A battle is forming over the future of so-called killer robots. Starting Nov 16 in Geneva, states will gather to decide whether they want to negotiate a new protocol on the use of "lethal autonomous weapons systems." The Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons is held every five years, making it a rare chance to govern the rapidly advancing lethal tech that enables machines to target humans with little accountability, rights groups warn. But there's disagreement on how to proceed. Some countries want an outright global ban; others are opposed, arguing that existing International Humanitarian Law is sufficient. Supporters of a ban say current IHL fails to hold humans accountable for harms caused by autonomous weapons. A majority of countries want to start negotiations on a binding treaty; the US and Russia have reportedly blocked proposals and watered down language. As the discussions move forward, advocates warn that AI-enhanced autonomous weapons are a reality, not sci-fi—as civilians from Gaza to Ukraine to Iran understand.

In Episode 352 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg critiques online and media reactions to the Jensen Huang scandal—which have been polarized between framing about a threat to US national security and Chinamaxxing propaganda about the benign nature of the Chinese state. As the US, China and Russia race to place nuclear reactors on the Moon, the leaders all three powers increasingly embrace fascist ideology (yes, really), and publicly schmooze with the same fascist tech oligarchs. Trump's Pax Silica AI development initiative threatens peasant and indigenous communities in the Philippines—as do Chinese corporate designs on the same mineral resources. And the looming Trump-Putin-Xi summit in Shenzhen portends a global carve-up of the planet in a fascist world order. With protests against data centers now spreading worldwide—a significant glimmer of hope—it is practically inevitable that they will come to China. International solidarity across influence spheres—and repudiation of AI-boosting campism—holds the only hope of resisting the planet-wide consolidation of techno-fascism.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia is back, underlined by the dramatic rescue of a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel and its crew Nov. 2 by Indian naval forces. There have been at least 15 pirate attacks off Somalia since the start of the year, compared to five last year and the handful recorded annually since 2013. Piracy was kept in check for over a decade by a combination of private security forces, naval patrols, and land-based development initiatives. But it has historically thrived during periods of domestic political instability—and Somalia is in deep crisis. The conflict between the United States and Iran has added a powerful regional dimension. International naval attention is now on the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, while the insecurity has re-routed maritime traffic closer to Somalia's coastline, creating more opportunities for the hijack-for-ransom business model. Meanwhile, sharply rising inflation and cuts to aid have left many Somalis looking for new incomes, and pirate groups are known to be generous employers. 

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced eight articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Nov. 9, charging that he violated constitutional and statutory limits on military action, including by directing unauthorized hostilities against Iran.

Days after a strike on a camp within Venezuelan territory allegedly used by the ELN—Colombia's largest active rebel group—information emerged that US drones and intelligence had played a crucial role. But the extent of US involvement in the operation remains unclear. The New York Times reported that the US "assisted" the Venezuelan military in the Oct. 31 attack in the border state of Apure, which killed at least 23 people. While the Times quoted unnamed US officials saying the drone was likely piloted by US forces, it characterized the attack as a "joint operation" and cast it as the second since June, when the Tren de Aragua leader was killed. However, Juan Francisco García of local NGO FundaRedes, which first reported the attack, contended the strike was carried out by US forces alone. According to García, the Venezuelan military arrived on site the following day to secure the area and investigate what Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the "strange deaths." The strike comes as the Trump administration pushes the Venezuelan government to sign a status of forces agreement to enable US forces to stay in the country more permanently. (NACLA Update)

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)

Peter Thiel of Palantir, most aggressively reactionary of the Trump-linked nexus of fascist tech bros, now openly invokes the Faust story, in which a scientist sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge and power—and not as a warning against hubris, but as a positive example, in defense of the notion that "evil can be good." In Episode 350 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg turns to the 1940s dialogue between rationalist JBS Haldane and moralist CS Lewis to explore how technology and politics—and especially the intersection of the two—can become Satanic, in a metaphorical if not literal sense.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio placed full sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Oct. 9 in response to investigations into potential war crimes committed by US and Israel.