Connect with us
DAPA Banner

Politics

Green MP confronts Reform UK myths on immigration

Published

on

Green MP confronts Reform UK myths on immigration

Green MP Ellie Chowns challenged the thrust of Reform’s entire game on BBC Question Time.

“It’s inequality”

Chowns took apart the notion that immigration is to blame for the UK’s woes:

Reform UK, before it was the Brexit Party, before when it was UKIP, has been busy for many years fermenting this idea that immigration is the problem in this country. It’s completely untrue. Inequality is the problem in this country. The housing problems are…  because we have had 40 years of governments not investing in housing. The health problems… are because we’ve had governments… failing to invest in our public services, presiding over decline. It’s inequality.

Indeed, Oxfam found in 2023 that 1% of Britons have more wealth than 70% of the country.

Advertisement

It’s not foreign born people who are the issue — it’s the super rich migrating their finances to avoid tax and Labour — doing nothing to fix the issue. Tax doesn’t fund public spending but it can help control inflation through reducing the amount of pounds available.

Meanwhile, net zero immigration would actually contract the UK economy by 3.6%. Chowns’ is not wrong to diagnose inequality as the core issue — one compounded by the economic disparity such a contraction would cause. People cannot afford to have children, driving dependence on imported workers.

Another reason inequality is the core issue is that it literally caused the 2008 financial crash. That’s because people didn’t have enough money to keep up with inflated house prices. So banks gave them excessive credit — known as sub-prime mortgages — and house prices relative to income have  worsened since. No wonder Chowns received such applause on BBC Question Time.

High inequality: low demand

We must also remember that inequality depresses demand for products and services. People currently living in poverty would spend more if they had the security of home ownership, while excess wealth at the top stagnates or inflates the value of assets.

Advertisement

£1 million sitting in a bank account would be spent by hundreds of less well off people, but if just one person has it no economic growth happens. It doesn’t necessarily mean everything should be entirely economically equal, but the level of disparity today is simply ridiculous. On top of that, immigration adds further demand for products and services, expanding the economy.

Reform’s whole mantra is completely wrong — economically and morally. Chowns got right to the heart of it on BBC Question Time and the audience thanked her for it.

Featured image via the Canary

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Politics

Iran ground invasion imminent, according to sex workers

Published

on

Iran ground invasion imminent, according to sex workers

The US has denied that it’s planning a ground invasion of Iran. Despite this, there have been signs that the US is preparing for what will undoubtedly be another catastrophic land war. One of the latest is that US troops are telling strippers that deployment is imminent:

Iran ground invasion signs

In the video above, influencer Charm Daze says:

Advertisement

So I work at a strip club next to several military bases and something I have noticed lately is all the military guys are coming in and they’re spending all their money… It’s sad. They’re like kind of depressed, and they’re like just coming in like ‘oh yeah, we’re gonna have fun like we’re getting’ – what is it called? Deployed? – ‘like we’re getting deployed next week…

I don’t want to spread misinformation or anything, but it’s just like, a lot of them are really kind. And to see these young guys that look like my pinky toe, they’re so – they’re like fetuses – coming in and then dancing with them and then being like, bye.

It’s actually making me emotional.

It’s fucked up.

In response to the above, a military commenter advised troops not to tell their secrets to their strippers, barbers, etc:

Advertisement

The problem, of course, is that many of these troops will feel like their lives are being thrown away for the benefit of oil executives and Jeffrey Epstein associates. As such, why should they care about keeping the empire’s secrets?

Featured image via Charm Daze (Instagram) 

Advertisement

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Palestine activist calls for more disruptive action

Published

on

Palestine activist calls for more disruptive action

A heroic activist alleged to have been one of three people who spray painted a US military warplane at Ireland’s Shannon airport has said Palestine campaigners need to escalate beyond “marches, speeches and rallies”. 

Conan Kavanagh has been charged with:

…criminal damage of the main body of a Boeing 737-700 belonging to the US Navy Reserve at Shannon airport on November 22nd.

Police say he and his comrades crashed through an airport barrier before making their way to the warplane used by the United States military for its global terror campaigns. They are then alleged to have used a “modified fire extinguisher” to douse the offensive object with green spray paint. Showing the extent to which the Irish government will go to protect its US master, Irish soldiers aimed guns at the non-violent activists.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Cavanagh said:

Advertisement

I took part in the action out of a general frustration with the Irish establishment and society.

He continued:

For a country that prides itself on a shared history of colonialism and resistance, I think we’re incredibly limited in how we express support for the Palestinian people.

A lot of Palestinian activism in Ireland is centred around marches, speeches and rallies, which while good needs to be escalated upon with more actively disruptive protests if we hope to actually force the hands of the state.

Palestine direct action: Shannon hit several times, but more needed

There have been four incursions into the genocide-enabling airport since March 2024, including three in the last year. In the first one on the 30th of that month, three activists got on the runway with a banner which read “US military out of Shannon”. On 1 May 2025, three activists are alleged to have again used a van to breach the airport perimeter, though a trench prevented further progress. 16 days later, another trio got into the facility and spray-painted a US military-contracted Omni Air International Boeing 767 with red paint.

More must be done to match the scale of criminality, however. The airport has for years been a key refuelling point for the US empire. Shannon Watch details this feeble surrender to American militarism, stating that:

Advertisement

Since 2002 close to 3 million US troops have gone through Shannon Airport.

Shannon is also used as a means to ferry munitions across the world. The Irish government has to grant exemptions for overflights or landing at the airport. Shannon Watch show that 1354 of these were issued in 2024. Al Jazeera quote Irish senator Alice Mary Higgins saying:

…it is known that the largest number of exemptions have been sought by Germany and the United States.

The Ditch has reported the Irish government admitting that Shannon has been used to ferry munitions – the tools of genocide – from the US to so-called ‘Israel’. Lately, warplanes have been landing at Shannon before heading on to Germany’s Ramstein Air Base. It is the main US staging post for its illegal assault on Iran.

The Irish government has been unwilling to carry out inspections of planes to see if they are carrying weapons likely to be used to carry out war crimes. This is unsurprising for a government determined to completely end Ireland’s always imperfect position of neutrality. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been enthusiastically covering for Trump’s mass murder, including during a truly pathetic display at the White House on St Patrick’s Day.

Promising escalation against Collins and GAA

Al Jazeera also spoke to Aine Ni Threinir, who was arrested following the March 2024 action. She agreed with Kavanagh, saying opposition to the US military presence at Shannon:

Advertisement

…should be something that we all mobilise strongly around.

Ni Threinir said people “absolutely could do more”. She acknowledged the risks when the criminal Irish state is determined to invert reality by prosecuting activists attempting to uphold international law.

The South of Ireland has seen increasing use of direct action in the last year. Activists have repeatedly targeted the Cork offices of Collins Aerospace. The company transferred munitions to the Zionist entity via Shannon. On March 30 campaigners from Palestine Action Éire improved the premises’ facade with the use of a hammer and spray paint can. Two activists from the group are alleged to have caused £100,000 of damage during an action on 13 October 2025. In the supposedly more radical North, those backing Palestine are yet to hit equivalent targets such as Aldergrove airport or the companies Act Now named as helping manufacture F35 warplanes.

The effectiveness of direct action was seen again when campaigners took over a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) conference at Croke Park. They were opposing the continued use of Allianz as a sponsor, who help insure Zionist land thieves taking Palestinian territory. The pressure resulted in GAA boss Jarlath Burns being provoked into making tone-deaf comments comparing the occupation of the GAA building to the occupation of Palestine.

The sporting organisation’s continued resistance to dropping Allianz suggests direct action will be needed again. Similarly, the Football Association of Ireland must be shown they face a cost if they continue with their plan to play the Nations League match against the genocidal apartheid pseudo-state.

Advertisement

Featured image via the Canary

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Campaigners urge action on fossil fuel giants profiting from war

Published

on

Campaigners urge action on fossil fuel giants profiting from war

New analysis has raised growing concerns about energy market volatility and its impact on the global economy. 350.org is urging governments to go further and tackle the root cause of rising costs: fossil fuel profiteering.

The organisation’s intervention follows a communiqué written by G7 Energy and Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The G7 group recently held a meeting online, which reaffirmed the need to closely monitor the impact of surging energy prices on households and markets. But without action being taken on extraordinary corporate profits, these efforts risk falling short.

Profiteering impacts the cost of living

Recent market activity highlights the scale of the issue. Energy giant Total is reported [paywall] to have monopolized crude shipments from the UAE and Oman last month, securing around 70 shipments. By stockpiling oil during escalating tensions in the Gulf, the company is estimated to have made $1 billion in profit in just one month, as Murban crude prices surged from $70 to $170 per barrel.

The analysis by 350.org shows that $100 billion has been siphoned from ordinary people to oil and gas companies due to soaring energy prices. With less oil available on the market, companies like TotalEnergies are able to exert outsized control over supply, selling to the highest bidder, likely overseas markets, rather than helping ease pressure on energy bills for households already struggling with the cost of living.

Advertisement

Fanny Petitbon, France Team Lead, said:

It is obscene that companies like TotalEnergies are making enormous profits from war, while ordinary people’s lives are being shattered and the world faces a spiraling economic crisis. At a time of such profound human suffering, no company should be allowed to exploit chaos and conflict for financial gain. The G7’s deafening silence on these windfall profits speaks volumes, signaling a failure to hold corporate greed accountable while the rest of the world pays the price.

Coordinated international action is needed

Advocates are calling for coordinated international action to introduce windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies benefiting from crisis-driven price spikes. Revenues raised could be used to support vulnerable households, accelerate the transition to renewable energy, and fund recovery efforts in regions affected by conflict.

Petitbon added:

The principle is clear: extraordinary profits made in times of crisis should be redirected for the public good, not concentrated in the hands of a few.

This intervention follows the submission of a letter by 40 UK civil society organisations, who are similarly calling on the government to introduce new domestic levies across various war-profiteering industries.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Islamophobic chants from fans condemned

Published

on

Islamophobic chants from fans condemned

Islamophobic chants by Spanish fans during a friendly football match against Egypt have sparked outrage. Stadium management were forced to intervene repeatedly to halt the racist behavior.

During the first half, some fans chanted offensive phrases, most notably “If you don’t jump, you’re a Muslim,” and booed during the Egyptian national anthem. The chants were repeated on several occasions.

Islamophobic chants

Observers at Espanyol’s stadium in Barcelona reported that organizers displayed a warning message on the stadium screens during half time, which was also read aloud by the stadium announcer, urging fans to stop the Islamophobic chants. The warning was repeated at the start of the second half, amidst continued booing from attendees.

In its first official response, the Spanish Football Federation condemned the incident, emphasizing in a statement published on its official social media accounts its categorical rejection of such behavior. The statement read:

Advertisement

The Spanish Football Federation stands against racism in football and condemns any act of violence within stadiums.

And Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente called the chants “intolerable” and said those responsible:

must be removed from society, identified, and kept as far away as possible.

The match was part of both teams’ preparations for the 2026 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, for which both teams have already qualified.

The match saw the participation of Lamine Yamal, a player of Moroccan descent and a Muslim, in the Spanish national team’s starting lineup. Observers considered the chants to have implications beyond the realm of sports, reigniting the debate about the rise of hate speech in European stadiums.

Featured image via the Canary

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Trans kids protest the Department of Education

Published

on

Trans kids protest the Department of Education

A group of young trans activists have used guerrilla gardening to protest transphobic revisions drafted in the Department for Education’s new ‘Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) 2026‘ document.

The activists planted an array of blue, pink and white flowers, carrying soil-filled suitcases to the site, which were displayed to reveal the message:

Let trans kids bloom.

New guidance

This floral protest followed the publication of new guidance from the Department of Education (DfE), which aims to limit social transition in school, prioritising the opinion of parents and teachers over the wellbeing of trans kids.

It is a document that makes little fanfare about children who identity as lesbian, gay or bisexual, but insists that children who question their gender are likely going through a phase, noting:

Advertisement

It is common for children to engage in activities that are less typically associated with their sex… Sometimes young children also go through a period of questioning their gender but for the majority this will not continue into adulthood, while a small proportion may continue to question their gender and this feeling may intensify into puberty.

Although the document recommends that schools and colleges should “maintain flexibility and avoid rigid rules based on gender stereotypes”, it is advised that some forms of flexibility be encased in medicalised bureaucracies.

On this basis, the guidance emphasises that schools “should not adopt any changes relating to social transition unless a decision has been made by a school or college in consultation with parents or carers.” Instead, schools “should ensure that [a child’s] decision-making process is documented and records are kept.”

The document also defers to the widely criticised Cass Review, published in 2024.

Trans kids speak out

One of the suitcases displayed by the activists contained testimonies from trans kids about the life-changing benefits of being able to socially transition in school:

Advertisement

Social transition, especially at school, has heavily impacted my life. Before I socially transitioned, my school attendance was awful, and when I was in, I avoided all interaction as much as possible.

I hated school, and I hated feeling forced to be reminded of my dysphoria at every second.

I socially transitioned at school multiple years ago now, and I am doing so much better. I feel more able to express myself, and going to school feels significantly less terrifying. Now that I’m not worried about being misgendered and deadnamed, I can actually think about my future with comfort.

It is such a simple improvement to the quality of my life, and I’m so grateful that I could have a school experience where I got the respect and support that I deserved.

There were also quotes from trans adults on how being unable to socially transition negatively impacted both their childhoods and later life:

Advertisement

Social transition as a kid would’ve let me be a kid – figuring out what kind of person I was and how I related to the world around me.

Instead, I only knew that I was different and weird, isolated and stunted. It took me a full decade of self-loathing in adulthood to begin unpacking everything and growing into myself in the way I should’ve been allowed to so much earlier.

Setting hoops for trans kids to jump through

Commenting on the document, a spokesperson from Trans Kids Deserve Better said:

This guidance would restrict trans kids’ autonomy to socially transition in school by questioning our knowledge of ourselves. The guidance would set hoops for trans kids to jump through in order to socially transition, taking a default stance of doubt (especially when a child is neurodivergent) and forcing meetings with parents, teachers, and potentially clinicians, to decide for a child whether or not they are able to socially transition.

This does not centre the wellbeing of trans kids, rather this puts us through scrutiny and invasive questioning when we need support. The guidance of course neglects to mention the negative mental health effects for being denied a social transition…

This guidance has been in the works for quite some time now – first proposed under the Tories in 2024. But this iteration is even more harmful… Coming alongside the recent ban on HRT for trans kids, this is an alarming escalation of policy, designed to prevent trans kids accessing even the most basic forms of gender-affirming care.

Advertisement

If this guidance were to pass, it would amount to state-mandated conversion therapy.

Trans kids want to be able to live carefree. Access to a social transition gives us space to develop and grow, rather than feeling trapped and isolated. To the Department for Education: show us that you hear our voices, axe the guidance, and LET TRANS KIDS BLOOM!

Consultation period

The revisions implemented in the new document are currently under consultation, with the DfE seeking feedback to be reviewed in April.

The consultation period began when DfE first posted the document online in February 2026. At that time, the Canary‘s Alex/Rose Cocker described how it “treats vulnerable kids as a threat”.

Advertisement

Featured image via Trans Kids Deserve Better

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Green Party racism under spotlight in shock letter

Published

on

Green Party racism under spotlight in shock letter
This article was updated at 8pm on Wednesday 1 April to reflect a response from the Green Party.

Hamza Egal, chair of Global Majority Greens and convenor of the Greens’ racism policy working group, has sent a searing open letter to the leadership of the Green Party, calling on them to address “racialised harm,” governance failures, and what he describes as the weaponisation of party processes. Egal also serves as an elected member of the Standing Orders Committee (SOC), demonstrating a wealth of experience with the party’s internal governance structures and procedures.

Addressing the letter to Harriet Lamb and Zack Polanski, internal governance branches, and the Green’s Parliamentary group, Egal states:

The Green Party of England and Wales has a racism problem. Not a perception problem. Not a communication problem. A racism problem — structural, documented, and sustained.

Egal goes on to say that he has exhausted attempts to address this “racism problem” in private and in clear frustration, he has brought this serious issue to the public’s attention.

Discussing actions already taken, he writes:

Advertisement

I have raised concerns through the party’s own channels, used its rules and structures, submitted evidence, and waited for responses that have not come. What I have received instead is exclusion, misrepresentation, and the weaponisation of process against me.

Egal repeatedly raises concerns throughout the damning letter about inaction and ignorance from leadership. This suggests that, whilst the party portrays itself to be anti-racist, it hasn’t been behaving as such towards its minoritised members and elected officials.

A pretty damning accusation for a party that portrays itself as acting in solidarity and that apparently celebrates its diversity.

Green party racism furore

Speaking to the recent Spring Conference which saw repeated filibustering and delay tactics to block the vote on landmark motion “Zionism is Racism”, Egal said he chose not to attend due to fear of suffering harassment for being a “racialised member”. A concern which was seemingly proven well-founded by members actively working against the anti-Zionist motion.

For instance, Egal informed that a timely complaint had been sent by an ally of Polanski, Andrée Frieze. Conveniently, it came immediately prior to conference taking place. This complaint targeted him for a “conflict of interest” regarding an email sent out requesting members support the motion when it came to a vote. This apparent attack came despite Egal having no involvement in said email, reinforcing the suggestion that tactics are afoot in the Greens which are hostile to anti-Zionist members.

Advertisement

Addressing the “repeated use of accusations of antisemitism” within the Green Party, Egal wrote:

A serious dimension of this pattern has been the repeated use of accusations of antisemitism — deployed not only against me but against many members of this party who oppose Zionism and its racist ideology and practice. For a Black Muslim man raising concerns about racism, governance, and Palestine solidarity, these accusations have taken on a particularly targeted character.

Adding:

Attaching accusations of antisemitism to a Black Muslim member raising concerns about racism and Palestine is not incidental. It is a racialised tactic — one that conflates political opposition to Zionism with hatred of Jewish people, deployed repeatedly to delegitimise my voice and my roles in this party.

Consequently, this situation draws strong similarities to the period under Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership. Corbyn’s Labour saw anti-Zionist socialist members expelled or sidelined due to a politically motivated antisemitism witch-hunt.

This heightens concerns that some within the Greens may be using unfounded allegations of antisemitism to discriminate against Muslim members.

Advertisement

Islamophobia concerns

Furthermore, Muslim members are increasingly facing toxic identity politics in the UK. Labour and right-wing parties have used Muslim communities as a political football, attempting to divide growing grassroots solidarity by portraying them as opposed to LGBTQIA+ people.

According to this open letter, it appears the Greens are not immune to hateful political game-playing either.

Critics have levelled allegations of transphobia against Egal, seemingly because he is a Muslim man:

I am also aware that SOC members who defended the constitution at Spring Conference are being publicly described as transphobes. That characterisation is false. It is another example of identity-based smearing deployed to silence those who challenge power inside this party.

The pattern is consistent: when process and procedure fail to silence dissent, identity-based attacks are deployed instead.

Advertisement

The letter further strengthens the suggestion that he is being targeted for being Muslim, detailing how transphobia allegations were directed at Egal after Joe Hudson-Small, co-chair of the Green Party Council (GPC), told approximately 900 members at the Spring Conference that Egal is “gender critical”:

That is not a neutral description. It is a politically loaded mischaracterisation by a senior party figure that causes direct harm to those named. By the party’s own legal standard, that should have triggered immediate accountability.

Instead there is silence. There is too often silence.

The Green Party says…

The Canary asked the Green Party about the letter. A spokesperson stated that firstly, they were checking to see if the leadership had received Egal’s correspondence. The spokesperson also noted that they were ‘looking into’ a request from deputy leader Mothin Ali for an investigation over the serious issues at play, here.

We also specifically asked the Green Party the following:

Advertisement

Egal highlights that whilst the messaging in statements from the party is antiracist, but institutional will to reinforce that antiracism within the party is lacking. How do you intend to confront this apparent racism with the Greens?

The spokesperson told the Canary:

We agree that we need to be confident that that we are matching our anti racist principles with fit for purpose internal processes. We know these can be improved.

This includes the collection of diversity data and this matter was discussed just yesterday by the Green Party’s Executive team. Data will be collected and analysed on staff members, councillors and candidates. When new members join the party, we will encourage them to register ethnic background. For candidate selection, when the latest round for the May elections are completed, we will analyse this data.

There are also plans in place to improve training on antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti racism.

A new Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion manager has been appointed.

Advertisement

Repair before it is too late, or explain why you won’t

This damning letter drew attention to how these behaviours are increasingly pushing out Black and Brown members, who “no longer believe this party means what it says”. Pointing out that the membership of the Global Majority Greens has reduced, Egal pleaded with the Greens to act:

Trust is not rebuilt with statements. It is rebuilt with action, accountability, and the willingness to confront power internally rather than only performing that confrontation in public.

Opposing the party’s exclusion practices, Egal issued a list of proposed actions, insisting:

The Green Party must now choose what it is. It cannot speak the language of justice while practising exclusion. It cannot claim anti-racism while ignoring the people building anti-racist policy inside its own structures. It cannot call itself a democratic party while treating the decisions of its own membership as advisory.

Egal powerfully finished with a pleading call to action that Green Party leadership must now heed:

Choose justice. Or explain, publicly and in detail, why you will not.

The Green Party had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication. 

Advertisement

Featured image via the Canary

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

DWP Universal Credit complaints rocket

Published

on

DWP Universal Credit complaints rocket

Complaints to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about Universal Credit have increased by 43% in the last year. This is despite there only being a 12% increase in claimants.

The DWP publishes their official complaint statistics quarterly, so they’ve just released the figures up til the end of December 2025.

Overall, the department received 7,730 complaints, which is a 19% increase from December 2024. However
Universal Credit got over half of those complaints at 3,930. That’s a 43% increase from the previous year.

DWP blaming increase in Universal Credit again

They try to explain this away, of course, with the increase in Universal Credit claimants:

Advertisement

There are a range of different factors that may lead to a change in the number of complaints received. This can include increases in the caseload of a benefit, though you do not need to be in receipt of a DWP benefit to complain. In December 2025 there were 8.3 million people on Universal Credit, up from 7.4 million people on Universal Credit in December 2024.

However, the number of claimants only increased by 12%, so to blame that for a 43% leap is absurd.

There was also a sharp increase in complaints about disability services, which provide specialist support and advice to claimants. Whilst it hasn’t increased in number, statistically it has shot up by 62%. The type of complaint also matters. The DWP mentioned in the release that many complaints were ‘you’ve got it wrong’, but they conveniently missed out that many complained about staff not respecting them.

Just 4 out 10 complaints were upheld by the DWP, meaning many were probably once again treated poorly.

Universal Credit is currently experiencing a big increase in claimants as many are being forced to move onto it from legacy benefits. The DWP claims they are supporting everyone to move over, but the number who have failed to move over says otherwise.

Advertisement

Many disabled people have said they find the process too complex to navigate. So the process is probably not made any better by rude staff who don’t treat claimants with basic respect.

UC is generally a shit show

Along with migration issues, the Universal Credit system is, in general, an absolute shit show. Universal Credit sanctions are at a record high under Labour. The amount of compensation the DWP has had to issue due to their own incompetence has also shot up.

The Public Accounts Committee found that benefit claimants were overpaid by £1 billion in 2024-25 due to the DWP’s own errors. However, this was cancelled out by the fact that claimants were underpaid by £1.2 billion for the same reason 2024-25.

Instead of holding their hands up, the DWP once again blamed claimants.

Advertisement

The PAC report said:

The DWP has carried out some work to tackle the root causes of fraud and error – but this has focused on those committed by claimants, rather than errors by officials.

It’s clear from repeated inquiries, reports, and the DWP’s own stats that the department needs to spend less time demonising claimants and focus on teaching their staff how to be fucking compassionate.

But it’s clear from how much they’re pushing the workshy narrative that they care far more about forcing people off benefits than actually supporting people. But more people supported into benefits wouldn’t fit their narrative.

Featured image via the Canary

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Congo qualify for the World Cup after a 52-year absence

Published

on

Congo qualify for the World Cup after a 52-year absence

The Democratic Republic of Congo national team has returned to the world’s biggest football tournament after a 52-year absence. Their only prior appearance was at the 1974 World Cup as Zaire.

A dramatic extra-time victory over Jamaica secured the Leopards’ qualification for the 2026 World Cup, writing a new chapter in Congolese football history.

Half a Century of Waiting

The Congolese team started the match strongly, applying constant pressure on the Jamaican goal from the opening whistle. Despite numerous attempts, the game ended in a goalless draw, forcing extra time.

In the 100th minute, the historic moment arrived when Axel Tuanzebe headed in a corner kick. The goal was confirmed by VAR, giving the Leopards the victory and qualification, and bringing Congolese football back onto the world stage after half a century of absence.

Advertisement

A National and Symbolic Achievement

This qualification is not just a victory in a single match, but a symbol of organized effort. It represents a source of national pride for the Congolese people and reflects years of dedicated effort in developing players and sporting infrastructure.

It also demonstrates the rise of unconventional African teams and their ability to compete on the world stage.

The Challenges of the Upcoming World Cup

The Congolese national team will participate in Group K of the 2026 World Cup, alongside Portugal, Colombia, and Uzbekistan, facing a tough test against diverse footballing styles.

Finally, after 52 years, the Congolese Leopards have returned to the world’s biggest stage. They are carrying the hopes and aspirations of an entire nation, proving that organized work and unwavering determination can rewrite footballing history and establish themselves on the international stage.

Advertisement

Featured image via the Canary

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Activists participate in coordinated efforts across UK to shut down arms factories

Published

on

Activists participate in coordinated efforts across UK to shut down arms factories

Earlier today, activists across Britain participated in a coordinated day of action to apply mass pressure across the arms industry. Activists targeted arms factories in Sheffield, Brighton, Newcastle and Lancashire. They aimed to disrupt the supply chain of arms headed for the US and Israel.

Factories activists targeted during the action included:

  • BAE Systems (Lancashire).
  • Radius Aerospace (Sheffield).
  • Pearson Engineering (Newcastle).
  • L3Harris (Brighton).

Activists gathered in the early hours of the morning to stop workers from entering the sites and continuing the production of various components and equipment used by Israel and the US.

The actions saw hundreds of activists across the country completely halt production in these sites for hours before disproportionate policing moved them away after resistance.

Arms factories increasingly targets

The day of action comes after months of similar protests occurring more increasingly. The most recent took place at an Elbit systems site in Bristol. More and more activists are focusing on the arms factories in their locality.

Advertisement

This has come in part from the exposure of these companies through organisations such as Campaign Against Arms Trade providing maps and intel on their ties to Israel and the genocide unfolding.

The target arms factories and their activities are:

  • BAE systems in Samlesbury, Lancashire, produces the rear fuselage for the F-35 fighter jet which is known to be produced in the US and provided to Israel as part of their military contractual obligations.
  • Pearson engineering is an Israeli state-owned defence company supplying parts for armoured vehicles and specialising in combat robotics.
  • L3Harris provides power systems for strategic missiles, missile defence and aircraft.
  • Radius Aerospace while primarily a manufacturer of aerospace components, has been identified as part of the UK supply chain linked to military aircraft, including the F-35 program

A spokesperson from the BAE Out Campaign explained:

We organise these pickets because we know they are effective. Workers have told us that each time we block the site, they are offered overtime to make up for the time lost. This proves that our protests are costing them money and time.

This form of disruption is essential as these corporations only speak in monetary language. As long as BAE remain in the F-35 fighter jet programme, they can expect delays, disruption and discomfort in the face of supporting and aiding a genocide.

Featured image via the Canary

Advertisement

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Trump Continues Threatening War Crimes If Iran Doesn’t Capitulate ‘Immediately’

Published

on

Trump Continues Threatening War Crimes If Iran Doesn’t Capitulate ‘Immediately’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday continued to threaten Iran with war crimes if it does not comply with his demands, even as he also insisted a ceasefire deal with the country’s new, “more reasonable” rulers was soon at hand.

“If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” Trump posted on social media. “This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year ‘Reign of Terror.’”

Destroying a country’s electrical and drinking water infrastructure, unless it is done for a specific military objective, violates international law governing armed conflicts, experts said, as does Trump’s additional threat to “take” Iran’s oil.

“Trump is in Putin territory,” said Fiona Hill, who served on the National Security Council in Trump’s first term, comparing Trump’s threat to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. “It’s a mafia boss play.”

Advertisement

Trump originally threatened to attack Iran’s electrical generation system on March 21, giving Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping. Just before the stock markets were to open on the deadline day, Trump announced he was moving zero hour back five days because Iran was making good progress. He extended it another 10 days on Thursday. It is unclear how Monday morning’s “immediately” wording affects the 10-day time frame, which runs through April 6.

Oona Hathaway, an international law professor at Yale University, said while all of Trump’s threatened actions are war crimes, the most egregious is targeting Iran’s water supply. “In particular, the attack on the desalinization water systems would be the deprivation of objects indispensable to survival of the civilian population. Such objects are specially protected,” she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not respond to a HuffPost query about Trump’s threats. During a briefing on Monday, she said, “Of course, this administration and the United States armed forces will always act within the confines of the law” — but then refused to take a follow-up question about Trump’s specific threat.

Brian Finucane, a lawyer who spent a decade at the State Department, said whether such an attack is illegal depends on the circumstances and whether it is being carried out for a specific military purpose. That Trump wrote in his post that it was being done as “retribution” clearly suggests, though, that the purpose is not military.

Advertisement

“The president of the United States should not be threatening war crimes,” he said, adding that in this case, the argument against hitting Iran in this manner goes beyond the moral one because Iran is likely to retaliate in like fashion against Gulf state allies of the United States.

“There is very much a tit-for-tat dynamic going on here,” he said. “Why should the United States care about that? Because it has global ramifications, including the US economy.”

That Trump would openly threaten war crimes now comes after years of advocating a lawless use of the military. Two decades ago, Trump repeatedly argued that the United States should confiscate Iraq’s oil — “Take the oil!” — following then-President George W. Bush’s invasion of that country. Stealing a nation’s natural resources is considered “pillaging” and is specifically outlawed by the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

As he ran for president in 2016, Trump said he would target the families of terrorists for killing. When it was pointed out that doing so would constitute a war crime and that US soldiers would refuse to carry out such an order, Trump insisted they would. “If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about,” he said.

Advertisement

During his first term, Trump granted clemency to retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher following his court-martial for posing with the body of an ISIS fighter who died in US captivity. Trump was urged to do so by Pete Hegseth, who at the time was a Fox News personality and is now Trump’s defense secretary, against the counsel of his own military commanders.

And starting last summer, Trump began ordering the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug smugglers on open boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific by the US military, essentially executing them without even a formal accusation, let alone a trial.

Hill said the US Navy’s sinking of an Iranian frigate after it left a cultural exchange in India, more than a thousand miles from the Persian Gulf, falls into the same category. “Is that not a war crime?” she wondered.

Trump, meanwhile, continues making contradictory claims about the state of things, possibly to calm the global oil market and the domestic stock market. His war, which he originally said would take no more than four or five weeks, is now into its fifth week — yet he continues to say it is well ahead of schedule.

Advertisement

He claims he doesn’t know who in Iran he should be negotiating with because he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have killed so many of Iran’s leaders while simultaneously asserting that peace negotiations are proceeding well.

As he returned to Washington on Sunday evening after another Florida golf weekend, Trump told reporters that he is actually killing those he is negotiating with. “We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation, but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” he said.

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out the objectives for the war: destroying Iran’s air force, navy, missile stockpile and the factories it could use to make more. Notably unmentioned was either its nuclear program or reopening the Strait of Hormuz to unfettered navigation.

That Trump’s own statements are often at odds with those from his top aides or even with self-evident reality is par for the course, said Hill. “He’s negotiating in real time, as he has always done,” she said, adding that his approach to Iran reminds her of the bullying way he has treated Ukraine. “He’s treating the Iranians like the Ukrainians. Unlike the Ukrainians, the Iranians have a hell of a chokehold on the rest of the world.”

Advertisement

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025