thermal and electrical stress is simply too high.
But physical failure isn’t the only concern. Technological obsolescence drives replacement cycles. Nvidia’s GB200 (“Blackwell”) chip provides 4-5x faster inference than the H100. When competitors deploy hardware with significantly better performance, three-year-old chips become economically obsolete even if they still function.
In other words, these unfathomably expensive data centres are somehow more expensive than we realised. Combine this with the fact that many of the newer ones exist solely to support a failing technology, and you can see why stock valuations are plummeting.
Oracle
We’ve no idea how long it will take for all this to come crashing down, but we can say this; do not invest in these companies right now.
We’ll add that with a company named ‘Oracle’, Larry Ellison really should have seen this coming.
The children’s names were Fadi Abu Assi and Goma Abu Assi.
Since killing the children, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have tried to claim it was actually the victims who violated the ceasefire:
CEASEFIRE VIOLATION: IDF troops identified two suspects who crossed the yellow line, carried out suspicious activities, and approached the troops in southern Gaza, posing an immediate threat. The IAF eliminated the suspects to remove the threat.
They are children…what did they do? They do not have missiles or bombs, they went to gather wood for their father so he can start a fire.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel has killed 352 Palestinians since the October 10 ceasefire. Accordingly, Hamas are demanding mediators step in to stop Israel from killing them. The most consequential mediator is of course Donald Trump, but the president seems more focussed on other matters right now:
Trump “closes” Venezuela airspace over a fake drug war.
But he isn’t president of Venezuela.
Trump is pardoning former Honduran puppet Orlando Hernandez.
You can help to exert pressure by writing to your MP and demanding our government stand up to Israel’s violations. You can also support agencies which are helping Palestinians on the ground.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that it recorded approximately 9,300 cases of severe malnutrition among children under the age of five in the Gaza Strip during the month of October 2025.
In its statement, the organisation warned that high levels of malnutrition continue to seriously threaten children’s lives and health. And with the onset of winter, weather conditions are exacerbating the crisis through the spread of disease and falling temperatures. As a result, increasing mortality rates are soaring among the most vulnerable groups.
Gaza’s starving population
UNICEF explained that tests conducted by its teams and partners in Gaza last month revealed these large numbers of children suffering from acute malnutrition. And, the organisation confirmed that large shipments of winter supplies remain stuck at the border. They have called, once again, for humanitarian aid to be delivered safely and without hindrance.
In this context, Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, said:
Despite progress, thousands of children under the age of five remain acutely malnourished in Gaza, while many more lack proper shelter, sanitation and protection against winter.
And, Russell also stressed the urgency of the situation:
Too many children in Gaza are still facing hunger, illness and exposure to cold temperatures, conditions that are putting their lives at risk. Every minute counts to protect these children.
It is estimated that the Gaza Strip needs around 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to provide minimum shelter for the population, following the widespread destruction caused by Israel’s war of extermination over the past two years.
Arab Cup coach Ihab Abu Jazar is a native of Palestine with a storied football career as both player and coach. Hailing from Rafah in the southernmost part of Gaza, he knows exactly what it means to play football under war and grow up under siege.
And, he spent many years on the pitches of the Gaza Strip as a player and coach before becoming the technical director of the Palestinian national team. Undoubtedly, he is now carrying with him the memory of a city ravaged by conflict and a people waiting for any moment of joy in which to celebrate life.
From Gaza to the Arab Cup
Abu Jazar did not come to the national team from a traditional career path, but rather burdened with memories of war, the loss of friends, and the sound of rockets that were closer to the pitches than the goalposts. This background made his speech at half time in the qualifying match between Palestine and Libya a pivotal moment unlike any other familiar sporting speech.
Abu Jazar’s speech between halves of the Palestine-Libya match was not merely technical guidance. It was an explicit reference to the pain of Gaza, when he entered the dressing room and stood in front of his players, saying in his Gazan dialect, familiar to every Palestinian:
Don’t forget who we are playing for. We are excellent in the match, but there are people in tents, there is an entire people, there are people in Jerusalem, there are people who cannot find food because of hunger, siege and war. You are the ones who want to make them happy temporarily. They must be happy so they can forget death, destruction and war. We are about to die, but God willing, we will win.
The speech was not just meant to boost morale, but was a reminder of the pain of a nation living under fire. It was a reminder to the players, were it needed, that their performance was no longer just a game, but the only source of joy for millions who had lost the meaning of normal life.
Joy for Palestine
While the original 90 minutes ended in a goalless draw, the Palestinian players took their coach’s words to heart and won the penalty shootout 4–3. In doing so, they secured a place in the Arab Cup alongside Qatar, Tunisia, and Syria. Their qualification was not just a sporting achievement, but a crowning glory for a people trying to steal a moment of victory from the rubble of war.
Today, Abu Jazar is seen as more than just a coach. He is a living witness to a war that continues to ravage his city and a symbol of Gaza’s unbreakable spirit. Every time he stands on the sideline, he carries with him Rafah, with all its tears, salt, and renewed hope that football can still work miracles when the world is unable to stop the tragedy.
Qualifying was not just a sporting achievement, but a small window of hope for the people of Gaza, who today live in tents and under the rubble of war. Abu Jazar, whose home and city remain under fire, has taught us that sport is not an escape from reality, but sometimes a vital space for resistance.
With this qualification, Ihab Abu Jazar has become a symbol of a coach who came from the heart of suffering, leading his players with the spirit of a city that continues to resist, and with words that created an unforgettable moment in the history of the Palestinian national team.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) claim it has killed more than 30 Palestinian resistance fighters in Eastern Rafah who have attempted to exit their tunnels, as of November 28. An estimated 60-80 fighters from Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, remain beneath eastern Rafah. According to a prominent Hamas official, the fighters are “under siege” .
ELIMINATED: 9 additional terrorists were located in underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah
The terrorists were most likely eliminated during the IDF’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the underground infrastructure sites through aerial strikes & engineering measures.…
This line does not only allow the IOF to remain in control of more than half of the Gaza Strip. It also means Hamas tunnel shafts, which are behind the yellow line, are now in areas controlled by the occupation. These areas are supposed to be no go areas for Palestinians. So resistance fighters operating underground, who were active at the moment the ‘ceasefire’ took effect, are now isolated. They are also vulnerable to attack by ‘Israel’.
Hamas publicly acknowledged this situation for the first time, on November 26, when it released a statement. It said the occupation had committed a brutal crime “through the pursuit, elimination, and arrest of the besieged mujahideen (fighters) in the tunnels of Rafah”. Hamas claims that by killing and arresting them, while they are leaving the tunnels, ‘Israel’s’ actions “constitute a flagrant violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and is compelling evidence of the ongoing attempts to undermine the agreement”.
Hamas says it holds the occupation “fully responsible” for the fighters’ safety. It also criticises ‘Israel’ for “undermining the efforts of mediators”. Hamas says they have been working towards ending the suffering of its fighters and facilitating their return home.
‘Israel’ refused safe passage for fighters from Rafah tunnels back to liberated areas of Gaza
The US has reportedly been pressuring the Israeli regime to allow safe passage for Hamas fighters trapped in the Rafah tunnels. But Netanyahu’s Office has refused this idea, stating it “is not allowing safe passage for 200 Hamas terrorists”.
In its statement, Hamas is calling on mediators to continue pressuring the occupation to allow the safe return of its fighters. It notes that the Qassam Brigade fighters stuck in the tunnels are a “unique model of sacrifice, heroism, and patience”. It calls them “a symbol of the dignity and freedom of the Palestinian people”. Dignity, patience, sacrifice and heroism are all virtues the Israeli occupying forces will never ever embody.
The Israeli regime has reportedly sent a proposal to senior Hamas officials. It claims it would permit Palestinian resistance fighters to emerge from the tunnels if they surrender. These Palestinians must also agree to be detained in the occupation’s prisons. They would then supposedly be eligible for release if they agreed to disarm.
The enemy should know that in our dictionary, surrendering and handing oneself over to the occupier has no meaning.
Defense Minister Israel Katz posted on X that he would “prioritise the destruction of the tunnels as the central task in the yellow zone”. Yet after more than two years of relentless attacks in Gaza, the Zionist regime has been unable to destroy the majority of Hamas tunnels. Katz himself claims that 60 percent still remain.
Tunnels — A vital tool for resistance
Tunnels in Gaza date back decades. Early uses were by groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to evade capture and resist incursions. Hamas expanded its tunnel network post-1987. This was mainly due to the outbreak of the First Intifada, a grassroots uprising against ‘Israel’s’ then 20 year military occupation. It began in December 1987, and resulted in 1100 Palestinians killed and more than 100,000 injured.
Hamas was founded that same year as an Islamist resistance group for the liberation of Palestine. It began developing underground infrastructure for smuggling weapons, evading Israeli forces, and sustaining operations amid intensified crackdowns. Tunnels then shifted from sporadic use to systematic expansion. They enabled the resistance to bypass military patrols and import essentials under blockade pressures.
The Israeli occupation’s frequent lockdowns and destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure like its airport and seaport by 2001, fuelled tunnel growth. These were a “safety valve” for goods and arms. Hamas, alongside other factions, oversaw deeper, longer tunnels to fund operations and counter Israeli superiority. These tunnels were viewed as tools of defiance during the First Intifada. This era laid the groundwork for tunnels to become integral to resistance logistics by the 1990s.
Armed resistance against occupation is legal, ethnic cleansing and genocide are not
These structures symbolise immense ingenuity against superior military power. The resistance may not match the Israeli occupation’s strength, advanced technology or firepower, but it demonstrates resourcefulness and adaptability. The criminal Israeli regime relies on its cutting edge equipment and well funded forces. Al-Qassam and other resistance groups rely only on their intimate knowledge of guerrilla tactics and the terrain. And their extensive network of underground tunnels to challenge the occupying power.
Palestinians remain subject to an occupying power that alters borders, terms and obligations with impunity. What was sold as a pause in violence has instead left these Palestinian freedom fighters isolated. They are cut off from their communities and are being denied protections that should be guaranteed under international law. The entrapment of these men makes clear no ceasefire can hold when one side can systematically violate it, and not be held accountable. While this injustice continues, Palestinians remain at the mercy of an occupation that aims to ethnically cleanse the entire Gaza Strip, through a genocide if it can get away with it.
As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their the poisoning of the American people stops.
Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist… pic.twitter.com/gQF9LpSjqD
Importantly, whether the people on these boats were drug runners or not, it’s illegal to just blow them up. One person who seemingly doesn’t care about this reality, however, is the US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth:
The technical term for what America is doing is an act of ‘extra-judicial killings’, which means they’re murdering people outside the confines of the law. While any sort of killing is bad, the problem with normalising unauthorised murder is simply this: where does it end?
You might agree with blowing up drug runners, but you probably wouldn’t like being blown up yourself. But once the cat’s out of the murder bag, nothing is off the table.
“These are criminals, not soldiers. Criminals are civilians,” said Mr Moreno Ocampo of the US allegations against the boat crews. “They are criminals, and we should do better at investigating them, prosecuting them and controlling them, but not killing people,” he told the BBC.
It’s actually a degree worse than this too, we don’t even know that the slain individuals were even drug runners. This is the problem with blowing people up before asking them questions. And again, you might think you agree with this, but what you’re agreeing to is a future in which you’re one false accusation away from being drone struck.
Hegseth’s latest statements have drawn criticism from figures including congressman Ted Lieu:
Dear @SecWar: I read the classified legal memo. Nothing in the memo, or military law, authorizes a second kinetic strike against defenseless survivors. If the reports are true, then a war crime was committed.
The above was in response to the accusation that Hegseth is personally ordering murders:
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.…
The fact that he’s reportedly been busted doing war crimes could suggest why Hegseth is lashing out and doubling down. As people are pointing out, however, the future is looking very bleak for Hegseth given that his boss Donald Trump is clearly too self-involved to push through the Fourth Reich they were relying on:
Based on the Commander’s Legal Handbook issued by the Judge Advocate General, Pete Hegseth’s orders for a second strike to execute survivors were illegal and constitute a war crime.
Note to Pete Hegseth:
Banking on a Trump pardon to shield you from accountability for ordering extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean Sea – won’t work in countries under ICC jurisdiction who will send you to The Hague. Tick fucking tock. pic.twitter.com/7f7wbccpNS
In Trump’s first term, his main obstacle to getting his own way was the fact that his underlings were constantly working against him. In his second term, he attempted to rectify this problem by only hiring loyalists. The problem is that Trump loyalists range from ‘stupid’ to ‘unhinged’ to ‘intoxicated’, with Hegseth reportedly being all three.
Of course, while the stupidity of these people will likely prevent them from instigating 1,000 years of Trumpism, that doesn’t mean they won’t do tremendous damage between now and 2028.
At a time when death has been stealing Gaza’s breath for two years of unrelenting war, the Palestinian national football team stands ready to compete in the Arab Cup with heavy hearts and shoulders carrying more than just their team jerseys. They hold an entire homeland, living under fire and seeking respite and a glimmer of hope in football.
Amidst the tents of displacement and the rubble of destroyed homes, and from the silence of Palestinian stadiums that have been shut down by war, the team emerges to remind the world that Palestine is not just breaking news, but a people who want to live and play.
Abu Jazar: ‘we are playing the opening match against Qatar with the pain of Gaza in our hearts’
During the press conference ahead of the Arab Cup opening match against Qatar, the team’s technical director, Ihab Abu Jazar, spoke not only as a coach but as a Palestinian who has experienced the most painful details. He says sincerely, reflecting the sentiments of the Gazans:
We are happy to be in the Arab Cup. This is an important milestone for our people, even more so than for the football team. We will play until our last breath. This is our people’s right.
Although the road was paved with difficulties, the team managed to overcome Libya in the play-offs to secure its place in the tournament, before finding itself in a ‘world-class’ group, which includes two teams that qualified for the World Cup It begins its Arab Cup journey with an opening match against the Asian champions, Qatar.
Abu Jazar said:
The task is difficult, yes, but we are holding on to our chances and we trust our players. We have some significant absences, but we have a spirit that never fades.
Palestine has no league, but its spirit is bigger than the pitch
Since the start of Israel’s genocide, the Palestinian league has been suspended and players have been scattered between the inside and outside, but the technical staff has found a way to fight on another front: expanding the roster and bringing in 18 new players to compensate for the absence of influential players, foremost among them Wissam Abu Ali.
Abu Jazar explained at the Arab Cup press conference:
Expanding the roster is a necessity. We don’t have a local league, so we are looking to quickly build chemistry. We have young players, but they have the spirit of Palestine.
He pointed out that the short training periods for the new players are not ideal, but they are sufficient to establish a new team formation:
We reached our peak performance in the qualifiers, and we want to continue. Despite everything, the team will look different.
The Arab Cup awaits
The Palestinian coach praised the supportive Arab position, particularly in allowing Palestinian players to be registered as ‘local players’ in the leagues, which has preserved the careers of a number of players during the suspension of activity in their homeland.
He says:
We thank all the Arab federations that helped our players. In the shadow of war, these positions were a real support.
The Palestinian team is not playing for points in the Arab Cup, nor is it just looking for a second place or a sporting achievement. It is entering the Arab Cup to tell the world:
We are here… despite the destruction, despite the siege, despite the war.
The players carry images of Gaza in their hearts, scenes of children in camps, the faces of mothers waiting for good news, not bad news.
Abu Jazar concluded by saying:
Palestine has a great legacy of struggle… and we are on a national mission. We want to make our people happy, and we feel proud to carry our country’s flag.
Its players run on the pitch as if they were running on the land of a stolen homeland, raising their heads as if they were raising the flag of a country trying to triumph for life, and facing every team with a style that resembles the resilience of their people:
Every ball is resistance, every pass is steadfastness, and every match is a whole nation fighting to survive.
The origin of the expression “tuckered out” goes back to the east of the United States around the 1830s.
After New Englanders began to compare the wrinkled and drawn appearance of overworked and undernourished horses and dogs to the appearance of tucked cloth, it became associated with people being exhausted.
Expressions such as this can be adapted, sometimes with a little generosity, to apply to other circumstances.
This adaptation includes when a prominent far right propagandist and activist who, in a level of frustration that resembles mental exhaustion, lashes out against far right leaders and governments that he has been strongly supportive of.
Tariq Ali . . . reposts revealing far right lament. Image: politicalbytes.blog
This came to my attention when reading a frustrated far right lament reposted on Facebook (27 November) by British-Pakistani socialist Tariq Ali.
If anything meets the threshold for a passionate expression of grief or sorrow, this one did.
The lament was from Tucker Carlson, an American far right political commentator who hosted a nightly political talk show on Fox News from 2016 to 2023 when his contract was terminated.
Since then he has hosted his own show under his name on fellow extremist Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter). Arguably Carlson is the most influential far right host in the United States (perhaps also more influential than the mainstream rightwing).
He is someone who the far right government of Israel considered to be an unshakable ally.
Carlson’s lament
The lament is brief but cuts to the chase:
There is no such thing as “God’s chosen people”.
God does not choose child-killers.
This is heresy — these are criminals and thieves.
350 million Americans are struggling to survive,
and we send $26 billion to a country most Americans can’t even name the capital of.
His lament doubled as a “declaration of war” on the entire narrative Israel uses to justify its genocide in Gaza. But Carlson didn’t stop there. He went on to expose the anger boiling inside the United States.
President Donald Trump . . . also the target of Carlson’s lament. Image: politicalbytes.blog
The clip hit the US media big time including 48 million views in the first nine hours. Subsequently a CNN poll showed that 62 percent of Americans agree with Carlson and that support for Israel among Americans is collapsing.
But Carlson went much further directly focussing on fellow far right Donald Trump who he had “supported”.
By focussing the US’s money, energy, and foreign policy on Israel, Trump was betraying his promises to Americans.
This signifies a major falling out including a massive public shift against Israel (which is also losing its media shield), the far right breaking ranks, and panic within the political establishment.
Marjorie Taylor Greene . . . another prominent far right leader who has fallen out with Trump. Image: politicalbytes.blog
It should also be seen in the context of the extraordinary public falling out with President Trump of another leading far right extremist (and conspiracy theorist) Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. In addition to the issues raised by Carlson she also focussed on Trump’s handling of the Epstein files controversy.
Far right in New Zealand politics
The far right publicly fighting among itself over its core issues is very significant for the US given its powerful influence.
This influence includes not just the presidency but also both Congress and the Senate, one of the two dominant political parties, and the Supreme Court (and a fair chunk of the rest of the judiciary).
Does this development offer insights for politics in New Zealand? To begin with the far right here has nowhere near the same influence as in the United States.
The parties that make up the coalition government are hard right rather than far right (that is, hardline but still largely respectful of the formal democratic institutions).
It is arguably the most hard right government since the early 1950s at least. But this doesn’t make it far right. I discussed this difference in an earlier Political Bytes post (November 3): Distinguishing far right from hard right.
Specifically:
…”hard right” for me means being very firm (immoderate) near the extremity of rightwing politics but still respect the functional institutions that make formal democracy work.
In contrast the “far right” are at the extremity of rightwing politics and don’t respect these functional institutions. There is an overlapping blur between the “hard right” and “far right”.
Both the NZ First and ACT parties certainly have far right influences. The former’s deputy leader Shane Jones does a copy-cat imitation of Trumpian bravado.
Far right Brian Tamaki has some influence but is a small bit player compared to Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Image: politicalbytes.blog
Meanwhile, there is an uncomfortable rapport between ACT (particularly its leader and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour) and the far right Destiny Church (particularly its leader Brian Tamaki).
But this doesn’t come close to meeting the far right threshold for both NZ First and ACT.
The far right itself also has its internal conflicts. The most prominent group within this relatively small extremist group is the Destiny Church. However, its relationship with other sects can be adversarial.
Insights for New Zealand politics nevertheless Nevertheless, the internal far right fallout in the United States does provide some insights for public fall-outs within the hard right in New Zealand.
This is already becoming evident in the three rightwing parties making up the coalition government.
NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon . . . coalition arrangement starting to get tuckered out and heading towards lamenting? Image: politicalbytes.blog
For example:
NZ First has said that it would support repealing ACT’s recent parliamentary success with the Regulatory Standards Act, which was part of the coalition agreement, should it be part of the next government following the 2026 election;
National subsequently suggested that they might do likewise;
ACT has lashed out against NZ First for its above-mentioned position;
NZ First leader Winston Peters has declined to express public confidence in Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s leadership;
NZ First has publicly criticised the Government’s economic management performance; and
while National and ACT support the sale of public assets, NZ First is publicly opposed.
These tensions are well short of the magnitude of Tucker Carlson’s public attack on Israel over Gaza and President Trump’s leadership.
However, there are signs with the hard right in New Zealand of at least starting to feel “tuckered out” of collaborating collegially in their coalition government arrangement and showing signs of pending laments.
Too early to tell yet but we shall see.
Ian Powell is a progressive health, labour market and political “no-frills” forensic commentator in New Zealand. A former senior doctors union leader for more than 30 years, he blogs at Second Opinion and Political Bytes, where this article was first published. Republished with the author’s permission.
Forty years after the bombing of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour, award-winning journalist and author David Robie has revisited the ship’s fateful last mission — a journey that became a defining chapter in New Zealand’s identity as a nuclear-free nation.
It captures the courage of those who stood up to nuclear colonialism in the Pacific and draws striking parallels with the existential challenges the region now faces — from climate change to renewed geopolitical tensions.
“The new edition has a completely new 40-page section covering the last decade and the transition in global emphasis from ‘nuclear to climate crisis survivors’, plus new exposés about the French spy ‘blunderwatergate’. Ironically, the nuclear risks have also returned to the fore again,” Robie told The Australia Today.
“The book deals with a lot of critical issues impacting on the Pacific, and is expanded a lot and quite different from the last edition in 2015.”
In May 1985, the Rainbow Warrior embarked on a humanitarian mission unlike any before it. The crew helped 320 Rongelap Islanders relocate to a safer island after decades of radioactive contamination from US nuclear testing at Bikini and Enewetak atolls.
Robie, who joined the ship in Hawai’i as a journalist, recalls the deep humanity of that voyage.
Back in 1985: Journalist David Robie (centre) pictured with two Rainbow Warrior crew members, Henk Haazen (left) and the late Davey Edward, the chief engineer. Robie spent 11 weeks on the ship, covering the evacuation of the Rongelap Islanders. Image: Inner City News
Humanitarian voyage
“The fact that this was a humanitarian voyage . . . helping the people of Rongelap in the Marshall Islands, it was going to be quite momentous,” he told Pacific Media Network News.
“It’s incredible for an island community where the land is so much part of their existence, their spirituality and their ethos.”
The Rainbow Warrior sailing in the Marshall Islands in May 1985 before the Rongelap relocation mission. Image: David Robie/Café Pacific Media
The relocation was both heartbreaking and historic. Islanders dismantled their homes over three days, leaving behind everything except their white-stone church.
“I remember one older woman sitting on the deck among the remnants of their homes,” Robie recalls.
Their ship’s banner, Nuclear Free Pacific, fluttered as both a declaration and a demand. The Rainbow Warrior became a symbol of Pacific solidarity, linking environmentalism with human rights in a region scarred by the atomic age.
On 10 July 1985, the Rainbow Warrior was docked at Auckland’s Marsden Wharf when two underwater bombs tore through its hull. The explosions, planted by French secret agents, sank the vessel and killed Portuguese-Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira.
The front page of The New Zealand Herald on 12 July 1985 — two days after the bombing. Image: NZH screenshot
Bombing shockwaves The bombing sent shockwaves through New Zealand and the world. When French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius finally admitted that his country’s intelligence service had carried out the attack, outrage turned to defiance. New Zealand’s resolve to remain nuclear-free only strengthened.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Image: Kate Flanagan /www.helenclarknz.com
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark contributes a new prologue to the 40th anniversary edition, reflecting on the meaning of the bombing and the enduring relevance of the country’s nuclear-free stance.
“The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior and the death of Fernando Pereira was both a tragic and a seminal moment in the long campaign for a nuclear-free Pacific,” she writes.
“It was so startling that many of us still remember where we were when the news came through.”
Clark warns that history’s lessons are being forgotten. “Australia’s decision to enter a nuclear submarine purchase programme with the United States is one of those storm clouds gathering,” she writes.
“New Zealand should be a voice for de-escalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific.”
Clark’s message in the prologue is clear: the values that shaped New Zealand’s independent foreign policy in the 1980s — diplomacy, peace and disarmament — must not be abandoned in the face of modern power politics.
Author David Robie and the Rainbow Warrior III. Image: Facebook/David Robie
Geopolitical threats
Robie adds that the book also explores “the geopolitical threats to the region with unresolved independence issues, such as the West Papuan self-determination struggle in Melanesia.”
Clark’s call to action, Robie told The Australia Today, resonates with the Pacific’s broader fight for justice.
“She warns against AUKUS and calls for the country to ‘link with the many small and middle powers across regions who have a vision for a world characterised by solidarity and peace, which can rise to the occasion to combat the existential challenges it faces — including of nuclear weapons, climate change, and artificial intelligence.’”
Author David Robie with a copy of Eyes of Fire during a recent interview with RNZ Pacific. Image: Facebook/David Robie
When Eyes of Fire was first published, it instantly became a rallying point for young activists and journalists across the Pacific. Robie’s reporting — which earned him New Zealand’s Media Peace Prize 40 years ago — revealed the human toll of nuclear testing and state-sponsored secrecy.
Today, his new edition reframes that struggle within the context of climate change, which he describes as “the new existential crisis for Pacific peoples.” He sees the same forces of denial, delay, and power imbalance at play.
“This whole renewal of climate denialism, refusal by major states to realise that the solutions are incredibly urgent, and the United States up until recently was an important part of that whole process about facing up to the climate crisis,” Robie says.
“It’s even more important now for activism, and also for the smaller countries that are reasonably progressive, to take the lead.”
For Robie, Eyes of Fire is not just a history book — it’s a call to conscience.
“I hope it helps to inspire others, especially younger people, to get out there and really take action,” he says.
“The future is in your hands.”
“You can’t sink a rainbow” slogan on board the Rainbow Warrior III. Image: David Robie 2025
The Rainbow Warrior returned to Aotearoa in July to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing. Forty years on, the story of the Rainbow Warrior continues to burn — not as a relic of the past, but as a beacon for the Pacific’s future through Robie’s Eyes of Fire.
A petition to launch an inquiry into “Russian influence on UK politics & democracy” has hit a critical milestone. Having tipped over 100,000 signatures, it will now be considered for a debate in Parliament. This could prove to be particularly awkward for Nigel Farage and his Reform Party, given the proof of Russian interference and recent conviction of their former head of Wales:
“Allowing money to corrupt your moral compass constitutes a grave betrayal of the trust vested in you by the electorate”
Ex-leader of Reform UK in Wales Nathan Gill sentenced for taking bribes as part of a pro-Russia influence campaign
We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaigns in the UK.
We believe recent events underscore the urgency of this issue.
The “recent events” in this instance are no doubt the conviction of Nathan Gill. As we reported earlier this month, Labour responded by demanding that Reform investigate themselves:
It’s now 24 hours since Nigel Farage’s man in Wales was sent down for 10+ years for taking pro-Russian bribes.
Why won’t Farage allow an independent investigation to root out any pro-Russian links in Reform? What has he got to hide? pic.twitter.com/lOgiGDCexu
If nothing else, this petition could force Labour to shit or get off the pot.
Russia-gate
Over the past decade, there has definitely been a tendency for establishment centrists to paint Russia as the sole reason for our problems. This manifested most in the aftermath of Trump’s first election and the EU Referendum.
In the case of the US election, Hillary Clinton suffered because she was the living embodiment of the establishment at a moment when voters turned against the failing status quo. In the case of Brexit, we had a situation in which Brexiteers successfully managed to pin the failings of neoliberal Britain on the EU (it’s also worth noting the campaign to leave the EU had been growing as a movement for decades; the campaign to remain didn’t get serious until the week after the referendum).
We’re not suggesting Russia had no influence on these pivotal world events, but suggesting Vladimir Putin is solely responsible for our ills prevents us from identifying and solving the many other issues which are driving political extremism — chief among them spiralling inequality.
Solidarity
While we may not always agree with the centrists about the best way of addressing these topics, we can all agree it would be fun to watch Farage squirm in a debate on Russian interference. That is if he turns up, of course. As we all know, the guy would seemingly rather be anywhere but at work.
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CEASEFIRE VIOLATION: IDF troops identified two suspects who crossed the yellow line, carried out suspicious activities, and approached the troops in southern Gaza, posing an immediate threat. The IAF eliminated the suspects to remove the threat.
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ELIMINATED: 9 additional terrorists were located in underground terror infrastructure in eastern Rafah
