The behind-the-scenes campaign of subversion ironically affirmed the key tenets of the Walt and Mearsheimer paper. In other words, wealthy and well-connected men were deploying their financial resources and connections in order to undercut a paper claiming that wealthy and well-connected men were using their wealth and financial resources for the benefit of the state of Israel and against the interests of the United States.

https://archive.ph/Yq71H

Military officials in the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau have announced a new leader one day after seizing power in a military coup.

General Horta Nta Na Man was named as the head of a one-year transitional government at about noon (12:00 GMT) on Thursday. In a statement, he justified the seizure of power and said the army had taken charge in the face of threats to Guinea-Bissau’s stability.

Meanwhile, the African Union and ECOWAS will likely pressure the military to return to democratic rule as soon as possible, Cummings said. Both have, in the past, suspended and sanctioned countries in which coups have taken place, before reinstating them after clear timelines for elections are set.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.eco.br/post/18616130

The military announced on Wednesday it had taken over the West African nation. Later, the opposition leader accused the incumbent president of staging the coup d’état to try to retain power.

Gunfire rang out near the presidential palace and national electoral commission headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, prompting confusion across Bissau, the capital.

Then, in a scene that has become familiar during the spate of coup d’états across West Africa in recent years, a military spokesman went on state television surrounded by heavily armed, uniformed men. He announced that they had deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, closed the country’s borders and airspace and suspended the electoral process. He also announced a curfew and declared a state of emergency.

The statement from Mr. N’Tchama came shortly after the opposition candidate, Fernando Dias, made an impassioned speech claiming to have won Sunday’s election, and saying that he was only waiting for the final announcement of the national electoral commission on Thursday.

“We will go out into the streets to say thank you to all the people of Guinea-Bissau for all that they have done,” he told a crowd of supporters.

Mr. Dias is supported by an opposition coalition that includes the country’s largest party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde. That party and its leader, Domingos Simões Pereira, a former prime minister, were barred from running in last week’s election.

After the military takeover on Wednesday, Mr. Pereira’s nephew, Edson Pereira, said that his uncle had been arrested and was being held in a prison in Bissau.

After armed clashes broke out in December 2023 between military forces and the national guard, Mr. Embaló, who was out of the country at the time, declared a coup had been attempted against his presidency. Days later, he dissolved Parliament, in which the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde had held the majority.

Before his campaign, Mr. Embaló repeatedly said that even if he did not win, Mr. Pereira should not be allowed to run the nation. Mr. Dias had promised to restore the government that Mr. Embaló dissolved.

Jon Queally
Nov 26, 2025

“What lies behind this,” said Petro, “is the same thing behind the war in Ukraine... petroleum,” noting the size and quality of Venezuela’s reserves. “In general, all of the wars of this century had to do with oil.”

If Trump were to get the upper hand, Petro suggested, the United States would get Venezuela’s oil “almost for free,” predicting that—“based on the evidence so far”—that the US will go to war over the resources.

Trump, said Petro, “is not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking,” adding that Venezuela is not considered a major drug producer or transit point for most narcotics headed to the United States.

November 18, 2025

I ask him how he interprets the current context of pressure, slander, and threats against Venezuela. As he drives carefully in the gentle Aragua twilight, he tells me:

“They have gone to great lengths to craft a new narrative—that of narco-terrorism—but, at its core, it’s the same thing they’ve always done: create a pretext to kill a hope. Remember, for example, that in 1954, they accused Jacobo Árbenz, the democratically elected President of Guatemala, of being a “communist” because he had implemented a modest agrarian reform. They orchestrated a coup, a military intervention, and overthrew him. Several decades later, they apologized, acknowledging that Árbenz was not a communist and that they had made a mistake…”

“Ten years later, in 1964, in Brazil, they did the same thing to President João Goulart… And they apologized again a few decades later… And in 1965, they did the same thing again in the Dominican Republic with President Juan Bosch. They accused him of being a ‘communist,’ invaded the country with some 20,000 marines and OAS forces. And many years later, they again acknowledged that Juan Bosch was a true democrat and that the invasion was a mistake. And in 1973, the same script in Chile, against President Salvador Allende. And the same belated apologies.

Currently, Taiwan has set an increase in its defense budget to 3.3% of its GDP for 2026, allocating $949.5 billion Taiwan dollars ($31.18 billion). U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Taiwan raise its defense spending to as much as 10% of GDP, a proportion well above what the U.S. or any of its major allies spend.

Lai had previewed the announcement in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Wednesday, saying the special budget would be used to purchase arms from the U.S. He told reporters Wednesday, however, that the budget has nothing to do with the government’s tariff negotiations with the U.S.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39515579

Marc Frank
November 26, 2025

Cuba, November 26—The Cuban government and people are warily watching the United States most recent effort to overthrow the Venezuelan government of Nicholas Maduro as they struggle to recover from Hurricane Melisa and contain mushrooming cases of dengue, chikungunya and oropouche. For most Cubans the threat is just one more worry amid a grueling economic crisis that has left residents spending their energy navigating collapsing infrastructure, runaway inflation and shortages of basic goods.

“If Trump and Marco Rubio succeed that would be terrible for us,” Havana handyman Bernardo said, requesting his last name not be used.

“I am critical of my government but that does not mean I want Rubio as governor here,” he added, laughing.

“That would be a real bummer.”

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42547282

Archived

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Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the centre has rescued over 100,000 children from the frontlines and more than 1,000 from the occupied territories and Russia, through unofficial routes and brave, special operations. It estimates that one in 10 of these children has experienced sexual abuse. The victims, of all ages and sexes, include girls who have been raped and suffered forced pregnancy, “so they will give birth to future Russian soldiers,” said Alina Dmytrenko, government relations officer at the Save Ukraine Centre, an NGO that helps families escape Russian occupation, returns children abducted by Russia.

“We have these cases which are very sensitive,” she confirmed. “It is a system. It is part of Russia’s aim when it comes to children: to break Ukrainian identity and trust. To turn Ukrainians into Russians. All the children who come here are traumatised, afraid to talk, to express emotion. But with sexual abuse, all of this is much heavier.”

“Russia is specifically targeting children,” she added. “It is shocking. How can you abuse the most vulnerable?”

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39484565

Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous
Nov 25, 2025

DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA STRIP—Ten-year-old Rateb Abu Qleiq sat in a rusted chair in front of his tent in Deir al-Balah. As he spoke, he unconsciously swung his right leg, which was amputated just below the knee, back and forth—the stub tracing a short arc in the air. On his lap he cradled a makeshift prosthetic, nothing more than a piece of plastic sewage pipe outfitted with an orange covering secured by a piece of string.

“My leg is gone,” Rateb told Drop Site. “This pipe doesn’t make up for my leg.”

Rateb was severely wounded in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis earlier this year that killed his mother and brother. His right leg was crushed and had to be amputated. He has undergone five surgeries in his abdomen since the attack.

President Trump on Monday called for the U.S. to weigh labeling some Middle Eastern affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups, taking aim at the controversial Islamist movement.

In an executive order, the president directed his administration to consider whether to designate Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan or elsewhere as foreign terrorist organizations. He gave Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 30 days to submit a report, and 45 days after that to take action.

The order claimed the three countries' Muslim Brotherhood affiliates "engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns."

It accused the military wing of the Muslim Brotherhood's Lebanese chapter of helping launch rockets at Israel after the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and alleged a leader of the Egyptian chapter "encouraged violent attacks against U.S. partners" after the attack.

MEM - UN condemns torture in landslide vote, but Israel oppose resolution