A man walks amidst the rubble in the wake of an Israeli airstrike on the Beirut neighbourhood of Bachoura on 18 March 2026 -- Megaphone, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad As the United States farcically walks away from the negotiations with Iran in Pakistan, it was always a matter of concern whether Israel would abide by any such agreement. This was particularly the case with Lebanon and with the Palestinian territories, where Israel seemed absolutely hell ben

A scene in Tehran, March 4, 2026 -- Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Ali Abutalebi On April 7, the Prime Minister of Pakistan posted on X a call for an ‘extension of the deadline,’ following Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iran’s ‘civilization.’ Shortly afterward, diplomatic sources announced that U.S. and Iranian authorities had agreed to a ‘ceasefire’ and to resume talks in Islamabad. These developments came after 40 days of unprovoked aggression aga

Trump with Pete Hegseth on March 23 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad US President Donald Trump has increasingly become unhinged as the war on Iran has not gone as he imagined. Both the United States and Israel felt that a series of domination strikes against Iran would decapitate the leadership of the country and force the remaining mid-level leaders into surrender. The miscalculation of the Trump-Netanyahu agenda has been total: a depth of wartime leadership has emerg

Protestors outside of the federal courthouse in Manhattan, March 26, 2026 -- image via news video screenshot By Celina della Croce Venezuelans in the News On the morning of 26 March 2026, two crowds gathered outside of the federal courthouse in Manhattan where President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores sat awaiting their trial, set to begin at 11AM that day. On one side was a group of protestors gathered behind a large yellow banner that read “Free President Maduro

Trump on March 19, 2026 -- public domain image By Biljana Vankovska A few days ago, I had the honor of participating in an international webinar organized by SHAPE —Serving Humanity and Planet Earth. As its name suggests, this project is focused on safeguarding humanity and the planet, and its acronym carries a meaningful symbolism: shaping. The theme I addressed, alongside distinguished figures such as Richard Falk, Joseph Camilleri, Chandra Muzaffar, and Helena Cobban, was

Banner and flag in Cuba -- Taymaz Valley from Ottawa, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tig

Portraits of Chavez, Bolivar and Maduro in Venezuela -- Guaiquerí, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Celina della Croce U.S. President Donald Trump has not shied away from admitting his thirst for Venezuelan oil. On 16 December 2025, in the leadup to the 3 January bombing of Caracas and kidnapping of the country’s president and first lady, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, he claimed ownership over Venezuela resources, stating that “America will not… allow a hostile regime to tak

Trump, January 20, 2026 -- public domain image By Richard E. Rubenstein – TRANSCEND Media Service When Donald Trump was first elected U.S. president almost ten years ago, part of his appeal to many voters were his promises to reduce the level of US involvement in international conflicts and to avoid the costly “endless wars” fought by his predecessors. But his recent attack on Venezuela on the heels of U.S.-financed genocide in Gaza, as well as US air strikes in Somalia, Yeme

Board of Peace signing ceremony -- public domain image By Milkaela Nhondo Erskog Khaled Abu Jarrar, a 58-year-old Palestinian from Beit Hanoon, now shelters in Gaza City’s former Legislative Council building—one of thousands of structures repurposed as displacement camps after Israel’s genocidal assault reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble. His wife was recently diagnosed with liver cancer. She needs urgent treatment abroad, but the Rafah crossing remains sealed. As intern

Chibichiri cave in Yomitan village, Okinawa. A place of mass suicide of Japanese soldiers and Okinawan civilians during the Battle of Okinawa -- Vitalie Ciubotaru, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Tings Chak and Atul Chandra We descended into Chibichibi Cave in southern Okinawa with the heavy feeling that this was not a site of distant history, but a warning. The cave is low enough that you have to bend forward as you walk. The air is damp, the light disappears quickly,

Trump in the hangar bay of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington, October 28, 2025 -- public domain image By Atul Chandra The year 2025 witnessed escalated threats from the United States on the Global South. In the span of months, Washington declared Venezuelan airspace “closed in its entirety,” threatened to invade Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to protect Christians from an alleged genocide, and demanded that the Taliban return Bagram airbase with warnings of uns

Maduro -- Image via X By Manolo De Los Santos The US government has revived its campaign to label Venezuela a “narco-state”, accusing its...