The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, according to a statement released by the court March 17. The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights. Both stand accused of the war crimes of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied territories of Ukraine into Russia.

Amnesty International on March 10 called on Tunisia to put an immediate end to racist and xenophobic attacks targeting Black African migrants. The violence began in early February and was exacerbated by a racially-charged speech by President Kais Saied at a National Security Council meeting on Feb. 21. President Saied said that "hordes of irregular migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa" had come to Tunisia, "with all the violence, crime, and unacceptable practices that entails." He said this was an "unnatural" situation and part of a criminal plan designed to "change the demographic make-up" and turn Tunisia into "just another African country that doesn't belong to the Arab and Islamic nations any more."

The Burmese military tortured and killed at least 17 civilians after beheading and dismembering five captured resistance fighters earlier this month. The incidents took place at two villages in Sagaing region, and were reported by the independent Myanmar Now. A UN Human Rights Office report issued on March 3 found that some 80% of townships across Burma have experienced armed clashes since the February 2021 coup, with nearly 3,000 people killed by security forces and almost 40,000 homes destroyed. (TNH)

The Russian Foreign Ministry on March 9 issued sanctions against 144 citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Moscow accused the individuals of hostile acts against the Russian state. The alleged acts include lobbying for sanctions, interference with Russia's internal affairs, and inciting "Russophobic" sentiments. The names of the individuals are not yet available.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on March 9 denied plotting to assassinate the president of the Russian-backed breakaway de facto state of Transnistria in Moldova. The denial comes after the Transnistrian Ministry of State Security (MGB) said it thwarted an SBU-orchestrated terrorist attack targeting multiple Transnistrian government officials. The MGB claimed that a number of suspects in the planned attack have been detained and given confessions. In an address, Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky alleged that SBU operatives entered Transnistria under the pretense of being refugees and subsequently worked to detonate a car bomb in the capital city of Tiraspol. Krasnoselsky's address followed the release of a professionally-produced "video investigation" by the Investigative Committee of Transnistria detailing the alleged plot.

In Episode 164 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg again calls out The Nation magazine for essentially advocating Ukraine's military defeat and loss of territory to Russian aggression in the Orwellian name of "peace" and even "saving Ukraine." Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

In Episode 163 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg deconstructs the propaganda campaign that would exploit the devastating earthquake to get the sanctions lifted on the genocidal Bashar Assad regime in Syria. The earthquake was actually a windfall for the drive to "normalize" the regime. Listen and find out why the superficially plausible arguments of the "no sanctions" line are cynical and intentionally misleading. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

In Episode 162 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg reviews Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands by Kelly Lytle Hernández. It is definitely a very hopeful sign that a briskly selling book from a mainstream publisher not only concerns anarchists, but actually treats them with seriousness and presents them as the good guys—even heroes. The eponymous "bad Mexicans" of the sarcastic title are the Magonistas—followers of the notorious Magón brothers, early progenitors of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, who first raised a cry for the overthrow of the decades-long, ultra-oppressive dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. "Bad Mexicans" was the epithet used by both Mexican and US authorities for this network of subversives who organized on both sides of the border. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.