Bolivia protests to oust corrupt leader

 

Demonstrators, led by miners and rural unions, have clashed with law enforcement in Bolivia as tensions simmer over the country’s economic crisis, the worst in decades. 

The unrest follows weeks of road blockades, as miners, farmers, teachers and rural workers express frustration over the country’s ongoing economic turmoil.

Bolivia used to be a major exporter of natural gas, but in recent years, its reserves began to shrivel, and its production has plummeted. Now, rather than being a fuel exporter, it has become a net importer, reliant on oil and natural gas from abroad.

The collapse of the natural gas industry has been coupled with dwindling supplies of foreign currency in the country. The result has been soaring inflation, supply shortages and higher prices.

Bolivians have experienced long lines for fuel, and hospitals have reported a lack of basic supplies like oxygen and medication.

Centre-right leader Rodrigo Paz was elected in October last year in part on a promise to address the economic tailspin.

His victory marked a political sea change in Bolivia. For much of the past two decades, except for a brief period in 2019, the country has been governed by the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS). 

May 15: Nakba Day and its significance to Palestinians

May 15 is Nakba Day, an annual day of commemoration that continues to hold additional meaning this year as Palestinians endure mass displacement, occupation and crippling hunger. Here, we look at the origins and significance of the day. 

What is Nakba Day?

Nakba Day is commemorated annually on May 15. It marks the beginning of the destruction of the Palestinian homeland, and the mass displacement in 1948 of the majority of the Palestinian population. 

Nakba means ‘catastrophe’ in Arabic and is the word used by Palestinians and others to refer to this historic moment. For some, the term is also used to describe the subsequent and ongoing persecution of Palestinians and their loss of territory.   

In 1998, Nakba Day was officially inaugurated by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, though the date had been marked since 1949. Since 2023 it has been formally commemorated at the UN General Assembly.

What happened in May 1948?

May 1948 saw the start of a mass displacement in which over 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes.  

Over the course of the 1948 Palestine War, which lasted until January 1949, Israeli forces destroyed more than 530 Palestinian villages and carried out several massacres, killing some 15,000 people, according to researcher Salman Abu Sitta.

78% of Palestine’s historic territory was captured and used to establish what is now Israel. The remaining land was divided into today’s Occupied Palestinian Territory – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. 

Following Israeli victory in the war, abandoned homes were given to new settlers. The descendants of many of the Palestinians who fled in 1948 remain displaced to this day, both within Palestine and around the world. There are now more than 6 million Palestine refugees worldwide, according to the United Nations (UN).

What led up to the Nakba?

From 1920 until May 1948, the United Kingdom ruled over a territory called Mandatory Palestine under an agreement by the League of Nations – a precursor to the UN. 

Following the end of World War II and the horror of the Holocaust, the British announced their intention to end the mandate, and the newly created UN began seeking to redraw the boundaries of Palestine to allow for the creation of a Jewish state.  

None of the various partition plans suggested received support from the Palestinians or The Arab League (a body established after World War II to foster political, economic and social ties between Arab nations in the Middle East and North Africa). However, when the mandate ended, the establishment of the state of Israel was declared, triggering the 1948 Palestine War, also known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. 

What happened after the Nakba?

In the 78 years since the Nakba, the Israeli state has continued to encroach into Palestinian territory, displacing families and violating international law in the process.  

Among the major instances of this was the Six Day War of 1967, which saw Israeli forces occupy all of historic Palestine, including Gaza and the West Bank, expelling 300,000 people from their homes. 

In the decades since, tensions in the region have remained high, with frequent flare ups. However, the scale of the escalation that began in October 2023 is truly unprecedented. In Gaza over 72,700 people have been killed; and many more forced from their homes, often repeatedly. Among the displaced are Palestinians who moved to Gaza from elsewhere in Palestine after the Nakba, and their descendants.

What are the long-term consequences of the Nakba?

The Nakba resulted in the world’s longest running unresolved refugee crisis, with over 6 million Palestine refugees worldwide at present. Most live in neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In some cases, Palestinian refugees in the Middle East have endured war and further displacement in their host countries.  

Global news round-up: Some bad news, some humor and some hopeful trends

• In China: Xi talked about global turbulence, cooperation, and the future of humanity. Trump was basically saying: “It’s an honor to be your friend.” “You are a great leader.” “I only say the truth.” “The children were beautiful.”

• Marco Rubio seems to be very impressed by the ceiling and the lights inside the large hall where Trump and Xi met. On the other hand Hegseth appears to be quite subdued and nervous. My guess he has just realized that his 'USA Über alles' ideas will never work against this ancient civilization - much like in the case of Iran. 

• Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif: “President Trump seems to have an insatiable need to be the center of attention. International relations are serious business; they concern people’s lives and the stability of entire regions. Sometimes it feels as though the whole world is being forced to participate in a multi-billion-dollar therapy session to compensate for the attention it may not have received in its childhood.”
• Things are happening behind the curtains, interesting things. Amidst all the news, suddenly Saudi Arabia has reportedly proposed a non-aggression pact with Iran. Nothing like the impending collapse of the US imperial military. Best not to bet on a loser.

• Ba-boom: Rep. Ed Case (Democrat, Hawaii) explicitly confirms the Pentagon has lost a staggering 39 aircraft in the disastrous war against Iran, exposing the unprecedented destruction of very expensive American military assets. 

• Quote from Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: ‘In the modern world, words mean little, my American colleagues prove that’. 
• Pentagon drone deals line Trump’s pockets: The Pentagon is funneling massive contracts to drone companies personally owned by Donald Trump’s sons, Max Blumenthal has exposed, adding that one of these firms, an Israeli company, is producing tech for the controversial Iran war. 

• It is all connected. Billionaires are building the data centers to power the artificial intelligence that will replace our jobs and the US government is doing it for mass surveillance and war. Oh, and they’re building the data centers over farmland to reduce our food supply, since their AI robots won’t need food. Are you awake yet? Their plan is to replace millions of us with robots to usher in their AI techno-capitalist dystopia. The best way for us to stop it is to stop the data centers that will power it all.

• Kiev showing once more its “European values” and “freedom and democracy”. Zelensky's military body snatchers (recruiters) continue to serve up death sentences as they grab men off the streets and send these “Ukrainian patriots” to the front lines to die within days. For what? NATO's regime change war on Russia.

• BlackRock CEO Larry Fink declares a pre-emptive war against American citizens who fight back against his precious AI data centers, warning that people could use inexpensive drones. He admits that BlackRock will control nearly all of the AI data centers being built across the US because the government cannot afford to fund them on its own. “We have to relook at all forms of security. Could it be domestic terrorism using a $3,000 drone? Many more things will have to be underground.” Appears BlackRock knows something we don't about the near future. Nuclear war, climate crisis and/or crashing economy? The rich moving to an underground society? They will need lots of power too.
• Heartbreaking moments as members of the Lebanese Civil Defense receive the news that two of their fellow rescuers have been killed by terrorist Israel. These are the men who spend their days pulling others from beneath the rubble, racing toward fire while everyone else runs away, carrying the wounded, searching for survivors, and trying to preserve what little humanity remains amid destruction. 

• Welt Media (Germany): EU imports of Russian LNG have reached record levels since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. "The EU really wants to give up Russian gas, but reality says the opposite.” The largest importer of Russian gas is France, followed by Spain and Belgium. Earlier, the EU planned to give up imports of Russian energy carriers by 2027.
• Politico: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte proposed that allies enshrine mandatory spending on aid to Ukraine at the level of 0.25% of GDP. The initiative was discussed at the end of April at a closed meeting of alliance ambassadors. The idea is to make support for Kiev stable and predictable, but within NATO it is already causing fierce resistance. France and Britain, in particular, are opposed. Diplomats believe that in its current form, the proposal has almost no chance of implementation. According to calculations, if approved, the scheme could increase annual aid flows to Ukraine to approximately $143 billion. For comparison: in 2025, NATO countries provided about $45 billion in military aid — from weapons deliveries to investments in the Ukrainian defense sector and procurement of weapons through allied mechanisms.

• Israeli journalist Itay Blumental complains that his work has become almost impossible due to the severe censorship. He says most journalists in Israel spend the majority of their time navigating the censorship laws.
• The Hill: A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing sanctions against Francesa Albanese, a United Nations human rights investigator whose recent work has focused on the Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

• Finland please be normal dance-a-thon challenge…

France's brutal history in Northern Africa

France gathered 400 Muslim scholars and beheaded them in 1917, during the occupation of Chad. In 1852, when France entered the city of Laghouat in Algeria, it killed two-thirds of its population in a single night and burned them alive.

France occupied Algeria for 132 years. In the first seven years after their arrival, the French eliminated one million Muslims, and in the last seven years before their departure, they killed 1.5 million more Muslims. The French historian Jacques Gorky estimated that the total number of Muslims killed in Algeria from France's arrival in 1830 to its departure in 1962 was 10 million.

France occupied Tunisia for 75 years, Algeria for 132 years, Morocco for 44 years, and Mauritania for 60 years.

When France entered Egypt during its famous campaign, French soldiers on horseback entered mosques and raped free women in front of their families. They drank wine in the mosques and turned them into stables for their horses.

It is strange to see some people boasting about and defending French civilization, forgetting all its dark history. This is France - remind them of its history.

🔻 When France entered the city of Aghwat (Laghouat) in Algeria in 1852, it burned two-thirds of its inhabitants to death in just one night. 

🔻 France conducted 17 nuclear tests in Algeria between 1960 and 1966, resulting in an unknown number of deaths  estimated between 27,000 and 100,000  and the effects persist to this day.

🔻 When France left Algeria in 1962, it left behind 11 million landmines more than the total population of Algeria at the time.

🔻 France occupied Algeria for 132 years. In just the first seven years of their occupation, they massacred one million Muslims, and in the last seven years, they martyred another 1.5 million Muslims.

🔻 France is the fourth largest holder of gold reserves in the world, with 2,436 tons of gold stored at the Bank of France, even though France has no active gold mines.

🔻 In contrast, Mali one of the world's largest gold producers with 14 official gold mines has no gold reserves of its own.

🔻 Similarly, the Republic of Congo, which ranks seventh among gold-producing countries, also has no gold reserves in its central bank.

Where does UAE gold come from?

Trump to China - War with Iran on return?

• The Pentagon is considering changing the name of the war with Iran from “Operation Epic Fury” to “Operation Sledgehammer” if the ceasefire collapses and Trump orders a resumption of major combat operations, according to NBC News. The proposed name change would allow the administration to argue that renewed fighting constitutes a new military operation, effectively restarting the 60-day congressional authorization clock under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
• Iran has filed a lawsuit in the arbitration court in The Hague against the US aggression against Tehran, the Mizan News Agency reported on Tuesday. In particular, the complaint included accusations of US "military aggression against Iranian nuclear facilities," "imposition of economic sanctions" and "threats to use force."  Tehran has reportedly requested the court demand that the US cease both direct and indirect interference in Iran's internal affairs, as well as fully compensate for all damages caused. 
• An Iranian source: Tehran will not enter a second round of talks with Washington without meeting its five conditions for building trust.

• The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the "Golden Dome" national missile defense system would cost about $1.2 trillion over 20 years to develop, deploy, and operate. More than $1 trillion of the projected cost would come from acquisition and development alone, while the space-based interceptor layer would account for roughly 70% of acquisition costs and 60% of the total overall cost. Some informed estimates put the price tag at several trillion bucks.
• Iraq and Pakistan have both cut energy deals with Iran to secure the passage of oil and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz, a sign of Tehran tightening its grip over the key waterway, according to Reuters.

• BBC: Denmark and the US have been holding regular talks on expanding the Pentagon military presence in Greenland, with discussions progressing in recent months. US officials are seeking to establish three new bases in southern Greenland focused on monitoring Russian and Chinese naval activity in the GIUK Gap between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. One proposed site is in Narsarsuaq at a former US military base. 

• A US university has been taking bodies that people donated for science and handing them over to the military is a serious breach of trust. But what University of Southern California (USC) and University of California at San Diego have been doing also goes further. They’ve been supplying cadavers to the US Navy, and some of those bodies ended up in trauma‑surgery training for Israeli military teams in Los Angeles. None of this was disclosed to donors or their families. USC has taken more than $860,000 from the Navy over the past seven years in exchange for at least 89 cadavers. Students at USC’s Keck School of Medicine were the first to publicly push back. Seventy‑two students, medical residents, and physicians signed a letter demanding transparency. They said donors expect their bodies to be used for medical education, not for military trauma drills involving a foreign army.
• Donald Trump once again shows that he wants to make Venezuela the United States' 51st state. 

• Vice-Prez JD Vance could not re-recruit the Pope to the side of the US during his recent visit.  Dr. Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari, Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican, received the highest diplomatic honor from Pope Leo XIV. Established in 1847 under Pope Pius IX, the prestigious medal is awarded to ambassadors and notable figures for their efforts to strengthen diplomacy and promote peace.
• Iranian 'royal pretender' Reza Pahlavi is upset Donald Trump hasn’t killed more Iranian people who he claims are dying to overthrow the current government. 

• Russia is ensuring a partial demilitarization of NATO through its special military operation in Ukraine, David T. Pyne, former US Army HQ staff officer, national security strategist and Editor of The Real War newsletter, told TASS. “Russian forces have performed impressively on the operational and tactical level,” he said. According to Pyne, “This is accomplishing Russia’s stated goal of demilitarizing Ukraine,” along with ensuring “a partial demilitarization of NATO forces as NATO countries have sent Ukraine every spare weapon system they have available.” “Thus, it could be said that Russia is winning a proxy war against the combined military might of NATO and Ukraine,” the expert pointed out.

• French president Emmanuel Macron: 'I want the youth of France to understand that our fate is tied with the African continent's fate, that we will succeed with Africa.' Macron still has his eyes on continued looting Africa and more regime change there as well.

• Strong earthquake in Tehran. Thankfully there were no human casualties or financial damages, according to the Red Crescent. The Magnitude was 4.6 Richter.
• 90 Labour MPs are now calling for UK PM Keir Starmer to resign. 

• Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties are threatening to dissolve the Knesset and potentially trigger new elections after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told them there is currently no majority for a law exempting many religious students from military service, according to Kan News. The dispute comes after Israel’s High Court ordered the state to prepare sanctions against ultra-Orthodox men who refuse military service, following petitions accusing the government of failing to enforce conscription in the absence of a new exemption law. 

• Lebanon's Health Ministry told AFP that 380 people have been killed in brutal Israeli airstrikes since the 'ceasefire' went into effect. 

• A photo of Narco Rubio wearing the exact Nike outfit as Venezuelan President Maduro when he was kidnapped. Rubio is mocking Maduro and sending a warning to Venezuela that you are next on the hit list for total takedown. Really psycho behavior. 

• According to satellite images, at least 53 American F-16 fighters are stationed in Saudi Arabia. 
• King Charles: "My ministers will also proceed with the introduction of Digital ID." Orwell's 1984 wasn't supposed to be a how to manual but rather a cautionary tale. Say hello to mass surveillance and a social credit system. All in the name of your own protection! (And that funny little costume he is wearing. Looks like a very old man preparing for Halloween. Yes, that is right - he's a ghoul.) A warning to us in America. The UK usually tries on the latest fascist trends first, but the US always follows.

Big protest in New York City against zionist selling Palestine properties

 

Genocidal zionists trying to sell West Bank properties at real estate event in New York.

Police protect the zionists. 

What is the new Mayor Mamdani saying and doing about these crimes? 

How could this ever be allowed to happen under international law?

Zionists say Iran won but invade them anyway!

• Arnaud Bertrand: Robert Kagan (co-founder of Project for the New American Century, probably the single most imperialist Think Tank in Washington) writes that the US “suffered a total defeat” in Iran that has no precedent in US history. On one hand he calls this a “checkmate” by Iran, and a US defeat that can “neither be repaired nor ignored,” yet an the other hand his solution for it is.... surprise, surprise.... a bigger war still! He states that what’s to be done is “engage in a full-scale ground and naval war to remove the current Iranian regime, and then to occupy Iran until a new government can take hold.” The arsonist's solution to the fire is a bigger fire.

• Hebrew Channel 14: Iran is linking the entire Middle East to the negotiations and wants the agreement to include Lebanon, Iraq, and the Gaza Strip.
• Despite repeated Israeli strikes, the Caspian Sea has become a vital trade route for Iran, enabling it to bypass the naval blockade imposed by the US at the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have confirmed that efforts to open alternative trade routes are accelerating, with four Iranian ports along the Caspian Sea operating around the clock to receive wheat, corn, livestock feed, sunflower oil, and other essential supplies. Mohammad Reza Mortezaei, head of the Iranian Food Industries Association, told local media that his country is now receiving its vital food imports through this maritime passage. Port data and Russian trade circles reinforce this picture, indicating a significant and rapid increase in maritime traffic in the sea over recent months, including the transport of approximately two million tons of Russian wheat to Iran. 

• Trump to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “Italy was not there when we needed it, and I am considering moving our troops from Italian bases.”

• Lavrov didn’t waste a second. “The fact that Chancellor Merz can’t even make himself say who really liberated Germany from Nazism… The fact that Nazism is being revived, that it is being actively and ideologically implanted into public opinion… and in practice, Europe is openly supporting the Nazi regime [in Ukraine]. There are no doubts about that.”  

• Shehab: The State Security Court in Kuwait sentenced a 19-year-old girl to three years in prison because she wrote in a WhatsApp group the phrase "May God support Hezbollah against the Zionists".
• Lebanese Minister of Information says Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed the need to document Israeli war crimes and submit them to the United Nations.
• The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was spotted in the Red Sea on May 8 after transiting the Suez Canal. The carrier is heading toward the central region as part of French-British efforts to resume maritime navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The world's knees are shaking.

• Correspondent for the Hebrew website Walla: The Israeli army is not revealing everything that is happening along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon. Officers in the Northern Command say there has been an increase in attacks by Hezbollah that are not being reported to the public.
• Zelensky’s former press secretary calls him the ‘biggest obstacle to peace. Not the person whom you see on camera... changes masks all the time... emotionally uncontrollable, often hysterical. But his acting doesn't have any substance. He thinks that every person is disposable. He does cocaine.'  

• Israeli Army Radio: The Israeli army is conducting an investigation into one of the most serious drone strikes of the war, which Hezbollah published footage of yesterday: the targeting of an Iron Dome battery. Military sources confirmed that such a strike had indeed occurred.
• The Eurovision-2026 is opening in Vienna. This year, five countries - Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Iceland - are boycotting the competition. They oppose Israel's participation in the competition.
• US Navy announced (for PR purposes) that one of its ballistic missile submarines arrived in Gibraltar to intimidate Iran. Will the submarine launch another missile at a children’s school? 

• Financial Times: Trump's war with Iran is inflicting enormous damage to the US economy, with costs estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars in the production sector, in light of rising fuel prices, increased borrowing costs, and the complexity of supply chains, which has significantly eroded the welfare and living standards of Americans.
• The White House is inviting top U.S. business leaders to accompany President Trump on his trip to China this week for a summit with Xi Jinping, according to Bloomberg. Oligarchs expected to join the delegation include Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, and Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, along with David Solomon, Stephen Schwarzman, Larry Fink, Jane Fraser, and Dina Powell McCormick. Trump’s hopes to secure new business deals and purchase agreements with Beijing during the visit. 

• Germany and Ukraine announced yesterday a major new joint deal for the production of drones. As part of the announcement, it was stated that the parties will develop everything from combat drones to long-range strike drones, 'capable of flying up to 1,500 km over territory controlled by Russia'. The official announcement was made in Kyiv by the defense ministers of Germany and Ukraine, Boris Pistorius and Mikhail Fedorov.

• Kaja Kallas upon arriving at a meeting of EU foreign ministers says: "Russia's influence is growing again in Europe. This is evident in sport, where Russian athletes are once again competing as if nothing had happened, and also in Russia's presence at the Venice Biennale." The European Commission previously reported that it had sent official letters to the Biennale organizers demanding that Russia be excluded from participating. 

• Max Blumenthal: Dana Bash joined fellow CNN zionist enforcer Jake Tapper in running cover for one of the biggest journalistic scandals of the year. Barak Ravid, a former Israeli intel officer who does not list his IDF record on his Axios bio, nakedly assisted Trump/Witkoff/Kushner in manipulating markets by selling false hope in an Iran deal which they have no intention of allowing. $920 million in crude oil shorts were placed 70 minutes before he reported the US and Iran were close to a '14 point' deal to end the war. It was the fifth time in three weeks that Ravid was used to manipulate markets on behalf of Trump insiders. The result of Beltway hacks like Dana Bash circling the wagons around their corrupt colleague – using bogus claims of antisemitism as a shield – is that zero US mainstream publications have reported on what should be a massive journalism scandal.
• David Ramirez, Second Secretary, Cuban Embassy in DC via Skype to a public meeting in Los Angeles: “At the end of January, the US government made public an executive order imposing tariffs against the people of Cuba, against the governments around the world that would dare to send fuel to Cuba, not only sell but as a donation; declaring for the first time that Cuba is an 'unusual security threat' of the US and as a symbolic measure of punishment they announced another wave of measures against Cuba on May 1st, what you might call sanctions on steroids. The US government has the capacity of designating and sanctioning any entity from other countries, enterprises that dares to trade with Cuba as liable to sanctions. About 48 hours ago Sherrit, a Canadian mining industry, that has been in Cuba for decades pulled out because of the threats of sanctions. The main purpose is to topple the government by generating hunger, frustration, anger towards the government so people would 'rise up' against its popular government, which has been the objective for decades. Right now, there is an imminent threat of a military operation against our country.” 

Amplify the Call to Move the FIFA games!

We Must Intensify Our Opposition to U.S. Global Violence and Impunity:  

The case for  why the World Cup Games must not be held in the U.S. continues to grow. Why? Because there is nothing covert about the agenda of the U.S. state to use these mega events to sanitize and normalize its international lawlessness and domestic systemic violence.  

To counter the U.S. agenda, The Black Alliance for Peace North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights (the Project) is focused on several targeted strategies to address escalating and intensifying U.S. militarization. 

The Project is a member and one of the driving forces of the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition, comprised of 26 key international organizations, to implement shared strategies  and tactics in two phases to Move the Games from the U.S., and, if not successful, to Boycott the World Cup, and Boycott the U.S.

Defend People(s)-Centered Human Rights! 

Our responsibility is to confront this systematic negation of people(s)-centered human rights with positive action. We say NO to normalizing a state that supports genocide, domestic repression and international gangsterism. 

And we need your participation to strengthen our united forces!

 Here’s how you can get involved right now:

    Campaign: Move the Games, Boycott the World Cup, Boycott the U.S. 

• Endorse the Campaign: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-world-cup-or-olympics-in-us 
• View and share media materials to advance the campaign and connect the demands to local conditions. 
• Connect with us and engage with the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition to coordinate and implement the campaign’s strategies on the ground in match host cities. Contact solidarity@blackallianceforpeace.com

We understand that this struggle extends beyond FIFA as a legitimizer for the U.S. settler state. Join the Global Network to fight for the advancement of People(s)-Centered Human Rights.

The World Cup must not be used to launder or sanitize state violence, nor normalize the U.S.’s role in genocide and international gangsterism. We must hold state and local authorities accountable and demand they use their power to defend the human rights and safety of the people they claim to represent. Organizations and people of conscience must demand that FIFA move the games out of the U.S. and take a stand for people-centered human rights rather than promote empire, repression, and impunity.

We look forward to our work together. 

In solidarity,

The North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights