cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46249337

April 19, 2026 [article from London Review Of Books with intro and photos by World Outlook.]

The​ UN Genocide Convention of 1948 lists five acts that constitute genocide when committed with the intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. The first two concern mass killing and serious bodily or mental harm...

The third prohibition ...forbids ‘deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction’. This refers to indirect forms of killing, those that don’t target human bodies but the environment that sustains them. Sufficient ‘conditions of life’ require buildings, hospitals, ...sewage and water systems, power grids, agriculture. The intentional destruction or degradation of such structures undermines a people’s ability to survive, leading to a slower and more tortuous form of annihilation.

YEAH!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46249930

April 20, 2026
[article from Science, with an introduction and endnote by World Outlook]

Nothing illustrates the criminality, hypocrisy, and brutality of Washington’s economic war against Cuba better than its impact on the island’s universal healthcare system and highly advanced biotech sector. And the consequences can be felt far beyond Cuba’s shores in countries around the globe.

When the Cuban Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and broke the grip of the capitalist class on the island, one of the first priorities was to take some of the country’s wealth that previously went into the purses of the dictator and his cronies and turn it toward extending healthcare to the masses of people.

The Cubans were so successful in training doctors, establishing a system based on preventive care, and building infrastructure to serve the island’s population that they were able to extend selfless medical aid around the world. Cuba became known worldwide not just for its achievements in protecting the health and extending the lives of its own people, but for saving lives in dozens of countries.

That progress is now threatened, along with the lives of the Cuban people and of others internationally who rely on life-altering treatments and medicines from the island...

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Israel is continuing to tighten its blockade on the Gaza Strip by closing crossings and controlling the entry of aid and the number of travellers through the Rafah crossing.

In a video statement on Monday, Qassem said the Rafah crossing had been closed while severe restrictions on aid deliveries remain in place. He added that Israel had not met the agreed number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza, with fewer than half entering, alongside continued limits on the number of travellers.

Qassem said Israel is pursuing a policy of “engineering starvation” in Gaza, pointing to rising prices of basic goods as hunger deepens, as well as ongoing violations including shelling and killings, such as those reported early on Monday.

He added that what is happening reflects a systematic Israeli policy of violations, calling for a “genuine stance” from mediators and guarantor states, as well as what he described as the “Board of Peace”, to put an end to these actions and lift the blockade on Gaza after two years of what he described as genocide.

Russia's Africa Corps in Mali have liberated one Russian and one Ukrainian nationals who were abducted by terrorists in Niger in July 2024, the Russian defense ministry said.

TASS has summed up what is known about this to this moment.

Rescue operation

A special operation resulted in the release of the employees of a Russian geological exploration company who were kidnapped in July 2024, the Russian defense ministry said.

The men were captured in Niger by the terrorist group Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin’ (affiliates itself with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda that is outlawed in Russia).

The operation was conducted by the Africa Corps in Mali.

It took the Africa Corps servicemen "literally one hour" to complete the operation, one of the former captives said.

Condition of the released

The two released men are Russian citizen, Oleg Gret, born in 1962, and a citizen of Ukraine, Yury Yurov, born in 1970.

The men who were released from captivity in Mali have been diagnosed with multiple illnesses and severe physical exhaustion.

The former hostages will be transported by Russian military transport aircraft to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation.

The former captive’s activity

According to one of the former hostages, they were employed by a Russian geological company.

He said that he plans to return after rehabilitation and continue to work as a geologist.

April 21, 2026

Once the men were on the patrol boat, the US personnel boarded the fishing boat and stole the crew’s food and the beer, Palacios said.

When Palacios looked back at the Don Maca, it was already in flames. “We saw the ship burn,” he said.

The crew of the patrol boat spoke English to each other, and used a translator to address the Ecuadorians. “From the moment we arrived on the US patrol boat, they were pointing guns at us, shouting: ‘Get in, get in,’” said Palacios, 54. “They handcuffed us, put hoods over our heads and pushed us around. We were terrified they were going to kill us.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46243509

April 21, 2026

Avraham Zarbiv is one of 14 people chosen for their “extraordinary contribution to society and the state”, alongside a scientist, a Michelin-starred chef, a leading doctor, members of the security forces and entrepreneurs.

A reservist who drives an armoured bulldozer, Zarbiv rose to prominence through videos documenting his personal campaign of destruction in Gaza, often accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric.

“You will have nothing left,” he declares in one voiceover, as the camera pans across a landscape of shattered buildings. “We will flatten you and destroy you.”

cross-posted from: https://expressional.social/users/Peter_Link/statuses/116444543404112400

The "Punta Brava" Photovoltaic #Solar Park in #Cuba is now online
The Punta Brava Photovoltaic #SolarPark, in the municipality of Amancio, synchronized with the National Electrical System this Sunday.
https://groups.io/g/cubanews/message/52280

from #Granma
April 20, 2026

With a generation capacity of five megawatts, the site is the first in the province of Las Tunas equipped to store energy, which will contribute to greater stability of the electrical service during the nights and early mornings.

According to what its director, Master of Science Yurisán Bacallado Castellanos, told the press, the 348 planned tables were installed, which include nine thousand 048 panels.

#OilForCuba!
#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo
#CubaSolidarity
#LetCubaLive
#EndSanctionsAgainstCuba #OffTheList
#VivaCuba #CubaSí #AbajoElBloqueo #SolidaridadConCuba
#PetróleoParaCuba
#LatinAmerica #Caribbean
#news #politics #SustainableEnergy
#environment #CleanEnergy
@cuba

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-publishes-map-south-lebanon-territory-under-its-control-2026-04-19/

The United Arab Emirates apparently dropped a hint the dollar’s dominance isn’t assured in the global oil trade if fallout from the Iran war gets worse.

To be sure, the UAE has plenty of money, including $270 billion in foreign-exchange reserves and trillions of dollars across its sovereign wealth funds.

If the Iran war triggers a deeper economic downturn, a swap line with the U.S. would provide the UAE’s central bank with a cheap supply of dollars that could back the dirham, which is pegged to the greenback, or beef up foreign-exchange reserves in the event liquidity runs low, the report said.

UAE officials also pointed out the U.S. started the Iran war and said they may be forced to use China’s yuan or other currencies for oil transactions if the availability of dollars gets tight, sources told the Journal.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46246017

Duration - 1:05:51
[A video podcast about Cuba from the podcast team Cuba Analysis Podcasts]

In this episode of Cuba Analysis, Helen Yaffe sits down with Cuban Ambassador Ismara Mercedes Vargas Walter to discuss recent and escalating threats from the US government under President Trump. These include the designation of Cuba as a threat to US national security, the imposition of an oil blockade, and the threat of military aggression to enforce regime change. The conversation explores the human cost of these measures, from energy shortages and blackouts to the damage inflicted on Cuba’s public healthcare and education systems. These coercive measures expose the real strategy behind US policy towards since 1960, as outlined in a secret memo written by US diplomat Lester Mallory advocating economic warfare to provoke “hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”.

The Ambassador explains how the extraterritorial reach of the US blockade obstructs British entities - from individuals to banks - engaging with Cuba. These restrictions disrupt trade, finance, and everyday diplomatic operations; even the daily functioning of the Cuban embassy in London is affected. This is despite more than a century of stable Cuba-UK relations, spanning from diplomacy to co-operation in science and culture. Despite these challenges, Ambassador Vargas Walter emphasises Cuba’s resilience, highlighting a rapid shift towards renewable energies, strong popular unity and an ongoing commitment to sovereignty and self-determination.

The episode closes by highlighting Cuba’s global contributions in healthcare and education and underscoring why international solidarity to defend Cuba is so important right now.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46230817

April 21, 2026

Palestinian women, men and children have reported attacks, forced nudity, invasive and painful body cavity searches, Israelis exposing their genitals, including to minors, and threats of sexual violence.

Sixteen cases of conflict-related sexual violence were recorded by researchers for the West Bank Protection Consortium over the last three years, a figure that is likely an under-reporting because of the shame and stigma faced by survivors.

“Sexualised violence is used to pressure communities, shape decisions about remaining or leaving their homes and land, and alter patterns of daily life,” the group of international humanitarian organisations said in a report.>

https://archive.ph/0ECoE

The Palestinian Al-Ahrar Movement affirmed on Monday that the confessions of Israeli enemy soldiers about burying Palestinian civilians – including women and children – alive in the Gaza Strip, and about torturing and abusing prisoners, reveal the Nazi-like and barbaric truth of the war criminal “Netanyahu” and his military leaders.

The movement said in a press statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba): “The horrific testimonies given by Israeli enemy soldiers about burying citizens – women and children – alive in hospital courtyards and on roadsides, and about torturing and abusing prisoners with the most heinous methods of torture and humiliation, are a true embodiment of Nazism, barbarism, and the criminal doctrine pursued by Netanyahu and his military establishment.”

It added: “This criminal image that Israeli enemy soldiers have reached, and their disregard for the humanity and blood of our people, points to one thing: that this occupation is a bloodthirsty occupation that lives on and expands through killing and bloodshed, and respects neither the international system, nor laws, nor justice.”

It explained: “These confessions, which constitute a clear and living condemnation, compel the international community to take urgent legal action through its judicial institutions, namely the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, to issue arrest warrants and pursue legal action against enemy soldiers and their leaders as war criminals and perpetrators of genocide.”

A report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz included serious testimonies from Israeli enemy army soldiers and officers, exposing the commission of heinous crimes against the Palestinian people during the ongoing genocide war in the Gaza Strip.

Full Report

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46203227

from +972’s Sunday Recap +972Magazine [published in Israel]

April 19, 2026

It remains unclear whether the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that took effect Thursday will hold. In any case, Dimi Reider argued, it’s unlikely to stop Israel’s expansionist ambitions. Efforts to establish buffer zones and “natural borders,” he wrote, suggest that ongoing ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon is far from over.

Also:

• Why I will not stand for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day siren
• Can a renewed Joint List survive until Israel’s elections?
• Brief, arbitrary abductions: A new tool of Israeli intimidation in Masafer Yatta
• PODCAST: The disappeared of Gaza

https://archive.ph/75jzE

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46194002

Duration - 2:28 

[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Hundreds of Cubans gathered in Havana to mark the 65th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s declaration of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution.

Iván Domínguez Rivera, sugar industry union leader, described the event as an affirmation of national unity at a time of economic hardship and renewed threats from Washington.

Participants also condemned the U.S. government’s economic warfare, intensified in recent months by fuel restrictions that have deepened shortages across the island.

“No threat will prevent the unity of these people,” Domínguez said.