cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7566912

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/25407

On January 29, the White House issued an official statement declaring a national emergency in the United States because, it claims, “the policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

According to the statement, the Cuban government “aligns” itself with hostile countries, terrorist groups, and “malign actors adverse to the United States,” which the White House considers to include Russia, China, Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Several analysts believe that these justifications do not imply that Cuba is a threat to US national security.

However, beyond the reality behind this or that suspicion, the Trump administration, based on these justifications, has decided to economically suffocate the Cuban government, which, since 1959, the year the Revolution triumphed, has been considered by Washington a fundamental target to be eliminated.

Cuba is currently subject to the longest economic and commercial blockade in contemporary history, imposed unilaterally by the United States. It has been condemned and rejected dozens of times by the almost absolute majority of the world’s countries in the United Nations.

Now Washington seeks to further suffocate Cuba’s small economy, which, in its own way, has managed to withstand punishment from the most powerful country on the planet for more than 60 years. According to the statement, the alleged threat from the small Caribbean country authorizes US authorities to impose new tariffs (the amount is not specified) on products from countries that sell or offer oil to Cuba.

Trump’s goal is clear: to overthrow the government in Havana. Following the White House announcement, Trump told the press: “It looks like it won’t be able to survive. Cuba won’t be able to survive.”

Rejection and condemnation by Cuban authorities

The measure has been strongly rejected by the Cuban authorities. The country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said: “Under a false and empty pretext, sold by those who make politics and enrich themselves at the expense of our people’s suffering, President Trump intends to suffocate the Cuban economy by imposing tariffs on countries that sovereignly trade oil with Cuba. Didn’t the Secretary of State and his harlequins say that the blockade did not exist? Where are those who bore us with their false stories that it is simply an ‘embargo on bilateral trade’?”

He added: “This new measure highlights the fascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal gain.”

For his part, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez posted on X that Cuba does not pose a threat to the United States: “To justify [the new measures, the United States] relies on a long list of lies that seek to portray Cuba as a threat that it is not. Every day, there is new evidence that the only threat to peace, security, and stability in the region, and the only malign influence, is that exerted by the US government against the nations and peoples of Our America, which it seeks to subjugate to its dictates, strip of their resources, mutilate their sovereignty, and deprive them of their independence.”

Rodríguez also pointed out: “The US also resorts to blackmail and coercion to try to get other countries to join its universally condemned policy of blockade against Cuba, threatening those that refuse with the imposition of arbitrary and abusive tariffs, in violation of all free trade rules. We denounce before the world this brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people, who for more than 65 years have been subjected to the longest and cruelest economic blockade ever imposed on an entire nation and who are now promised to be subjected to extreme living conditions.”

A new economic threat to Cuba’s partners

The measure seeks to encourage countries that still offer aid to the blockaded island to reconsider their position regarding the revolutionary government. Even prior to the invasion of Venezuela on January 3, Cuba had lost its main energy partner when Washington imposed a naval blockade on Venezuela. Cuba is now experiencing an energy crisis as a result of the US economic blockade, which has intensified after Washington forced the Venezuelan authorities to cut off the supply of hydrocarbons to Cuba.

Read more: Trump’s ultimatum to Cuba: no fuel until surrender!

Among the countries that collaborate with Cuba on energy matters is Mexico, which many analysts believe is the main target of Washington’s “warning”. Russia and China could also be affected if they decide to continue their collaboration with Cuba.

For now, Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico, has said that aid to Cuba will continue in such a way that it does not “put Mexico at risk”. She said she will request more information from the US State Department on the scope of this measure, but that she will not abandon the “tradition of solidarity and respect” that Mexico has maintained with all Latin American countries. “The application of tariffs could trigger a far-reaching crisis, affecting hospitals and food supplies, a situation that must be avoided in accordance with international law,” said the president.

Indeed, within the framework of this new form of US foreign policy, Cubans will undoubtedly be the most affected. The civilian population could find itself in dire straits without transportation and electricity, which compromise the most fundamental aspects of people’s lives.

This was stated by Jorge Legañoa, president of Prensa Latina: “What is the goal? The goal is genocide of the Cuban people, and if the tariffs are implemented, the effect would be to paralyze electricity generation, transportation, industrial production, agricultural production, the availability of health services, water supply … in short, all spheres of life.” 

The post The US is using “blackmail and coercion” to intensify the blockade, says Cuba appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7566913

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/25381

The move comes as Trump pushes to curb Chinese influence over strategic infrastructure in the Americas

Chinese authorities have asked state-owned companies to suspend talks on new projects in Panama, in response to the Central American nation's cancellation of a contract with China's CK Hutchison Holdings to operate two ports along its strategic canal, Bloomberg reported on 5 February.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Panama's decision could jeopardize billions of dollars in potential Chinese investments.

Chinese authorities also asked shipping companies to consider rerouting goods through other ports if the extra cost is not prohibitive, and have stepped up inspections of Panamanian imports, such as bananas and coffee.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian issued a statement saying that the Panamanian Supreme Court ruling “ignores the facts, violates credibility,” while harming the interests of Chinese companies.

Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison responded to the Supreme Court decision by initiating international arbitration proceedings against Panama.

CK Hutchison has operated Panama's Cristobal and Balboa ports for decades. The ports lie at opposite ends of the Panama Canal – the strategic waterway that connects the Pacific and Caribbean Oceans, and through which roughly three percent of global seaborne trade passes.

The move comes amid US President Donald Trump's campaign to counter Chinese influence over strategic infrastructure in the Americas.

From thecradle.co via This RSS Feed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has provided a rare assessment of battlefield losses during an interview with a French television network.

Zelenskyy said an estimated 55,000 of his country’s soldiers have been killed since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“And there are a great number Ukraine lists as missing,” he told France 2, which translated his comments.

Dockworkers from over 20 Mediterranean ports are set to carry out coordinated industrial action on 6 February, following this week’s announcement by dockworkers’ unions, including Italy’s Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), targeting port authorities’ and governments’ complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

The planned action will take place simultaneously in ports across Italy, Greece, the Basque Country, Morocco, and Turkiye, with the aim of disrupting arms shipments, opposing rearmament, and challenging the use of civilian transport infrastructure for war logistics, the organizers announced.

USB said the mobilization is a response to the accelerating militarization of port infrastructure and the broader war economy, which unions assert is eroding workers’ rights and undermining social protection systems.

At least 10 Italian ports have already confirmed participation, building on dockworker actions that began in 2023 against weapons shipments to the Israelis.

The union stressed that the strike is meant to “ensure that European and Mediterranean ports are places of peace, free from any involvement in war.”

Medical humanitarian NGO, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says one of its hospitals in South Sudan was hit by a government air strike, amid renewed fighting between soldiers and a coalition of opposition forces in opposition-held areas.

The hospital was “evacuated and patients were discharged hours before the attack” after it received information about a possible strike against the city, MSF said in a statement.

“The hospital’s main warehouse was destroyed during the attack, and we lost most of our critical supplies for providing medical care,” said the statement.

It came after the South Sudanese government in December imposed restrictions on humanitarian access in opposition-held areas of Jonglei, restricting MSF’s ability to deliver essential medical assistance there.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42709519

Feb 04, 2026

In total, at least 21 Palestinians were killed and 38 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, with women, children, and medical workers making up the majority of the dead.

“We appeal to the entire world to stand with us. They said there was a truce, a ceasefire—this is not a ceasefire. This is extermination, genocide. This is not a truce, this is genocide against us,” Haboush said. “Stand by us, help us, stop the war, and end the humiliation we are living in—the disgrace and humiliation we endure is shameful. Every other day, our children are martyred. Every other day, our children die.”

Since the so-called ceasefire went into effect on October 10, the Israeli military has killed Palestinians in Gaza on a routine basis. At least 566 Palestinians have been killed and 1,500 wounded in just under four months, the equivalent of nearly five Palestinian deaths every day.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42673155

The budget 2026-27 is out and I am here to tell you key takeways.

First of all, It was introduced that States with a private sector company will set up 5 healthcare hubs where education of Advanced Health Proffesionals (AHPs) will be promoted, these will be the nation's healthcare capitals.

New National Design institutes are introduced in North-East. Academic Zone will be made to promote higher education, not only that, a girl's hostel funded by the state will be mandatory in each district. To promote astronomy and astrophysics, Telescopes will be upgraded, mountains trains are to introduced in states like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. National institute of Hospitality will be made by upgrading existing National Institute of Management. Many Places like Dholavira will be upgraded for attracting tourists. Subsidaries for promoting Animal Husbandry. In coastal areas, crops of Coconut, Cocoa and Sandalwood will be promoted by an all India scheme of Indian Cashew and Cocoa scheme. Exempt on incentive by motor accident payouts (By God's grace, finally these guys got it together).

Biggest of all, A Tax holiday has been announced until 2047 for foreign companies using Local Data Centres.

The thing is, this budget seriously does not have much for middle class, due to which I am very dissapointed.

What do you think?

Join "BharatReforms" to support us. A request to all Indians and people who enjoy our content.

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The New START treaty caps the number of nuclear warheads each side can deploy at 1,550 and limits the number of deployed and non-deployed strategic launchers to 800. The Russian ministry’s statement noted that President Vladimir Putin had offered a mutual agreement to maintain those limits for another year to make room for diplomacy to negotiate a new treaty, but the Trump administration hasn’t responded to the proposal.

Arms control experts have warned that the expiration of the treaty without a replacement or an agreement on maintaining its limits will likely lead to an increase in the deployment of nuclear weapons and spark a new arms race.

Polling shows that American voters overwhelmingly support the idea of Trump accepting Putin's offer to maintain the New START limits and want the US and Russia to negotiate a new deal that either maintains those restrictions or results in a reduction of nuclear weapons.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42707475

*At least five Palestinians are killed and four injured in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, with at least 32 killed on Saturday by Israeli attacks in Gaza. The UAE is in talks to run Gaza civilian administration and offers billions of dollars in immediate and long-term investment. Israel limits reopening of Rafah crossing. Audio reveals Jeffrey Epstein advised former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak on working with Palantir, as the latest batch of Epstein files are released by the Department of Justice. The Trump administration bypasses Congress on Israel arms sales. Former Biden adviser admits of U.S. law violations to continue funding Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as Senator Chuck Schumer says his job is to “fight for aid to Israel.” UAE investor buys $500 million stake in Trump crypto firm. Google accused of violating AI ethics rules. Measles cases halt movement at Texas ICE facility. U.S. signals readiness for Iran talks. Iran rejects U.S. warnings over naval drills. Iran warns of deep strikes on Israel. Iran protest detainee released on bail. Israeli killings are reported in southern Lebanon. Reuters reports child abductions by RSF in Darfur. Sudanese army retakes Aldashol in South Kordofan. Egypt hosts a drone base linked to the Sudan civil war. Landslides kill 227 at coltan mines in DR Congo. Trump says the U.S. began talks with Cuba. Mexico rejects U.S. pressure over Cuba aid. Aid access blocked in Jonglei. Drone strikes reported in Ethiopia’s Tigray. Algerian army reports killing four militants. Pakistan kills 145 militants in Balochistan. Russian drone strike kills miners in Dnipro. Nigerian army kills Boko Haram commander. *

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42709668

4 February 2026 12:40 GMT

During the trial, the prosecution alleged that the six defendants entered the factory with sledgehammers, intending, if needed, to injure and incapacitate security guards.

But the defendants disputed that the sledgehammers were “weapons of offence”, and insisted they were intended only to damage property.

As the verdicts were being read, the defendants held hands and embraced in the dock, as families and supporters cheered and wept.

The six defendants have been held for around 18 months on remand- exceeding standard UK custodial time limits.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42708793

Israeli strikes kill over 20 Palestinians in Gaza, including five children. Children die from lack of medical care as medical evacuations through Rafah remain at a trickle. UN says Rafah reopening far from sufficient in daily briefing. Israel imposes strict limits on Gaza returnees at crossing, as one returnee describes abuse at Rafah crossing. Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian man in Jericho. Israeli troops arrest over two dozen Palestinians in West Bank raids. European diplomats urge EU action against Israel. UAE denies plans to administer Gaza’s civil society. U.S. military shoots down an alleged Iranian drone, as the U.S. and Iran agree to hold talks in Oman. Judge blocks end of TPS for Haitians as crisis deepens in Haiti. Drop Site asks members of congress about Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence and the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents. Federal judge bars DHS from using crowd-control weapons at Portland protests. Detained fourth-grader released from ICE custody after public outcry. President Trump meets with Colombia’s president for White House talks. Michigan sues big oil for blocking clean energy transition. Gunmen kill at least 162 people in west Nigeria. The UN warns displacement is accelerating across Sudan. RSF and SPLM-N seize town in Sudan’s Blue Nile. U.S. warship deploys off Haiti amid political deadline. Russia launches a massive winter strike on Ukraine’s power grid. Venezuela’s interim government meets U.S. envoy amid transition talks. “The Filton 24” direct actionists affiliated with Palestine Action are acquitted in a UK court on charges brought against them for sabotaging Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42708001

Israeli attacks kill Palestinians across Gaza. Israeli forces shoot a man in Qalqilya, raid villages near Ramallah. Israel holds hundreds of Palestinian bodies. U.S. contractor pitched Gaza plan with massive profits. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak warned of a one-state future in a 2013 conversation with Epstein and Summers. Released Palestinian prisoner dies after detention. President Donald Trump calls for nationalizing U.S. elections. DHS expands body cameras after Minneapolis shootings. DHS labels Portland protester as Antifa leader. Drop Site’s Julian Andreone asks congresspeople about Epstein and Intelligence. SEC moves to revive risky mortgage securities. President Trump says the U.S. is close to Cuba agreement. Explosive drones target Kisangani airport. The Democratic Republic of Congo signs an economic agreement with the United Arab Emirates. UN to deploy ceasefire monitors in eastern Congo. Costa Rica’s right-wing sweeps election. U.S. and Iran plan first talks since war. Syrian forces enter Qamishli under a ceasefire deal. Crisis deepens in Sudan’s Kordofan region. U.S. advances Sudan peace plan via Trump’s Board of Peace. French judges issue warrants over Gaza aid obstruction. Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.

Crossposted from https://altmedia.house/post/189096

Six British pro-Palestinian activists were acquitted on Wednesday of aggravated burglary relating to a 2024 raid on a factory operated by Israeli defence firm Elbit, with a jury unable to reach verdicts on charges of criminal damage.

Prosecutors said the six defendants, whose trial began in November, were members of the now-banned group Palestine Action, which organised the assault on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August last year.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42690266

[An excellent editorial - a must-read.]

Also includes a Declaration by the Government of Cuba - "Cuba Condemns and Denounces New Escalation of US Economic Blockade"

Feb. 4, 2026

On January 29, 2026, U.S. president Donald Trump issued a new executive order declaring a “national emergency” due to the “unusual and extraordinary threat” that Cuba allegedly poses to the United States. The White House announced it will impose harsh punitive tariffs on any country that trades oil with Cuba.

This is unvarnished economic warfare, a major escalation of Washington’s unrelenting efforts over more than six decades aimed at asphyxiating the Cuban people and overthrowing their socialist revolution.

While acknowledging the extreme hardship its people face, the Cuban government reacted with characteristic defiance. Cuba is “a country of brave and combative people,” it declared in a statement denouncing Trump’s latest threat (reproduced below). “Imperialism is mistaken when it believes that economic pressure and the determination to cause suffering to millions of people will break their determination to defend national sovereignty and prevent Cuba from falling, once again, under U.S. domination.”

Israeli forces killed at least ten Palestinians, including three children, in attacks across Gaza early on Wednesday, as Hamas called on mediators and guarantor states to intervene to stop daily ceasefire violations.

A source in Gaza’s ambulance and emergency services told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli artillery fire struck the Zaytoun and Tuffah neighbourhoods, east of Gaza City, at dawn, killing seven people, including two baby girls.

In the south, the Nasser Medical Complex said an Israeli strike hit tents housing displaced Palestinians outside areas where Israeli forces have deployed south of Khan Younis, killing three people, including a child.

Members of Kibbutz Hanita near Israel’s northern border are demanding $11 million from Ballet Vision, the Chinese fund that controls 80% of the Hanita Lenses plant, accusing it of refusing to exercise an option to purchase the kibbutz’s remaining shares, according to a lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv District Court.

In a response letter attached to the lawsuit, the Chinese fund said that since the outbreak of the war in Israel, Beijing has classified Israel as a “high-risk area” and imposed a ban on any new Chinese investments in the country, making it impossible to carry out the option.

According to the lawsuit, in 2021 the kibbutz sold 74% of Hanita Lenses, which manufactures intraocular lenses for medical use, to Ballet Vision for $35 million. Of that sum, $25 million was paid to kibbutz members, with an additional $10 million injected into the company.

Libya's Saif al-Islam Gaddafi went from his notorious father's heir apparent to a decade of captivity and obscurity in a remote hill town before launching a presidential bid that helped derail an attempted election.

Saif al-Islam's office said in a statement on Tuesday that he had been killed during a "direct confrontation" with four unknown gunmen who broke into his home. Further details were not made public.

Despite holding no official position, Saif al-Islam was once seen as the most powerful figure in the oil-rich North African country after his father Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled for more than four decades.

Determined to rid Libya of its pariah status, he engaged with the West and championed himself as a reformer, calling for a constitution and respect for human rights.

But when a rebellion broke out against Gaddafi's long rule in 2011, Saif al-Islam immediately chose family and clan loyalties over his many friendships to become an architect of a brutal crackdown on rebels, whom he called rats.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42676830

February 3, 2026

Over the last month, the U.S. government has intensified its decades-long aggression against Cuba. Oil shipments to the island from Venezuela have been cut off since Washington’s January 3, 2026, attack on that country. On January 22, the Trump administration threatened a full naval blockade of the island nation. And on January 29, Trump signed an executive order labeling Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States and declaring that Washington will impose punitive tariffs on any country trading oil with Cuba.

Isaac Saney is a Cuba specialist who coordinates the Black and African Diaspora Studies program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. With roots in the African Nova Scotia community and the Caribbean, his teaching, research, and scholarship encompass Cuba, Africa, the Caribbean, Black Canadian history, the global Black liberation struggle, and reparations. A major area of his research is Cuba’s relationship with Africa.

In response to the latest escalation of Washington’s economic war on Cuba, Saney issued a statement that first appeared on January 30 on his Facebook page. It was subsequently published by the Cuban news service Radio Rebelde (Rebel Radio).