South Africa:

During the first half of 2023, South Africa quadrupled its imports of solar panels from China to 3.4 GW, which at peak production corresponds to the total production capacity of some power plants belonging to the country's public company.^AN

US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is under investigation in South Africa for charging "excessive" prices for a key tuberculosis drug.^AN

Tanzania:

Indonesia has pledged to increase investments in Tanzania, including in management of the Mnazi Bay gas block by its state-owned company.^Bilaterals

Tunisia:

The government is amending a free trade agreement with Turkiye.^Bilaterals Tunisia bans visit by European Parliament delegation.^AN

Zambia:

Zambian President Haikinde Hichilema Does the Rounds of Shenzhen’s Tech Giants.^CGS Forget About Everything Else, Hichilema’s in China to Resolve Zambia’s Still Unfinished Debt Restructuring Deal.^CGS Hichilema eyes collaboration after tour of top tech firms.^AN

Zimbabwe:

Most of the new cabinet are men, in violation of the constitution which calls for gender balance.^DW

North America:

Canada:

Trudeau has brushed aside the idea that he might quit due to poor polling numbers, and has acknowledged public "grumbling" about the cost of living.[^CGTN]9https://archive.ph/Q7rgi)

The leader of Cold Lake First Nations has revealed the initiator of a major carbon capture project in Northern Alberta has not consulted with local Indigenous communities.^DeSmog

United States:

Romney isn't seeking re-election in 2024.^Advocate 59% of Californians are against cash reparations to the descendants of slaves.^PD Palestinian students have filed a federal complaint alleging discrimination at the University of Illinois.^MEE Child poverty in the US more than doubled in 2022, with 9 million children in poverty.^WSWS Biden has declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts due to Hurricane Lee.^CGTN

Another FDIC-Insured Bank Is Teetering, Closing at 27-1/2 Cents Yesterday, Down 96 Percent in a Year.^WSoP Google spends $10 billion per year, giving money to companies like Apple and other entities, to monopolize online searching.^MR

The government announced last week the cancellation of oil and gas drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.^PW ‘Project 2025’: The Republican blueprint to wage war on the environment.^PW Four fracking waste injection wells in Ohio have temporarily suspended operations by order of the government, which says the wells present an “imminent danger” to health and the environment.^ICN Large corporations that want to do business in the state of California could soon be required to calculate and report all of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their companies, including emissions from their supply chains.^ICN In Nevada, Indigenous land protectors face off with a Canadian mining company.^RNN

Latin America:

Negotiators for the European Union and Mercosur on Thursday discussed the next steps towards completing their long-awaited trade deal after the South American trade bloc responded to a European addendum to the agreement, officials said.^Bilaterals

The Association of Indigenous Peoples Conservationistsinsisted this week that an emergency be declared in Lake Titicaca, on the border between Bolivia and Peru and one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, which is suffering from water stress.

Argentina:

Inflation hits 12.4% in August, for a total of 124.4% in the last 12 months.^MP The government is planning to become a major exporter of natural gas.^MP

Top presidential candidate and hyper-libetarian Milei has said that while the Malvinas (Falklands) are Argentinian and that is non-negotiable, the people living there must be considered when making decisions and that a peaceful solution is desirable.^MP

Brazil:

As with soybeans and corn, Brazil is ready to unseat the US as the world's top cotton exporter.^MP

Chile:

Chilean mothers continue to search for their babies stolen from them in an international trafficking scandal under Pinochet.^OD

Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek cheered on Pinochet's dictatorship and helped him enforce the brutal regime he created.^Jacobin

Colombia:

Coco production last year reached a record high, the main ingredient in caocaine.^FT

Ecuador:

Ecuadorian migrants are fleeing to the US as the rightwing undoes the policies of Correa.^Jacobin

El Salvador:

The prison population has tripled to 100,000 in less than two years under Bukele's crackdown on gangs.^TS

Jamaica:

A new strain of dengue has broken out on the island.^TS

Mexico:

Mexico has expressed its "great concern" over a decision by the Federal Court for the Southern District of Texas in the United States to declare the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program unconstitutional.^PD Mexico is rejoining the G77+China.^TS

Nicaragua:

More sanctions.^Resumen Ortega has led the parade celebrating 202 years of Central American independence and the 167 years of the Battle of San Jacinto.^TS

Peru:

The coup government of Peru has pledged to use the proceeds from a %20 million debt swap with the United States for climate action in the Amazon to finance a tropical forest protection fund over the next 13 years.^MP

Trinidad and Tobago:

The coral and seagrass restoration project of the Institute of Marine Affairs, MARIN, in collaboration with bpTT, has successfully completed its pilot phase and will now enter the main phase.^TS

Uruguay:

The economy has shrunk by 2.5% year-on-year, partially due to the extreme drought.^MP

Venezuela:

China holds Venezuela as an all-time strategic partner.^MP China will train Venezuelans as astronauts to join Beijing’s moon project, according to Maduro.^SCMP

War:

Ukraine:

'We will fight imperialism together', North Korea's Kim tells Putin.^EN Vladimir Putin ‘gratefully’ accepts Kim Jong Un invitation to North Korea.^FT

The Swedish government is studying the possibility of transfering Gripen fighters to Ukraine.^Euractiv Swedish government to increase defence spending amid NATO bid,^EN by almost 30%.[^FT](Sweden to boost defence spending next year by almost 30%) Reports suggest the US may give Ukraine long-range ATACMS missiles.^EN

US singles out Turkey with latest war sanctions package.^BNE Russia's war on Ukraine deserves condemnation, Uruguayan Defense Minister says.^MP Bulgaria, NATO discuss response to Russian blockade in Black Sea.^Euractiv Baltic states ban vehicles with Russian license plates in line with EU sanctions interpretation.^EN

Ukraine Has Lost 71,500 Soldiers in Counteroffensive: Putin^TS Russia says Crimean shipyard on fire, two ships damaged in Ukraine missile attack^Euractiv Russian hawks push Putin to escalate as US crosses more ‘red lines’.^RS

Ukraine’s counteroffensive to continue after onset of bad weather, Budanov says.^Euractiv

Thank god, there will be no end to the carnage. I was getting anxious that maybe the bloodshed might at least slow down, but fortunately manmade horrors beyond our comprehension still await us!

Hyping Ukraine Counteroffensive, US Press Chose Propaganda Over Journalism^FAIR

Over the last three months, it has become clear that the Ukrainian military operation will not be the game-changer it was sold as; namely, it will not significantly roll back the Russian occupation and obviate the need for a negotiated settlement. Only after this became undeniable did media report on the true costs of war to the Ukrainian people.

How Bill Clinton looted Russia and started NATO expansion^MR

China:

The Quincy Institute reminds everybody that Vietnam may have a China strategy, but it is not America's China strategy, and they will not align with America against China any time soon.^RS China is still confident in their Vietnam ties.^GT

China to impose sanctions on two U.S. companies over Taiwan arms sales.^CGTN

China’s newest aircraft carrier prepares to take to the seas.^FT