In June, large anti-government protests shook Kenya. President Ruto and his parliament were attempting to pass the new Finance Bill 2024, which, among other things, would have hiked taxes on the population, with a 16% sales tax on bread and a 25% duty on cooking oil, as well as new taxes on financial transanctions and vehicle ownership. There would also have been levies on women's sanitary products and digital goods such as phones, among other measures affecting hospitals.
Hundreds of protestors stormed the parliament building and began to tear the place apart. Shortly afterwards, on June 26th, Ruto announced that he was withdrawing the bill, calling the tens of deaths and hundreds of injuries "unfortunate". A couple weeks later, Ruto then fired his entire cabinet (aside from his foreign minister) and communicated his wish to the nation to form a "broad-based government". Funnily enough, in July, it was announced that the majority of positions were to be filled by members of the old cabinet, while other positions were taken by members of the opposition. This has prompted scepticism among the population, including calls to resign, but there haven't (yet) been any major anti-government events to pressure this outcome. The Communist Party of Kenya has been working to get some of their comrades back after they were abducted by the police during the protest period, and have otherwise supported the protests against Ruto.
The measures in the bill were strongly encouraged by the IMF. Kenya's debt is currently around $80 billion, of which about 10% is owed to China for infrastructure projects (such as a railway linking the capital, Nairobi, to the port city of Mombasa, as well as 11,000 kilometers of road throughout the country). The rest is owed to a combination of the US, IMF, World Bank, and Saudi Arabia. More than half of government revenue is going towards repaying the debt - but despite these massive payments, it has only grown. The most recent round of IMF plundering (and the impetus for current events) began in 2021, when they offered a 38-month programme to "help" Kenya, which would involve the usual warfare on the poor and the dismemberment of any useful societal institutions.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Kenya! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section. Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war. Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language. https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one. https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts. https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel. https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator. https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps. https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language. https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language. https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses. https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Israel is performing a large scale invasion of the west bank. Their goal is ethnic cleansing. This is not a minor operation, Israel has officially announced the op.
Klanada put 100% Tariff on Chinese EV's to protect the American EV Industry i.e. Heavily subsidized company Tesla which paid it's CEO $46 Billion Dollars
I feel gaslighted watching Kamala's interview. She's just as incoherent as Joe Biden. At least Joe will try to articulate some kind of policy, e.g. "Jack, China, the semiconductor, we passed CHIPS ACT, they're called FABs". Kamala's is 100% policy-free, 100% incomprehensible, as if she's an unprepared college student having to give class presentation while simultaneously on Xanax and adderall. Is it just me or Democrats have truly stopped communicating in standard English and just communicates by transmitting vibes via brainwaves.
My 8 weeks old son just spoke his first words. He said "Dad did you see that the Russians have pushed into Sinkovka near Kupiansk, this is interesting because Sinkovka has been the main point of defense for the AFU near Kupiansk, and losing this village combined with the advance near Pishchane could put the entire AFU garrison east of the Oskol River in a very dangerous spot". Thanks son!
This could be very bad for the AFU though, this sector of the front has been chill for them for nearly two years now. If Russians seriously commit here and exploit the manpower situation just like in Pokrovsk and Toretsk, then the the whole east Oskol sector all the way to Lyman could be in a very bad situation.
Crypto exchange Binance has seized all funds belonging to Palestinians, acting on a request from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
“I have received this from several sources. All Palestinians are affected and judging by the way things are going all Lebanese and Syrians will get the same treatment. Not your keys, not your coins. We are all Palestinians now.”
Centralized exchanges like Binance are starting to look more like government snitches than safe places to store your crypto. And it gets worse.
Ray claims that Binance has been leaking info on MENA (Middle East and North Africa) users to the IDF without any legal process—no warrant, no subpoena, just handing it over.
I find it hard to believe any real hamas would just leave their funds hanging out on a hostile western platform when they can take the funds out. I also find it hard to believe $2 billion would be kept in crypto alone.
Well, let this serve as a warning to anyone looking to do business with Binance, they're basically a wing of the IOF now.
Really strange how liberals seem to believe invading a neighboring country is somehow morally worse than invading a country on the other side of the planet.
True to my word, I have refrained from posting on this site for the duration of my paternity leave, as I refuse to post here unless I can count it as work. Anyway, kid is doing great, but it does take a toll to be alone with him for n entire day while he is learning to walk. The amount of times I have had to catch something falling on his head is incredible, especially considering that I child-proofed our place when our daughter was born.
Russian state news agency TASS quoted the Palestinian ambassador to Moscow, Abdel Hafiz Nofal, as saying that Palestine will lodge its application for joining BRICS after attending the summit.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin promised that one session would be fully devoted to Palestine," the Palestinian ambassador said.[...]
"This invitation means that despite all the crimes, killings and destruction in the Gaza Strip, our message is that Palestine wants to live and to develop," Ambassador Nofal added.
Fun fact: The chinese province of Guangdong alone has more active factories than the number of total cruise missiles ever built by the US since 1980. Roughly by about an order of magnitude.
Just something to think about and laught when you see Americans jerking off to war with China and the mighty american military superiority
“Let’s be clear: My values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate,” Harris said.
“What I’ve seen is that we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”
Oh my god I couldn't hate this woman any more. Drill baby drill!
A young irish guy i know was telling us how there's a lot of revisionism right now that casts the ira, whom he thinks were entirely drug dealing gangsters, in a positive light.
Idk how to tell him that some people, at least, have always viewed them in a positive light and his belief that all ira units were drug dealing gangsters is post-troubles liberal revisionism intended to de-emphasize the political nature of the struggle.
He also seems to have no idea that the unionists were largely run by British Intelligence and committed an overwhelming majortiy of the massacres and civilian killings.
At a time when Sein Feinn is taking power in Northern Ireland knowing the actual dynamics of the anglo-irish war seems rather important.
British human rights activist and social media influencer Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by UK police on 29 August, reportedly over “content she posted online.”
“The police came to her house just before 7.30am. [Twelve] of them in total, some of them in plain clothes from the counter-terrorism police. They said she was under arrest for ‘content that she has posted online.’ Her house is being raided, and they have seized all her electronic devices," Jack Wilkinson is quoted as saying by the social media account Suppressed News.
relevant quote against the 'no war but class war' purists
"If tomorrow, Morocco were to declare war on France, India on England, Persia or China on Russia, and so forth, those would be “just” “defensive” wars, irrespective of who attacked first; and every Socialist would sympathise with the victory of the oppressed, dependent, unequal states against the oppressing, slave-owning, predatory “great” powers."
(He's a turncoat millenial Bernie Delegate from south Bronx FFS. I expect that crap from boomers but )
Congressman Ritchie Torres has written to the CEOs of the three airlines to express his concern over their suspension of air travel between the US and Israel.
“Airlines should be prohibited from effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish state,” the Democratic lawmaker wrote in the letter published online.
“It is one thing to temporarily suspend air travel to Israel on security grounds as defined” by the Federal Aviation Authority, he wrote, “but to unilaterally suspend air travel indefinitely until mid-2025, as American Airlines has done, has the practical effect of a boycott”.
Torres said all three airlines must restore air travel to Israel “to prevent the appearance and the substance of discrimination against the Jewish state”.
The three carriers stopped flying to Israel following the Hamas attacks of October 7. Delta has since extended the suspension of its flights to Israel through October 31 while American Airlines has done so until March 29 of next year.
Meanwhile, United said it has suspended its service for the foreseeable future.
I'm staying at a relative's house for a couple days, and they are watching Newsmax right now. There is a 2 minute advertisement for the "International Fellowship of Christians and Jews" asking retirees to give their money to help "all the Israelis who are living in fear right now". I think I'm about ask them to put on Fox News instead lmao.
After much speculation, journalists just confirmed Elbit terminated its lease after over a year of relentless community protest organized by @BDSBoston and @pal_action US autonomous direct actions & property damage. cambridgeday.com/2024/08/28/…
We need to kill the Mega Posting Wars meme. It wasn't very funny to start with and now I get the feeling some people are taking it way too seriously. Clogging up the news thread with bullshit just to try to out post the trans mega is just dumb and annoying.
Hey it's the resident german hater here with another german hating updating.
The CDU, that's the respectable nazis not like the AfD, has some demands from the government. That more or less is a whole bunch of human rights abuses, goes against all kinds of geneva conventions, international law, EU-law, and is just generally cruel. Like establishing permanent border controls, which you know Schengenarea they wouldn't be allowed to do, mass denial of asylums, 'sending' people back to their country and a bunch of other stuff. If a german ever tells you that only AfD is bad remember CDU also is doing nazi shit, also is talking how they are going to break all kinds of laws etc. My message remains the german government has 50% outspoken nazis and 50% not-so-outspoken nazis.
wow it came as a complete surprise that Keir Starmer wants to employ austerity measures
Who would've taught, that Keir Starmer (of all people!), the person who waged war on social democrats, is a Thatcherite? wow
“We are taking the tough decisions now so we can fix the foundations and deliver on the mandate of change we were elected on to rebuild Britain.”
Remind me quick, what kind of economic policies they used after WW2 to literally rebuild Britain?
part of the success of US hegemony in the world is what could be described as a policy of “obfuscation” or creating a “mirage” in how it spreads its military bases around the world. Despite the bases being openly announced, which are presented in the context of “joint defense” agreements with countries and regimes (most of which possess no sovereignty except a flag and an anthem,) the United States deliberately obscures, through its media and political influence, the role of these bases and the strength of their impact on regional policies and conflicts among neighboring countries.
For example, there is a plethora of news and analysis about Japanese-Chinese disputes, but rarely any mention of the presence of 85 US military bases and more than 52,000 US soldiers in Japan with advanced weapons and intelligence technologies directed against China. The same policy is followed in our countries. Screens are flooded with talk about the “Iranian threat” and “Arab states’ concerns.” But the fact that most US military bases in the region were established before the Islamic Revolution in Iran is never mentioned, meaning that the role of these bases in besieging Iran is hidden.
The discussion has shifted away from the reality and role of these foreign bases on Arab land and instead considers them a given in the Arab political reality. This is the essence of the intellectual normalization of the direct US occupation of our countries. Even the word “occupation” is absent from any discussion surrounding these bases. This deliberate “obfuscation” aims to force us to submit to Washington’s supposed divinity. As if the superpower capable of dictating our reality, security, and policies as it pleases, and securing its “interests” (what are the interests of the colonizer?) is simply our inevitable fate. Through this policy, Washington succeeds in extending its hand of killing and extermination to serve its colonial agenda while avoiding backlash against its occupations and brutality.
However, the role of US military bases goes beyond the military, security, and intelligence dimensions, although this role is the pillar of US hegemony. All forms of cultural, economic, and political hegemony are merely symptoms of military and security hegemony. A closer examination of Washington’s military bases in Arab countries reveals an additional role for these bases, which is the media role.
Today, the most widespread and influential Arab media institutions in traditional and digital media operate under the protection of US military bases. This presence is not a coincidence, but a clear, well-defined role that entails a lot of role distribution while maintaining the main goal, which is to obscure the enemy. For example, since the start of the Zionist extermination war on the Gaza Strip, there are daily shipments of weapons from Washington’s Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar to the occupation entity’s bases in occupied Palestine. Shipments carrying tools of extermination are accompanied by pressure and threats against anyone working to stop the extermination.
But the Arab viewer will not see even one news item (even in passing) about the role of the Al-Udeid base in the extermination of the Palestinian people (and before them the Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Afghan, and Libyan peoples.) Why? Because the media empire dominating minds and screens operates under the protection of this base and will not deviate—even by mistake—from the path of media propaganda for which it was established under the shadows of this US base. From here, we can understand the ease of the “hostility” that Al Jazeera shows towards Israel, in exchange for completely and deliberately obfuscating the role of US military bases in the war of extermination against the Palestinians (whom Al Jazeera claims to support.)
This contradiction between focusing on “Israel” while obscuring the role of other US military bases in the region grows starker as the battle lines become clearer, especially after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. Today, as we approach a full year of ongoing massacre and persistent resistance despite starvation and siege, and while US and Western armies gather in our seas and on our land from all directions, it has become necessary to fully understand our enemy to make it truly meaningful. Hostility towards “Israel” alone was never sufficient to begin with. Today, limiting our focus to “Israel” alone amounts to participating in the crime of distorting awareness and enabling the continuation of extermination.
The magnitude of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation and the agony of the bloodshed in Gaza demands a correction of both our understanding and our political compass.
Know your enemy: all US military bases are your enemy.
So, the US and Canada are angry because AMLO is currently pushing for reforms inside the Judiciary of Mexico. Remember, when the PRI stays 70 years in power, that's democracy. When socdem AMLO wants to reform his country, that is dictatorship.
Each of the 3 refugee camps in the West Bank that are primary targets for the Isnotreali military, including one in Jenin are also at population densities of 50,000-70,000/km² each.
(Prediction) Ramallah, being just 60 kilometers south of Jenin, also hosts a South African embassy that is still very much active with South African officials there obviously. Should the Diaper military reach it, the embassy is going to be a prime target, with the Nelson Mandela Square also serving as symbolism in more ways than one. peepeepoopooreal has already spilled South African blood before and prepared to kidnap/assassinate Nelson Mandela's grandson (who's also a sitting member of the NA), so it's not far-fetched that the first post-Apartheid heads of state could be killed. South Africa has also already considered the first "threats to national security" in 30 years.
I wonder what is the likelihood of South Africa being officially declared an "enemy of the West" because Shitrael says so and the iridescent flag considered a "hate symbol".
Also lol, lmao even at that one time Isnotreal called South Africa's so-called-hegemony a credible threat as they were banned from the African Union almost 3 years ago.
If I get arrested for waving the South African flag, I'll frame the citation on my wall when I move back to Johannesburg after getting out of jail.
The important thing about all of this is that sniper weapons are no longer rare, nor is their ammunition scarce. Rather, they have become available to all resistance factions, and it has become possible to develop a large cadre of specialized fighters who excels in using the best sniper weapons in the world. The Al-Ghoul rifle is especially suitable for the Strip’s environment and these rifles, which the Palestinians have made with their own hands, are used with high proficiency. This human abundance in snipers and material abundance of weapons appeared during Al-Aqsa Flood like never before. The resistance has carried out at least one sniping operation every week, for the past 44 weeks of war. In fact, the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation was carried out with snipers who used precise shots to disable all the surveillance cameras and electronic machine guns along the separation fence within minutes.
Perhaps what most worries the Zionist enemy army about the sniper threat is that the occupation cannot hope to deplete the resistance in a war of attrition. The ammunition is locally manufactured and the snipers who graduated from military academies and trained extensively over the past ten years are always ready. A sniping operation needs nothing more than a skilled shooter, a rifle, and a bullet. As for the range, Al-Ghoul can inflict wounds at a distance of 4km which is the depth of the Netzarim axis, from the Zeitoun neighborhood to the newly established barrier. This means that the occupation soldiers, whom the Zionist political leadership has decided to keep in Gaza, will be sitting ducks on a shooting range with inexhaustible ammunition and tireless snipers.
Wake up and immediately witness man made horrors within my comprehension. I saw a video on TikTok of Palestinians gathered inside of an apartment, that reminded me of the Come and See Church/Hall scene.
Zelensky says Lula da Silva 'believes Soviet Union narratives' about war.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that President Lula (PT) has adopted a “political rhetoric” stance and that he “lives Soviet Union narratives” in relation to the war against Russia.
Zelensky demanded a more emphatic stance from Lula da Silva who, he said, “thinks of Russia as if the Soviet Union still existed today”. In an interview the politician also said he was grateful for the dialog he had with the Brazilian president in 2023.
The Ukrainian also criticized the fact that Brazil had signed, alongside China, a proposal for peace negotiations in the conflict. Zelensky claims that the content has no practical effect on resolving the war.
The President of Ukraine stressed that Brazil is a democracy, unlike the other countries that signed the letter. “Is China a democratic country? No. And what about Iran? Is it a democratic country? No. And what about North Korea? They are not democratic countries. So what is Brazil, a great democratic country, doing in this company? I can't understand this circle of countries. It's normal when you have economic relations, but we're talking about a war, not economic relations,” he said.
He also referred to what he called the “Chinese plan” as “just a political declaration” restricted to paper, with no concrete effects. “I understand only concrete and honest proposals. I speak for our victims, for our dead. So if you want to help us stop the war, or help us get [Vladimir] Putin to stop the war, we have to unite,” he said, stressing that he intends to present a peace plan to end the war soon.
Meanwhile Zelensky goes to Saudi Arabi to beg for money and to hangout with their leaders, lol.
If we had a gigachad/virgin cuck list for specifically US political news, then Bernie would be up there on the virgin cuck side for being a spineless sheepdog.
The Gaza Strip's ~2 million people have been squeezed into an area just below 40 square kilometers on the beaches of Khan Yunis and Deir el-Balah. The population density of the now tent city is approaching 60,000/km², above neighbourhoods immediately east of Constitution Hill by comparison. This is what 60,000/km² "normally" looks like:
70% of what little water infrastructure exists is in the "no-go zones" according to Al-Jazeera. Per-person water access may well plunge to under 1L/ppd.
Aid groups such as Islamic Relief South Africa had expressed mounting difficulties in delivering humanitarian relief and are beginning to doubt how long these efforts can be prolonged as the situation continues to worsen - live interview on CII Radio.
180,000 people have fled the Gaza Strip since October - Salaamedia live
For people who escape, there is a lingering feeling of "survivors guilt" as expressed by one journalist and her family who recently escaped to Johannesburg - Salaamedia live/Newzroom Afrika
During the interview above, the host of Salaamedia has indicated she is well aware of genocide supporters brigading comment sections of such broadcasts. Yet for some reason, social media doesn't like it when I send death threats to said yellow-ribbon Nazis
There is still a live radio station operating in Gaza City - Sahaba Radio FM 99.6
I'm not a lawyer, but someone really needs to start suing some of these colleges for racial discrimination for their attacks on pro-Palestine protestors. One thing I have been thinking about is finding a group of sympathetic students like maybe Chinese or Russian students, and having them sue the schools for discrimination when the schools let anti-China or anti-Russia protests/speech take place. If anti-Israel speech is discriminatory against Jews, then anti-China speech should be discriminatory against Chinese students. It's at least worth a shot. Enough of these Zionist shitstains have said racist shit about Palestinians that have gone entirely unpunished that there has to be a case.
The r-word from the Sde Teiman Israeli prison camp is now becoming a regular TV show guest in Israel. Inconceivable how this society can exist and be accepted in the modern age.
Reports across Hebrew media of a serious security incident in Jenin and, for the first time, the use of RPG shells by Palestinian resistance fighters against Israeli soldiers in Jenin camp.
Correspondent for Israel's Channel 14 reported that shoulder-fired missiles were used for the first time against Israeli forces in Jenin, where difficult clashes are taking place.______
Defeated in the legislative elections, Emmanuel Macron rejects the name suggested by the left-wing front for the post of prime minister. The President will begin a new round of talks with the parties to choose a name to take over the government.
LFI accuses Emmanuel Macron of plotting a coup and threatens to open impeachment proceedings after the president refuses to appoint the left-wing front's nominee for prime minister. Party called for demonstrations “in defense of democracy in France”.
Words cannot describe how much I now loathe the spineless POS, Bernie Sanders. Which is astounding considering how I basically worshiped him back in 2015/2016.
All this fucker had to do was announce his presidency after Biden's corpse announced it was not running and he would hold the entire Democratic party by the balls.
Seriously, what would the Democrats do? Rig the primaries again? Then threaten to run as an independent and kick them a kick in the balls permanently.
It boggles my mind how the entire "Left" in the Democratic party have been caving nonstop for several years now while the party dived to the right and fully endorses genocide and Trump's border wall. Bernie and the rest of the Squad weaklings couldn't even have the basic decency to call out the most televised genocide in Human history. I wonder what libs in 2015/2016 would think if you told them that in just a few short years the Democratic party would be entirely behind Trump's border wall.
I'm now 100% convinced that AOC and the others would be demanding the left to vote for Hindenburg instead of the Communists if they were around in 1930s Germany.
While the Israeli government often holds itself up as a beacon of freedom for the LGBT community, members of that very community are high on the list of targets for blackmail—though by no means are they alone on that list. Given the world-class nature of Israeli surveillance technology, it’s not hard for spy agencies to identify gay or lesbian Palestinians and ensnare them in their net.
Journalist Theia Chatelle spent months in the West Bank hoping to tell their stories. She was told it would be impossible. But over time, she found a number of victims of the program with the courage to speak out. She also identified members of the Israeli security agencies willing to admit to what’s going on.
Staying with conservative family members day 2 update: I had been up for 30 minutes and was sipping on my coffee when I learned that my uncle watches YouTube Ukrainian propaganda videos of strikes on Russian military targets while drinking his morning coffee. He told me that Russia "is in trouble". He said, while chuckling, that he thinks one of these days we will wake up to the news that "Putin fell out of window". My response was "hmm, interesting " Honestly, I thought Newsmax viewers were pro-Russia.
The boycott is having an effect: Multinational companies are coming under greater pressure because of business relationships with or in Israel. As Handelsblatt reported on Wednesday, the catering group Yum Brands, parent company of the restaurant chain KFC, as well as the fast food company McDonald's and food company Mondelez reported problems "as a result of the Middle East conflict". This means significant drops in sales that can be traced back to boycott campaigns in connection with Israel's war against the population in Gaza.
All three companies reported a drop in sales in their international business. While Yum Brands is being criticized for investing in Israeli start-up companies, McDonald's, for example, distributed free meals to the Israeli army (IDF) in October. System catering operator Americana, which is responsible for the branch presence of KFC and Pizza Hut in the Middle East region, suffered a 45 percent drop in its net profit in the first half of 2024, according to Handelsblatt.
The Kuwaiti Alshaya Group announced that it would lay off 2,000 employees after a drop in sales as a result of a campaign against the Starbucks branches it operates. In Indonesia, the operator there forestalled a campaign by publicly distancing itself. The McDonald's franchisee donated 100,000 US dollars for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. The parent company had bought back more than 200 branches from its partner there after protests against IDF support.
The Pakistani government set up a committee at the end of July to identify companies that should be boycotted because of their support for Israel in its offensive in the Gaza Strip. Last week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that he would suspend coal exports to Israel "until it ends the genocide." Diplomatic relations have already been severed. According to the Times of Israel, Colombia is currently no longer importing weapons or surveillance technology from Israel.
An Israeli airstrike on a residential area in the Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank, led to the martyrdom of at least five Palestinians on Monday night, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.
The aggression marks yet another aspect of the Israeli regime's war on Palestinians, be it in the Gaza Strip or the occupied West Bank.
Local media identified the martyrs as Jibril Jibril, Muhannad al-Qarawi, Mohammad al-Sheikh Yousef, Adnan Aysar al-Jaber, and Mohammad Alyan.
Martyr Jibril was freed by the Resistance from Israeli prisons in late 2023 after it conducted a prisoner exchange deal with the Israeli regime.
Nablus Telegram writes:
The cub martyr of al-Qassam, "Jibril Jibril", did not exceed the age of Twenty, was arrested by the occupation and released by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in the exchange of the Al-Aqsa flood, which took place several months ago. He became a prisoner, a pursuer, a skirmisher and a mujahid for the sake of Allah, he did not exceed agw twenty, and he walked on the path of al-Qassam.
⚫️ Palestinian Islamic Jihad:
—
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The criminal occupation is launching a comprehensive assault on the cities and camps of the northern occupied West Bank in an open and undeclared war, one we had previously warned about. This aggression seeks to shift the focus of the conflict to the occupied West Bank in an attempt by the entity to impose new facts on the ground aimed at subjugating the occupied West Bank, annexing it, and asserting its control over our sanctities in an existential war against the Palestinian people.
The wide-scale military campaign being waged by the occupation in the occupied West Bank is part of its plans to assert control over the city of Al-Quds and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. The occupation seeks to implement its malicious Judaization schemes, including the construction of a synagogue within the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, in a blatant challenge to the dignity of all Arabs and Muslims, and in flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions.
Our fighters in Saraya Al-Quds in the West Bank are engaged in fierce battles to confront this criminal campaign, which includes the siege of hospitals, preventing the injured and sick from receiving treatment, and the use of drones and warplanes to bomb civilian targets within camps and towns. Additionally, the occupation has imposed a severe siege on these areas with hundreds of soldiers and armored vehicles in an attempt to break our people's spirit and crush their will.
As in Gaza, the enemy entity is committing its crimes in the West Bank while the world watches these atrocities, with a shameful official and popular Arab inaction. Many stand idly by in the face of the crimes the occupation is perpetrating against our people and sanctities, leaving the Palestinian people alone in confronting the continuous zionist killing and criminal machinery.
This is happening while the occupation continues to commit horrific massacres in a clear genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip, disregarding all international calls to stop the war, allow the entry of relief materials, and open safe corridors for civilians. It is supported by the American administration, which oversees these crimes and provides all kinds of political and military cover.
We call on the international community to take immediate action to stop these massacres and violations, holding the occupation fully responsible for the consequences of these aggressive policies. We also call on the Arab and Islamic nations to urgently and effectively mobilize in support of our people and sanctities, and in rejection of this ongoing aggression that aims to liquidate our just cause.
Indeed, it is a jihad of victory or martyrdom.
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Wednesday, 24th of Safar, 1446 Hijri, August 28, 2024 AD.
There appears to be a partial sector collapse on the eastern frontlines of Ukraine, with Ukraine losing multiple towns and settlements within a couple of hours. Russia is closing in on Pokvorosk rapidly now. Ukraine retreating across the front. This is after two days of Russian missile attacks in Ukrainian electric and water infrastructure. Overall it looks like the Kursk gamble is starting to backfire in a big way, but more on that below.
As for the whole Kursk offensive that appears to have stalled, I take a different view to many. It was the best course of action Ukraine could take if they wanted to keep fighting. It's just that the choice to keep fighting is a poor one. Obviously the actual best choice would be to stop the fighting and start negotiations, but Ukraine/their NATO masters are unprepared to do so. So if they continue fighting, and we assume Russia will take more territory in the East, what does it matter if it falls quickly or slowly if it's considered lost anyways? Ukraine (as in from a realistic perspective and not rabid pro Ukraine propaganda) sees that territory as lost anyways, there's nothing they can do to stop the Russian advance or change the reality of the war on that front. So why not take some Russian territory and use it as a buffer to push up with artillery and long range weapons closer to Russia, to continue Ukraine's asymmetric strategy and launch more attacks into Russia, which they did and had some initial success, hitting Russian air bases and destroying some advanced fighter aircraft parked on the ground, as well as destroying many FAB munitions. And hope to hold that territory until autumn or even winter when it will be harder to root them out.
Overall the Kursk offensive militarily was executed a lot better than the previous Ukrainian "counter offensive", which was a disaster. Ukraine pushed up enough to get their artillery and Anti-Aircraft (AA) platforms in position, but not too far ahead as to walk into Russian traps and defence in depth. Getting the AA in position was critical to ensure that Ukrainian convoys did not get massacred by Russian helicopters and close air support like they did in the "counter offensive". Yes Russia did ambush a few convoys, but nothing like the counter offensive.
The question though is yes the Kursk offensive was executed well from a military perspective, but does it make sense in the big picture of the war? With the current frontline partial sector collapse, it's not looking good. The best solution big picture wise would be negotiations, there is nothing Ukraine can do to change the reality of the war, unless they plan on getting full NATO support, which is a extremely unrealistic fantasy. Any option that involves the continuation of fighting is a poor option from the Ukrainian perspective. So I would say the Kursk offensive was the best of the bad options, but still a very bad option. Continuing the war as it was and getting ground down by Russia without doing anything to stop the inevitable also appears to be a poor choice.
Has Russia captured a McDonald's anywhere in Ukraine so far? I'm pretty sure that Mariupol didn't have one. Hexbears come on please find me a pic of some Akhmat guy standing in a captured McDonald's
Li Jiping, a former vice president of China Development Bank, a major policy bank in the country, has been arrested on suspicion of bribery, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Monday.
I think it's now fair to call what's happening in Pokrovsk a big collapse for the AFU, perhaps the biggest since the lines stabilised in late 2022. The whole South Donetsk front has completely broken for the AFU, with barely any fighting units left because of the Kursk adventure and there are barely any fortifications at this point. The Ukrainians in true capitalist fashion gave the contracts for digging fortifications to private entities who stole the money and didn't dig anything beyond the areas close to the January 2024 frontline near Avdiivka, so it's now a big problem when the front has moved 35kms further. Everything that moves into the Donbass goes through Pokrovsk and Myrnograd, and Russians are now 7km from Pokrovsk and 1km from Myrnograd. Pokrovsk is also the gateway into Dnipro Oblast, which is the most valuable Oblast for Ukraine with its farmlands and massive Soviet industry. If Pokrovsk falls before the end of 2024, then Russia will basically be in a position where the entirety of Donetsk Oblast falls in 2025, and they can even rush along the E50 and the railroad straight towards Pavlograd by the end of 2025. It's a horrible situation for the AFU in South Donetsk, everything from Pokovsk to Kurakhove to Ugledar is on the verge of collapsing now.
China accepts U.N. recommendations to improve environmental conflicts in Latin AmericaHexbear Post
China was up for a Universal Periodic Review with the U.N. Human Rights Council, in which other member countries analyzed its actions abroad and provided recommendations to improve.
Some of the most popular concerns were connected to the environmental and social conflicts affecting Latin America, including violence against activists, rushed impact studies and weak oversight of projects ranging from dams and highways to mines and bridges.
China accepted a record ten out of 11 recommendations, giving hope to some that the country will change how it handles future projects in the region. But some critics are concerned that the country won’t keep its word.
i think its good China said its willing to help more in latin america in areas like enviroment and social conflicts, their big push for solar energy shows they care about green policy
NYT with an article on Africa's debt crisis in which they blame. . . China. You see, countries have been "bristling at loan conditions dictated by Western leaders or the International Monetary Fund," because those loan conditions were too damned responsible, so they turned to Chinese loans which came "without environmental, financial or human rights restrictions."
The US government moved to protect its business interests today, issuing a warning to Brazil: "The US Embassy is monitoring the situation between the Supreme Court and the X platform. We reiterate that freedom of expression is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy.
"Due to internal policy, we do not comment on court decisions or legal disputes." In short, it's another lesson on democracy from the nation that overthrows democratically-elected governments in Latin America at an average of 1 per 2.8 years, frequently installing bloody dictatorships in their place.
IOF have launched a large operation in the northern west bank. It seems to include thousands of soldiers and is expected to last several days. The city of Jenin and notably the Jenin hospital, where hospital workers report being unable to access the hospital. Resistance reports destroying military vehicles with remote explosives in Jenin.
This is a developing situation and I am getting info from ME observer telegram channel
Meet the hereditary chief who Amnesty International calls Canada’s first prisoner of conscienceHexbear Post
“The Canadian state has unjustly criminalized and confined Chief Dsta’hyl for defending the land and rights of the Wet’suwet’en people,” Amnesty International’s Ana Piquer stated in a press release. “As a result, Canada joins the shameful list of countries where prisoners of conscience remain under house arrest or behind bars.”
In October 2021, Dsta’hyl was arrested and charged with criminal contempt after confiscating and decommissioning heavy equipment utilized by Coastal GasLink to construct its LNG pipeline on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory. Dsta’hyl said he was enforcing Wet’suwet’en laws as the company did not have the free, prior and informed consent of hereditary chiefs to build the pipeline.
BREAKING: Reports indicate that an American fighter jet may have been shot down over Syria. The pilot reportedly ejected safely and is believed to have landed in territory controlled by pro-Iranian forces. U.S. officials are currently awaiting confirmation on the pilot’s status.
There is also speculation that the downed aircraft might not be American. It could potentially belong to Russian, Turkish, or Israeli forces, but no confirmation has been made regarding the plane’s origin.
Meanwhile, both pro-Assad and Syrian opposition media are reporting that a U.S. Army UAV was downed by pro-Iranian militias over the Deir Ez-Zoor desert. Further details are still emerging.
Photo of the parachute near Deir-Ez-Zor, trapped on powerlines.
Images of the Haditha masscare that the US military tried to keep from the public have been released.
[CW Details of massacre]
spoiler
On the morning of November 19, 2005, a squad of Marines was travelling in four Humvees down a road in the town of Haditha, Iraq, when their convoy hit an I.E.D. The blast killed one Marine, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, and injured two others. What followed would spark one of the largest war-crime investigations in the history of the United States.
During the next several hours, Marines killed twenty-four Iraqi men, women, and children. Near the site of the explosion, they shot five men who had been driving to a college in Baghdad. They entered three nearby homes and killed nearly everyone inside. The youngest victim was a three-year-old girl. The oldest was a seventy-six-year-old man. The Marines would later claim that they were fighting insurgents that day, but the dead were all civilians.
After the killing was over, two other Marines set off to document the aftermath. Lance Corporal Ryan Briones brought his Olympus digital camera. Lance Corporal Andrew Wright had a red Sharpie marker.
Briones and Wright went from site to site, marking bodies with numbers and then photographing them. Other Marines, including one who worked in intelligence, also photographed the scene. By the time they were done, they had made a collection of photographs that would be the most powerful evidence against their fellow-Marines.
Marine bragging about keeping the photos secret:
spoiler
The impact of an alleged war crime is often directly related to the horror of the images that end up in the hands of the public. The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison became an international scandal when graphic photos were published. The Haditha killings had no similar moment. A few of the images that the Marines had made ended up in the public domain, but most have never been released.
In an oral-history interview for the Marine Corps, in 2014, General Michael Hagee, who was the commandant of the Marine Corps at the time of the Haditha killings, bragged about keeping the Haditha photos secret.
“The press never got them, unlike Abu Ghraib,” Hagee said.
The interviewer, Fred Allison, a Marine Corps historian, interjected, “The pictures. They got the pictures. That was what was so bad about Abu Ghraib.”
“Yes,” Hagee replied. “And I learned from that.” He said, “Those pictures today have still not been seen. And so, I’m quite proud of that.”
Nothing will fundamentally change after this election so much to the point that no one is panic buying guns and ammo and manufacturers are lowering prices lol
I've been using ChatGPT to create comments that sound extremely liberal but with a strong pro-Palestine spin. It's really effective for discussions you would otherwise never have, either because you would be banned in no time for answering truthfully or because it's just too much work. Also, I don't have to worry about saying the wrong thing. You know, in Austria, you'll be called antisemitic if you don't literally kiss a picture of Netanyahu to prove otherwise.
I kept getting an ad on FB that literally said, Support Israel by purchasing this product. I reported it as inappropriate political content. I got a Support Messsage today that read, “We didn’t remove the ad.”
Israeli union leader says 'country is on its way to political ruin'
Histadrut labor federation chairman Arnon Bar-David announced at a mass protest in Tel Aviv, “This afternoon, I decided to halt the Israeli economy starting tomorrow morning. Some are upset that I didn’t call for a general strike sooner, but I’m here to ensure no one is left behind. Jews don’t abandon Jews—what’s unclear about that? It’s unacceptable for our children to die in tunnels due to political considerations!”
He added: "We refuse to remain indifferent to the fact that our country has become one of abandonment! The economy has also been abandoned. As head of the Histadrut, the country is on its way to political ruin. We must stop this …coalition money is still going to unneeded ministries. Tomorrow morning, all of Israel will not go to work…including ports, factories, and offices."
The strike will start at 06:00 local time on Monday with Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport closing also.
Vice President Kamala Harris tells DanaBashCNN that if she wins, she will appoint a Republican to her cabinet.
“I’ve got 68 days to go with this election, so I’m not putting the cart before the horse. But…I think it’s really important. I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences. And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”
The fascist Danish People's Party is no longer content with making it ever harder and more expensive to get a citizenship. Now they want to revoke citizenships "retroactively".
"It should be close to impossible to live an Islamic life in Denmark", as their spokesmen says.
Citizens who got their citizenship less than eight years ago should be required to take a test in language and "culture" that is even harder than the one they already passed to get their citizenships. In addition the fascists wants to "review" all citizenships granted for the past 20 years to see if they have committed crime, deporting anyone who might have done so.
Anyone about to be deported, under this policy or any other of the countless racist policies already in place, should be locked up and "made to feel they are in prison". To facilitate this, the fascists wants to create a new ministry of deportation.
The far-right Danish People's Party is not part of the current ruling junta but the entire political spectrum has a long history of legitimising them and adopting their racist ideas.
Making lists of undocumented people getting healthcare:
Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Thursday that requires hospitals in Texas to collect information on the immigration status of patients so that the hospitals can then track costs incurred for the care of undocumented migrants.
Previous guidance for hospitals did not include questions about immigration status. The executive order would mandate the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect this information so that the state of Texas could then bill the federal government.
Not quite as recent news but back in March, the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, tried to require PFLAG, an LGBT support group, to disclose lists of transgender Texans, doctors who work with them, and any plans the organization might have to support trans people going forward. This was blocked thankfully by an Austin court, but I'm sure they're going to try again at some point.
fuck (CIA-controlled) tiktok. Zionists can say genocidal shit and nothing happens to them but I make a comment saying "Zionists are cringe and should be bullied" and it literally was removed within a few seconds of posting.
gosh I hope they can get those polio vaccines to those poor kids in gaza before they get genocided by israel. it's so sad when they get bombed to death AND have polio.
glad they are taking care of the most lethal threat to kids in gaza.
This is a terrible article. The author breathlessly describes how our heckin’ scrappy underdog Ukraine has been able to decimate Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The article actually states that because of these naval victories and the current Ukrainian offensive into Russia that’s its Zelensky who will be dictating the term to Putin and not the other way around (I should point out that this article was written three days ago, and uh… a lot has happened in that time).
But I’m posting it here and not the dunk tank because I think the author stumbled into a couple interesting takes:
I actually don’t doubt that Ukraine has used drones, missles, and small craft to completely decimate the Black Sea Fleet. But what is completely lost on the author is that this is the dawn of a new age in naval warfare. Putin gets it and that’s why the Black Sea Fleet hasn’t ventured out. Yemen - one of the poorest countries on earth - is currently embarrassing the US navy, who has no response to the attacks. Surface navies are done. They’re sitting ducks now. I think in future history books they will talk about the Ukrainian destruction of the Russian fleet in the same way we talk about how the trenches in the Russo-Japanese War were a prelude to the trench warfare of WW1; only in this example WW1 will be more like China sinking the entire US Pacific Fleet in a day with hypersonics and drones (inshallah).
Also, the author postulates that the recent Ukrainian offensive was a ploy to show their allies that you can cross a major Russian red line and not push them to use nukes, thus encouraging them to allow them to have weapons that can strike deep inside Russia. While that’s a pretty bad idea for reasons obvious to everyone here… I think that probably was what Zelensky was thinking.
Further sweeping evacuation orders issued in Ukraine. The Russians are surging forward towards Pokrovsk, capturing many areas intact without much fighting. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces in Kursk seem to have stalled.
Zelensky has declared that he aspires to make Pokrovsk the new Bakhmut, while simultaneously admitting that the war will only end by dialogue. Seems the mood in Ukrainian command is low, and the only solution they can think of is feeding more conscripts into death pits until that somehow creates a position of strength that Ukraine can negotiate from.
Resistance news telegram - 6 hostages found dead in tunnels. Who is to say didn't kill them because they kill everything that breathes and are spinning.
Today, the IOF published the identities of six dead settler captives who were found in Rafah, in southern #Gaza, not more than two days ago.
While the IOF claims that it came across the bodies in a tunnel in Rafah, and that no resistance fighters were in the area, the circumstances of these captives’ death are likely no different than any others’: Since October 7, the IOF has bombed, suffocated, starved, and even shot its own captives to death as part of its brutal assault on the #Gaza Strip. Netanyahu and his accomplices have determined that the continuation of the genocide war against Palestinians in Gaza is more valuable to them than the return of any captives.
While other captives’ bodies have been recovered previously, the recovery of six at once has sent shockwaves across the zionist entity. Notably, former zionist prime minister Ehud Olmert publicly called for wide protests, asserting that Netanyahu does not seek to return the captives alive and must be overthrown.
Zionist opposition leader Yair Lapid blamed Netanyahu for the six captives’ deaths directly, saying “they were alive,” indicating that they could have been returned to their families safely if a deal had been reached with the resistance in Gaza. The current president of the zionist entity issued a public apology to the families of the dead captives, admitting that their efforts to return them alive had “failed.”
While the entity continues to sink deeper into the quagmire of Gaza and break under the weight of its own contradictions, the resistance rising all across Palestine has been clear since the beginning: "The price we will take for five living prisoners or ten is the same price we would have taken for all prisoners had they not been killed by the enemy's bombing operations."
If Trump and the Republicans lose the election, and Ukraine loses the war during Kamala's term, then all the NATO-stans are going to crawl out of the woodwork and blame Germany for the loss.
100% certain this is going to happen. The Germans have suffered humiliation after humiliation in this conflict, and this would be the perfect cherry to top everything off.
Mohammad Jaber, nicknamed Abu Shuja' (Father of the Brave), survived 4 previous assassination attempts
He was imprisoned for 5 years in Zionist dungeons, and right upon being released, founded the Tulkarem Brigade, as a branch of the PIJ in Palestine. Thanks to him, resistance factions grew rapidly and in coordination, all joining hands in the same trench, as the Rapid Response Brigade later joined the movement alongside the resistance in Jenin and Nablus. The new recent uprising in West Bank resistance is the fruit of his efforts and sacrifices
Abu Shuja' hails from Nur Shams Refugee Camp, born in 1998 to parents who were expelled from Haifa in the genocide of 1948, and lived a patriotic life since his upbringing - imprisoned for the first time at 17 years old. His brother was martyred by a Zionist bullet during an incursion into the camp, and his family's home was blown up by the ZionNazi army - the family was left to seek refuge at their neighbors' residences in the camp
He had been suffering an injury in the hand due to an accidental explosion of an IED while he was preparing it, and PA security forces attempted to kidnap him from the hospital - a large mass of Tulkarem people, including women and children, rushed to the hospital and protected him, bringing him back to the camp as a hero raised on the shoulders of his Brigadiers
Today, we bid farewell to a heroic martyr, one man who shook the security of the Zionist state, and built the new foundations of resistance in an exhausted West Bank - planting a rose of resistance in the ashes of the North 🌹
196 is such a fucking bad subreddit lol. Bunch of weirdos, at least some years ago there were some funny memes. Recently they just post garbage and wants to force people to vote for Biden/Kamala. Treating Palestinians bad. The subreddit is so neoliberal and Pro-US that they were reposting tweets made by Bolsonarists politicians talking about twitter. The even posted some tweets from the politician that is being currently investigated for being transphobic inside the congress.
CW: Transphobia
The guy, who a lot of people believe is gay and just pretends to be straight to not be kicked out of the far-right party, decided to enter congress and wear a wing, saying that now he is a "woman", just to mock the trans politicians and people. The thing is that basically everyone, even inside his party, got pissed at this, saying that he was wasting the time of congress with this garbage. And considering that recently, Lula da Silva signed a law that equates Lgbtq+phobia with the crime of Racism/Xenophobia, the guy could lose his seat in congress for being a transphobic asshole.
Leader of the Ansarullah resistance movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, has said it is “a great honor and blessing to be confronting America directly.”
The attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes. Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.
Free Palestine TV's correspondent Obada Tahayne speaks to fleeing residents of Damj Neighbourhood in Jenin Camp about their situation since the Zionist military invaded four days ago.
However, I am a bit skeptical of the readings, as many other weather stations in the region reporting much lower dew points at the time of the reading, mostly in the upper 80s.
[Microclimates can cause this. I have no productive familiarity with the local patterns but these readings could be accurate despite their regional variance, generally speaking.]
However, a historic heatwave is occurring across much of the Middle East, and one weather station in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia—which currently holds the world record dew point of 95°F (35°C)—has recorded a dew point as high as 93°F (33.9°C) in recent days
I've now been accused on of being "a fed". For...checks notes...opposing Democrats and their genocide. I may have completed my Reddit achievement list, IDK.
looks inside
/u/ziggurter (potential fed) and 5 commies cat fighting the same brigade of liberals and concern trolls every thread
Reading that the handful of F-16s are steadily being picked off, that there's less than half of the m1 Abrams tanks still combat effective since their official deployment and that Ukrainian armorers are wielding cope cages to the top of them and bradleys gives me a sense of smug satisfaction at the thought of the proverbial daggers being twisted in the guts of the ukro-propagandists as material reality crashes into their thought palaces like wrecking balls.
A very minor twinge of satisfaction, yet one I'll happily accept in this tired morning.
So Trinidad and Tobago held an open podium style town hall on what to do with remaining colonialist/imperialist statues, symbols, etc. Things like a Christopher Columbus status and the coat-of-arms. It took 62 years post independence to make it happen but I guess it's happening now? Why not earlier is what I want to know.
Some suggested a prominent Columbus statue be placed in a museum. Others requested it be destroyed and that people be allowed to stomp on the dusty remains. One man encouraged officials to round up statues of colonial figures and create a “square of the infamous.”
The public hearing was held just a week after the government announced it would redraw the nation’s coat of arms to remove Christopher Columbus’ three famous ships — the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa María – and replace it with the steelpan, a popular percussion instrument that originated in the Caribbean nation.
Hell yeah now we're talking.
Others pushed for further changes on Wednesday night.
“What the hell is the queen still doing on top of the coat of arms? Please let us put her to rest,” said Eric Lewis, who identifies as a member of the First Peoples, also known as Amerindians.
Looking at all the countries with the union jack on there for no reason other than they were colonized once by the brits. I think only Hawaii gets a pass since it's there to snub the USA. Put it to rest!
“We stumbling and tripping over heroes,” he said. “To have produced so much genius, and that lineage is nowhere present in the landscape.”
Among the suggestions of people to honor was Nobel Prize-winning author V.S. Naipaul; Cyril Lionel Robert James, a historian and journalist; and Kwame Ture, who helped spearhead the Black Power movement in the U.S. Others suggested that prominent Amerindians and more local women be honored, including Patricia Bishop, an educator and musician and Beryl McBurnie, a teacher credited with promoting and saving Caribbean dance.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva says that Elon Musk “has to respect the rules of this country”. “Who does he think he is?”, commented the Brazilian president on the South African billionaire's decision not to comply with the ruling of Brazil's Supreme Court.
This article by the FT (archive) about the Pokrovsk situation is nothing but bad news for the Ukrainian war effort and barely any attempt is made to suggest this could be turned around. Some excerpts:
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst at the Kyiv-based Information Resistance group, called the situation on the eastern edge of Pokrovsk “a complete defensive failure”.
“The trenches in front of Novohrodivka were empty. There was practically no Ukrainian army in the once 20,000-strong city,” she [MP Mariana Bezuhla] wrote in a scathing post.
In fact, Russian forces have advanced more rapidly in Donetsk since August 6 compared with the previous months, according to several military analysts, including Deep State, a Ukrainian group with close ties to Ukraine’s defence ministry that monitors frontline movements.
“There is complete chaos,” said Deep State’s Roman Pohorilyi pointing to the fall of key towns such as Novohrodivka and the looming threat to Pokrovsk.
“Ukraine committed reserves to Kursk, leaving fewer options to plug gaps elsewhere. Some of the more experienced brigades have been replaced by newer, less experienced units,” Lee said.
Soldiers who were mobilised this summer following the Ukrainian government’s new conscription laws meant to fill Kyiv’s dwindling ranks have been sent into the fray with little training or experience.
“They freeze . . . they don’t know what to do in real combat,” said a lieutenant whose troops are on the frontline near Pokrovsk. Many “turn and run at the first explosion”.
Soldiers in artillery units near Pokrovsk also highlighted a deficit in shells and a severe mismatch in firepower compared to Russian forces.
“Our shells are running out. We just don’t have enough,” said an artillery commander, noting that many resources had been redirected north to Kursk. For about the past month, his unit has had one shell for every six to eight fired by the Russians.
Russian forces, meanwhile, maintain a significant tactical advantage, bolstered by superior aviation and drone capabilities as well as in artillery, the CDS think-tank said.
So their command lost control, there are not enough people to man the trenches, the press-ganged slaves are less than helpful, Russia has more ammo, drones, air power, everything; and they made this worse by diverting all the good stuff to Kursk.
It hasn't been so over for Ukraine since the initial weeks of the SMO. According to good Telegram sources, Russians have now rapidly advanced in Selydove, entered Myrnograd, and it seems like the entirety of Grodovka is gone. On paper, Selydove and Grodovka should be the places where the Ukrainians try to mount a final defence and try to slow down the RF before having the big battles in Pokrovsk, Myrnograd and later Kurakhove. But the whole defence has collapsed again for the third time in less than 48 hours. Russia already entering Myrnograd is insane progress for even the most optimistic Russian Telegrammer in the world, this battle wasn't even expected before spring 2025.
Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) has already notified more than 20,000 internet operators in Brazil to suspend X (formerly Twitter) in the next few hours. Elon Musk has backed down and is negotiating with Alexandre de Moraes to avoid the blockade in Brazil.
The Danish monarchy claims to have ended the practice of receiving gifts from private business and has begun publishing a list of official gifts.
Among the surprisingly short list of gifts this year are:
Two bottles of liquor and a greeting from Xi Jinping sent from the Chinese embassy for the Kings birthday. Apparently this was his only official birthday present
A rain coat and a fleece jacket, given by the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland
"Two French hats with printed names and a scarf" given by the Mayor of a French town
I'm suspicious about how sincere the whole thing about not accepting gifts from private business anymore. One of the most important functions of the monarchy, albeit not a very public one, has been as facilitators of an exclusive business network for the haute bougeoisie. Access to this network has been understood to be predicated on discreetly giving gifts to the royals. Now that can not be done in the same way so I wonder how this will affect the relationship between business and the monarchy.
Argentina and the United States sign memorandum of understanding to strengthen production of "critical minerals" such as lithium that are essential for the energy transition.
Argentina and the United States on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the production of “critical minerals” essential for the energy transition. The agreement, inked in Buenos Aires on Thursday, was signed by Argentina’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and US Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment José Fernández, who is on a regional tour.
The accord ensures deeper cooperation on the mining of metals such as lithium, of which Argentina has the world's third-largest reserves. The two nations want to “deepen bilateral cooperation on critical minerals and energy, as well as Argentina's participation in US strategic supply chains,” said Argentina’s Foreign Ministry in a statement.
It will “promote trade and investment between the countries of the participants in critical mineral resource exploration, extraction, processing and refining, and recycling and recovery.”
“The goal is to increase awareness of investment opportunities and identify potential co-financing opportunities for critical mineral investments,” said President Javier Milei’s government.
“By signing this Memorandum, the United States and Argentina are advancing their shared interest in supporting the energy transition and deploying clean energy technologies,” the US government said in a separate release.
Washington has already signed similar deals on the production of minerals, including nickel and cobalt, with other countries in the region, such as Peru and Chile.
Chile, along with Bolivia and Argentina, is part of the so-called “lithium triangle,” an area that could contain more than half of the world's lithium reserves, according to experts. In 2023, Argentina ranked as the world's fourth-largest producer of the metal, behind Australia, Chile and China, according to data from the US Geological Survey.
Fourth largest lithium reserves up for grabs, completely for free. The United States are getting their sweet lithium and all they had to do was talk with milei for a little while. Back in the day, when they wanted resources AT LEAST they would park two carrier strike groups in your national waters, threaten you with Tomahawk missiles and fly spy planes over your country 24/7.
An essential element for the energy transition, lithium is key to the batteries of electric cars and smartphones. The Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires said the deal highlighted “Argentina's potential as a reliable supplier of strategic resources.”
“Collaboration with the United States is expected to continue in order to ensure the supply of key minerals for energy security as well as working together so that our country occupies a relevant place in the value chains of this new industry,” it concluded.
The Brazilian and Colombian governments issued a joint statement saying that they "take notice" of Thursday's Supreme Court ruling (ratifying the electoral results) but that the publication of results broken down by voting center remains key for the "credibility" of the electoral process. Ended the statement by reiterating "total opposition" to ongoing unilateral sanctions against Venezuela
AMLO basically said the same thing. I think AMLO recently also told the US to fuck off, Mexico will continue trade with Cuba, and that the US embargo can't be enforced in Mexico because it's unconstitutional
(EN) Al-Quds Brigades (PIJ) raiding a building where Zionist enemy soldiers were fortified, behind the University Faculty in the Tal al-Hawa quarter, south of Gaza city, Palestine. (CW: Gunfire)
Dated: 28/08/2024
The minister of the Supreme Federal Court, Alexandre de Moraes (Conservative Judge that REALLY hates Bolsonaro and the Far-Right people), summoned via social media "X", formerly Twitter, to inform the name and qualifications of the new legal representative in the country, something that is mandatory. Otherwise, the social network may be taken offline in Brazil.
Alexandre de Moraes subpoenas Elon Musk and threatens to take X offline in 24 hours. Minister Alexadre de Moraes issued a subpoena against Elon Musk, and threatened to take X offline if the company doesn't comply with orders within 24 hours.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), issued a subpoena against the owner of X, Elon Musk. In the document released on Wednesday evening (28/8), the magistrate orders the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours, under penalty of taking the platform offline if the decision is not complied with.
Large Ukrainian convoy (dozens of what appear to be cargo/troop trucks) hit by multiple missiles in Sumy. Probably on the way to reinforce the Kursk (Cursed) offensive.
my friend from china uses hello talk, which is a languaga axchange app (basically you tutor each other), and this american dude asked to be tutored by her. the catch is, he doesn't know any chinese at all, and he kept being a weirdo, so she made him praise mao lol. she posted these screenshots on her WeChat moments:
thought i'd share with y'all, just something i found funny
Tulsi is now part of wet boy transition team. I must confess I had believed in her early in the 2020 primary, I thought she is a staunch antiwar candidate, she was pro Medicare for All, she is vegetarian, she supported Bernie in '16 and she hated Hillary. At the time there was an argument that Bernie might be too old for 2 terms, I thought Tulsi would be a decent alternative. I even donated $10 to her early campaign. Obviously, as the primary went on and I saw she didn't have a path to victory, I stopped supporting her and donated my labor to volunteer for Bernie instead.
Fuckin' hell, I didn't know she's part of an insane cult and drank one too many Joe Rogan griftoid alpha brain, now she's an anti-trans, anti-woke, chud.
So, I was checking Twitter before all the Brazilians were kickedout. And it seems that some Bolsonarist politicians were saying that they were going to freeze congress to force an impeachment of Alexandre de Moraes.
Firstly, if they do this, it would be great for Lula da Silva, as Alexandre de Moraes is a conservative judge, and it would give Lula the opportunity to choose another ally for the court. Secondly, a deadlock is unconstitutional and would be considered an attempt at a legislative coup.
Lula da Silva could literally declare a “GLO” (Guarantee of Law and Order), which means that the army would be allowed to close the Congress to ensure the protection of democracy (Pretty sure it already happened during the Counter-Coup/Democratic Coup of 1955). And since Brazil doesn't have mid-term elections, Lula da Silva would practically rule for another 2 years without a congress.
The EU’s Red Sea naval mission Aspides reports that MV Sounion, the ship that was hit by a major Houthi attack, is still on fire but not spilling oil.
It said “multiple fires have been detected in several locations on the main deck of the vessel” but warships in the area have confirmed that “there’s no oil spill, and the ship is still anchored and not drifting.”
The Houthis said yesterday that they had agreed to allow the Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, to be towed away from the area.
On 26th August, 2024, Denmark announced that it would be shutting down its embassies in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Bamako, Mali. But Copenhagen said it also intends to open three new ones - in Senegal, Rwanda and Tunisia. This is part of its new strategy in Africa, which includes appointing special representatives for the Sahel and the Great Lakes region of the continent. Denmark also wants to strengthen its presence within Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.
There was speculation that a Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed during the Russian air raids on Monday, here is confirmation from the US. I am unable to archive the article due to the website's bot detection, so I'll post the entirety of it below.
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a crash on Monday, according to a U.S. official, just weeks after the first of the American-made aircraft arrived in Ukraine.
Initial reports indicate the jet wasn’t shot down by enemy fire, although the incident occurred during a massive Russian missile barrage across the country on Monday, the official said. Rather, the crash was likely a result of pilot error.
rest of the article, contains liberal cope
Ukraine used the jets for the first time in combat to shoot down Russian missiles during the strikes this week, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian Air Force wouldn’t confirm the crash or the status of the pilot. The Pentagon referred questions to the Ukrainian Air Force for comment.
The news that one of Ukraine’s few F-16s has been destroyed is a major blow to Kyiv, which had pleaded for the jets for months before President Biden finally gave the green light for European countries to transfer the aircraft last year.
Kyiv hopes the advanced Western aircraft will give its forces an edge on the battlefield, particularly to shoot down incoming Russian missiles and help protect troops on the front lines. But they are also vulnerable to Russian air defense missiles and present a high-value target for Moscow’s forces.
Zelensky announced on Aug. 4 that the first of 80 promised F-16s had arrived in Ukraine. The Ukrainian air Force didn’t provide numbers, but a second U.S. official said a total of six aircraft had arrived and Ukraine has six pilots trained to fly them.
...
So that's now five F-16s left, and five (or four if the reports of the other F-16 pilot being killed are correct, Russian media reports striking two F-16s in a hangar in Western Ukraine) pilots left for Ukraine at the moment. And this is after just one sortie where the F-16s were used to intercept cruise missiles. The Ukrainian F-16s were not even exposed to enemy fire! I guess the pilots recieved inadequate training and were rushed to the defensive lines. Either that or Russia destroyed it while it was on the ground during the air raids. It was reported that Russia bombed one of the airfields where F-16 aircraft were suspected to be stationed at.
Kalivka has fallen, opening up the southern road from Donetsk City straight up into Selydowe and Pokrovs (40 minute drive) gving russia the "Inner lines" and me the oportunity to draw a big arrow
Does anybody have any info/takes on free speech in the USSR? Particularly in the lead up to collapse? I was thinking about authoritarian crack downs on things like free speech, the recent thing with the Telegram guy, the arrest of various activists for nothing. And I understand there have always been infringements on these rights, assassinations, and all that. But lately it seems to be getting more blatant, rushed, and inconsistent.
Chud twitter is quating this with communism.
On the left this sort of thing seems to be equated with fascism
But like, isn't this just a symptom of a panicked ruling class, narrative loss, and incoming collapse? Did something similar genuinely happen in the USSR, especially toward the end, or was it a complete western invention? This is a difficult thing to research because of course you're going to get propaganda from every angle.
I'm on 4 hours of sleep and 20 mg of gummies so I apologize if this was a stupid question
Small 5.3 earthquake in central-south portugal today, I happened to catch it because I woke up at 5:10 to urinate, so far no big damages.
Last big destructive earthquake was an 8 in 1969 and historically everyone learns about the 1755 on in school and some people have kind of a prepper "the next big one is coming" mentality because of it.
Ukrainian sources saying that an F16 was shot down by Patriot Missile system friendly fire. The source is Ukrainian MP from Zelenskyy’s party, Mariana Bezuglaya.
She seems to be from the faction that is trying to pass bills to authorize execution of deserters and is constantly attacking Syrsky and other generals for being too weak on Russia.
Not sure if this is just another cope like “it crashed due to pilot error” to avoid giving any credit to Russians
‘Let those who want to pray do so in the church they consider their own,’ he said. On Sunday, Pope Francis demanded that no Christian church be abolished “directly or indirectly” in Ukraine following the approval of a law that prohibits ties with the Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate.
“Churches must not be touched,” declared the Argentine pontiff after the recitation of the Sunday Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
Francis acknowledged before the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square that he continues to “follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation” and expressed his concern “for the freedom of those who pray” following “the recently approved regulations in Kyiv.”
“Anyone who truly prays, prays for everyone. No harm is done by praying, and if someone commits harm against their people, they will be guilty of that, but they cannot have done wrong by praying. Therefore, let those who want to pray do so in the church they consider their own… Please, let no Christian church be suppressed directly or indirectly. Churches must not be touched,” Francis said.
On August 20, the Ukrainian Parliament approved a law that prohibits the operation of religious organizations with strong ties to Russia, paving the way for a possible ban on the activities of the Orthodox Church.
The law will come into effect 30 days after the Parliament publishes the text. From that moment, parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will have a period of nine months to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.
The goal of the Ukrainian authorities is to advance what has been termed “Spiritual Independence” and cut ties with Patriarch Kirill, who yesterday appealed to Pope Francis for support for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, views the church linked to Moscow as an appendage of the Kremlin aimed at weakening the Ukrainian cause and promoting pro-Russian ideology.
I was thinking about following up on fashionable concerns regarding Ukraine in 2022. Where are we now with some of these things which seemed imminent back then? Hope these aren't stupid questions, but it is fun to look back and assess which things actually ended up being important, and which were just the news of the moment.
Inflation in Russia and inflation in Europe. Anyone knowledgeable in the raw economic data able to say how this is going in both regions? Clearly Russia has not collapsed, but has the EU collapsed either? Are we going to see the EU propped up by debt crises in other countries? Weren't the destructions of Nordstream 1 and 2 followed by import of US LNG supposed to wreck European industry?
Emigration or stagnation of EU industries. I recall headlines about BASF downsizing in Europe due to unfavorable energy prices. Has this trend continued in general?
Ukrainian farmlands becoming unusable due to leftover mines and depleted uranium rounds. Suppose Russia permanently takes all of Donbas, do they now have to deal with a line of unusable previously arable land?
What's the Ukraine/Russia grain export deal looking like in the Black Sea these days?
What's Prigozhin up to these days? Oh.. you're just telling me this for the first time...
Today/Tomorrow we might look at a full blown rout of the Southern Ukrainian group , Karlivka has just Fallen today and now Russia is Allready in Ukrainske , with the fall of Karlivka they now have nly a 40 minute drive from Donetsk City into the back of the Ukrainian defense Fortifications .. Meaning they can now just "Pour in" , and it looks like they do.
"Balochistan Liberation Army" kills dozens of Pakistanis in multiple simultaneous terrorist attacks.
"Vehicles traveling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot,"
...
Meanwhile, another five people were killed in a night-long clash between militants and police on the National Highway in Qalat district.
Separately, local police found four bullet-riddled bodies in the mountains of Bolan district.
Armed assailants also stormed and took control of a police station in the province's Mastung district for several hours.
...
Meanwhile, a bomb blast in the Bolan district destroyed a key railway bridge, killing two people and halting rail traffic between Balochistan and other provinces.
Balochistan Liberation Army, an outlawed separatist group, in a statement to local media, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
I've been fairly happy with my minimum diet of videos from small channels that I subbed, with extensions such as Replace Youtube Home with Subscriptions and Clickbait Remover my youtube has been protected from the algorithm, clickbait, and all that cancerous youtube meta. However, I got covid and had to self-isolate for the last couple days. It had been a fairly slow news day IRL (other than the tragic ongoing genocide in Gaza, there is only so much murder of children one can watch in a day) and I'm too sick to work from home so I removed my extensions and decided to consoom some internet content slop.
Over the last day I've been engrossed in absolute kitsch trashfire that is boogie2988 faking cancer for internet clout. tldr; the supposedly wholesome early youtuber is now in debt because of crypto, he then promoted some meme coin, got called out, argue that he need the money to pay for his cancer, got called out again, couldn't prove he had cancer, got a face tattoo as a punishment, and now he's making livestream content picking trash on the side of Arkansas highway shirtless as "community service". It was like oh my god, what has youtube/stream space come into, I'm pretty shocked - I was a couple years/months/weeks late to this new internet content meta, I guess I had nowhere to share my state of shock regarding the state of internet content than here.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes bans the use of VPNs to access X under penalty of a R$50,000 fine
Before the platform was suspended, users of the network were already discussing the possible use of a private network to access the application
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered on Friday (30) the suspension of X (formerly Twitter) throughout Brazil. Before X was suspended, users of the network were already discussing the possible use of a VPN (virtual private network) to access the application after the suspension.
The VPN mechanism allows a user to browse web pages without the access provider being able to trace which country the connection is being made from. Moraes, however, banned the use of VPNs to access the app. In addition to the ban, Moraes ordered a daily fine of R$50,000 if any natural or legal person uses VPN services to access X.
A fine of R$50,000 will be imposed on natural and legal persons who engage in conduct involving the use of technological subterfuges to continue communications through “X”, such as the use of a VPN ('virtual private network'), without prejudice to other civil and criminal sanctions, in accordance with the law,” said Moraes.
Some more news from the front. The most notable of which is that reports are coming in that Russian forces have liberated the small Donetsk People's Republic city of Novogrodovka, which is located southeast of the larger Kiev-occupied DPR city of Krasnoarmeysk.
Downing Street officials prepare plan for announcing death of Larry the cat. Government sources told The Times that a press release and graphics are drafted “ready for the sad day he goes”.
Pictures, selected to be published upon news of his death, are reportedly stored in folders on the No 10 IT system as part of a plan to inform the public. The cat, who was adopted from Battersea Cats Home, was first brought into Downing Street by David Cameron as a pet for his children and has since outlasted five prime ministers.
While one source said that, at present, Larry is “doing OK”, another said: “We felt it had to be handled so sensitively.”
Elon Musk's Starlink criticizes Alexandre de Moraes' “illegal” decision to block the company's accounts and says it will continue to provide internet services in Brazil. “Starlink is committed to defending your rights as protected by your Constitution,” he said.
Elon Musk: "The tyrant, Alexandre, is dictator of Brazil. Lula is his lapdog."
Meanwhile, Brazil's congress is currently pushing for more restrictions on social media, especially those controlled by foreign investors.
I was dreaming that the newest generation of South Africans was just a tad more radicalised and demanded that Glencore immediately suspend coal shipments to isnotreal, else they would burn down their corporate office in Johannesburg; ideally with the executives still inside,
Can any Ukraine watchers tell me if the fascist regiments absorbed into the AFU are taking less losses than the rest of the AFU. I keep trying to understand why Ukraine is dragging this war on, and outside of the normal reason, one of the thing so have been wondering is whether the fascists in government are using the war as a way to rid itself of opposition.
I had asked this question in askchapo a while ago but a recent comment here from @refolde@hexbear.net reminded me to ask again: Has there at any point in history been a positive turn in a public figure? The closest I can find is Emperor Puyi who was forced to rehabilitate. Has anyone suddenly gained a conscience and stopped doing evil stuff? You know, like a based version of St. Paul?
The FAMa carried out air strikes in the Tinzawatèn area, on the border with Algeria, allegedly neutralizing around twenty armed men.
According to the army, the "precision" attack targeted "terrorist" elements.
Azawad rebels and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) said the attack left 21 civilians dead, including several children. (the source I use ENTRE GUERRAS had pictures of the dead children)
Some of the wounded were taken to Algerian territory, according to local sources.
As agonizing as it is, I'm inclined to agree making the confrontation more direct wouldn't necessarily improve the situation. Clearer minds need make difficult decisions.
Interesting point from Simplicius (chud with decent military analysis) about the collapse of the Donbas front
But my contention is that, if and when we start seeing multiple Ukrainian fronts collapsing at the same time, that will be the final siren song notifying us that the ‘snowball effect’ has truly begun and that Russian manpower is now overwhelmingly superior as a generality. That’s because as a last desperation move, Ukraine would be forced to pull forces from other fronts just to plug holes to keep from being entirely overrun and surrounded. The fact they’re not necessarily doing this yet likely means there are still some reserves available. When those reserves run out, it can create a cascading effect where reserves are pulled from other fronts, and then those fronts subsequently begin collapsing just as fast as the Pokrovsk one. Only then can we say that the AFU’s final stanza has begun.
We are not yet seeing a general collapse which means Ukraine must have some ability to manage unit rotations and some reserves left. Wait for two or more ongoing collapses before calling it curtains.
VP Delcy Rodríguez is at the electric grid "headquarters" in eastern Venezuela overseeing the restoration of the power supply following today's nationwide blackout. The government pointed the finger at a sabotage attack against the transmission system
Guri Dam and the majestic Caroní River (which meets the Orinoco 100km downstream). This massive hydroelectric plant, finished in 1986, is the main source of electricity in Venezuela. And that's a problem.
With Guri being responsible for 80% or more of the country's electricity (there's no official data on this but it's more or less assumed), it becomes an obvious target. Like we saw in 2019 and again today, an issue at Guri can leave the whole country in the dark
TV detectives always talk about "means, motive and opportunity." The far-right opp. certainly has the motive, the means and opportunity still need to be clarified b/c this is highly strategic infrastructure. Though the situation was quickly solved,it still exposed a vulnerability
And beyond investigating today's alleged attack, meting out justice and reinforcing defenses, there is still a larger debate about Venezuela's electric grid and the outsized dependence on Guri. This did not start now, not even in 2019, but was exposed as a major issue in 2009
A major electrical crisis showed that, w/ the country's fast growth, there just wasn't enough electrical generation to keep up. The Chávez government put forward an ambitious plan to rapidly improve Venezuela's electric infrastructure, w/ dozens of new generation sources planned
The plan did bring short-term relief but many major works were never completed as the economic crisis, corruption issues and later US sanctions got in the way.This included plants that would have lessened the dependence on Guri for the westernmost states (which are farthest away)
The infrastructure works also included a number of thermoelectric plants to provide backup for the Guri Dam. However, US sanctions specifically targeted the oil sector and swap deals that provided diesel, which remains carefully rationed given its importance for agriculture
German Kiczka is a member of the political coalition that brought President Milei to power.
Article CW: Pedo
On Wednesday night, the police in the province of Corrientes captured German Kiczka, a former provincial legislator from Misiones who had been on the run since August 22.
This politician, who is a member of the coalition that brought President Javier Milei to power, faces charges related to the production and distribution of child pornography. His arrest took place in the town of Loreto, near the border with Misiones.
This action follows days of intense searching and the issuance of an Interpol red notice due to suspicions that Kiczka might flee to neighboring countries.
His arrest occurs in the context of “Digital Guardians for Childhood,” a police operation that began after reports were filed by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), which revealed criminal connections between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
The text reads, “A U.S. NGO was quicker than Minister Bullrich to detect German Kiczka, the libertarian pedophile legislator, who was in Casa Rosada two weeks ago. Shame!” The video shows current Security Ministry Sandra Bullrich asking citizens to vote for Kiczka.”
Recently, the Misiones Chamber of Deputies approved the removal of German Kiczka’s parliamentary immunity, allowing for his arrest and prosecution on these serious charges.
“Paula Wachter, director of the NGO Red de Infancia, revealed that the legislator’s involvement in this criminal network was identified through his social media activity, where a YouTube magic channel was used to lure and seduce minors,” the newspaper InfoBaires24 recalled.
“The Kiczka case is not the first in Argentina where the complicity of officials with criminal networks has been observed. Wachter recalled the Loan case, where agents of the Federal Police were involved in a human trafficking network for sexual exploitation purposes.”
Wachter emphasized that these criminal organizations “operate with a worrying level of impunity, fueled by their ability to infiltrate key sectors.
With the inauguration of Mexico's new congress, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador's so-called “Plan C” has begun its legislative approval phase.
The main point of this plan is the judicial reform, which proposes direct elections for judicial positions. The reform also includes reducing the number of Supreme Court judges from 11 to 9, with terms of 8, 11 and 15 years, depending on the number of votes they receive.
Another point is the abolition of various regulatory and control agencies, such as INAE, the National Institute of Social Economy. The qualified majority of the ruling Morena party, together with its allies in the Chamber of Deputies, the Green Ecologist Party and the Labor Party, is enough to pass the reform.
In the Senate, the ruling coalition is one vote away from securing a qualified majority as well, following the accession of two PRD senators, who were left without a bench after the party failed to pass the barrier clause. Many are already taking it for granted that there will be a defection if the government secures a majority in the Senate.
The mechanism through which all concessions in history have been extracted has been fear. Anyone seeking concessions who is acting truly strategically should support those who generate the most fear. The problem with socdems and radlibs is that they're mostly not acting very strategically. They do not understand the mechanism or that increasing the forces to the left of them is the necessary pressure that ultimately achieves the goals they have.
The last few months I haven't been following what's happening between Israel and Hezbollah closely. On the scale of 1 to 10 - how likely do you think war is?
In the absence of a representative for X in Brazil, the STF (Supreme Federal Court of Brazil) blocked financial resources from Elon Musk's Starlink. Supreme Court Judge, Alexandre de Moraes, considered the existence of a “de facto economic group” under Musk’s command and, on August 18, ordered the freezing of all financial assets of this group in Brazil.
The objective is to guarantee the payment of fines applied by the Brazilian Justice against the X network. All Starlink executives in Brazil have already been notified and summoned to also respond for the amounts owed to the Brazilian courts by the X network.
Businessman Elon Musk has decided to close the X office in Brazil, it was announced on the 17th. The reason for this is that the company does not agree with the fines imposed by the Supreme Court, nor with the order to remove content published by users on the social network that contravenes the Democratic Rule of Law and Brazilian legislation.
Since then, Justice Alexandre de Moraes has requested that the businessman establish a legal representative to officially answer for the platform's actions. The owner of social network X, Elon Musk, published an image produced by artificial intelligence mocking Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The post, which compares the minister to villains from Star Wars and Harry Potter, was made on the social network at 1:39 am Brasília time.
Earlier, the minister gave Elon Musk 24 hours to appoint a new legal representative for X in Brazil. Moraes set a deadline for compliance with this requirement and warned that if the order is not followed, the social network could face the suspension of its operations in the country.
In the publication, the billionaire used a photo produced by the artificial intelligence Grok, of which he is the owner. The artificial intelligence model is a competitor of ChatGPT. In the image, the STF minister appears in a robe holding two lightsabers - a reference to the Star Wars film franchise. He also has his eyes made up. Lord Voldemort is the main villain in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The Sith are an order of warriors who follow the “dark side of the force” in the Star Wars universe.
It was apparent early on that the Ukrainian air force would assign the F-16s to air-defense duty. They’ve been seen flying with pairs of AIM-9 infrared-guided air-to-air missiles and AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles. They haven’t been seen with air-to-ground ordnance, even though they are widely compatible with Ukraine’s best Western-made anti-radar missiles and GPS-guided glide bombs.
I thought they didn't have fully trained pilots yet?
Going on record as team nothing ever happens with the Prokhorovka direction and the collapse of the Donbas line. I think it’s too big and too defensible to fall quickly or to abandon without a fight. No big arrows until spring at least by which time Ukraine has a new army and some kind of next defensive line has been built.
Argentina’s Milei to veto pension reform to push through austerity measures - Al Jazeraa
The Senate defied the president by approving a pension increase to match the country’s triple-digit inflation rate.
Article
Argentina’s President Javier Milei is set to veto a pension reform passed by the Senate in a move that is likely to widen the rift between the libertarian leader and the opposition-controlled Congress.
The Senate defied Milei to push through an increase to pension spending in line with the country’s triple-digit inflation, dealing a blow to his tough austerity programme.
The bill, which swept through the lower house in June, was passed by a 61-8 vote in the Senate on Thursday. All but one of the lawmakers who voted against the measure were from Milei’s party, a sign that the president’s allies had failed to negotiate with centrist parties.
Lawmakers could override his veto by passing the law with a two-thirds majority again. “[The bill’s] only objective was to destroy the government’s economic programme,” Milei’s office said in a statement on X, as it would have required spending an extra 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
“The president promised Argentines that he would maintain a fiscal surplus at all costs, and he will,” his office said. Milei took office in December with strict austerity measures as part of a bid to tackle rampant inflation in the face of rising poverty now hitting half of the population.
He has promised to strike down legislation that undermines his “zero deficit” plan. “Anything that goes against public accounts will be vetoed,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Thursday. The bruising defeat for the president once again highlighted his weakness in Congress, where leftist and centrist lawmakers hold sway.
Because Milei’s party controls less than 15 percent of Congress – and just seven of the Senate’s 72 seats – he has largely relied on sweeping executive decrees to slash public spending and deregulate the economy.
Last week, Congress struck down a presidential decree that would have multiplied the intelligence budget, arguing those funds could be used for more urgent social needs.
After six months in office, Milei managed to secure his first legislative victory in June, when his economic reform bill narrowly passed the Senate as thousands of protesters clashed with police.
But the pension law, which sets more than an 8 percent increase in retirement benefits this year, threatened to revive investors’ fears about the ability of the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” to implement his radical agenda.
In the first six months of the year, Milei has managed to achieve an extremely rare fiscal surplus by slashing state spending, halting public works projects and cutting revenue transfers to provinces.
“The pension reform passed today is particularly sensitive because it partially impacts the core of Milei’s fiscal programme,” said Marcelo J Garcia, director for the Americas at Horizon Engage, a New York-based political risk consulting firm.
“What most concerns investors is that this negative streak is the result of the hardline, more confrontational side of Milei’s inner circle taking the lead.”
Executive measures imposed so far have deepened a recession, increased poverty to 55 percent and sent annual inflation surging to 260 percent.
During Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visit to Senegal 🇸🇳, @PR_Diomaye called on Europe to commit to the stability in the Sahel. Here are his own words:
“Our interview also covered other subjects of major interest, such as the situation in the Sahel in the face of terrorism, which requires a global mobilization of the international community, and especially of Europe alongside the countries concerned. For, it is known that the African and European continents have a linked security destiny.”
Reports of major power surges and blackouts in several areas of the country (Venezuela) earlier tonight. Social media users report that service has gradually been restored
Newly-minted Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello denounced a terrorist attack against transmission towers and pointed the finger at hardline opposition sectors
Several media outlets report an increase in migrants on the border between Brazil and Venezuela, in Pacaraima. The Brazilian and Colombian governments have decided to tighten immigration regulations to prevent abuses in the flow of immigrants.
Many migrants who will leave Venezuela are expected to head to Latin American countries, as the United States has ended the program that allowed temporary visas for Venezuelan immigrants. Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia and Peru are expected to be the main destinations for migrants.
These immigrants have been used politically under Bolsonaro and Ivan Duque's goverments. They would gain the same treatment Cuban gusanos received in the US, while the two goverments would treat Haitians, Bolivians, Paraguayans and African immigrants poorly and even expel Arab refugees.
Skiatook HS pulls assignment on Christianity after Osage family protests - Osage NewsHexbear Post
Olivia Gray says she doesn’t want Oklahoma public schools to force Christianity on her daughter, who is a sophomore at SHS
Skiatook High School sophomore, Nettie Gray, received an assignment this week that left her and her family confused and upset. On Thursday evening, her mother Olivia Gray posted about the assignment on Facebook and hundreds of comments began to roll in.
The problem with the assignment, said Gray, is it has leading questions centering on Christianity. The issue also corresponds with State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ mandate that public schools must teach the Bible.
On Cape Cod, the Wampanoag Assert Their Legal Right to Harvest the WatersHexbear Post
Not everyone respects that right. But the Wampanoag are determined to continue, saying their work is an essential expression of 12,000 years of heritage, sovereignty, and lifeways.
Low-lying Mashpee is carved from water: from mosquito-bogged marshes, pine-shrouded ponds, and rivers that wind in brackish ropes past condos and golf courses. Since the 1970s, much of the town’s waterfront has been privatized and developed by nonmembers of the Wampanoag tribe.
The manicured and serene landscape above the waterline belies tremendous damage below, where shellfish and finfish have thinned—and in some cases disappeared—due to nitrogen pollution emitted from multi-million–dollar developments and their septic tanks. Stripped of land and resources, a dwindling group of Mashpee’s Wampanoag is committed now more than ever to asserting their rights to hunting and fishing.
Indigenous communities sidelined for Suriname’s new carbon credit program, critics sayHexbear Post
The government in Suriname announced an offering of the world’s first sovereign carbon credits through the UNFCCC Paris Agreement framework, allowing the country to issue and trade carbon credits with other countries and the private sector.
But communities living in the forests that made the credits possible say the government rushed the process and didn’t take them into account, leaving many of them in the dark about how the program works and what the benefits are.
Indigenous and Tribal peoples would receive just 10% of carbon credit revenue from the program, according to government documents reviewed by Mongabay. But the communities don’t understand how it will be distributed.
The barrage comes a day after Russia’s military reported intercepting and destroying 158 Ukrainian drones targeting multiple Russian regions in one of the biggest Ukrainian attacks of the war that has raged for more than two years.
Cause and effect
Video showing "vampire drones" hitting civillians on the highway, civillian infrastructure in Russia.
My own - then when Russia strikes them it's propagandized as evil Putler hit innocent [building] how mean! I think the residents know that soilders placing their shit in civillian areas deliberately makes the area a target.
Far-right activist Maria Corina Machado failed in her call for mobilization this Wednesday in Caracas. Venezuela | The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, celebrates and defends the victory of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, with the people on the streets.
Issuing a statement, the communications center of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, strongly rejected the claims of a news agency about the cause of the crash of President Raeisi's helicopter.
Reacting to the claim of the news agency, that quoted from an 'informed security source!", the communications center of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that what was mentioned in the report is distorted and false.
Earlier, an Iranian news agency claimed in a report that the helicopter with the president onboard was carrying two more persons than safety protocols permitted
So does anyone have on thoughts on voting for Kopmala over abortion issues specifically? I genuinely can't think of a policy of hers that is remotely different from the Republican policies, except for maybe the extremely slight possibility that she might be better on abortion rights because she's a woman. I don't know if I genuinely believe this is the case and I'm so sick of the whole "harm reduction" voting for -1% thing. But the idea that not casting a vote for her could lead to millions of people forced to carry babies to term without their consent or wish and the extreme knock on effect of that suffering is really fucking with me. Though of course if I DID vote for her, it would be fundamentally the same as every other primary where we get strongarmed into that decision by the dems (and therefore tacitly approving of their policies... )
just saw this is a news update from norwegian NRK (machine translated):
For the first time in two years, in the second quarter of this year, the EU countries imported more gas from Russia than from the USA, shows a study from the think tank Bruegel.
Compared to the previous quarter, imports from Russia still fell somewhat, but imports from the USA fell more, the study shows.
The EU still buys most gas from Norway. Russia was at the top until the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when many EU countries cut off or bought much less Russian gas, writes NTB.
The study does not show which countries in the EU have stepped up imports. Official German statistics show that the EU's largest member state no longer buys gas from Russia.
sorry for not linking the study i'm on mobile and i'm lazy </3
Venezuela and Jordan have more than 67 years of diplomatic relations.
Jordan’s King Abdallah Il bin al Hussein sent a message of appreciation and congratulations on the re-election of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
Through a letter, Abdallah II emphasizes his willingness to strengthen the relations between the two countries “for the prosperity of our peoples”. On the other hand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Yvan Gil, thanked Abdallah II on behalf of all Venezuelans.
The two countries expressed their willingness to raise the level of relations and strengthen their ties.
Meanwhile, the Bolivarian nation advocates the establishment of a physical headquarters with official representation of the Kingdom of Jordan on national soil. The two nations signed a bilateral cultural cooperation agreement in April 2022.
Statements by the U.S. ambassador to Honduras fueled divisions in the Army. On Thursday morning, Honduran Foreign Affairs Minister Enrique Reina warned of an attempt to sow division within the Armed Forces following comments made by the U.S. Ambassador, Laura Dogu.
Honduran intelligence detected a plan to execute a “barracks coup” involving certain factions seeking to remove Chief of Staff Gen. Roosevelt Hernandez. The operation might have involved some military personnel organizing to challenge Hernandez’s authority, whom Dogu had linked to an alleged “narcotrafficker.”
Amid these tensions, Honduran President Xiomara Castro has intensified her efforts to preserve the unity and stability of the Armed Forces. She faces the challenge of maintaining cohesion at a critical moment, as the campaign for the primary elections, scheduled for April 2025, approaches.
Ambassador Dogu’s comments have also sparked a debate over the U.S.-Honduras extradition treaty, which could be used as a political tool to influence this Central American country’s internal affairs.
Specifically, there is fear that the treaty could be invoked to bring Gen. Hernandez or former President Manuel Zelaya Rosales to trial in the United States in an attempt to weaken the Free Party (LIBRE Party, a party made up by Zelaya supporters and former right-wings turned far-left), a leftist organization that brought Castro to the presidency in 2022 and is the favorite to win the next presidential elections on November 30, 2025.
Foreign interference from United States and its regional allies could be aimed at influencing the electoral process by using unfounded accusations to create uncertainty and undermine confidence in Honduran institutions.
“The U.S. interference and interventionism, as well as its intention to direct the politics of Honduras through its Embassy and other representatives, is intolerable,” President Castro wrote on social media.
“They attack, ignore and violate with impunity the principles and practices of international law, which promote respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, non-intervention and universal peace. Enough! Based on our Constitution and international treaties, I have ordered FM Reina to denounce the extradition treaty with the U.S.,” she added.
The Brazilian Army opens an investigation into supporters of the Bolsonaro coup in the Armed Forces.
The opening of the military inquiry was a consequence of an investigation opened on the orders of the army commander, General Tomás Paiva
On Tuesday (27), the Brazilian Army opened a Military Police Inquiry (IPM) to investigate four soldiers for crimes related to the drafting of the coup manifesto entitled “Letter to the Army Commander from Senior Officers of the Brazilian Army”. The group wanted to set up a dictatorship under Bolsonaro in Brazil and tried to convince the army command to join the coup.
It is now well known that, at the time of these events, the Commander of the Army, General Freire Gomes, refused to take part in the Bolsonaro coup plot, threatened to arrest the head of the coup and prevented it from taking place. Realizing that they would not have the support of the Armed Forces for their plans, Jair Bolsonaro and his group, in a ridiculous mockery of Trumpist fascism, instigated the invasion and depredation of the National Congress, the Federal Supreme Court and the Planalto Palace.
The opening of the investigation was the result of an inquiry opened by the Army commander, General Tomás Paiva. The inquiry investigated the participation of 37 military personnel in the production, signing or dissemination of the letter. Of these, according to the Army, 26 were punished on the basis of the Army Disciplinary Regulations (RDE), including 12 colonels, 9 lieutenant colonels, 1 major, 3 lieutenants and 1 sergeant.
Designed and sold by Haute Influencers. I traced them back to a virtual office space in Miami lol. Probably one of Jair Bolsonaro's relatives. I know green glennwald and musky put this guy on blast but this t-shirt company is usa facing and I find it hard to believe merkins would know who Alexandre de Moraes is.
“X” did not indicate a legal representative to act in the company’s processes in Brazil, as determined by Minister Alexandre de Moraes. “We expect Minister Alexandre de Moraes to soon order the blocking of X in Brazil – simply because we did not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” the company said in a statement.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced some major cabinet changes this afternoon. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is taking over the Oil Ministry, with Pedro Tellechea moving to industries. Anabel Pereira takes over the Finance Ministry and Leticia Gómez in tourism.
Very common for the VP to take control of some ministry.
The most surprising development has been the appointment of General Menry Fernández as Agriculture Minister, replacing Wilmar Castro Soteldo. Though the situation eased recently, Castro Soteldo was frequently criticized by campesino movements and seen as favoring agribusinesses
The other very significant appointment was Diosdado Cabello as interior minister. Eduardo Piñate returns as Labor Minister, and the Youth and Sports Ministry was split, with Grecia Colmenares taking over youth and Arnaldo Sánchez sport
Other cabinet changes:
Héctor Rodríguez - education
Ricardo Sánchez - higher education
Jhoanna Carrillo - women
Carlos Masjustin - water
Juan José Ramírez - public works
Raúl Paredes - housing
The Urban Agriculture Ministry is extinguished and absorbed into the Communes Ministry
The brutal repression caused injuries to several elderly people, some of them severe as head blows and fractures.
On Wednesday, the Argentine police attacked with sticks and tear gas against a concentration of pensioners who were protesting in front of the Congress against the intention of Javier Milei to eliminate the law of assets.
The brutal repression caused injuries to several elderly people, some of them severe as head blows and fractures. Several pensioners have declared to local media the reminiscences of the events to the dictatorial era, in turn denounce the excessive violence of the repressive forces.
“We don’t have enough to live. They want to kill the old people because, for them, we don’t serve, but we made Argentina great. Milei says that for us there is no silver, but for the rich yes. He is a traitor and delivers our nation”, said a retired protester.
The law that seeks to eliminate President Milei, increases pensions to retirees by 17 thousand pesos (almost 17 dollars), this amount, according to several pensioners, is not a significant increase or improves the living situation of the elderly, However, protesters have said that “we must prevent it from being removed”.
It also provides that the minimum retirement pension should not be less than the value of a basic basket for an older adult. Among the groups supporting the protest are the Meeting of Retirees and Neighborhood Assemblies, the Frente Grande, Independientes and the Asociación Trabajadores del Estado.
Morocco's strategy on the Western Sahara has paid off
Jennifer Holleis
08/23/2024August 23, 2024
With France, another key country supports Morocco's claim on the disputed region. What are the consequences for the local Sahrawi people, neighboring Algeria and the volatile region as a whole?
https://p.dw.com/p/4jngW
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United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) personnel disembark from a helicopter
Morocco is increasingly successful in claiming the phosphate-rich Western Sahara region with its access to the Atlantic Ocean.
Image: Fadel Senna/AFP
For Morocco's King Mohammed VI, this summer could go down in history. For five decades, the Western Sahara, a territory to the south of the country, has been at the center of a conflict which might now end.
The phosphate-rich region with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean is home to the around 160,000 local Sahrawi people who have been seeking autonomy ever since Spain withdrew from the area in 1975.
The Sahrawis are represented by the Polisario Front, which is backed by neighboring Algeria. But Rabat claims the territory belongs to Morocco.
As a consequence of this on-going dispute, Morocco and Algeria have clashed repeatedly, and have cut ties in 2020, even though Algeria does not seek control of the Western Sahara itself.
Over the past years, Morocco has gained more and more support for its claim on the region and this summer, France changed its diplomatic stance, too.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the coronation of King Mohammed VI, the 61-year-old monarch received a congratulatory letter
by French President Emmanuel Macron in which he said that from now on, France will be supporting Morocco's plan for the Western Sahara.
This plan, which was initially proposed by Rabat in 2007, includes creating autonomous political institutions in the region as well as pushing economic development including a port at the Atlantic Ocean. However, Morocco will be holding control over foreign affairs, defence and currency.
"France's recognition is an extremely symbolic move that might seal the fate of the Western Sahara conflict," Sarah Zaaimi, a researcher and the deputy director for communications at the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, told DW.
Thomas M. Hill, director of North Africa Programs at the Washington-based think tank United States Institute of Peace concluded
in an op-ed this month that the Western Sahara conflict "is over" and that the indigenous Sahrawi independence movement is left with no choice but to eventually settle for some form of autonomy within Morocco.
Prime Minister of Morocco Aziz Akhannouch next to French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte MacronPrime Minister of Morocco Aziz Akhannouch next to French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron
After the letter to King Mohammed VI, French President Emmanuel Macron met the Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch in Paris.
Image: Antonin Burat/Le Pictorium/MAXPPP/picture alliance
France acts with an eye on migration
France is only the latest state to recognize the Western Sahara region as Moroccan territory. Spain did so in 2022, as did the United States as part of a "quid pro quo" for Rabat's normalization of diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020.
The Gulf countries and various African and Latin American countries regard the Western Sahara as Moroccan, too.
About the same number of countries support the Polisario Front and the quest for independence by the Sahrawis. However, support for this side has been stalling.
The UN neither recognizes the sovereignty claims of Morocco nor those of the Polisario Front. The international body endorses a UN-led referendum for the local Sahrawis instead.
This is also the position of the European Union, despite first Spain's and now France's changed stances.
Alice Gower, director of geopolitics and security at the London-based consulting firm Azure Strategy, highlights that France's diplomatic turnaround after years of keeping neutral on the topic is less driven by the desire to end the actual dispute over the Western Sahara.
"France's recognition has little practical effect on the ground," she told DW.
"Macron's move has undoubtedly been in part motivated by transactional politics as migration is a fiercely contested issue in France," she said. The Western Sahara has become one of the most frequented departure points for aspiring migrants and France hopes that Mohammed VI will help curb migration to Europe.
In addition, France also has a high level of interest in avoiding a power vacuum in the increasingly volatile region that includes unstable and warring countries like Libya and Sudan.
"Macron desires to prop up the Moroccan monarchy, which has been suffering a crisis of legitimacy in recent years amid rising Russian and Iranian influence in neighboring Algeria and broader security concerns across the Sahel," Gower said.
Polisario Front soldiers celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Polisario Front Polisario Front soldiers celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Polisario Front
Morocco has been pushing for control over the Western Sahara region, with growing support from France, Spain and the US.
Image: Guidoum Fateh/AP/picture alliance
Algeria's political pressure
However, France's decision also has the potential to "throw Algeria more in the arms of the Russian Iranian axis, and push Algeria into a counter move, particularly in light of its upcoming presidential elections in early September," Atlantic Council's Zaaimi told DW.
Zine Labidine Ghebouli, a political analyst on Algeria and postgraduate scholar at the University of Glasgow, is therefore worried that "the region may be heading towards the moment when the Polisario Front decides that it is more appropriate and more useful to intensify its military campaign rather than waiting for a diplomatic solution that may not come."
So far, however, the Sahrawi news agency only reported that the "Polisario Front has asserted that resolving the situation in occupied Western Sahara necessitates the 'strict and firm implementation' of international legitimacy resolutions affirming the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination."
An autonomous region is also envisioned by the around 173,600 Sahrawi refugees
who have been living in Algerian refugee camps for the past 50 years. According to recent numbers by the UN, they have been bearing the world's second longest-standing refugee situation.
Graffiti of a Saharawi Refugee CampGraffiti of a Saharawi Refugee Camp
The Sahrawi population in Algeria has been bearing the world's second longest refugee situation, according to the UN.
Image: Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto/picture alliance
Meanwhile, Algeria has stepped up its diplomatic pressure. Algier recalled its ambassador to Paris and started to refuse Algerian nationals deported from France.
For Ghebuli, there is no doubt that this is in reaction to France's Morocco support.
"The Western Sahara has become an extension of Algeria's national security domain," he told DW.
Australia’s largest publicly traded casino operator has been temporarily suspended from the country’s stock exchange after failing to lodge its annual financial results.
Star Entertainment Group was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday as the group faces scrutiny over a series of scandals related to criminal activity and unethical conduct at its casinos.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The military said Wednesday (Aug. 28) it would hold a meeting to evaluate the use of TOW missiles following reports that only seven of the 17 projectiles hit their target during drills this week.
The Aug. 26-27 tests in Pingtung County featured older TOW 2A anti-tank missiles launched by a new TOW 2B launcher mounted on a M1167 Humvee armored vehicle. Taiwan ordered 1,700 TOW 2B missiles and 100 launchers from the United States, with delivery of the missiles expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The low success rate of the older generation of tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles provoked questions by reporters about the efficiency of the weapons system, per CNA. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the focus of the Tien Ma drills was on familiarizing the officers with handling the missiles, with target accuracy coming in second place.
An evaluation meeting next week will review the training of the officers, and the efficiency of the weapons and the ammunition. The aim of the meeting is not to penalize the soldiers involved, but to adjust and improve plans for next year’s edition of the annual Tien Ma exercises, the MND said.
The resistance is ready to confront the aggressors, said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
On Sunday, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued a statement supporting the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah, which carried out a large-scale retaliatory operation against the Israeli regime for the assassination of its commander Sayyed Mohsen Shukr. Below is the statement released by the PFLP Central Media Department:
“This operation will have significant effects on the war waged by the Zionist enemy against our people. We extend our greetings to the leadership of Hezbollah, its cadres, fighters, soldiers, commanders, to their proud popular cradle and to the brotherly Lebanese people for this qualitative operation, which embodied the fulfillment of a true promise and a courageous decision to respond to the crimes of the occupation, in particular the assassination of the martyr Sayyed Mohsen Shukr.
The decision Hezbollah’s decision to respond was carried out despite all the threats, intimidation and US military mobilizations aimed at protecting the Zionist entity and threatening our people and our nation with aggression.
Hezbollah’s heroic operation, which represents an extension of its resolve to confront the oppressive enemy in support of the oppressed people of Palestine and their courageous resistance, embodied the will of the nation against all policies of submission, humiliation and the march towards normalization and collusion with the criminal Zionist entity.
This operation, which represents a strategic challenge to the axis of genocide directed against our people and aimed at subjugating and humiliating the peoples of the region, serves as a lesson inspiring all fighters and honorable people to resist the Zionist enemy and its allies and to intensify their struggle on all fronts.
The qualitative operation that struck deep into the Zionist center confirms that the resistance has the will, readiness and credibility to confront to aggression and humiliate it, and is capable of supporting and helping our people on all battle fronts.
This solid and courageous spirit is enough to defeat aggression and frustrate its objectives. We stress that the brutal aggression against the Lebanese people and the peoples of the region is yet another crime added to their record of brutality, and that Arab silence and international complicity in these crimes is a partnership in aggression.”
Hey anyone know who the Palestinian People's Party is? There are so many factions and idk which ones are cool and based vs which ones are cringe and comprador.
There were elections in Thuringia and in Saxony. The CDU probably has to form coalitions including the BSW (Wagenknecht), who wants concessions regarding military aid for Ukraine.
So the atlanticists at Die Zeit are worried (archive) this will break the transatlantic consensus inside the CDU/CSU and torpedo future coalitions with the Greens (CDU/Greens would be the dream team of US bootlickers).
I'll believe it when I see it. These people have such a grip on all the things, they'll figure something out. Probably Wagenknecht will cave.
Anyway, I have some great quotes:
Support for Ukraine does not come from the party's gut or genes, but requires a permanent political effort on the part of the leadership. Western ties are not a state, but a process: someone has to bind. Solidarity with Ukraine does not just happen, it has to be generated.
Yeah no shit.
In the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, the CDU has always been a guarantor of value-driven foreign policy, at least when it came to the foundations: Western ties, Europe, Israel.
Driven by value alright, shareholder value. Also I love the "at least" in there, I guess even the author felt too embarrassed saying this with a straight face. They took briefcases full of cash from arms dealers lol.
Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) has worsened relations with Brazil and Colombia, some drama:
Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, said that the Brazilian government, led by President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, repeating what the Yankees (US Goverment) say. The movement makes the rupture between Brazil and Nicaragua more evident. He also accused Lula's goverment of being corrupt, talking about the Lava Jato Operation (Car Wash Operation).
Ortega accuses Lula of being Pro-US and corrupt by using the same argument the US and Far-Right people use to attack Lula? The Car Wash Operation Judge had literally connections with the CIA. lol.
Ortega also described the Bolivarians' "struggle" as "the fight between David and Goliath.". Saying that Brazil is attacking Venezuela.
Quoting Ortega, Lula said that not attending an event is not a reason for retaliation. At the beginning of August, Nicaragua announced the expulsion of the then Brazilian ambassador to the country, Breno Dias da Costa, after he failed to attend the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution.
Still on the subject of Nicaragua, the Brazilian president made a comparison and said that it would be the same as Brazil expelling ambassadors who didn't attend the September 7th celebrations.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has responded to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who called him "Arrastado" a way of saying obedient to the United States. Petro said: "I do not drag (In spanish: Arrastro) the human rights of my people through the mud, And I do not betray my former comrades of war and revolution." Gustavo Petro is a former guerrilla fighter.
No idea why Ortega got so pissed at Brazil for mediating the Nicaragua-Vatican diplomatic crisis. I know there are a bunch of far-right pro-somoza Catholic priests there, but removing most religious protections and attacking the Catholic Church seems like a bad idea when you consider there are a bunch of pro-sandinista catholics, besides probably being unpopular to attack the religion most people follow there.
In Venezuela, lots of commotion surrounding the arrest of journalist Carmela Longo, who worked for 2 decades at the (firmly pro-govt) newspaper Últimas Noticias, covering night life and social activities. She's reportedly been charged with terrorism and inciting hatred. Plenty of voices in her defense, alleging that this is a (very serious) misunderstanding
Seems like they got the wrong person with a similar name?
He will have to answer for the publication of fake information regarding the results of the presidential elections.
On Monday, Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab summoned former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez for the second time to appear and testify in an investigation against him.
He is required to appear on Tuesday to answer questions regarding the publication and maintenance of a website through which the far-right Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) attempted to promote narratives about an alleged electoral fraud, claiming that 83.5 percent of the voting records from the July 28 presidential election had been uploaded in its website.
The dissemination of false information occurred before the National Electoral Council (CNE) released the first official election results, in which President Nicolas Maduro won by a wide margin over Gonzalez.
As a result, the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office summoned the PUD leader to testify in a case for the “alleged commission of crimes including usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, incitement to disobey the law, computer crimes, association to commit a crime, and conspiracy.”
On Sunday, the far-right politician posted a video on social media criticizing the summons issued by Attorney General Saab but did not confirm whether he would attend the first hearing, which was scheduled for the morning of Monday. If found guilty, Gonzalez could face up to 16 years in prison.
Feel free to post or recommend any books, essays, studies, articles, and even stories related to Kenya.
If you know a lot about the country and want to share your knowledge and opinions, here are some questions to get you started if you wish:
spoiler
What is the general ideology of the political elite? Do they tend to be protectionist nationalists, or are they more free trade globalists? Are they compradors put there by foreign powers? Are they socialists with wide support by the population?
What are the most important domestic political issues that make the country different from other places in the region or world? Are there any peculiar problems that have continued existing despite years or decades with different parties?
Is the country generally stable? Are there large daily protests or are things calm on average? Is the ruling party/coalition generally harmonious or are there frequent arguments or even threats?
Is there a particular country to which this country has a very impactful relationship over the years, for good or bad reasons? Which one, and why?
What are the political factions in the country? What are the major parties, and what segments of the country do they attract?
Are there any smaller parties that nonetheless have had significant influence? Are there notable separatist movements?
How socially progressive or conservative is the country generally? To what degree is there equality between men and women, as well as different races and ethnic groups? Are LGBTQIA+ rights protected?
Give a basic overview of the last 50 or 100 years. What's the historical trend of politics, the economy, social issues, etc - rise or decline? Were they always independent or were they once occupied, and how have things been since independence if applicable?
If you want, go even further back in history. Were there any kingdoms or empires that once governed the area?
Dude who literally kicked the BC Conservative leader out of the party is now supporting the BC Conservatives (apparently without consulting his candidates). Now BC United candidates are stuck up shits creek, meanwhile the party that Falcon said was "too extreme to govern" is now the party he supports.
If he does not appear before the authorities, his conduct could be interpreted as an attempt to obstruct justice. On Thursday, the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office issued a third summons to Edmundo Gonzalez, requiring him to appear on Friday, August 30, 2024, to testify in the case against him.
The former presidential candidate for the Democratic Unity Platform could face an arrest warrant if he fails to appear before the judicial authorities, as he has already missed two previous summonses.
More specifically, if Gonzalez does not appear on the specified date, he will be considered a flight risk, according to Article 237 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Furthermore, his conduct could be interpreted as an attempt to obstruct justice, which would justify the issuance of the arrest warrant.
The Prosecutor’s Office summoned Gonzalez for the “alleged commission of the crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, incitement to disobey the law, computer crimes, criminal association, and conspiracy.” If found guilty, he could face up to 16 years in prison.
On Saturday, August 24, the Prosecutor’s Office issued a first summons for Gonzalez to appear on Monday, August 26, at 10:00 AM, but he did not attend. On Tuesday, August 27, the authorities issued a second summons for another hearing, which the far-right politician also failed to attend.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court declared Nicolas Maduro the winner of the country’s recent presidential election, securing him a third term ending in 2031. However, it is doubtful that the ruling will put an end to claims of election fraud coming from the United States and the right-wing Venezuelan opposition. Zoe Alexandra, co-editor of People’s Dispatch, joins the Freedom Side Live to discuss what this ruling means and how the US and opposition groups may try to subvert it.
Mexico froze relations with the US and Canadian embassies after ambassadors from the two countries criticized the Mexican President’s recent proposal for judicial reform. The reform, which has not yet passed, would elect judges and Supreme Court justices based on a popular vote. The US ambassador said the move would threaten Mexico’s democracy and the Canadian ambassador said the reform could threaten Canadian investments. Kurt Hackbarth, host of Soberanía: The Mexican Politics Podcast, joins the show to explain what this reform is really about and how it would change Mexico’s judicial system.
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Amazon is a joint employer for the subcontracted drivers that deliver its packages in Palmdale, California. The decision forces Amazon to take more legal responsibility over the workers that it used to treat as independent contractors. AT&T workers have also gone on strike due to the company negotiating in bad faith with them. Husayn Karimi, a labor journalist with On the Line, joins the show to discuss some of the latest developments in the labor movement.
40:16: Follow up on the DNC with Rania and Eugene.
Kamala Harris completely ignored Palestine solidarity activists at the DNC and expressed her full-throated support for Israel. Will this come back to bite her? Dr. Hassan Abdel Salam, Director of the Abandon Harris Campaign, speaks on how Gaza could potentially cost the Democrats the 2024 presidential election.
Dr. Hassan Abdel Salam speaks with such clarity and focus on what really matters in the upcoming election. I really recommend this section to anyone, but especially if you're actually a person who's able to vote in them, i.e. an amerikkkan.
Mosaab Baba - According to UN experts, Sudan is now experiencing a famine. The civil war has also destroyed much of the infrastructure sustaining human life. Mosaab Baba, a researcher on Sudan, joins the show to discuss the latest developments in Sudan as well as the claim that both sides are equally bad.
People keep saying it but I am unsure what they are referring to. Hell, I would be more likely to believe the grifter narrative if Dr. Cornel West had stayed a Green, which is like the premier grifter party in the US, as far as I can tell. See, I was planning to for Dr. West to maintain my protest candidate streak as punishment to the people who tell me to every year to change the Reaper drone operators. Dr. West seems like the most well-known person whose views align closely enough to mine. I would not want to vote for Dr. West if it was all a scam. And would likely vote PSL again. I was disappointed Leonard Peltier had to drop out last time for completely understandable reasons but was still proud to have supported that ticket. Which is the only thing my vote really matters for, that I can live with myself at the end of the day as I've only ever lived in red states.
my friend from china uses hello talk, which is a languaga axchange app (basically you tutor each other), and this american dude asked to be tutored by her. the catch is, he doesn't know any chinese at all, and he kept being a weirdo, so she made him praise mao lol. she posted these screenshots on her WeChat moments:
thought i'd share with y'all, just something i found funny
SE releasing FF16 Sept 17. DEAD SILENT about FF7: Rebirth on PC.
Which means my first interaction with the story changes, and thus the emotions while playing through, will be spoiled during a concert I paid well in advance for because I thought the game would be out by October because they said exclusivity was only 3 months from the end of February.
I'm sure it's more a SE / Sony thing but ima just defaulting to blaming NOMURA!
I'm not sure if this counts as news but my cat has compromised a cockroach to a permanent end and my parent's dog at their house has identified potential Chinese or Russian dogs on the street, currently outside monitoring the situation.
my friend from china uses hello talk, which is a languaga axchange app (basically you tutor each other), and this american dude asked to be tutored by her. the catch is, he doesn't know any chinese at all, and he kept being a weirdo, so she made him praise mao lol. she posted these screenshots on her WeChat moments:
thought i'd share with y'all, just something i found funny
Is it possible to train a dog not to bark? I'm getting flashbacks to when I lived on a busy street with a dog that barked at literally every passer-by. I'd wind up holding her upside down in my lap for long stretches of the day, but every single time she barked my heart rate would shoot through the roof and it was so constant. Also, not my dog, but it's been a recurring problem with most dogs I've lived with.
I really don't like having the kind of depression where I can still make it in to work every day and do my job without fail, and only become completely useless during my time off.