A new report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories finds that Israel has continued to commit "genocidal acts" in the Gaza Strip since the signing of a ceasefire with Hamas last October, and continues to carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout the occupied territories.

Thousands of Colombians peacefully rallied across the country Oct. 14 against the far-right policies of President Abelardo de la Espriella, little more than two months after he took office. They criticized his proposed social spending cuts, his alignment with Trump, and his hardline military approach to decades of armed-group violence. Earlier this month, de la Espriella announced a "counterterrorism statute" that many fear could restrict democratic rights. (TNH)

The US is preparing a major naval buildup in the Middle East, including up to three aircraft carriers and their escort ships, as President Trump weighs whether to intensify the war with Iran. The buildup may involve up to 20,000 troops, 150 fighter jets, and numerous destroyers, the Washington Post reported Oct. 1. US and Iranian officials held indirect talks through mediators Sept. 28-30, focused mostly on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and easing US sanctions and blockades. Trump has rejected Iran's latest peace proposal as insufficient and raised the possibility of renewed strikes. (TNH)

Libya's rival governments agreed Aug. 30 to hold national elections within the next two years, with a view to re-unifying the country. After months of UN-sponsored talks, representatives from the country's eastern and western administrations—known as the 4+4 Committee—signed a pact on terms to restructure the electoral commission and address disputes over the process. The elections are to be run by an interim unified authority and "national sovereign institutions."

Türkiye's parliament on Aug. 10 announced that it has passed a new law creating conditional legal mechanisms for members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The shift signifiesan advance for the government's "Terror-Free Türkiye" initiative and a potential de-escalation in the country's decades-long conflict with Kurdish militants.

Clashes between the Ethiopian army and Tigrayan forces have led to hundreds of civilians crossing into neighboring Sudan, marking another serious threat to a 2022 peace agreement. Heavy artillery and drones were used during the fighting, which was concentrated in contested western Tigray. Both sides have been amassing troops in recent months and there has been a significant recruitment drive in Tigray, where regional authorities have forcibly conscripted civilians, including children, according to Human Rights Watch.

More than 10,000 civilians are reported displaced in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria state following clashes between government troops and Ugandan forces. The fighting marks a sharp escalation in a long-running border dispute. Talks are underway at the scene to try to resolve the conflict over the contested area in Kajo-Keji county, along the frontier with Uganda's West Nile region. (TNH, Radio Tamazuj)

The "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is contingent on the cooperation of two entities not a party to it: Hezbollah and Israel—which continues to commit war crimes in Lebanon. The provisions on Iran's nuclear program do not even recoup the progress won in Obama's nuclear deal that Trump tore up in his first term. And Trump's claim when hostilities began back in February to be acting on behalf of Iranians who rose up in mass protests against the regime are now completely betrayed in a "non-interference" pledge. In Episode 334 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to urge support for alternative voices that take a neither/nor position regarding MAGA-imperialism and the Islamic Republic, and again recalls the anarchist slogan: Neither your war nor your peace!