WWIII

Israeli army’s strikes on Iran

Several senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists killed

TRT/AA

13.06.2025

200 Israeli planes struck Iran with 330 munitions, Israeli army says

Army spokesman confirms assassination of top Iranian officials, adds that Iran launched over 100 drones towards Israel in response to attack

Attacking Iran, Israel brazenly defies ‘man of peace’ Trump


ByAFP
June 12, 2025

US President Donald Trump on Thursday implored Israel not to attack Iran and declared once again his goal was to be a peacemaker.

Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Trump’s closest international allies, brazenly defied his advice by unleashing a major military campaign described as a “preemptive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program.

The attack marks only the latest setback for Trump’s lofty goal set out at the start of his second term of being a “man of peace.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump has also boasted a warm relationship, has rebuffed his overtures on a ceasefire with Ukraine.

And Israel resumed another massive offensive in Gaza after talks bogged down on extending a ceasefire with Hamas reached with Trump’s support at the end of his predecessor Joe Biden’s term.

Trump’s friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff — who has negotiated in all three crises — had been set to meet Iranian officials again Sunday in Oman.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement made clear the United States was not involved in attacking Iran and warned Tehran not to retaliate against US troops in the region.

Rubio said that Israel advised that it attacked out of “self-defense,” but conspicuously did not say if the United States agreed. Trump, hours before the strikes, doubled down with a social media post saying he remained “committed to a diplomatic resolution” on Iran.

Netanyahu has described Iran’s cleric-run government, which backs Hamas, as an existential threat and already last year ordered strikes that knocked out its air defenses.

“We’ve clearly seen a fork in the road in the American and Israeli approaches to this problem set,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official who is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“These strikes are going to disrupt and delay and degrade Iran’s nuclear program. The question, I think, is whether or not the United States and Israel in the future are going to work together on what to do to maximize the time that’s put back on the clock,” she said.



– Increasingly at odds –



Stroul noted that rifts had been building between Israel and Trump, who last month agreed to remove sanctions on Syria after former Islamist guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa swept into power.

Trump embraced the new Syrian leader after appeals on a tour of Gulf Arab monarchies — which have also backed diplomacy on Iran.

In Qatar last month, Trump said after meeting the emir that he believed a deal was in sight with Iran and that there would be no “nuclear dust” over the region.

Despite growing disagreements, Israel enjoys robust support in Trump’s right-wing base.

The Trump administration in recent days has again taken lonely positions to back Israel, with the United States casting one of the only votes at the UN General Assembly against a Gaza ceasefire resolution and criticizing top allies, including Britain, for imposing sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers.

Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the Israeli attack will “destroy US diplomatic efforts” on Iran and called for Trump to reject any US military role in protecting Israel from retaliation.

“Israel has the right to choose its own foreign policy. At the same time, it has the responsibility to bear the costs of that policy,” he said.

But lawmakers in Trump’s Republican Party quickly rallied behind Israel. Senator Tom Cotton said that the United States should “back Israel to the hilt, all the way,” and topple Iran’s Islamic Republic if it targets US troops.

Trump’s Democratic rivals, who mostly backed his diplomacy on Iran, were aghast at Israel’s action on the eve of new US-Iran talks.

“Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” said Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

US Progressives Say Stop Supporting 'Rogue Genocidal Regime' as Israel Wages Illegal War on Iran

"Trump must act immediately to suspend all military support to Israel and stop allowing U.S. arms to fuel war crimes, mass civilian death, and regional collapse," said one critic.


Rescue workers comb through the ruins of a residential building bombed by Israel on June 13, 2025 in Tehran, Iran.
(Photo: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Jun 13, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Progressive U.S. lawmakers and human rights defenders demanded an end to unconditional American armed and diplomatic support for Israel after it launched a series of attacks on Iran early Friday, reportedly killing senior military officials and civilians including nuclear scientists, women, and children in a dramatic escalation that Iranian leaders vowed to avenge.

Israeli forces carried out at least five waves of airstrikes targeting not only Iran's nuclear facilities but also its military leadership and capabilities, Al Jazeerareported. In addition to airstrikes, Israeli and international media reported that operatives from Mossad, Israel's foreign spy agency, also conducted assassination and sabotage attacks in Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major Gen. Hossein Salami and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major Gen. Mohammad Bagheri were assassinated, as were numerous Iranian nuclear scientists.



IDF attacks targeted cities including the capital Tehran, Natanz, Isfahan, Arak, Tabriz, and Kermanshah. Iranian television reports showed bombed-out apartment towers and said that an unknown number of civilians including women and children were killed in the strikes.

The attack on Natanz—home to Iran's primary nuclear enrichment facility—sparked fears of radiological contamination.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack—dubbed Operation Rising Lion—a "preemptive strike," a dubious form of warfare previously waged by forces including imperial Japan during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the George W. Bush administration in Iraq.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the attacks were meant to "neutralize an immediate and existential threat to our people," an apparent reference to Iran's nuclear program. Successive U.S. administrations including President Donald Trump's have concluded for decades that Iran is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.

During his first term, Trump unilaterally abrogated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Last year, Israel and Iran carried out limited tit-for-tat attacks following the former's assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, who led the Lebanon-based resistance group Hezbollah, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

This time, Iranian leaders vowed "severe punishment," with fears that the U.S. could be targeted due to its staunch support for Israel as it wages what the international community increasingly views as a genocidal war on Gaza. While U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that his country was not involved in the attacks, Israeli officials insisted there was close coordination with the Trump administration.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Friday that "in the early hours of today, the Zionist regime extended its filthy and bloodstained hand to commit a crime in our beloved country, exposing its vile nature more than ever by targeting residential areas."

"With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself—and it will undoubtedly face it," Khamenei added.

As the world braced for Iran's response to the attacks, U.S. progressives called for a diplomatic solution and an end to American support for Israel.

"The Israeli government bombing Iran is a dangerous escalation that could lead to regional war," Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said on social media.

Tlaib asserted that Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and is facing a domestic criminal corruption trial, "will do anything to maintain his grip on power."

"We cannot let him drag our country into a war with Iran," she added. "Our government must stop funding and supporting this rogue genocidal regime."

Referring to negotiations on a new Iran nuclear deal, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said: "Just as talks with Iran were set to resume, Netanyahu launches a strike and declares a state of emergency. He is provoking a war Americans don't want."

"We should not allow ourselves to be dragged into yet another conflict, against our will, by a foreign leader pursuing his own agenda of death and destruction," Omar added.

The U.S.-based peace group CodePink—some of whose members held an emergency protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C.—said that it "strongly condemn[s] Israel's unprovoked and reckless attack on Iran, which risks igniting a catastrophic regional war."

"This dangerous escalation threatens millions of lives across the entire Middle East," the group added. "The U.S. must not continue to support and enable this illegal act of aggression."

CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin said: "It's horrific that Israel is bombing yet another country. And Trump calls himself a peace president? He knew this was coming and stood by. This is entirely out of step with the will of the American people."

"The whole world is desperate for peace in the Middle East, and instead, Israel decides to move the region closer to World War III," Benjamin added.

Noting that nuclear talks with Iran were set to resume this weekend, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said that "this is an attack on peace and diplomacy."

"Israeli political officials have demonstrated that U.S. diplomacy and a peaceful resolution with Iran is what they consider to be the true threats," NIAC asserted.

"This much is clear: This is a war of choice, and an illegal and unprovoked attack," NIAC added. "Trump must weigh in to stop this conflict before it spirals out of control, and to preserve the chance of maintaining diplomatic offramps."

Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, Israel-Palestine director at the advocacy group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), contended that "Israel deciding to launch a war against Iran at the very same time it faces unprecedented international isolation and pressure over its genocide in Gaza is a nightmarish outcome of impunity."

DAWN executive director Sarah Leah Whitson said that "Israel has committed an unlawful, unprovoked attack on Iran to undermine the growing global efforts to sanction it for its illegal occupation and to disrupt Trump's efforts to independently pursue America’s interests via diplomacy."

Nihad Awad, national executive director at the Council on American Islamic Relations, issued the following statement:
We condemn Israel's offensive strike on Iran and the broader pattern of aggression it represents. Netanyahu is using American weapons and taxpayer dollars to launch illegal and destabilizing wars across the region. President Trump must act immediately to suspend all military support to Israel and stop allowing U.S. arms to fuel war crimes, mass civilian death, and regional collapse. Secretary Rubio's statement confirms what we already knew—Israel is acting recklessly, and the U.S. is letting it happen.

CodePink noted that "in the past month and a half alone, Israel has bombed Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran."


"There is no other choice," the group added, "ARMS EMBARGO NOW!"

Harvard clashes with Trump admin in court amid 'intensifying' retaliation

Daniel Hampton
June 12, 2025 
RAW STORY

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Business School campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Faith Ninivaggi/File Photo

Harvard University is reportedly clashing with the Trump administration once again, this time over what the university believes is the federal government's resistance to abiding by legal provisions a judge said she was leaning toward granting.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs previously indicated that she plans to grant a preliminary injunction in the case on the restrictions on international students. Burroughs expressed her intention to grant an injunction and take steps to allow that would allow international students to continue attending the Ivy League college while the school continues its lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging First Amendment violations.

But on Thursday, Politico reported that lawyers for the university said the Trump administration is "resisting several provisions" the university hopes to see in the potential injunction. That includes banning so-called "categorical restrictions” on foreign students and getting 30 days' heads up if the Department of Homeland Security rescinds Harvard's certification to admit foreign students.

Ian Gershengorn, an attorney for the university, said in court filings that the administration has continued to try to strip students of their visas via what he called "creative relabeling," according to the report. Harvard asked the administration to prove it will not circumvent such a court ruling and ensure students' visa statuses aren't threatened.

“Even in the short time since the hearing, the government has committed to continuing — indeed to intensifying — its retaliatory campaign,” the lawsuit said.

US Supreme Court may be death row inmate’s last chance to avoid execution

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT

Mina Corpuz,

 Mississippi Today
June 12, 2025 

FILE PHOTO: A view of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., July 1, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo

Less than two weeks from the scheduled execution of Richard Jordan, the Mississippi Supreme Court said it will not reconsider the death row inmate’s appeal, but the federal high court is expected to discuss his case next week.

Jordan, at 79, the state’s oldest and longest-serving death row inmate, was first convicted in 1976 for kidnapping and killing Edwina Marter in Harrison County. He had four trials until a death sentence was handed down in 1998.

On Thursday, eight of the nine justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court declined to rehear an order to set Jordan’s execution date. Justice Leslie King was the lone person who wanted to grant a rehearing.

This decision comes about a week after Jordan’s attorney, Krissy Nobile of the Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, wrote to the court to emphasize that her client has not yet exhausted federal remedies and an execution could not be set.

The U.S. Supreme Court distributed Jordan’s petition for a writ of certiorari at a May 29 conference and is expected to discuss it again at a June 18 conference – a week before the execution.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s attorneys filed an emergency application for a stay of execution with Justice Samuel Alito Jr. pending the court’s disposition on the case.


They argue there is a reasonable prospect that the court will grant certiorari and reverse the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision, and that Jordan will suffer irreparable harm if a stay is not ordered.

In its response, the state argues Jordan has been trying to avoid his death sentence for almost 50 years and that he is repeating baseless arguments in his pending petition for certiorari.

His attorneys argue Jordan’s death sentence is not valid because in 1976, when the murder was committed and Jordan was sentenced, Mississippi and all other states had ceased executions based on a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia that capital punishment was unconstitutional.


This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

You can be a junkie and a deadbeat dad. MAGA doesn't care — if you're white

John Stoehr
June 10, 2025 

ALTERNET



U.S. President Donald Trump holds a MAGA (Make America Great Again) cap as he arrives at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 22, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

The current president has decided it’s a good idea for his regime to investigate criminally the previous president’s “cognitive decline.”

In political terms, this is ploy. Donald Trump wants to create conditions in which to invalidate legislation Joe Biden signed into law. He will say that Biden was too enfeebled to know what he was doing.

Biden is out of power. He’s a pariah among some in his own party. And now he has cancer of the prostate.

Yet Trump seems to believe Biden can’t die fast enough. He’s now going to spend his precious time kicking him until he does.

That’s not the worst part. The worst part is that Trump will never pay a price for being a jerk, just as he’s never paid a price for being a lying, thieving, philandering sadist. Indeed, he will be rewarded. His people will cheer him on, encouraging him to be an even greater jerk.

Character and morality matter to the GOP, but only if you’re Black or a Muslim or some kind of liberal. Otherwise, as can be seen in the case of billionaire Elon Musk, you can be as terrible as you want to be.


You can be a junkie.

A deadbeat dad.

A literal Nazi.

None of that matters, not when you’re rich and powerful.

Sure, Musk now appears to be “going to war” with Trump over his budget bill. Musk called it a “disgusting abomination” and has encouraged his followers on X to tell their congresspeople to kill it.

But that’s not because the legislation rolls back electric vehicle subsidies. It’s not because of anything to do with self-interest.


It’s because Musk is a jerk, too.

Or as USA Today columnist Rex Huppke put it, more politely than I would: “pairing two high-profile narcissists was bound to not end well.”

Rex added: “It's possible one or both will be able to temper their delicate emotions, but I doubt it. Musk is a sensitive fellow, and Trump takes criticism as well as a cat takes a bath. … Both men will continue to be miserable, because I don't think either is capable of feeling joy.”


I spoke to Rex.

JS: What's wrong with Elon Musk? Something is wrong with him.

RH: He certainly seems wildly not OK. I'm not going to try to diagnose whatever's going on in his noggin, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a reasonable person who would say his behavior seems fine.


He's erratic. He spews random vitriol and conspiratorial babble on X, the platform he turned into his personal rightwing-weirdo playground. And of course there's the New York Times' solid reporting on his alleged drug use.

If nothing else, the guy thinks he's the smartest person in any room and strikes me as a narcissist of the highest order. Plus he just wreaked havoc on our government and cut spending in ways that are believed to be costing tens of thousands of people their lives.

JS: If he were not the richest man in the world, the Times piece would have cemented the idea that he's a junkie and a deadbeat dad. He will never been known as such, which means wealth and power can paper over any number of sins that would never be papered over if the junkie and deadbeat dad in question were, say, Black.


RH: I certainly agree with that. We're witnessing with Trump and Musk the ultimate examples of what wealthy white men can get away with in public. In fact, I'd even narrow it down to "what wealthy, white conservative men" can get away with in public, since I don't think any Democrat or liberal American would survive the near-daily scandals that Trump and Musk manage to pull off largely without consequence.

JS: You wrote recently about Joe Biden's decency. Thank you for that. However, it's a reminder that being an honorable man, or just trying to be an honorable man, often fails in America. The social and economic incentives for being terrible are just too great these days.

RH: Exactly. When Barack Obama left office, I wrote about how he was a good and decent man, despite years of the right trying to paint him as a monster. Then the same thing happened with Biden. The Republican Party's entire playbook is to simply demonize any Democratic president, and they have the rightwing media apparatus to drive whatever loony messaging they come up with right into the brains of millions of Americans. Absolute nonsense becomes gospel to people.

After that piece on Biden's decency ran, I got a slew of emails from people 100 percent convinced that Biden was an evil criminal mastermind who damn-near destroyed America. It's just nuts, and it's clear most mainstream news outlets are unable or unwilling to do enough to knock down the lies and fabrications that bubble-up from the right. Of course, it's much harder to do when a huge swath of the population only gets its news from rightwing sources.


JS: The conventional wisdom among Democratic leaders is that people who get their information from rightwing sources can be reasoned with by appeals to their pocketbook. Do that make sense to you?

RH: Not really. My belief is that the MAGA faithful are unreachable. They're lost, and any attempt to cater to them or "reach them" is a waste of time and resources. The people who remain reachable, and the ones who I think swung the election to Trump, are the people who are less engaged, the ones who don't consume all that much news.

They care about pocketbook issues, and they tend to sway in the direction of whoever is not in charge when prices are high or things are impacting them negatively. That's who the Democrats need to be reaching out to, and I think they can do that by aggressively getting themselves out into communities, whether that's in person or via big advertising blitzes or via social media or non-mainstream platforms.


The Democratic Party should be blasting out the truth about what Trump and his cronies are doing to hurt Americans, and they should be doing that 24-7 in every nook and cranny of the country. With a few notable exceptions, I'd say they're largely dropping the ball right now. People are about to start really feeling the pain of Trump's tariffs and other nonsense. Democrats need to be loud and in front of it all.

JS: Circling back to Musk, he is now calling Trump's budget bill, the “big beautiful” one, a "disgusting abomination." This is triggering some speculation of a "civil war" between Trump and Musk and within MAGA, generally. I'm skeptical, but what do I know? Thoughts?

RH: Pairing two high-profile narcissists was bound to not end well.

As you noted in your earlier question, Musk doesn't seem right, and Trump, well, we know he's not right. So the chances of the two erupting into an absolutely bonkers online slap-fight seem solid.

It's possible one or both will be able to temper their delicate emotions, but I doubt it. Musk is a sensitive fellow, and Trump takes criticism as well as a cat takes a bath. Musk's businesses and reputation are in the toilet. Trump's ratings are low and his agenda keeps getting jammed up by judges and, you know, the law. All of this creates a volatile stew, and I don't know that these two nutters will be able to refrain from finger pointing or lashing out at the other as a way to distract from their assorted problems. If it happens, I expect MAGA will stick with Trump, because they always do. And both men will continue to be miserable, because I don't think either is capable of feeling joy.

'Embarrassing': Trump's Treasury secretary gets brutal math lesson at hearing

Matthew Chapman
June 11, 2025 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

President Donald Trump's Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, had to get corrected multiple times on his fuzzy math about the economy during a heated hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

The hearing was at many points a mess, with Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, admitting Trump would "likely" cave on tariff deadlines yet again, and having to be told to stop interrupting lawmakers.

One of the most remarkable moments came when Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) held him to account for how sluggish the economy has been since Trump's tariffs took effect, and Bessent unsuccessfully tried to deny this was the case.

Beyer noted that all the biggest periods of market strength during the Trump administration have always come when "the administration is in retreat from key policy areas ... is this embarrassing?"

"It isn't embarrassing," said Bessent. "I'm sorry, Congressman, but you seem not to have seen the economic data. The GDP growth has been quite substantial, job growth is solid—"

"GDP growth is half what it was last year, sir," Beyer interjected.


"The job growth is solid, and private sector job growth especially," Bessent repeated.

"Job growth is a third what it was all last year, sir," said Beyer.

"And if you'd like to talk about inflation, would you?" said Bessent.


Beyer said that inflation numbers look decent "so far," but that all economic reports he is reading indicate "the impact of the tariffs" is not yet fully baked into prices.

Bessent has previously faced an avalanche of criticism for claiming that the federal workers the Trump administration is firing can just go find work in factories producing American-made goods. 

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Entire Fulbright board quits in mass revolt over Trump assault

Adam Nichols
June 11, 2025 

RAW STORY

New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Melania Trump attend the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City, U.S. October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

In a stunning institutional revolt against Donald Trump, the entire 12-member board overseeing America's most prestigious international scholarship program resigned en masse Wednesday, blasting the administration for what they called blatantly illegal political interference.

The dramatic walkout of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board represents an unprecedented rebuke to Trump's destruction of academic independence, with board members—including New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen—accusing Marco Rubio's State Department of trampling decades of bipartisan tradition, the Daily Beast reported.

The Fulbright program, a crown jewel of American soft power established by Congress in 1946, has become another casualty in Trump's broader war against higher education and international cooperation. The program typically supports 8,000 scholars, students, and artists in cultural exchanges—exactly the kind of diplomatic bridge-building Trump consistently attacks.

Board members didn't mince words in their scathing resignation statement, accusing Trump appointees of taking "unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago."

Trump's administration has already begun systematically destroying the program, canceling approximately 200 scholarships awarded to American researchers for international projects. According to sources, most cancellations were based purely on the administration's ideological objections to research topics.

The purge extends beyond American scholars. A staggering 1,200 scholarships awarded to foreign nationals for U.S. research are under review, sending shockwaves through the international academic community and damaging America's reputation as a destination for world-class research.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly submitted a budget proposal that would essentially destroy the program entirely, slashing funding for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs from $691 million to $50 million.

Trump has installed Darren Beattie to oversee the State Department office housing Fulbright. Beattie was previously fired from Trump's first administration after speaking at a white nationalist conference.

The Fulbright controversy represents just the latest front in Trump's attack American higher education. The administration has systematically attacked universities as "too liberal" while demanding ideological submission.

Trump's highest-profile target remains Harvard University, where he's frozen billions in federal funding while issuing demands. When Trump tried blocking Harvard from enrolling international students entirely, a federal judge stopped him.

Meanwhile, Rubio has ordered U.S. embassies worldwide to halt new student visa applications while implementing invasive social media screening—another barrier to international educational exchange.

 Labourstart

Lululemon: Stop union busting!

The workers at Metro Wear 2 in the Philippines that produce clothing for Lululemon, a Canadian-American athletic apparel retailer, need our help today. 

Their union won their certification election over a year ago, but the company has employed delaying tactics and has refused to begin collective bargaining. The company just announced that they plan to shut down the factory for three months without a clear and convincing reason. Nearly 1,800 workers will lose their means of living for that time. Furthermore, the company has fired five union officers since February, in a move clearly intended to undermine the union. This is union busting and we've been asked by the workers to send messages of protest to the company.  Please take a minute to send yours today:

Click here

 

Launch of the International Strike Report

Research groups from eleven countries have come together to publish the latest version of the International Strike Report. This collaborative effort, including interviews with strikers, examines trends across all those countries, aiming to increase visibility and provide critical insights into global workers' movements.  Read the report here.

Join us for a special online event on Saturday, 14 June where contributors to the report will share key findings through short presentations, followed by an open discussion on the report's implications.  This will take place at 14:00 UTC -- that's 07:00 in Vancouver, 10:00 in Toronto, 15:00 in London, 16:00 in Berlin, and 17:00 in Istanbul. Use this link to figure out the time where you are. 

Login to the Zoom call here. If prompted for a password, use 'solidarity'

 

Canada: Interview with Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour

The Alberta Federation of Labour and some 25 Alberta unions, representing more than 300,000 workers, recently unveiled the Solidarity Pact, a commitment to collective defence against any attack on workers by public- or private-sector employers. The Solidarity Pact is intended to remain in force indefinitely. In the latest LabourStart podcast, we talk to McGowan about the Solidarity Pact, and labour relations in the province with a "Maple MAGA" premier, who's now advocating for a separation referendum. Listen to it here.

 

Dan Gallin (1931-2025)

Dan Gallin, former general secretary of the IUF, passed away on 31 May in his home in Geneva.  For many of us, Dan was a mentor, comrade and friend.  One of the best obituaries of Dan appeared in the Global Labour Column this week, written by Peter Rossman.  It's well worth a read - click here. 

To learn more about Dan's life and work, we recommend these two books by him, which LabourStart had the honour to publish:

• Solidarity
• Resistance 

Thank you.

 

Eric Lee

UK

Youth Demand promises a 'revolution'

New protest group picks up Just Stop Oil's mantle and vows to 'build a movement that is going to take control of the British state'



Like Just Stop Oil, Youth Demand has positioned itself as a 'non-violent civil-resistance group'
(Image credit: Martin Pope / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)


By Elliott Goat, The Week UK

"The government is engaging in absolute evil. They are enabling genocide in Palestine by sending money and arms to Israel. They are contributing to the murder of billions to keep the fossil fuel profits flowing."


That is the founding claim of Youth Demand, the UK's latest activist movement "taking up the mantle of public disruption" from Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and, most recently, Just Stop Oil, said The Times.
Who are they and what do they want?

The group emerged last year out of the youth wing of Just Stop Oil, which recently announced it would end its programme of civil disobedience having achieved its goals after the government pledged to stop issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration and production.

Made up predominantly of students and young people in their 20s, Youth Demand has two main aims: to end all trade with Israel and "make the rich pay". It says the latter must be achieved by raising £1 trillion by 2030 from the "fossil fuel elite to pay damages to countries harmed by fossil fuel burning".

"Until these demands are met," the group said, "we will be in nonviolent resistance against this rigged political system and the people with blood on their hands."
What tactics do they use?

The group first hit the headlines last spring after spray-painting the Labour Party's HQ and Ministry of Defence buildings. In protest over Gaza, it has laid child-sized body bags outside the home of Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and hung a banner covered with red hand prints reading "Starmer stop the killing" outside the home of the PM.

Like Just Stop Oil, it has positioned itself as a "non-violent civil-resistance group" that aims to cause maximum disruption and provoke a reaction from the authorities. Dozens of members were arrested in April after they attempted to "shut London down" with more than 70 roadblocks.

This is an example of the group's signature "swarm" protest, said The Times. This involves "blocking busy roads with a line of people holding banners, flares and flags for about 10 minutes, disrupting traffic and attracting attention, then dispersing before police arrive and repeating the process in another location".

Its activists also target high-profile sporting and cultural events. At the London Marathon they threw red powder paint in front of the men's race, while two members attempted to get on stage during Israel’s performance at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Basel.
What does the future hold?

The group – which says it has 25,000 people on its mailing list – is planning to "ramp up their activities over the summer" to create a "sustained wave of resistance" in support of the Palestinian people, said The i Paper.

Yet its ambitions extend beyond what William Sitwell in The Telegraph called the "two couture lines of protest: pro-Palestine and anti-fossil fuel".

Youth Demand is just one of four sub-groups in the 'Umbrella' coalition. It also includes Just Stop Oil, Assemble, which aims to create a House of the People representative of the UK public through a lottery to discuss fixing the "broken system", and Robin Hood, which will engage in "civil resistance" in relation to socioeconomic challenges such as food poverty and housing.

"We are going to build a movement that is going to take control of the British state," said co-founder Sam Holland.

This proposition may be "easily dismissed as the delusions of a fringe group," said The i Paper, but Youth Demand is "convinced that 'a revolution' to dismantle centuries of political institutions is just around the corner, and they are the ones who are going to tip it over the edge".

Fishing cat: Pakistan’s Indus delta losing its lone surviving predator

Pakistan’s endangered Indus fishing cat faces an alarming decline due to a lethal mix of environmental and human-induced factors

Aamir Latif

Update : 12.06.2025

TRT/ AA



- Estimates suggest the fishing cat population in Pakistan has halved over the past 20 years, while its global number dropped by around 30% since 2010

- With Pakistan facing growing ecological pressures, conservationists are hopeful that ongoing efforts, community involvement, and increased awareness will help protect this crucial yet vulnerable species

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan has long been struggling with the gradual disappearance of its rare wildlife species due to a lethal mix of environmental and human-induced factors, including habitat destruction, dwindling water resources, pollution, and poaching.

Among these vanishing species is the endangered Indus fishing cat, found mostly in the Indus River Delta and surrounding buffer areas, where its numbers have dropped dramatically over recent decades.

Habitat loss, food scarcity, hunting, and growing human populations have significantly impacted this rare feline, which plays a vital role in maintaining the balance of aquatic ecosystems, according to experts.

“The past two decades have appeared to be disastrous for this environment-friendly animal, mainly because of the destruction of wetlands and killings by local people,” Saeed-ul-Islam, a senior Pakistani wildlife expert, told Anadolu.

Although official surveys have yet to determine precise figures, Islam explained that conservative estimates suggest the cat’s population in Pakistan has declined by more than 50% in the last two decades alone.

Globally, the fishing cat population has declined approximately 30% since 2010, and the animal has been listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List since 2016.

In addition to decreasing water levels, deteriorating water quality has exacerbated the plight of these animals.

“Deterioration of water quality due to untreated water flowing directly into water bodies, and the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, are also taking a toll on conservation efforts,” Islam noted.

Region’s last surviving predator

Wildlife specialists consider the fishing cat the last surviving major predator of the Indus flood plains following the near extinction of others such as gharials, tigers, and leopards from the region.

“We have this last predator in the Indus flood plains that greatly contributes to keeping aquatic animal populations healthy,” said Zafeer Ahmed Shaikh, head of the Indus Fishing Cat Project (IFCP).

The IFCP, launched in 2021, forms part of the global Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance initiative, which seeks to protect and preserve this rare species. The project engages local communities, governmental authorities, and wildlife organizations to support conservation efforts.

Before 2020, the status of the Indus fishing cat on Pakistan’s IUCN country list remained uncertain, suggesting the species was nearing extinction, according to Shaikh.

“It was us (IFCP) who told the world that this animal not only still exists in Pakistan but that its distribution range has extended to the riverine areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces through the canal network,” Shaikh asserted.

In addition to the Indus delta, recent sightings have occurred in Jaffarabad and Jhal Magsi districts in the southwestern Balochistan province.

Challenges in determining exact numbers

Shaikh acknowledged the difficulty in determining the exact population numbers due to a lack of comprehensive surveys by either government agencies or wildlife groups.

“We cannot give any specific number about its population in Pakistan. But one thing is sure – its number has reduced due to shrinking wetlands and water bodies,” he said.

“That’s why it is hard to fix its current status, but it can safely be described as ‘almost endangered,’ considering the given circumstances.”

Shaikh acknowledged that, although the IFCP has made “a little difference” in increasing the fishing cat’s numbers, “it’s a long way to go.”

Kamal Palari, a community worker involved with IFCP conservation efforts in Sindh’s Thatta district, noted a significant reduction in hunting incidents involving the fishing cat in recent years.

“Locals, especially farmers, would kill them because they falsely believed this cat was a threat to their livestock and crops,” Palari told Anadolu.

However, he said awareness campaigns launched by IFCP and increased community involvement have led to a noticeable decrease in such cases.

Shaikh also clarified that the fishing cat “very rarely” attacks goats and has no capacity to threaten livestock herds significantly.

Balancing aquatic ecosystems

Mumtaz Soomro, a deputy director at the Sindh Wildlife Department, believes that strict wildlife protection laws enacted in 2020 – imposing heavy fines and sentences for hunting rare species – have further helped reduce killings of fishing cats.

Soomro said the department has worked with local communities and wildlife groups on awareness campaigns to protect the cat, which he emphasized is “very important for keeping marine life healthy.”

“We have already almost lost leopards, tigers, and other predators because of human-induced factors. We cannot afford to lose this last predator,” he said.

In addition to shrinking wetlands, Islam cited overfishing by local communities as another critical reason for food shortages affecting the fishing cat.

He also stressed the fishing cat’s vital role in maintaining the ecological balance within the Indus delta.

“The fishing cat is a species of low-lying wetlands and can survive not only on fish but also on supplementary foods like crabs, rodents, and birds. The cat catches only lazy animals and fish, helping maintain the health of the remaining aquatic life,” Islam explained.

Shaikh echoed these views, underscoring the fishing cat’s role in protecting crops by controlling populations of rodents and turtles.

“They control the population of small animals, so the ecosystem remains in balance,” he concluded.