Russia, joined by China, blocked a bid at the UN Security Council on June 4 to condemn the killing of civilians in Sudan and to issue a pressing call for an immediate halt to the violence, diplomats told AFP. Russian deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the proposed statement was "unbalanced" and stressed the need to be "very cautious in this situation." According to the latest update by the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, over 100 people were killed by militiamen of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who stormed the sit-in site in Khartoum the previous day and opened fire on the protesters. (Sudan Tribune)

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and other troops under the command of Sudan's Transitional Military Council unleashed the deadliest attack yet against protestors at the sit-in site in the capital Khartoum on June 3, leaving at least 35 dead and hundreds injured. The sit-in had been called to demand a swift transition to civilian rule, and followed a two-day general strike to press this demand. In the wake of the massacre, TMC leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan cancelled the recent power-sharing agreement with the opposition coalition and called for elections within nine months. Opposition leaders reject any elections that take place under military rule. The Sudan Professionals Association is calling for protests to continue, despite the state of siege. (Sudan Tribune, Al Jazeera, 3ayin, Amnesty International)

Sudan public prosecutors announced May 13 that they have charged ousted president Omar al-Bashir with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters during the uprising that drove him from power last month. Protest organizers say security forces killed around 100 demonstrators during the four months of rallies leading to al-Bashir's overthrow on April 11. The demonstrators have remained in the streets since then, demanding the dismantling of his regime and a swift transition to civilian rule. The Transitional Military Council said al-Bashir will face justice inside the country and will not be extradited to The Hague. It was not immediately clear what punishment he might face.

In Episode 32 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg reads from George Orwell's 1945 essay "Notes on Nationalism," and explains why despite his anarchist politics he is willing to march under the Mexican flag but not "Old Glory," under the Palestinian flag but not the Israeli, under the Tibetan flag but not that of the People's Republic of China—and under the Free Syrian flag but not that of the Assad dictatorship. The Free Syrian flag flown by the rebels and opposition is the original flag of an independent Syria, and now represents the struggle to free the country from a one-family dynastic dictatorship massively propped up by foreign powers. Weinberg especially calls out the depraved Max Blumenthal for purveying a version of events in Syria starkly at odds with reality. Weinberg invites listeners to join the Syria Solidarity NYC contingent at New York's May Day march, gathering 5 PM at the Sixth Ave. entrance to Central Park. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed 37 men on April 23 for terrorism-related crimes. Among those killed, 11 were accused of spying on behalf of Iran. Fourteen were convicted for offenses pertaining to anti-government protests. Most of the convicts identified as Shi'ite, and were predominantly from the country's Shia-majority eastern province. Most of the defendants were arrested between 2011-2. One was arrested when he was 16 years old.

Bahrain's High Criminal Court on April 16 sentenced 139 terror suspects to prison terms ranging from three years to life in prison. The court also revoked the citizenship of all but one of those convicted. The accused were sad to be part of a network organized and trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), an arm of the Iranian state recently designated by the US Treasury Department as a "terrorist organization." Bahrain's ruling family is Sunni and most of those sentenced are believed to be Shia.

Sudan's longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was removed from power and arrested by the military April 11, following months of popular protests that culminated in clashes between his loyalist security branches and the military. In the prior category is the feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), which two days earlier was met with resistance from army troops when it tried to us repression to clear a protest encampment outside the armed forces headquarters in Khartoum. The NISS, perhaps under pressure from the military, now says the hundreds arrested in the weeks of protests will be released—although it did not say when. Armored vehicles from the military's elite Rapid Support Forces have taken strategic positions around the capital. But protesters continue to fill the streets, chanting: "It has fallen, we won." Opposition leaders are clear they will continue to oppose any attempt at military rule.

Algerians flooded into the streets in celebration April 2 as long-ruling President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his resignation following weeks of protests in cities across the country. The ailing Bouteflika clearly stepped down to avoid being deposed by armed forces. Just hours before his announcement, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, commander of the National Popular Army, called for "immediate" application of Article 102 of the constitution, which calls for the removal of a president who is too incapacitated to serve. The resignation also came four days after some million protesters filled the streets of Algiers for a "Friday of the Steadfastness"—the sixth consecutive Friday of demonstrations calling for an end to Bouteflika's rule. But a popular chant at the protests was "We want the implementation of Article 7 of the constitution"—which stipulates that "the people are the source of all power." The movement is demanding an end to the entrenched military-dominated regime altogether.