#Islamophobia

UN motion after Sweden Quran burning:

How did your country vote?

The United Nations Human Rights Council motion after the Muslim holy book was desecrated in Sweden was disputed, but passed.

INTERACTIVE - Card - UN approves motion against Quran burning CMS-1689162650

Though the motion was disputed, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution 'countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence'

How did your country vote?

UNHRC resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as strong political commitments by states.

Motion called for countries to review their laws and plug gaps that may “impede the prevention and prosecution of acts and advocacy of religious hatred.”

Here is how countries voted:

Yes:

Algeria; Argentina; Bangladesh; Bolivia; Cameroon; China; Cuba; Eritrea; Gabon; Gambia; India; Ivory Coast; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Morocco; Pakistan; Qatar; Senegal; Somalia; South Africa; Sudan; Ukraine; UAE; Uzbekistan; Vietnam

No:

Belgium; Costa Rica; Czech Republic; Finland; France; Germany; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Montenegro; Romania; UK; US

Abstained:

Benin; Chile; Georgia; Honduras; Mexico; Nepal; Paraguay

Israel sets record for illegal settlement approvals: Rights group

Peace Now said that Israel has approved the construction of almost 13,000 housing units in illegal settlements, the most since the group began tracking.

Israel’s far-right government has approved record construction in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank in its first six months in power, according to the left-wing Israeli movement Peace Now.

The organisation said that the construction of 12,855 settler housing units had been approved across the West Bank since January, the largest number it has recorded since it started tracking such developments in 2012.

Israel’s Higher Planning Council (HPC) met three times this year for the purpose of promoting construction plans, it added.

Settlement expansions have become a top priority for the new government.

#FreePalestine

Wagner trains soldiers in Belarus after foiled mutiny in Russia

Fighters from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group are training soldiers in Belarus, according to the Belarusian defence ministry.

The ministry released a video showing Wagner Group fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the town of Asipovichy, about 90km (56 miles) southeast of the capital, Minsk.

ChatGPT creator OpenAI faces US probe over libellous output

The United States’ competition watchdog has opened an investigation into ChatGPT creator OpenAI amid suspicions the startup broke the law by scraping public data and publishing false and defamatory information.

In a 20-page letter, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has requested OpenAI to provide detailed information about its technology and privacy protections, including any efforts to prevent a repeat of incidents in which its groundbreaking chatbot published false and disparaging information about members of the public.

Barcodes with prefixes 729 the product is made in Israel Apartheid.

You'd be surprised how many daily use products of all kinds are in one way or another made/owned by Israel. Everything from home cleaning to baby products to detergent to you name it is made/sold by Israeli companies.

People of good conscience have chosen to boycott Israeli products and companies supporting the Zionist entity. Their ethical purchasing decision however is frustrated by the lack of accurate information as to which companies to boycott.

A bar code starting with “729” indicates that this product is produced in Israel 729 Israeli Bar Code Association. A bar code never lies if it carriesthat729.

#humanity #save_palestine #boycott_israel #israel_products

Sinéad O'Connor lent her outspoken voice to the global fight against oppression, from her home country of Ireland to apartheid South Africa and Palestine.

She was never afraid to speak truth to power, no matter the consequences.

She will be missed.

RIP

"Rest in Power": Celebrities react to the death of Sinéad O'Connor

As news broke Wednesday about the death of Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor at the age of 56, many around the world took to social media to share tributes to the artist arguably best known for her cover of the Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U."

O'Connor overcame a difficult childhood, achieving her first major musical success in the late 1980s for her debut album "The Lion and the Cobra." But it was her second album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," which made her a household name. She earned one Grammy win and eight nominations, and was named Rolling Stone artist of the year in 1991.

Along with her music, O'Connor was known for her outspoken stance on political and social issues, and was open about her struggles with mental health. Stars across the world Wednesday remembered and celebrated the singer for her fiery spirit.

RIP

Arthur James Balfour
~ Racist extraordinaire implemented The Aliens Act of 1905 to forbid Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in Eastern Europe from alighting on British soil, then proceeded with the Balfour Declaration, giving Arabian Palestine to European Jews to solve his quandary.

“Mitigate the age-long miseries created for Western civilisation by the presence in its midst of a Body which is too long regarded as alien and even hostile, but which it was equally unable to expel or absorb.”
~ Arthur James Balfour

Embrace the Power WithiN Be the Catalyst for Change

In a world where challenges abound, the call for transformative action has never been more urgent. The essence of change lies not in waiting for others to act but in taking the initiative ourselves. Each one of us possesses the potential to be the difference we seek, to shape the world we yearn for.

Embracing the role of change-makers, we embark on a journey that goes beyond mere words. "Be the change you want to see in the world" - a timeless wisdom imparted by Mahatma Gandhi - resonates with profound significance. It reminds us that the responsibility for progress lies within each individual, waiting to be awakened and harnessed.

The power to be the catalyst for change lies in recognizing that our actions, however small they may seem, can create ripples that spread far and wide. By choosing to act with kindness, compassion, and understanding, we inspire others to follow suit. Each act of goodness serves as a beacon, illuminating the path for those who yearn to make a difference.

At the heart of being the change is an unwavering commitment to positive values and principles. Integrity, empathy, and inclusivity form the bedrock upon which impactful change is built. As we embody these virtues, we sow the seeds of transformation in the hearts of others, encouraging them to join the movement for a better world.

The journey to effect change begins with introspection - a deep and honest look within ourselves. By acknowledging our imperfections, we open the door to growth and self-improvement. This journey of self-discovery enables us to align our actions with our beliefs and fosters an authentic connection with our purpose.

Just as a single pebble can create ripples that reach distant shores, so too can our actions create a domino effect of positive change. When we act in unity, amplifying the impact of our efforts, we unlock the true potential for progress. Through collective endeavors, we forge a powerful force capable of reshaping the world's trajectory.

Indeed, we must never underestimate the influence we possess as individuals. Each choice we make, every word we speak, and every gesture we extend can inspire others to take action. Our legacy lies not in grand gestures alone but in the myriad of small actions that, when woven together, form the fabric of transformation.

In a world where division and turmoil can sometimes overshadow hope, we must remember that change begins with us. By being the change we wish to see, we pave the way for a brighter, more compassionate world. It is a testament to the indomitable human spirit and the potential for greatness within each of us.

So, let us rise to the occasion, knowing that the power to create positive change lies within our grasp. Be the difference, embody the values you cherish, and ignite the spark of transformation in others. Together, we can weave a tapestry of progress, kindness, and unity, leaving an indelible mark on the world.

Embrace the power within, for you are the change that the world awaits.

#OGHCrazyC

Julian Assange:

"I fought for liberty and was deprived of all liberty.

I fought for freedom of speech and was denied all speech.

I fought for the truth and became the subject of a thousand lies"

#StandUp4Assange

#Niger

Niger is a major producer of gold and uranium, the latter of which is needed for European nuclear energy. The country has significant oil reserves to which foreign corporations have wanted access. It also hosts large US drone bases.

These Western threats follow coups led by nationalist, anti-colonial military officers in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, whose governments have warned that intervention would be considered an act of war, and could thus set off a regional conflict.

West Africa is rich in natural resources. It is also very strategic for the United States and France.

Almost all of West Africa was colonized by France, which committed brutal atrocities in the region.

Still today, France maintains neocolonial policies, effectively controlling West African economies by forcing them to use the CFA franc as their national currency.

Paris dictates the monetary policies and even holds much of the foreign exchange reserves of numerous West African nations, including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

The United States has one of its largest and most important drone bases in Niger: the Air Base 201, which cost $110 million to build, and an additional $20-30 million per year to maintain – in one of the poorest countries on Earth.

Niger is geostrategically important for the Pentagon’s Africa strategy. It is located in the middle of the Sahel, a region with a lot of US and French military activity, where thousands of troops are stationed on a regular basis.

Washington uses its drone bases in Niger, in the heart of the Sahel, to project military dominance in North and West Africa, in coordination with the forces that US Africa Command, or AFRICOM, has deployed across the continent.

If Washington loses its ally in Niger, the new nationalist military government may try to close the foreign military bases and kick out the roughly 1000 US soldiers in the country.

Niger’s historically subordinate relationship with the Western powers has not brought the Nigerien people any prosperity.

The market intelligence firm S&P Global Commodity Insights warned that the July coup in Niger “could jeopardize the African country’s plans to become a significant oil producer and exporter”.

This is a region where there were very recent examples of Western interventions.

In 2013 and 2014, France launched a military intervention in Mali, a neighbor of Niger.

In a 2011 regime-change war, NATO – led by the United States, with the support of France, other European nations, and Canada – destroyed the state of Libya, killing the North African nation’s longtime revolutionary leader, Muammar Gadhafi.

Still today, a decade later, Libya has no unified central government. The country has been in a state of destructive civil war.

Now there is a real possibility that the Western powers that destabilized and devastated Libya could expand this violent chaos to the west and to the south, to the Sahel region.

Anti-colonial nationalists rise to power in West Africa

Some of the nationalist military leaders who have taken power in West Africa are invoking the historical legacy of anti-colonial movements.

In Niger’s neighbor Burkina Faso, the new president, Ibrahim Traoré, has vowed to fight imperialism, quoting Che Guevara and allying with the leftist governments in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Traoré is inspired by Burkina Faso’s former Marxist leader Thomas Sankara, a pan-Africanist military officer who launched a popular revolution in the 1980s.

At the same time, however, these governments are highly unstable, and have risen to power following not just one but a series of coups in recent years.

Some of these putsches were led by officers trained by the US or French militaries. Some of the coups have installed pro-Western military governments. But others have been launched by nationalist military officers who oppose French neocolonialism and US imperialism and have asserted more sovereign, independent policies.

The leaders of the new government in Niger publicly warned that France is plotting military intervention.

Paris is looking “for ways and means to intervene militarily in Niger”, the authorities said, stating that French officials met with the chief of staff of Niger’s national guard “to obtain the necessary political and military authorisation”, The Guardian reported.

The British newspaper described Niger’s toppled president, Bazoum, as “an ally of western powers”.

Along with Paris, the US State Department is actively coordinating with Bazoum and plotting to put its ally back in power.

To give supposed “multilateral” cover to their plans for intervention, the US and France have been working closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Reuters reported that ECOWAS and “West African defence chiefs have drawn up a plan for military action if Niger’s coup is not overturned”.

The UK-based news outlet emphasized, “Given its uranium and oil riches and pivotal role in the war with Islamist rebels in the Sahel region, Niger has strategic significance for the United States, China, Europe and Russia”.

ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger, and the country’s southern neighbor Nigeria has begun establishing a de facto blockade.

Niger previously received roughly 70% of its electricity from Nigeria. But the Nigerian government, which is closely allied with the West, has now cut off that power.

Foreign intervention may be easier said than done, however, because Niger’s neighbors have come to its defense.

The governments in Burkina Faso and Mali released a joint statement stating that “any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali”.

US and France discover a coup in Africa they don’t like?

In late July 2023, when Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown, the United States and France immediately sprung into action, condemning his ouster and demanding that the pro-Western leader be reinstated.

Many African activists highlighted the overwhelming hypocrisy of this response and of Western rhetoric about promoting “democracy”.

In the past century, the US and European powers have legitimized, supported, and even organized dozens of coups across the Global South, in order to advance their economic and geopolitical interests.

There are myriad examples of democratically elected governments led by anti-colonial leaders who were overthrown and in some cases killed by the Western powers.

One of the most well-known historical episodes was that of Patrice Lumumba, the founder of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congo had been a Belgian colony. Under brutal King Leopold II, Belgium committed genocide there, killing off half of the Congolese population.

Lumumba helped lead an independence movement against European colonialism, and was democratically elected the DRC’s first prime minister in 1960.

US President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the CIA to assassinate Lumumba. With help from the spy agency, Belgium sponsored a coup to remove him.

The democratically elected Congolese leader was kidnapped and murdered. His body was subsequently dissolved in acid. Just a few teeth were left behind.

This is how Western governments treated anti-colonial leaders during the first cold war. They sponsored coups to remove them and subsequently installed and propped up right-wing, pro-imperialist dictatorships that ruled for decades with an iron fist.

The Western response to the July 2023 coup in Niger was completely different.

Immediately, the French government denounced the new nationalist government led by the military. Emmanuel Macron’s office vowed a strong and swift response, writing, “The President will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests”, specifically emphasizing its business interests in Niger.

While sponsoring unelected coup regimes in Pakistan and Peru, the US State Department also quickly released a statement condemning the new military government in Niger.

"The United States welcomes and commends the strong leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government to defend constitutional order in Niger”, it wrote.

Referring to Niger’s toppled pro-Western leader, Washington called “for the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and the restoration of all state functions”.

The US added that it “welcomes the dispatch of the special representative of the ECOWAS Chair to Niger” and “will remain actively engaged with ECOWAS and West African leaders on next steps to preserve Niger’s hard-earned democracy”.

By instrumentalizing ECOWAS to give “multilateral” cover to an intervention in Niger, the US and France are returning to the strategy they employed when they used NATO to wage war on Libya in 2011.

At the moment, the Western powers are also doing the same to justify another military intervention in Haiti, re-creating an international alliance ostensibly led by Kenya to occupy the Caribbean nation.

Niger is a leading producer of uranium, needed for European nuclear energy

One of the principal economic interests that Western powers have in Niger is its uranium.

The anti-poverty organization Oxfam published a report in 2013 detailing how France was making a killing profiting off of the uranium in Niger, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The people of Niger, who are known as Nigeriens (not to be confused with Nigerians from Nigeria), have seen almost no benefits from this uranium extraction.

Oxfam cited a Nigerien activist who noted, “In France, one out of every three light bulbs is lit thanks to Nigerien uranium. In Niger, nearly 90% of the population has no access to electricity. This situation cannot continue”.

“It is incomprehensible that Niger, the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer and a strategic supplier for Areva and France, is not taking advantage of the revenue from this extraction and remains one of the poorest countries on the planet”, an Oxfam researcher added.

The statistics have slightly changed in the decade since that report was published.

As of 2023, Niger is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium.

But many Western media outlets have noted with fear how important Niger is for European energy stability.

“Niger coup sparks concerns about French, EU uranium dependency”, Politico warned.

"Niger supplies 15 percent of France’s uranium needs and accounts for a fifth of the EU’s total uranium imports”, the media outlet reported. “In 2021, Niger was the EU’s top uranium supplier, followed by Kazakhstan and Russia”.

Politico added that “the coup in Niger could be a challenge for Europe’s uranium needs in the longer term, just as the continent is trying to phase out dependency on Russia, another top supplier of uranium used in European nuclear plants”.

Nuclear energy is relatively important in Europe. In 2022, it made up around 10% of EU energy consumption, slightly down from a peak of nearly 14% in 2002.

In France, nuclear energy is even more significant. Since the 1980s, nuclear has become one of its top energy sources.

By the 2000s, France’s nuclear power exceeded its use of oil, peaking at nearly 40% in 2005. Nuclear still remained strong in 2021, at 36.5% of total energy consumption (compared to 31% for oil).

Since the coup in Niger, both France and EU leadership have insisted they will not be affected, stating that they have enough uranium in their reserves to last a few years.

But if the nationalist government remains in power in Niger and abides by its alleged pledge to cut off uranium exports, Europe could face economic consequences.

This also comes at a complicated moment for Europe, which has pledged to boycott Russian oil exports and reduce imports of Russian gas.

Russia is one of the world’s top producers of both oil and gas. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the imposition of harsh Western sanctions, Russia was the EU’s biggest energy partner, and the number one provider of oil and gas to many member states.

Some EU officials had proposed increasing nuclear energy production to end the region’s reliance on Russia.

But now one of the top providers of the uranium the EU needs for that nuclear energy has seen a coup led by nationalists who oppose Europe’s neocolonial policies.

This also comes at a moment in which several countries in Europe are going into recession.

Germany, the manufacturing superpower at the heart of the EU, is deindustrializing at breakneck speed, largely because it has lost major sources of the cheap energy that its heavy industry needs.

Niger hosts strategic US military bases

In addition to foreign economic designs on West Africa, the US military has a massive footprint on the region – particularly in Niger, where it operates multiple bases.

A 2019 report in PBS noted an increasing US military presence in Africa, revealing that the Pentagon had nearly 800 personnel stationed in Niger. (That figure later rose to roughly 1000.)

General Thomas Waldhauser, the commander of US military forces in Africa, described Niger’s pro-Western government as “a good partner in a very, very bad neighborhood”.

PBS indicated that the US military was creating a base in Agadez, Niger, which “will be the largest installation Air Force personnel have ever built”.

"The U.S. has been operating drone missions out of another base in Niger’s capital since 2013”, the media outlet wrote, adding, “The CIA is also believed to be using another drone base in Northeastern Niger”.

Investigative journalist Nick Turse, reporting in 2023, described this US facility in Niger, Air Base 201, as “the linchpin of the U.S. military’s archipelago of bases in North and West Africa and a key part of America’s wide-ranging intelligence, surveillance, and security efforts in the region”.

What is striking is the neocolonial symbolism of the United States maintaining these high-tech military facilities worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Niger, one of the poorest countries on Earth, where the majority of the population doesn’t even have access to electricity.

“Niger is one of the last strongholds of U.S. security partnerships in the region”, Brown University researcher Stephanie Savell told the media outlet.

Blinken’s visit came just a few months after the State Department’s December 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit, which brought African heads of state to Washington, DC to meet with Biden.

The State Department wrote that the summit was “rooted in this recognition that Africa is a key geopolitical player”

#FreeJulianAssangeNOW
#SAVEJULIAN
#DROPTHECHARGESNOW

TIME TO DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST JULIAN #ASSANGE . HE WASN'T FLYING THE HELICOPTER OR FIRING THE MACHINE GUNS. YOU CAN'T KILL THE MESSENGER BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE THE MESSAGE

#MillionMaskMarch #OpVendetta #MMM2023 #November5th #GuyFawkesDay #Anonymous

Gaddafi turned Libya into the richest country in Africa, and he had a vision for Africa as a whole.

Then, NATO lied, and murdered Gaddafi.

The reason NATO collapsed Gaddafi's Libya was because Libya was one of the largest exporters of oil to Europe under a nationalized oil program.

Libya had full sovereign control over their abundance of resources, and productively extracted it to build their country, thus challenging the “legitimacy” of western monopolies

Gaddafi called for all African nations to undergo similar large scale nationalization projects, and break away from dependency on Western financial looting schemes.

What NATO did to Libya has caused one of the worlds largest humanitarian crisis.

Libya today has open slave markets, some of the highest inflation in the world, and a high crime rate.

What NATO did and has caused to Libya is a crime against humanity, and is unforgivable.

When will NATO pay for what they did?

At least 2,000 people were killed, and thousands more were missing after a massive flood ripped through the city of Derna following a heavy storm and rain.

Pray for Libya!

#Libya

Morocco earthquake

About 100,000 children have been affected by the powerful earthquake that struck Morocco last Friday.

Morocco’s strongest-ever earthquake killed more than 2,800 people, but hopes were fading of finding more survivors under the rubble.

#Morocco #PrayForMorocco #MoroccoEarthquake

PEGASUS SPYWARE

"Benjamin Netanyahu" This man enforced the Israeli intelligence and the NSO group to create hacking tools to prevent and to counter cyberattacks.

Over the years there have been backlashes on the abuse of the spyware in Isreal.

The Israeli police are reportedly accused of using Pegasus, spyware developed by the NSO Group, to spy on dozens of its own citizens, including senior government officials and protesters demonstrating against Benjamin Netanyahu.

What is Pegasus and what does it do?

Pegasus is a type of spyware that may access a user's phone without their knowledge or consent, gather location and personal information, and take control of the phone's microphone and camera.

The 2010-founded NSO Group promotes itself as developing "technology that helps government agencies pay on thousands of lives around the globe" on its website.

Photos, site searches, passwords, call records, communications, and social media posts are some of the data Pegasus has access to.
The spyware's functionality is disguised in order to avoid discovery.

Researchers have found several examples of NSO Group sophisticated tools using so-called “zero click” exploits that infect targeted mobile phones without any user interaction.

How to perform vulnerability assessment on mobile device?

There are ways to track Pegasus on mobile and one way to do that is by the use of MVT (Mobile verification Toolkit) created by amnesty international.

#pegasus #spyware #cyberattack #mossad #cyebrsecurity #hacking