Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

By Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo
10/14/2025 01:15 PM EDT

Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway.

They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans’ vice chair, used the words “n--ga” and “n--guh,” variations of a racial slur, more than a dozen times in the chat. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, referred to rape as “epic.” Peter Giunta, who at the time was chair of the same organization, wrote in a message sent in June that “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/37599095

Oct 15, 2025

“The pressure was enormous,” Mahmoud told Drop Site. “We had applied for approval to sail and received no official response—neither acceptance nor rejection. Then, the day before our press conference, the authorities warned that everyone present, including journalists, could be arrested.”

Despite ongoing government threats and intimidation, the organizing committee continued preparations for the Egyptian flotilla to set sail and link up with the GSF as they neared Egypt’s coastline. On September 21, the owner of the boat vanished—disappeared by Egypt’s security forces. A little over a week later, on September 29, three members of the flotilla committee were arrested near their headquarters in Cairo and held in an undisclosed location until their release this past Monday.

The flotilla episode revealed a pattern familiar to Egyptian activists: silence, then intimidation, then disappearance. “There is an invisible red line that no one can cross,” Mahmoud said. “And that line keeps moving closer every day.”

Peter Link

2025-10-16 01:26:10

Dozens Remain Imprisoned in Egypt for Palestine Solidarity While Sisi is Hailed as a Gaza Ceasefire Broker

Oct 15, 2025

“The pressure was enormous,” Mahmoud told Drop Site. “We had applied for approval to sail and received no official response—neither acceptance nor rejection. Then, the day before our press conference, the authorities warned that everyone present, including journalists, could be arrested.”

Despite ongoing government threats and intimidation, the organizing committee continued preparations for the Egyptian flotilla to set sail and link up with the GSF as they neared Egypt’s coastline. On September 21, the owner of the boat vanished—disappeared by Egypt’s security forces. A little over a week later, on September 29, three members of the flotilla committee were arrested near their headquarters in Cairo and held in an undisclosed location until their release this past Monday.

The flotilla episode revealed a pattern familiar to Egyptian activists: silence, then intimidation, then disappearance. “There is an invisible red line that no one can cross,” Mahmoud said. “And that line keeps moving closer every day.”

Dozens Remain Imprisoned in Egypt for Palestine Solidarity While Sisi is Hailed as a Gaza Ceasefire Broker

“Gaza used to unite Egyptians. Now it only reminds them of what they've lost—the right to speak, to gather, to demand anything."

^{Drop Site News}

Oct 15, 2025

“The pressure was enormous,” Mahmoud told Drop Site. “We had applied for approval to sail and received no official response—neither acceptance nor rejection. Then, the day before our press conference, the authorities warned that everyone present, including journalists, could be arrested.”

Despite ongoing government threats and intimidation, the organizing committee continued preparations for the Egyptian flotilla to set sail and link up with the GSF as they neared Egypt’s coastline. On September 21, the owner of the boat vanished—disappeared by Egypt’s security forces. A little over a week later, on September 29, three members of the flotilla committee were arrested near their headquarters in Cairo and held in an undisclosed location until their release this past Monday.

The flotilla episode revealed a pattern familiar to Egyptian activists: silence, then intimidation, then disappearance. “There is an invisible red line that no one can cross,” Mahmoud said. “And that line keeps moving closer every day.”

Dozens Remain Imprisoned in Egypt for Palestine Solidarity While Sisi is Hailed as a Gaza Ceasefire Broker

“Gaza used to unite Egyptians. Now it only reminds them of what they've lost—the right to speak, to gather, to demand anything."

^{Drop Site News}

Israeli and Arab military officials have come together for meetings and trainings, facilitated by U.S. Central Command, on regional threats, Iran and underground tunnels.

Arab states deepened military ties with Israel while denouncing Gaza war, leak reveals - ICIJ

^{David Kenner (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/37599080

David Hearst
15 October 2025 18:59 BST | Last update: ~14:00 EDT

He revealed how dependent Israel has become on American arms, recalling how Netanyahu pleaded for weapons that Trump did not even know the US had.

He reminded Israel of how small it was and that it could not fight world opinion.

He confirmed how he had arm-twisted Netanyahu into stopping the offensive on Gaza: “And I said, ‘Bibi, you’re gonna be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill.”

Peter Link

2025-10-16 01:17:55

There's no white knight coming. Palestinians must seize this moment to reclaim their future

David Hearst
15 October 2025 18:59 BST | Last update: ~14:00 EDT

He revealed how dependent Israel has become on American arms, recalling how Netanyahu pleaded for weapons that Trump did not even know the US had.

He reminded Israel of how small it was and that it could not fight world opinion.

He confirmed how he had arm-twisted Netanyahu into stopping the offensive on Gaza: “And I said, ‘Bibi, you’re gonna be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill.”

There's no white knight coming. Palestinians must seize this moment to reclaim their future

The theatrics of the Gaza ceasefire deal, led by Trump and backed by complicit Arab nations, will not lay the groundwork for genuine liberation

^{Middle East Eye}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/37599080

David Hearst
15 October 2025 18:59 BST | Last update: ~14:00 EDT

He revealed how dependent Israel has become on American arms, recalling how Netanyahu pleaded for weapons that Trump did not even know the US had.

He reminded Israel of how small it was and that it could not fight world opinion.

He confirmed how he had arm-twisted Netanyahu into stopping the offensive on Gaza: “And I said, ‘Bibi, you’re gonna be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill.”

Peter Link

2025-10-16 01:17:55

There's no white knight coming. Palestinians must seize this moment to reclaim their future

David Hearst
15 October 2025 18:59 BST | Last update: ~14:00 EDT

He revealed how dependent Israel has become on American arms, recalling how Netanyahu pleaded for weapons that Trump did not even know the US had.

He reminded Israel of how small it was and that it could not fight world opinion.

He confirmed how he had arm-twisted Netanyahu into stopping the offensive on Gaza: “And I said, ‘Bibi, you’re gonna be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill.”

There's no white knight coming. Palestinians must seize this moment to reclaim their future

The theatrics of the Gaza ceasefire deal, led by Trump and backed by complicit Arab nations, will not lay the groundwork for genuine liberation

^{Middle East Eye}

A new analysis found that nearly 700 drugs approved for use in the United States depend on chemicals solely produced in China.

The analysis found that China was the sole supplier of at least one chemical in widely used antibiotics, like amoxicillin, and generic drugs for heart problems, seizures, cancer and H.I.V.

for example, amoxicillin, the widely used antibiotic that is sold by many different generic manufacturers. Factories in different parts of the world, including India, Jordan and Canada, handle the later stages of producing it. But two of the raw materials used to make amoxicillin are produced entirely in China, the analysis found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/health/us-drugs-china-production.html

archive.is/QNKo2

US weight-loss biotech Kailera Therapeutics has raised $600mn from investors buoyed by the company’s ability to accelerate drug development by relying on China for cheaper and faster clinical trials.

Kailera acquired the global rights for its weight-loss drugs from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals in Lianyungang, China.

Trove of surveillance data challenges what we thought we knew about location tracking tools, who they target and how far they have spread

...

Most countries have a legal mandate to carry out domestic phone network surveillance. The First Wap archive demonstrates, however, how phone network connections can be leveraged to allow tracking all over the world, without authorisation from the targeted networks.

In recent years, a number of investigations have explored the ways in which surveillance companies gain access to phone networks to enable this type of tracking. Lighthouse and its partners have previously written about how SS7 abuses were linked to the murder of a reporter in Mexico and a crackdown on an activist in Congo, and how they were enabled via leasing of Global Titles.

How First Wap Tracks Phones Around the World - Lighthouse Reports

From telecom protocols to a 1.5 million row dataset, here’s how we uncovered the reach and tactics of a mercenary phone-tracking company

^{Lighthouse Reports}

Top U.S. officials on Wednesday blasted China's major expansion of rare earth export controls as a threat to global supply chains, but said Beijing could still change course and avoid steps by Washington to decouple from the world's second-largest economy.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a press conference that China's new export restrictions were a "global supply-chain power grab" and the U.S. and its allies would not accept the restrictions, but he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed that Washington did not want to escalate the conflict, which has roiled financial markets and sent U.S.-China relations into a tailspin.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-officials-blast-chinas-actions-rare-earths-urge-beijing-back-down-2025-10-15/

Indonesia’s top defense official said Wednesday that Jakarta will acquire at least 42 Chinese-made Chengdu J-10C fighter jets, marking the country’s first non-Western aircraft purchase deal.

Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told reporters in the capital, Jakarta, that Indonesia would soon buy fighter jets from China as part of a plan to modernize its military. Analysts said the deal could touch regional sensitivities and have geopolitical implications.

The plan to buy the J-10s was first disclosed last month by defense ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Frega Wenas. Local media had reported that the Indonesian Air Force was still reviewing the Chinese-made fighter jets to ensure their acquisition would effectively strengthen Indonesia’s air defense capabilities.

https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-china-fighter-jets-purchase-deal-fd8fda417ddbb059d7e3be917d1e9fb1

cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6420742

cross-posted from: ibbit.at/post/80984

This editorial by the La Jornada editorial board was published in the October 13, 2025 edition of La Jornada*, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.*

The atypical rains recorded last week in several areas of the country have left nearly fifty people dead and a still-unquantified population in a situation of extreme vulnerability, with partial or total property losses, and without shelter or food. Initially, the situation was aggravated by more than a hundred road closures on the federal highway network due to landslides, mudslides, fallen trees, and flooded rivers. Although the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT) has already resolved the vast majority of them, it is inevitable to assume that the impacts of the rainfall were similar or worse on state roads, rural roads, and urban and rural roads in various localities.

The dozen federal entities and nearly 150 municipalities that have suffered moderate to severe impacts present us with the evidence of a sudden and unforeseeable national emergency, which requires a response commensurate with the circumstances. The federal government has certainly responded promptly. President Claudia Sheinbaum has coordinated emergency assistance for those affected, both remotely and in person in the disaster areas.

It would be unfair to ignore the efforts made in this regard by the security cabinet, which includes the Ministries of the Interior, National Defense, the Mexican Navy, and the aforementioned SICT (National Commission of the Interior), in addition to the Federal Electricity Commission, the National Water Commission, Petróleos Mexicanos, and other agencies. These efforts include providing aid to the affected population, repairing the road network, restoring electricity and drinking water, and assisting in the search for and locating individuals. State and municipal authorities in the affected regions are also participating in this effort.

But the magnitude of the damage also demands the solidarity of the entire country’s society, regardless of political affiliations and hatreds and regionalisms. It is hoped that generosity will be manifested in volunteer brigades organized in the disaster zones themselves, and in assistance to any of the aid collection centers; the most urgent immediate priority is to deliver medical supplies, medicines, food, and cleaning and personal hygiene items to the affected population.

The spirit of solidarity that characterizes our country has come to light in every tragic circumstance, both abroad and at home, and today, in the face of the tragedy that has befallen hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens, it is time for it to be expressed once again.

Molte delle sere in cui non muoio, mi trovo in una condizione molto precisa, che però a pensarci non mi sono mai presa il tempo di raccontare per bene: ***devo scrivere***...

stuff.octt.eu.org/2025/10/quan…

Oggi pomeriggio, davvero a casissimo, perché l’idea mi è salita veramente in un lampo senza preciso motivo, ho deciso di sfruttare i miei privilegi da navigatrice consumata dei sette mari digitali, come in realtà non facevo da un po’… Quindi, sono uscita dalle mie pareti per installare e provare il nuovo giochino Leggende Pokémon: Z-A, […]

octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…

minioctt

2025-10-15 21:18:43

pokemonica godurianza ancora prima dell’uscita del domani! (impressioni a caldo Leggende Pokémon: Z-A al day -1)

Oggi pomeriggio, davvero a casissimo, perché l’idea mi è salita veramente in un lampo senza preciso motivo, ho deciso di sfruttare i miei privilegi da navigatrice consumata dei sette mari digitali, come in realtà non facevo da un po’… Quindi, sono uscita dalle mie pareti per installare e provare il nuovo giochino Leggende Pokémon: Z-A, che ufficialmente esce domani, ma io appunto sono speciale e magica, e quindi ci gioco in anticipo… nonché una blogger, quindi una giornalista semplicemente non riconosciuta, e quindi ecco qui le mie impressioni a caldo! 👌

Confesso che il gioco precedente, Leggende Arceus, non l’ho nemmeno mai provato… quindi non so precisamente, a livello di meccaniche, cosa è una novità del nuovo titolo, e cosa invece è una novità della saga, quindi già vista con il precedente, però… questo coso è fighissimo, veramente. Dato ciò, e il fatto che di questo gioco non mi sono spoilerata letteralmente niente — perché, a dire il vero, ho scoperto appena l’altro giorno che sta per uscire… e sul momento non mi sono nemmeno posta alcuna curiosità, perché è da un decennio che Pokémon mi delude, e quindi è da un lustro che lo snobbo — è stata tutta una grossa sospesa… e praticamente solo in positivo, per il momento. 🤯

La storia si svolge (o almeno inizia, poi chissà), a Luminopoli… che per me è una cosa assurda, perché la regione di Kalos fu la regione della fine della mia infanzia, ai tempi, e… non starò qui a spiegare tutto di ciò, per ora. È una Luminopoli che però non riconosco per niente, se non per sommi capi, perché è stata modificata un sacco per adattarla alla struttura di Leggende… però caspita se è goduriosa, perché ora sembra effettivamente una vera città, grande quanto una vera città del suo calibro, interamente navigabile in ogni sua parte… inclusi i fottuti tetti! E ci sono vari elementi con cui interagire, e oggetti da raccogliere… Per dirla in breve, me di 9 anni esploderebbe a vedere a confronto la Luminopoli di X/Y e questa nuova!!! 🔥

Ciò che sul momento mi ha completamente spiazzata — ma che, a pensarci bene, potrei di gran lunga preferire rispetto al classico RPG a turni, che fa fin troppo anni ’90 ma non in senso buono — è la meccanica delle lotte; che inizialmente è stata introdotta da Leggende Arceus ma, per l’appunto, non so se ci sia del nuovo in Leggende Z-A, e quanto. Sia gli scontri con gli allenatori, che gli incontri coi Pokémon selvatici (che, a quanto pare, qui attaccano anche gli umani, non solo i loro Pokémon… spaventoso), sono completamente dinamici, e avvengono lì, nell’ambiente, in tempo reale… e i magari hanno la classica cutscene di inizio e fine (ma dipende in realtà dal tipo di lotta), mentre con i secondi è tutto sempre così fluido che sembra davvero di stare lì in mezzo alle bestie. Servirà comunque tempo per abituarsi a questa roba, per me che ho problemi di skill, ma prende così tanto… 🥰

La città è tecnicamente tutta sbloccata quasi da subito, anche se nella pratica il gioco va avanti a missioni, e il sistema non permette di muoversi liberamente al 100%… non lascia andare troppo fuori dal tracciato stabilito in un dato momento per raggiungere l’obiettivo stabilito. Dà un po’ fastidio che, nonostante ci sia una buona mappa che già da sola dovrebbe permettere a chiunque di capire dove andare senza problemi, se si prova a muoversi troppo fuori dal tracciato non si incontrano solo muri invisibili, ma c’è pure il tizio che, da lontano o attraverso il telefono, richiama per ricordare dove si deve andare… uffa. E, nonostante la natura dinamica e diretta del cuore del gameplay, ci sono a mio parere troppe cutscene da o verso nero anche per semplici dialoghi, e questa cosa per me rompe l’immersione. Meno male che non è open-world, però. 👍

Nonostante i difettucci, il gioco non è “lento” e palloso come invece i classici Pokémon sono stati per me ultimamente, e anzi, ho veramente voglia di continuare a giocarci… caspita! Non mi aspettavo che sarebbe stato particolarmente divertente, e invece in circa 3 ore mi ha fatto addirittura letteralmente luccicare gli occhi. Tra l’altro, all’inizio era partito male anche dal lato software, perché mi sembrava tirasse laggate (giocando ovviamente su Switch 1, in dock), e invece devo dire che poi mi è parso stabile, tranquillo… ovviamente non gira a 60 FPS, ma ormai da Nintendo questo non si può mai più sperare. Non ho visto neanche bug, credo, c’è giusto qualche animazione che mi è sembrata legnosa, ma la goduria non viene intaccata. 🙌

Visto che non c’erano potenziali fonti di disturbo in casa, ho anche fatto una diretta streaming, per le prime 2 ore di gameplay, giusto per non marcire troppo nel giocare… su PeerTube, visto che ho paura che su YouTube Nintendo possa fare la sua classica mossa, dato che ho giocato con un giorno di anticipo; però tutto OK, trasmissione perfetta, grazie ai Devol. Per chi ha visto un pochino, grazie… mentre, per la maggior parte che non ha visto, pazienza! Però, il VOD (diviso in 2 video perché il coso ha deciso così) rimane disponibile, per chi vuole visionare le mie figuracce… peertube.uno/w/tXhxfxmFJ9mJfHB… e peertube.uno/w/sYXTLBSZnZKypcg…. (Forse li caricherò anche su YouTube, dopo l’uscita ufficiale del gioco, boh.) 🧨
Il gioco ha anche una funzione di fotocamera, simile ad Animal Crossing per Switch… ci si può mettere in posa e fare le foto stile turisti, che in effetti è il motivo per cui nella storia si finisce qui a Luminopoli, bello.
#impressioni #Pokémon #Pokemon

I would like to read what is the approach of people in this community

I take an hybrid approach: I bring a change, but I keep a pace that make me sweat lightly, so I don't need to take a shower at work. For the same reason I put my stuff in a pannier on the bike rack

Testing two completely different ways of bike commuting

Over the years, the way I've approached bike commuting has evolved so much that I now think there are two totally different approaches. This video offers advice on both of them so you can find the ...

^{Canadian Civil}

“As a result of the genocidal war committed by Israel, many hostages were killed with their Palestinian resistance guards, and communications were lost with some of the units responsible for the bodies,” the source told MEE.

“The Israeli public should hold Netanyahu, his cabinet, and the Israeli army responsible for the killing of these hostages and the loss of their bodies under the rubble, as more than 10,000 civilian Palestinians [are believed to be under the rubble].”

The source added [that] Hamas’s Qassam Brigades “frequently warned” that the Israeli army’s actions would lead to the deaths of captives, but “Israel did not scale back its attacks”.

“The Qassam units in charge of guarding Israelis, alive and dead, were targeted. The main difficulty [in finding the bodies] is losing contact with the guards, because the Israelis killed them.”

The source said that Hamas was committed to fulfilling its obligation under the agreement to return the remains of all of the captives, and said it was working hard to do so.

He noted that the wording of the agreement required Hamas to return the bodies “as soon as possible” and said Hamas was willing to cooperate with international entities, as agreed in the deal.

“Nothing was hidden,” he said. “[Hamas has] fulfilled its commitment with handing over the living hostages, despite all the bad faith from Israel by changing the list of the Palestinian prisoners to be released, not allowing the top names in the list to be released, and changing the list at the last minute."

“Despite that it (Hamas) fulfilled its commitments and released all alive hostages on time, as well as four dead hostages.”

The source added that Israel’s destruction of Gaza has “really changed the geography of the area”, making it “extremely difficult” to identify locations.

He condemned Israel’s decision to keep the Rafah crossing closed as a “serious infringement of the agreement” that would further hinder rescue and aid efforts.

“We call on the mediators to intervene immediately to resolve this matter,” he said.

Exclusive: Hamas says Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ destruction of Gaza behind delay in locating captives' bodies

A senior Hamas source has told Middle East Eye that Israel bears responsibility for delays in locating and returning the bodies of captives still missing in Gaza.

^{David Hearst (Middle East Eye)}

Hi all,

First off, I want to apologize for all the server instability. We long ago outgrew our instance size, but I was unable to afford a larger node on our provider, Vultr. We were maxing out every part of the server whenever any even slightly significant number of users were on the fediverse.

I've finally found the time to migrate us to a new provider, which allows us to step up to a much more powerful configuration. That migration has now been completed. I actually intended to post about the downtime on this community this morning before beginning, but when I went to do so, the server was already down and struggling to come back up. So I went ahead with the migration.

Server before 4cpu/16GB/400GB NVMe
Server after 8cpu/64GB/1Tb NVMe

Please update this thread if you are seeing any issues around any part of the site. This means duplicate threads, things that aren't federating, inability to load profiles, etc.

There is still database tuning that needs to occur, so you should expect some downtime here and there, but otherwise the instance should be much more stable from now on.

During this process I also improved several other aspects of operating the server, so any 'actual' downtime should be accompanied by proper maintenance pages (that hopefully don't get wiped by ansible anymore), so that will also be a good indicator of legitimate maintenance.

Once again, I really apologize for all of the downtime. It's very frustrating to use a server that operates like this, I understand.

snowe

cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6403457

Zip ties. Helicopters. Crowded cells. Guns trained on bewildered workers. Foul water. Forced vaccinations. An unconscious detainee left on the floor by negligent guards. A pregnant woman in handcuffs. A detainee being called “Rocket Man” (Donald Trump’s nickname for Kim Jong Un) by sneering federal agents. A menstruating woman forced to attend to her period with only toilet paper.

These are the details of 316 South Korean nationals’ experiences in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention that have flooded the country’s media in the weeks after the September 4 raid on a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. A wave of fury is now pouring forth from across South Korean society — and the political consequences are only just beginning.

There is far more at stake than a single factory in Georgia, which by itself represented 8,500 jobs and $4.3 billion in investment, and is just one of 23 plants being built across the U.S. by Korean conglomerates. Since the raid, the U.S. and South Korea have announced that Korean workers will be able to use B-1 visas and ESTA visa waivers to continue working in the U.S. A new bill in Congress, the Partner with Korea Act, also seeks to extend 15,000 professional E-4 visas to South Koreans for the first time.

But U.S. flexibility on immigration is not all that matters. Seoul and Washington have yet to finalize their trade deal instigated by Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent blanket tariff on South Korean goods. At the current stage of negotiations, South Korea has agreed to accept a 15 percent tariff on its exports and provide tremendous investments and other financial agreements: $350 billion in state-backed short-term investment, $150 billion in private sector contracts with U.S. corporations, and a guarantee to purchase $100 billion in U.S. liquid natural gas. Despite so much on the table, a written agreement has yet to be produced, and negotiations are proving tense as the Trump administration presses for Seoul to provide the lion’s share of its $350 billion commitment in cash. While some of the shock over the ICE raid has died down, Washington’s conduct over the course of months of negotiations has also raised deeper questions in South Korea about the real nature of the alliance — and whether this is a relationship that can last.

The Art of the Steal

The anger unleashed by ICE’s abuse of Korean workers has been building for some time. Trump’s tariff threats, announced in March, hit South Korea at a difficult time, when the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was unresolved, and the country was reeling from years of flagging economic performance.

The issue was not only a matter of timing. The Biden administration’s CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act also used similar (though less onerous) tariff threats to force South Korean conglomerates to transfer production and make large investments in the U.S. — which is how the Hyundai-LG plant made its way to Georgia in the first place. Having already complied with the previous administration, South Korea nevertheless now finds itself facing an even graver economic threat that could lead to recession: not just a 25 percent tariff on all exports (since reduced to 15 percent), but sector-based tariffs impacting most of South Korea’s key industries as well.

While much of the anger on either side of the Pacific has focused on the current administration in Washington, Trump’s tariffs are just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have sought to deny South Korea its economic sovereignty, open its markets to foreign takeover, and degrade the rights and dignity of its working people.

Full Article

thelastaxolotl [he/him]

2025-10-11 23:29:26

After Hyundai ICE Raid, Even South Korea’s Capitalists Question US Relations

Zip ties. Helicopters. Crowded cells. Guns trained on bewildered workers. Foul water. Forced vaccinations. An unconscious detainee left on the floor by negligent guards. A pregnant woman in handcuffs. A detainee being called “Rocket Man” (Donald Trump’s nickname for Kim Jong Un) by sneering federal agents. A menstruating woman forced to attend to her period with only toilet paper.

These are the details of 316 South Korean nationals’ experiences in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention that have flooded the country’s media in the weeks after the September 4 raid on a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. A wave of fury is now pouring forth from across South Korean society — and the political consequences are only just beginning.

There is far more at stake than a single factory in Georgia, which by itself represented 8,500 jobs and $4.3 billion in investment, and is just one of 23 plants being built across the U.S. by Korean conglomerates. Since the raid, the U.S. and South Korea have announced that Korean workers will be able to use B-1 visas and ESTA visa waivers to continue working in the U.S. A new bill in Congress, the Partner with Korea Act, also seeks to extend 15,000 professional E-4 visas to South Koreans for the first time.

But U.S. flexibility on immigration is not all that matters. Seoul and Washington have yet to finalize their trade deal instigated by Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent blanket tariff on South Korean goods. At the current stage of negotiations, South Korea has agreed to accept a 15 percent tariff on its exports and provide tremendous investments and other financial agreements: $350 billion in state-backed short-term investment, $150 billion in private sector contracts with U.S. corporations, and a guarantee to purchase $100 billion in U.S. liquid natural gas. Despite so much on the table, a written agreement has yet to be produced, and negotiations are proving tense as the Trump administration presses for Seoul to provide the lion’s share of its $350 billion commitment in cash. While some of the shock over the ICE raid has died down, Washington’s conduct over the course of months of negotiations has also raised deeper questions in South Korea about the real nature of the alliance — and whether this is a relationship that can last.

The Art of the Steal

The anger unleashed by ICE’s abuse of Korean workers has been building for some time. Trump’s tariff threats, announced in March, hit South Korea at a difficult time, when the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was unresolved, and the country was reeling from years of flagging economic performance.

The issue was not only a matter of timing. The Biden administration’s CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act also used similar (though less onerous) tariff threats to force South Korean conglomerates to transfer production and make large investments in the U.S. — which is how the Hyundai-LG plant made its way to Georgia in the first place. Having already complied with the previous administration, South Korea nevertheless now finds itself facing an even graver economic threat that could lead to recession: not just a 25 percent tariff on all exports (since reduced to 15 percent), but sector-based tariffs impacting most of South Korea’s key industries as well.

While much of the anger on either side of the Pacific has focused on the current administration in Washington, Trump’s tariffs are just the latest in a string of U.S. policies that have sought to deny South Korea its economic sovereignty, open its markets to foreign takeover, and degrade the rights and dignity of its working people.

Full Article

After Hyundai ICE Raid, Even South Korea’s Capitalists Question US Relations | Truthout

Can the US and South Korea’s tenuous alliance survive Trump’s tariffs and ICE’s raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia?

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/upshot/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymander.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tk8.-Scy.DRXsunPU_6pm