US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sept. 2 announced economic sanctions against the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda. Characterizing the ICC as "a thoroughly broken and corrupted institution" and noting that the United States is not a member of the court, having never ratified the Rome Statute, Pompeo condemned what he called the ICC's "illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction," referring to Bensouda's investigation into possible war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of far-right protesters broke through police barriers and tried to force their way into the German parliament building in Berlin on Aug. 29. Many were waving the black, white and red flag of the pre-1918 German Empire that once inspired the Nazis. "The fact that Nazis with imperial war flags try to storm the Bundestag recalls the darkest period in German history," said Robert Habeck, co-leader of Germany's Greens party. The action came as part of a broader demonstration against Germany's pandemic restrictions. The protest, bringing out many so-called "Corona Truthers" who deny the pandemic altogether, was organized by right-wing parties including the anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and the deceptively named National Democratic Party (NPD), which is openly neo-Nazi. Some carried signs reading "Trump, please help," and proffered conspiracy theories about Bill Gates seeking forced vaccinations. There were also many images of hearts, flowers, globes and other such feel-good symbols. Among the speakers was Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who ironically Nazi-baited German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying: "Today Berlin is once again the front against totalitarianism." (DW, AP, NYT, Daily Kos)

In Episode 56 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock of the evident reality that Trump is getting ready to steal the November election—whether by undermining the Postal Service, suspending the election entirely under pretext of the pandemic, or simply refusing to recognize the result and sparking a constitutional crisis that could potentially involve the military. The Transition Integrity Project, recently established to assess the looming dilemma, warns: "A show of numbers in the streets—and actions in the streets—may be decisive factors in determining what the public perceives as a just and legitimate outcome." As the RNC delegates openly call for making Trump president for life, Weinberg examines examples from around the world where people are currently filling the streets to resist an illegitimate power-grab by a would-be dictator—from Belarus to Bolivia, from Hong Kong to Mali, from Thailand to Lebanon. 

So, a banner with the phrase "THE JEWS WANT A RACE WAR" was hung from an overpass above the heavily trafficked Interstate 405 in Los Angeles on Aug. 22. As JTA reports, an accompanying banner plugged the perpetrators' website, Goyimtv.com. The site prominently displays a video of their followers standing on the overpass with the banners. Verbiage on the site also reads: "All members of the community and wider society should be treated as equals with the same rights, regardless of their race, age, sex, religion, political beliefs, or any other immutable attribute or self assigned designation UNLESS YOU'RE A JEW or THE SHABBOS EQUIVALENT." This appears to be a reference to the phrase "Shabbos goy," originally meaning a non-Jew who carries out certain tasks that religious Jews are barred from doing on the Sabbath, but now taken up the radical right to mean a dupe of the Jews.

In the imperial carve-up of northern Syria, US troops have since late last year been controlling the oil-fields of Deir ez-Zor province, in collaboration with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Now reports are emerging that the Kurdish autonomous administration in the region has signed a 25-year contract with a little-known US company for exploitation of oil in SDF-held territory. The company, Delta Crescent Energy, incorporated in Delaware in February 2019, still apparently lacks a website. But its partners are said to include former US ambassador to Denmark James Cain; James Reese, a former officer in the US Army's elite Delta Force; and John P. Dorrier Jr., a former executive at UK-based GulfSands Petroleum. The GulfSands website indicates the British company has oil contracts in Syria that are "currently under Force Majeure as a result of EU sanctions."

Nobody has less patience than CounterVortex with the kneejerk squawking of "McCarthyism" any time new revelations of Moscow misdeeds emerge. Unlike all too many on the "left," we have no illusions about Russia's increasingly fascist direction, or its obvious designs on the political process in the United States in favor of Donald Trump. But we nonetheless must register our skepticism about the claims that Russia is arming the Taliban in Afghanistan, and offering them a bounty to kill US troops. This makes little sense in terms of the regional alliances. Russia and the Taliban have traditionally been on opposite sides, and the mutual animosity between them was the basis for the post-9-11 rapprochement between Washington and Moscow. We also aren't sure why the Taliban would need any extra motivation to kill US soldiers—they seem quite sufficiently motivated on their own.

Hong Kong will postpone Legislative Council elections originally scheduled for Sept. 6 by one year, citing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. In making the announcement July 31, Chief Executive Carrie Lam invoked the city's Emergency Regulations Ordinance. (HKFP, RTHK) But Beijing's political imperatives are pretty clearly behind the decision. This was acknowledged by Lau Siu-kai, vice president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macau Studies, Beijing's own leading think-tank on the semi-autonomous territories. Framing the issue in Great Power terms, Lau said that "the serious international situation between the United States and China...prompts Beijing into doing something to prevent the hostile forces from taking over LegCo and to make sure that the national security is safeguarded." (RTHK)

In a tweet on July 30, President Donald Trump suggested that the US postpone the November elections, claiming mail-in voting would cause widespread fraud and inaccuracy. Presidential elections are currently held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year, that is Nov. 3, 2020. The 20th Amendment of US Constitution demands that the president's term must end on Jan. 20 of the year following the general election. The 20th Amendment also requires a new Congress to be installed by Jan. 3. Article II, Section 1 provides guidance for the electoral process. Initially, each state much appoint a number of electors to the Electoral College. Then, Congress may determine "the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States."