‘Russiagate’ and the Anchorage Meeting

Reprinted from the American Committee for US-Russia Accord with permission. Most commentators are reporting accurately that President Trump abandoned his previous demand that a cease-fire in Ukraine precede negotiations. He clearly did despite his earlier comments – not the first time he has changed his mind. I believe he did so because he was honestly […]
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Russia and China Are Not Threats to the US

This article is a continuation of “A Nobel for the Donald?“ To repeat: the geopolitical equivalent of a tree is about ready to fall unheard in the global forest. Once the Trump/Putin peace deal is inked, not one element of the neocons’ scary bedtime stories about Russian aggression will be heard anywhere on the planet. […]
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A Nobel for the Donald?

Donald Trump doesn’t really deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Not after his unprovoked bombing of a country (Iran) that is no military threat whatsoever to the American Homeland. Not after continuing to green-light and arm Israel’s genocidal madness on Gaza and elsewhere. And not, most especially, after fronting for an even bigger defense budget than […]
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The Arabs, the Left, and Those Who Remained Silent: History Will Not Forgive You

The consequences of the Israeli genocide in Gaza will be dire. An event of this degree of barbarity, sustained by an international conspiracy of moral inertia and silence, will not be relegated to history as just another “conflict” or a mere tragedy. The Gaza genocide is a catalyst for major events to come. Israel and its benefactors […]
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UK aware of Israel’s ‘terror’ for over 20 years

‘Defensive shield’  RELATED Blair considered a ‘special partnership’ between israel and NATO READ MORE  ‘Routine excessive force’ RELATED ‘Buried alive under the sand’: how British weapons killed Palestinians READ MORE  20 years of support Promoting terrorism RELATED Revealed: The British military college teaching Israeli soldiers READ MORE  But still helping Israel
| Archive, Middle East, Declassified Files

What Do We Forget When We Remember Hiroshima?

Originally appeared at TomDispatch. On August 6, 2025, the world marked the 80th anniversary of the American destruction of Hiroshima. As in decades past, Hiroshima Day served to honor the first victims of atomic warfare and to reaffirm the enduring promise that their suffering would not be in vain, that they and the residents of Nagasaki, devastated three […]
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Trump and Putin are Ready to Talk. What’s Different?

On August 6, U.S. President Donald Trump posted that special envoy Steve Witkoff had just returned from “a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.” Trump said that “Great progress was made!” During that meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the Trump administration with a ceasefire proposal. When asked if it was true that […]
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Heavy Machinery and Patriotic Demolition in the Service of Genocide

Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv is a well-respected holy man in Israel with some devoted followers. He is a dayan, a judge in the rabbinical courts of Tel Aviv, dispensing wisdom in matters of religion and Jewish law. He’s also a reservist in the Seyeret Givati brigade of the IDF and is currently serving in Gaza. There, […]
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No, Nuking Cities Did Not Save Lives

Reprinted From World Beyond War It’s oddly encouraging that the New York Post had to bring up its kookiest rightwing propagandist on Friday to argue that nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved lives. It’s almost as if the New York Times’ kookiest rightwing propagandist’s claiming that killing Palestinians is not genocide had to be one-upped by the Post. It’s even more encouraging that the Post felt obliged […]
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Eighty Years of Nuclear Terror

Ever since the atomic bombings of Japanese cities in August 1945, the world has been living on borrowed time. The indications, then and since, that the development of nuclear weapons did not bode well for human survival, were clear enough. The two small atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed between […]
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Here’s What Gabbard’s Russiagate Report Missed

“An easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia — from a position of strength — is possible. Common sense says this cycle of hostility must end.” Candidate Donald Trump said that on April 27, 2016. At first glance that might sound rather irrelevant to Gabbard’s Russiagate revelations. But let me connect the dots for […]
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Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers

When, in his 1961 farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the unwarranted influence wielded by a partnership between the military and a growing cohort of U.S. weapons contractors and came up with the ominous term “military-industrial complex,” he could never have imagined quite how large and powerful that complex would become. In […]
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Abandoning Ukraine

The war with Russia is now going very badly for Ukraine. But Ukrainians must feel like the world, and not just Russia, is treating them badly. At the beginning of July, the Russian armed forces took full control of the Luhansk region for the first time. And, though it is too early to tell if […]
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Performance artist calls out lawmakers for ‘homophobic slurs,’ says LGBTQ community ‘not something to fear’

Performance artist Holok Chen and an activist outside the Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry on July 28, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Performance artist Holok Chen urging support for the government’s same-sex partnerships registration bill outside the Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry on July 28, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Performance artist Holok Chen and an activist are questioned by police outside the Cotton
| Hong Kong, Law & Crime, LGBTQ & Gender

Letting gay couples who wed online register locally will ‘twist one’s definition of marriage,’ lawmaker says

Holden Chow, vice-chair of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, meets the press outside the government headquarters on November 3, 2023. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP. The Legislative Council complex in Hong Kong. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. Top court ruling The Court of Final Appeal. File photo: GovHK. Azan Marwah. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
| Hong Kong, Law & Crime, LGBTQ & Gender

Hong Kong activist sentenced to 120 hours of community service for defrauding gov’t in welfare scheme

Hong Kong activist Eddie Tse at the Eastern Law Courts Building on July 24, 2025. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP. Social Welfare Department. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. Legal aid application Great egrets and little egrets in a fishpond in San Tin, an area which will be redeveloped into a large-scale tech hub. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
| Hong Kong, Law & Crime, Politics & Protest

Is Trump’s Ukraine Arms Deal a Deception?

U.S. President Donald Trump has consistently insisted that the war in Ukraine “is not Trump’s war. This is a Biden war, this is a Democrat war.” But on July 14, it started to look a lot like Trump’s war, as Trump announced “billions and billions” of dollars of American military equipment to be sent to […]
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Israel’s Conservative Counter-Revolution

After its far-right election victory in late 2022, the Netanyahu cabinet’s newly-appointed justice minister, Yariv Levin, claimed that “judicial activism” had ruined public trust in the legal system and made it impossible for the government to rule effectively. Sensing a historical opportunity to remake the Israeli legal system, the new government would seek to “reform” […]
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NATO’s Proxy War against Russia Becomes Increasingly Reckless

The strategy that the United States and its European allies have adopted to use Ukraine as their military proxy in a war to weaken Russia has always involved a sizable element of risk. At some point, Russian leaders might no longer be content with just attacking the puppet that NATO members were using to torment […]
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Hong Kong airport to handle 1,076 flights in aftermath of Typhoon Wipha

Outbound passengers sit and wait while others queue to check in as flights resume at the Hong Kong International Airport, while Typhoon Wipha moves away from the city on July 20, 2025. Photo: Peter Parks/AFP Strong winds and massive waves at Heng Fa Chuen Promenade at noon on July 20, 2025 as Typhon Wipha neared the city. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
| Hong Kong, Travel & Transport, Airport Authority Hong Kong

In Pictures: Hong Kong sees floods, flights cancelled as Typhoon Wipha prompts T10 signal

Strong winds and massive waves at Heng Fa Chuen Promenade at noon on July 20, 2025 as Typhon Wipha neared the city. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Heng Fa Chuen braces for Typhoon Wipha on July 20, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Heng Fa Chuen braces for Typhoon Wipha on July 20, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. A man loses control of his umbrella in Heng Fa
| Community & Education, Environment & Health, Hong Kong

Typhoon Wipha: Hong Kong hoists T10 hurricane warning – highest signal – as residents urged to stay home

Hong Kong’s Heng Fa Chuen Promenade saw big waves as the Observatory raised the T10 storm signal for the first time since 2023 in the morning of July 20, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Typhoon Whipa as of Sunday morning, July 20, 2025. Photo: Hong Kong Observatory. Heng Fa Chuen braces for Typhoon Wipha on July 20, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Heng Fa
| Community & Education, Hong Kong, Not Main

Exclusive: ‘Is it a coincidence?’ – Hong Kong independent bookstores, publishers face simultaneous tax probes

Hunter Bookstore on June 10, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Opened in 2022, Hunter Bookstore is located in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. 💡HKFP grants anonymity to known sources under tightly controlled, limited circumstances defined in our Ethics Code. Among the reasons senior editors may approve the use of anonymity for sources are threats to safety, job security or fears of reprisals. Hong
| Arts, Lifestyle & Events, Business, HKFP Features

Tropical Cyclone Wipha: Hong Kong raises T3 storm signal, will consider T8 in early hours of Sunday

Tropical cyclone Whipa as of Saturday lunchtime, July 19. Photo Observatory. Tropical cyclone Whipa as of Saturday lunchtime, July 19. Photo Google. Typhoon Signal 3 Classes of kindergartens and schools for children with physical or intellectual disabilities will be suspended. Scheduled ferry services may be cancelled as conditions worsen. Bus and MTR services are not affected. Residents should secure loose objects like flower pots or
| Environment & Health, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Observatory

Hong Kong Observatory to consider T3 storm signal on Saturday as tropical cyclone nears

A tropical cyclone currently to the east of the Philippines is forecast to move towards Hong Kong on July 17, 2025. Photo: Hong Kong Observatory. Typhoon Signal 3 Classes of kindergartens and schools for children with physical or intellectual disabilities will be suspended. Scheduled ferry services may be cancelled as conditions worsen. Bus and MTR services are not affected. Residents should secure loose objects
| Environment & Health, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Observatory

Trump’s Tariffs Threats Against the Global South, ASEAN and the Philippines

In early April, the Philippines responded with “guarded optimism” to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, saying higher rates placed on its neighbors could present an opportunity. Hit with Trump’s reciprocal levy of 17%, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sought to re-frame it by stating that the “the new tariffs put the Philippines […]
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Iran-US Negotiations: Will Non-Violence Prevail?

For the first time in a generation, there was a national consensus in Iran that negotiations with the United States are necessary to resolve the issues over Iran’s nuclear program. Practically every political group and faction, as well as the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supported talking with the United States. With Israel’s brutal war […]
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Smoothing market entry in a state-guided economy: China's new Private Economy Development Bureaus

Smoothing market entry in a state-guided economy: China's new Private Economy Development Bureaus H.Seidl Tue, 07/15/2025 - 15:21 picture alliance / NurPhoto | Ying Tang Comment Jul 16, 2025 5 min read Smoothing market entry in a state-guided economy: China's new Private Economy Development Bureaus Fewer conflicting regulations could make market entry more predictable for firms Political alignment increasingly determines a company’s chance
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Yörük cuisine in resorts

Many years ago, tourism in Türkiye centered around cultural tours of the country. Tours typically began in Istanbul, exploring key sites on the historic peninsula, particularly the iconic trio of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace, before heading eastward to Anatolia, starting in Cappadocia. After visiting the fairy chimneys and several cave churches, tour buses would head westward
| Arts & Life

Could NATO Burden-Sharing Be a Subtle Snare for the United States?

Both Donald Trump and his legions of critics in Europe are celebrating the outcome of the latest NATO summit. The centerpiece of NATO’s renewed image of solidarity was an agreement among all Alliance members (except Spain) to boost their annual defense outlays to at least 5 percent of their yearly gross domestic product (GDP). Although […]
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A Big Beautiful Bill for the Military-Industrial Complex

The US Senate worked through the weekend on the “Big Beautiful Bill.” The goal was to pass it quickly to ensure the House will then pass it and send it to President Trump’s desk before the July 4th holiday. However, disagreements among Republican Senators over reductions in spending on programs including Medicaid and food stamps […]
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How the US and Israel Used Rafael Grossi To Hijack the IAEA and Start a War on Iran

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), allowed the IAEA to be used by the United States and Israel – an undeclared nuclear weapons state in long-term violation of IAEA rules – to manufacture a pretext for war on Iran, despite his agency’s own conclusion that Iran had no nuclear weapons […]
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Israel’s Attack on Iran: The Violent New World Being Born Is Going To Horrify You

Western politicians and media are tying themselves up in knots trying to spin the impossible: presenting Israel’s unmistakable war of aggression against Iran as some kind of “ efensive” move. This time there was no rationalising pretext, as there was for Israel to inflict a genocide in Gaza following Hamas’ one-day attack on 7 October 2023. […]
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Family of Kenyan man shot at close range by police demands accountability

Boniface Kariuki was shot by a masked police officer at close range while a protest against police brutality was underway in Nairobi on Tuesday. According to his family, Kariuki, who was holding a packet of face masks when he was shot, was working as a street vendor and not threatening police.
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Can Russia Help End the War in Iran?

No one has been able to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but could Russia help end the war in Iran? Russia is one of the rare powers that has very close relationships with both Iran and Israel, and both Iran and Israel trust Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken to both Iranian President Masoud […]
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Democracy in Georgia Is Under Threat by the US Congress and the Helsinki Commission

Tbilisi – It was Lincoln who once said “I would like to see someone proud of the place in which they live.” The 16th president never made it to the South Caucasus, but here reside a people quite justly proud of the place in which they live. Among the most striking differences between the vision … Continue reading "Democracy in
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Don’t Fund the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: It’s a Genocidal Smokescreen

Recent reports say that US AID is considering giving $500 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – an “aid” initiative launched at Israel’s request. At first glance, that might sound like a generous effort to help desperate Palestinians in Gaza. But peel back even one layer, and you’ll find a deadly political scheme masquerading … Continue reading "Don’t Fund
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Is There a Crack in Western Support for Genocide?

After twenty months of horror in Gaza, political rhetoric in Western countries is finally starting to shift – but will words translate into action? And what exactly can other countries do when the United States still shields Israel from efforts to enforce international law, as it did at the UN Security Council on June 5th? … Continue reading "Is There
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Israel Is Fully Integrating Its Gaza ‘Food Aid Hubs’ Into the Genocide

It is entirely unsurprising that Israel has yet again been caught out in a lie – a lie that the BBC once again spread far and wide on its news services. Israel claimed that it had not fired at starving Palestinians queueing on Sunday morning to get food from one of its highly militarised “aid … Continue reading "Israel Is
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Punishing Freedom: Trump’s Attack on the First Amendment

All attempts by the government to evaluate the content of speech and deter or punish what the government and its benefactors hate or fear is un-American, unconstitutional and unlawful; and if not stopped, will reduce the American people to serfdom. During the past three months, the Trump administration has sought to withhold the delivery of … Continue reading "Punishing Freedom:
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Netanyahu’s Endgame: Isolation and the Shattered Illusion of Power

There was a time when Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to have all the cards. The Palestinian Authority was largely passive, the occupied West Bank was relatively calm, Israel’s diplomatic reach was expanding, and the United States seemed ready to bend international law to accommodate Israel’s desire for complete control over Palestine. The Israeli prime minister had … Continue reading "Netanyahu’s Endgame:
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Why the Wall of Silence on the Gaza Genocide Is Finally Starting To Crack

Who could have imagined 19 months ago that it would take more than a year and a half of Israel slaughtering and starving Gaza’s children for the first cracks to appear in what has been a rock-solid wall of support for Israel from western establishments. Finally, something looks like it may be about to give. … Continue reading "Why the
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Jeremy Bowen’s interview with Gaza aid chief was shameful – and he knows it

There was yet more shameful reporting by BBC News at Ten last night, with international editor Jeremy Bowen the chief culprit this time. He prefaced an interview with Philippe Lazzarini, head of United Nations refugee agency UNRWA, with an utterly unwarranted disclaimer – as though he was talking to a terrorist, not a leading human … Continue reading "Jeremy Bowen’s
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Surprising Developments in the Iran Nuclear Negotiations

In the past several days, there have been surprising developments in the negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s civilian nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently, but not always, defined the goal of the negotiations as being limited to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. He repeated that definition as recently as … Continue reading "Surprising Developments
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Can Trump Slip the Grip of the Neocons?

During the 1988 campaign, George W. Bush came to the Courthouse in Maryville, TN to speak at a rally for his Dad. As we were leaving, I told my friend and later Chief of Staff, Bob Griffitts, “Bob, he is better than his Dad.” When he ran for President in 2000, then Governor Bush went … Continue reading "Can Trump
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America’s Weaponization of Space Continues Whilst NASA Sees Budget Cuts

If flagship NASA missions like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Mars Sample Return mission are being cancelled at the same time that defense spending amounts the majority of last year’s increase in global government space investment, that’s a clear signal how the elected officials in Washington view the Final Frontier. At a … Continue reading "America’s Weaponization
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The Deep State’s Favorite Columnist Just Turned on Bibi

Thomas Friedman’s message to President Trump, published in The New York Times, cuts sharper than most of the foggy, ideologically neutered op-eds that clutter that paper. It is, quite simply, one of the most brutally honest assessments of America’s relationship with Israel in years – from Thomas Friedman, of all people: an institutionalist and a … Continue reading "The Deep
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What Will Trump Find in the Middle East This Week?

President Trump’s return to the Middle East this week, the first since his first-term 2017 visit, will take place amidst great turmoil. It is a region that bears little resemblance to the Middle East of 2017 and it appears, at least from media reporting this past week, that the Trump Administration has some understanding of … Continue reading "What Will
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