Bulletins and News Discussion from October 9th to October 15th, 2023 - There Were Two Reigns of Terror - COTW: Palestine

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · edit-2 9 months ago

Bulletins and News Discussion from October 9th to October 15th, 2023 - There Were Two Reigns of Terror - COTW: Palestine

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · edit-2 9 months ago

Weekly Update for October 2nd to October 8th

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Global

Naked Capitalism piece on US economy and a potential recession (and how China and the rest of Asia factors in). If you, like me, have been monitoring headlines for the last few months you'd almost think that the mythical soft landing might actually finally happen. In reality, economic indicators lurk in the shadows, and not everybody even in the mainstream is convinced (the piece uses a recent Bloomberg article for example). The Financial Times is joining the party by predicting that they will not avoid a recession.^FT

Michael Hudson: A BRICS+ Bank: How Would It Really Function?

Michael Roberts on all the myriad problems facing humanity right now.

Ten years of development: How BRI grows from vision to reality.

OPEC+ production has actually risen from August to September as higher output from Iran and Nigeria are offsetting Russia and Saudi Arabia's cuts.^MP Nonetheless, JP Morgan is predicting oil prices to keep increasing - even to $150 per barrel by 2026.^NC

The WHO has authorized a second malaria vaccine, which is cheaper and more readily available than the first.^AN

Foreign Exchanges' world roundups for October 3rd and October 5th. I have put the relevant sources in their respective sections down below for if I deem the news significant enough, but you may wish to look at their analysis anyway.

Europe:

The EU’s extractive trade policies in Tunisia contribute to migration.

The EU has endorsed a non-binding resolution to harmonise the rights of people with autism in Europe, recommending mutual recognition of diagnoses, better access to employment, and prohibition of forced sterilization.^Euractiv European house prices have recorded their first annual fall since 2014.^FT Europe’s solar power industry has warned policymakers not to impose tariffs on imports, amid fears that disrupting supplies of products from China would seriously damage Europe’s ability to rapidly install clean energy.^Euractiv Various European countries are planning to slash benefits for Ukrainian refugees.^WSWS

Never warn European policymakers to not do something that will hurt them. They will do it to spite you. They are toddlers.

Andorran MPs have introduced a temporary ban on foreigners buying property, as it has been causing a housing crisis with the locals.^EN

Planning permission has been granted for the world's first energy island project in the North Sea.^Euractiv The Belgian government suspended the reception of single male asylum seekers back in August, and most Belgians agree with the decision.^Euractiv

Angry miners continue to block roads in Bulgaria over plans to abandon coal.^Euractiv Despite this, Bulgaria's government has adopted a transition plan in which coal mines will work until 2038 and there will be a "just transition".^BNE

67 women in Greenland filed a request for compensation from Denmark, demanding over €40,000, as they were forced to receive an IUD during a campaign by Denmark to limit births in Greenland during the 1960s.^EN

Finland faces autumn of discontent with strikes and protests over government's austerity budget.^EN

Melenchon has visited Morocco in the aftermath of the earthquake and has called on the French government to stop being arrogant, giving lesssons, and looking down on people.^AN France has said that they could begin supplying arms to Armenia,^BNE and in response Aliyev is skipping EU talks.^Euractiv About 60 million ducks are to be vaccinated against bird flu in France over the next year, which should also prevent mass preventative slaughter of ducks.^DW Bird flu? Yeah, I sure hope it did.

German unity is "completed but not perfect", 33 years after reunification.^DW A Russian textbook has claimed that German unification was "annexation", which... yeah?^DW The Increasing Financialization of Germany German exports in August fell by more than expected, though the export balance in 2023 has been positive.^DW German is to reactivate some shut-down coal plants to save gas in the upcoming winter.^RT Germany is planning to stop funding Mediterranean sea rescue charities.^Euractiv

Hungary may soon receive billions in EU funds, as Orban has stated that he will not agree to an increase in the EU budget until Hungary received that funding;^FT both Hungary and the EU have denied this.^BNE The government has asked banks to apply voluntary rate caps below the 13% base rate to boost the economy.^BNE

Italian factories have been in a downturn for 6 months in a row.^RT Italian students are demanding more funding for education amid the cost of living crisis.^Euractiv A court has blocked the deportation of a migrant back to Tunisia, saying that it is not a safe country.^EN

The Groningen gas field in the Netherlands has been officially shut down after years of only slight production due to earthquake fears which cumulated in the 2012 earthquake in which over 3000 homes had to be demolished due to earthquake damage.^EN The high number of Ukrainian refugees is putting pressure on asylum centers.^Euractiv One in four Dutch MPs live with some form of protection due to death threats.^EN

Half of young Ukrainians living in Poland intend to return home after the war, and the overwhelming majority believe that Ukraine will win the war.^BNE Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated in Warsaw against the far-right-wing party PiS, called for by Donald Tusk, the leader of the right-wing party PO (as well as other parties).^WSWS

The number of young Portuguese homeowners has halved in 20 years.^EN

NATO has send 600 UK soldiers to Kosovo.^DW

Moldova is preventing members of the banned pro-Russian party from running in local elections for other parties or as independent candidates.^Euractiv Moldova's president has claimed that Prigozhin planned a coup to remove her, bribing voters and encouraging protests to turn violent.^FT

Fico from the anti-Ukraine Smer party has won a sizable lead in the Slovakian elections, prompting celebration from Hungary and concern from Europe.^Euractiv Fico has received a mandate from the president to form a new coalition government.^EN

In Spain, Pedro Sanchez is the next in line to try and form a government after Feijoo's attempt failed,^DW and has been given the mandate by the King,^Euractiv and thus may snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.^RNN Sanchez admits that he is negotiating an amnesty law for Catalan separatists.^Euractiv Heatwaves and drought have halved Spanish olive oil production, leading to a massive increase in price even in Spain.^EN Spain has launched its first private rocket.^DW Nearly a thousand migrants landed on the Canary Islands this week.^Euractiv

SoyViking [he/him] · 9 months ago

Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated in Warsaw against the far-right-wing party PiS, called for by Donald Tusk, the leader of the right-wing party PO (as well as other parties)

In free democratic Poland you can choose between the piss party and the poo party.

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · 9 months ago

Part 2

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Ukraine has abandoned its fixed exchange rate and introduced a "managed flexible" exchange rate system.^BNE

Honestly, headlines about Ukraine "managing inflation" or "expecting/experiencing GDP growth" or whatever feel like complete delusions at this point. It's akin to a terminally ill patient who has months to live describing how they're going to become an Olympic athlete in ten years and they're starting training soon. Like, do we tell Ukraine that this is all meaningless economic tampering, that these numbers have no reflection on the real world, and that they are doomed? Or do we just congratulate them on the fall in inflation and then leave the hospital room and give each other sad looks?

There's really no greater indictment of the GDP metric than when Ukraine, a country with an electrical system teetering on the brink, with one quarter of its land occupied by a foreign power, and with a working age population that is either fleeing or being sent to their deaths in pointless offensives, can say that they're experiencing GDP growth this year. The number is completely disconnected from reality.

Naked Capitalism looks at Ukraine's economy, which is essentially turning into a modern slave state as Ukraine tries to keep a war that they have already lost going.^NC

Sunak and Biden want a US/UK trade pact before the 2024 elections.^Bilterals The UK government is in two minds about 15 minute cities, on the one hand calling them sinister ploys to increase surveillance and restrict freedom, and on the other hand fighting back against that same propaganda.^OD In general, the Conservatives are embracing conspiracy theories more and more, as they continue their steadfast march rightwards following the QAnon-infested Republicans.^EN The National Farmers' Union and other groups successfully lobbied against a proposal that would require large businesses to measure and publish how much food they waste.^OD Renters aren't all ‘weed-smoking bad people in gangs’, says Tory housing minister, speaking to an audience of mostly landlords.^OD Fossil fuel giants are investing millions in UK universities.^DS The Conservative focus on oppressing trans people is causing some MPs to be nervous that they should be doing literally anything else than just removing the human rights of people and then doing villainous laughs to make voters want to vote for them.^FT The Labour Party has told the UK's largest Palestinian advocacy group that they cannot refer to Israel as an "apartheid" state in publicity material in the next party conference.^MEE The former children's commissioner has said that keeping schools shut during the pandemic was a "terrible mistake", presumably because it kept their stocks of child blood low, which is a favourite beverage in the UK government.^OD An article on the UK coronavirus "let it rap" policy.^WSWS

The British national living wage is set to increase to £11 an hour from April 2024, benefiting 2 million workers, but will also toughen sanctions on people on benefits who do not take steps to find work.^MP A mere £25 per week payment in Scotland is making a significant difference in child poverty.^FT Water companies in England and Wales are proposing sharp increases in bills to pay for a £96 billion in investment in the water and sewage network.^FT Shop prices have inflated by 6.2% in September, down from 6.9% in August.^FT One in tens Scots, or 500,000 people, are living in "very deep poverty".^MP Gatwick airport is limiting flights due to sickness among the staff due to coronavirus.^WSWS A British Lord has proposed raising the pension age to 75; it is currently 66.^RT

Western Asia:

The Pentagon is planning significant cuts to its special forces in the Middle East as it pivots to China.^MEE

Efforts by the United States to stir up trouble in the Caucasus via Armenia may, instead of weakening Russia and Iran, have the opposite effect (though Armenia is probably fucked).^NC The Financial Times naturally assumes the opposite - that this proves that Russia has lost control of its periphery because they have been weakened by the Ukraine War, which is curious as Russia's actions and diplomacy further away (with ASEAN, BRICS, Africa, etc) suggest that it is only growing in power. Jacobin also believes that the conflict is not over. Armenia has voted for join the ICC in a very obvious snub towards Russia for not saving Nagorno-Karabakh; they have assured Russia that Putin would not be arrested if he entered the country however.^AP Pashinyan has said that he was ready to resign if that would help to normalize the situation in the country.^CGTN A long article on Armenia-Azerbaijan that has brainworms but isn't the worst analysis I've ever seen.^AM

A secret Israeli arms shipment weeks before the offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh occurred helped Azerbaijan in its campaign there.^TC Azerbaijan has issued an arrest warrant for ex-Nagorno Karabakh leader Harutyunyan,^EN and is arresting other former leaders.^EN Humiliation fuels my fellow Azerbaijanis’ hate of Armenia. We must oppose it. Azerbaijan and Turkiye have begun construction of a gas pipeline linking Turkiye to the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan.^EN

The Georgian government has accused USAID of funding training for Georgian activists aimed at inciting unrest and overthrow of the government.^BNE Russia has signed a deal for a permanent naval base on the Black Sea coast in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.^Euractiv

The Iranian morality police attacked a 16 year old girl for not wearing the appropriate hijab, leaving her in a coma.^MEE Iranian women's rights activist Narges Mohammadi has won the Nobel Peace Prize.^MEE Not to diminish the suffering that Iranian women go through, but it's awesome how every single Peace Prize for the next 50 years will be given to people opposing Bad Countries America hates.

Iraq's government is banning all dollar cash withdrawals by the year's end, to try and prop up the dinar.^TC

Israel continues its unofficial annexation of the West Bank, with Palestinians being forced to abandon their homes at record rates.^NYT Israel blocked the UK foreign secretary from visiting a terrorised Palestinian village (to be honest, he'd probably just complement Israel on what they've done).^MEE Israeli forces opened fire in a West Bank school during a raid.^MEE The government is seeking to allow the use of live fire by police to disperse Palestinian protests.^MEE

Palestinian groups have launched a massive offensive out of the Gaza Strip which has taken the IDF by surprise, with (by Sunday) remarkably equal death/injury tolls on both sides (usually Israel receives barely any casualties while Palestine gets thousands). Israeli government rhetoric is essentially implying that they are going to exterminate all 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip if they get the opportunity, while Westerners (and Indian dudes) cheer on. Israel is officially in a state of war for the first time in decades,^FT and has warned of a "long and difficult" war.^AN Thousands of people throughout the world, such as in Turkiye^AN Sudan,^TS and Yemen and Bahrain^TS have marched in support of Palestine. Palestine has a legal right to armed resistance against Israel.^SP

Green Left's Jacob Andrewartha spoke to Antony Loewenstein, journalist and writer of Disaster Capitalism about his new book, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world. The Biden administration has gifted Israel a visa waiver program.^MPN Israel’s State Archives Reveal Long and Sordid History With Anti-Semitic Extremists in Europe

An article on how Lebanon is between a rock and a hard place, despite its strategic position in relation to the various connectivity projects emerging in the region.^TC A coalition of Total Energies, Eni, and Qatar Energies made a last-minute bid to drill for oil and gas in Lebanese waters.^MEE

20 US Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Biden expressing concerns over the normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.^TC The second Israeli minister will visit Saudi Arabia soon as the two countries edge towards establishing formal relations.^MEE

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · 9 months ago

Part 3

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The Syrian government intensified shelling on Idlib, hitting various civilian places and killing and wounding dozens.^MEE

Turkiye has launched airstrikes against the PKK in northern Iraq,^CGTN and is launching bombs in Syria in retaliation for a suicide bombing by a Iraq-based Kurdish armed group,^TC which has drawn critique from a Syrian Kurdish commander.^BNE Construction on the Turkiye-Iraq oil pipeline will resume in a week after six months of suspension.^MEE The UAE and Turkiye are in talks to build a railway across the Bosphorus.^TC Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.6 in September from 49.0 in August.^BNE Electricity tariffs for industry have been hiked by 25%.^BNE Inflation was officially 62% in September, a slight increase from August, though a research group says inflation was actually 130% for September.^BNE

Over 130 cats were dumped in the Abu Dhabi desert, prompting an investigation. The key question: were they indoor or outdoor cats? /s.^MEE

Central Asia:

Afghanistan's leadership has assured China that it has worked to combat terrorism and regards threats to China seriously as a threat against its own country.^SCMP Their foreign ministers met at the Trans-Himalaya Forum and talked about various issues,^CGS and Wang Yi called for a speedy green transformation in the trans-Himalaya region,^CGTN where phase two of the Zhegu Wind Farm has been put into operation in Tibet, for example.^SCMP An earthquake has killed over 2000 people.^DW

Kazakhstan will begin piping Russian gas to Uzbekistan by the end of October as repairs finish up.^BNE Kazakhstan's inflation eased to 11.8% in September.^BNE Manufacturing PMI increased to 52.8 from 52.4 in August.^BNE Services PMI is up to 52.3, from 50.2.^BNE

The once-friendly relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have sharply deteriorated.^TC Pakistan has given all illegal immigrants until November 1st to leave the country, including 1.73 million Afghan nationals.^RT

Putin has a 77% approval rating.^BNE Russia's manufacturing PMI reached 54.5 in September.^BNE Russia's service sector PMI slowed a little from August (57.6) but is still at 55.4.^BNE Russia's national debt has reached 16.7% of GDP.^RT Banks have earned $40 billion in profit this year, their best result in almost a decade.^BNE As the ruble once again falls past 100 to the dollar,^FT Peskov has said that inordinate focus on the dollar-ruble exchange rate is a "remnant of the past".^RT The deputy PM has once again confirmed that Russia not complying with the Western oil price cap and is instead selling at market prices.^RT Russian oil exports have jumped to a three month high.^RT The diesel export ban has been lifted.^FT Russia has announced that the ZNPP could be put back online next year; the reactors have been idling for months.^RT Russia does not plan to resume nuclear tests even though they may withdraw from the test ban treaty.^CGTN More than one million Russians have been declared bankrupt since 2015, with 250,000 going bankrupt since the beginning of 2023.^RT

Firms departing Russia will need to contribute 15% of the value of their business sale to the country's budget.^RT Carlsberg has written off the entire value of its Russian business and terminated agreements allowing the local subsidiary to sell its products, three months after Carlsberg's subsidiary Baltika, Russia's biggest and most popular beer brand, was placed under state control.^FT

Uzbekistan's inflation was 9.2% year-on-year.^BNE Uzbekistan is ramping up imports of Kazakhstan wheat to a five year high.^BNE Uzbekistan and China are moving forward on a joint venture to produce electric and hybrid vehicles.^EN

Eastern Asia and Oceania:

Asia faces one of worst economic outlooks in half a century, World Bank warns,^FT giving a mere 5.1% projected GDP growth for China in 2023.^CGTN

Australia's cost of living crisis deepens.^WSWS

Bangaldesh's economy is a mixed bag right now, with infrastructure megaprojects alongside significant inflation and public discontent.^FT Bangladesh has recorded 1000 deaths in the worst dengue fever outbreak in its history.^DW

When consumers of the Cambodian fashion industry cancelled orders in the wake of coronavirus, and factories closed and millions of workers lost their jobs, many people (in this industry, usually women) were left without their final wages, and some have been fighting for them ever since.^OD

Domestic tourism in China has flourished.^SCMP Consumers for domestic brands have returned as the recovery continues.^SCMP Evergrande has applied for trading of its shares to continue in Hong Kong.^SCMP Cryptocurrency trading is down in mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, though Hong Kong has introduced new virtual asset-friendly policies.^SCMP Pessimism about Chinese chip-making in the midst of triumphalism, as SCMP often does. China's new energy vehicles are reshaping the global automotive landscape.

Chinese scientists have found a way to inhibit the occurrence of cytokine release syndrome (aka "cytokine storm") triggered by cancer immunotherapy.^CGTN China is to launch its relay satellite Queqiao-2 in 2024 to support communications with its next lunar mission.^CGTN China will soon complete a 3000-meter deep seabed geology exploration off the coast of China to detect oil and gas.^CGTN China has cultivated a second harvest of genetically modified giant rice in a region with poor soil.^SCMP A new type of ore, called niobobaotite, has been found in the world's largest rare earth deposit in Inner Mongolia, containing niobium.^SCMP

Taiwan's share in global semiconductor manufacturing is set to fall and China's is expected to correspondingly rise, according to an IDC report.^SCMP Taiwan is developing a backup satellite network to secure its communications with the outside world in the event of a conflict.^SCMP

An article on how the news the West gets about the DPRK is so often complete falsehoods, brought to us by the national security state.^MPN

India tells Canada to withdraw dozens of diplomatic staff.^FT Can India, the world’s most populous country, provide jobs for its young people? An article on the gendered digital divide; only 31% of women have smartphones, compared to 60% of men.^RoW The homes of over 100 journalists, contractors, and former employees associated with Newsclick and People's Dispatch and the Tricontinental Research Services were raided by Indian authorities, with 50 people taken to a police station for additional questioning,^MR and this has met with international outrage^MR and outrage from Indian communist groups.^PW

Indonesian nickel mining projects involve the clearing of wide swathes of biodiverse forests, with various corporations involved in the practice.^FT

Japan's car industry is losing billions over the Russia export ban.^RT The central bank has bought $12.7 billion of government bonds as yields hit their highest in a decade; a global market sell-off has driven US Treasury yields to 16-year highs.^FT The yen has fallen past the 150-to-dollar mark before rebounding sharply, prompting questions about whether the government had or would intervene.^FT

The Singaporean PM has warned to not see China through the frame of "democracy vs autocracy" at the Asia Future Summit.^CGTN

South Korea has warned the North that they would see "the end of its regime" if it ever launched a nuclear attack and that the United States would come to South Korea's aid.^RT

Thailand is expected to finalise free trade agreements with the EU, Sri Lanka, and the UAE next year.^Bilaterals

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · 9 months ago

Part 4

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Africa:

We have here, in Africa, everything necessary to become a powerful, modern, and industrialised continent: The Fortieth Newsletter (2023)

China’s Belt and Road Initiative and African Industrialisation

China and Africa’s Attempts at Industrialisation

Africa’s Path to Industrialisation: How Can China Contribute to the Continent’s Economic Development?

China-Africa Relations in the Belt and Road Era

The World Bank fears "lost decade" for sub-Saharan Africa.

A Chinese firm has been accused of selling satellites for intelligence to Wagner.^AN

The United States is in an interesting position where they don't want to antagonize juntas in the Sahel and lose influence, but are also making this whole new Cold War "democracy vs autocracy"; the Quincy Institute says that the US should denounce the coups and juntas here and be consistent because there's not even much influence to lose (they allege; I disagree).^RS

Angola has introduced visa-free travel for Russians.^RT

Burkina Faso's government has elevated Thomas Sankara to the rank of "hero of the nation".^AN

Cameroon and Chad are to strengthen their military cooperation.^TS Anti-French sentiment continues to rise in Chad.^RT

The DRC has sentenced the head of the elite Republican Guard to death over the killing of protestors in August.^AN The Nobel Prize winner Denis Mukwege has announced his bid for the DRC presidency, which is holding elections in December.^BNE The DRC and Zambia to jointly building a bridge over a river as part of a road project to more easily transport cobalt and copper to Tanzanian ports.^CGS

A police headquarters in Egypt has been extensively burned, injuring nearly 40 people.^AN President Sisi has given an... interesting speech, where he asks his countrymen to endure hunger, insults his opposition for questioning his infrastructure projects, and says that he could destroy the country if he distributed an opioid to desperate people.^MEE Vulnerable women have been forced to sign a petition endorsing Sisi.^MEE

Eswatini's election is now over. The 59 MPs are selected by chiefs close to the king, are not allowed to belong to a party, and serve a purely advisory role to the monarch.^AN

Ethiopia and the EU have signed a $680 million cooperation agreement to help their post-war recovery and facilitate economic reforms.^AN The US is resuming some food aid deliveries to refugees, four months after assistance was halted over a scheme to steal supplies.^AP

The new President of Gabon has visited the Congo's Prime Minister and President and is lobbying for the lifting of sanctions.^AN

Ghana's president has called on ECOWAS to speak against term limit extensions, which are being used by various leaders to maintain power.^BNE The opposition has led protests to denounce the economic crisis, blaming it on the central bank governor's policies (inflation is at 40%).^AN Several Ghanaians linked to Wagner have been arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government.^BNE

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is looking to boost Ivory Coast's trade links with Asia by upgrading 7000 km of roads to link the agricultural north with major export hubs on the coast.^SCMP The Prime Minister has been dismissed by the President and a new government is set to be formed.^AN

Kenya has been hit by a record 860 million cyber-attacks in a year.^AN President Ruto is asking China for a $1 billion loan.^AN

The Prime Minister of Libya has pledged to reform the education system.^TS

The outgoing president of Madagascar and candidate for re-election, Rajoelina, has denounced the opposition after they claimed that Rajoelina was creating an institutional coup d'etat as the Prime Minister and his close friend was responsible for acting in the interim for the election period.^AN Madagascar's security forces have fired tear gas on the opposition candidates leading a protest in the capital.^AN

Mali continues to battle Tuareg rebels as the latter claims to have seized another military base from the military.^DW The Malian army is moving northwards towards separatist strongholds, which could ultimately make or break the Malian government.^AN

Morocco has begun providing money to families whose homes were destroyed in the earthquake.^AN Morocco has recorded over 11,000 marriages of underage girls annually; these are largely due to families needing to relieve themselves of financial stress and hardships, with the hope of securing additional income from the gifts received after marriage or financial assistance.^MEE

Mozambique and Credit Suisse have settled the 'tuna bonds' row in an out-of-court settlement; Mozambique was suing the bank over bribery and fraud.^DW

Algeria says that Niger accepted an Algerian mediation intiative to restore democratic rule within six months,^RT but Niger denies this.^Reuters France is to begin withdrawing its troops this week.^AN Reporters Without Borders has called for Niger's government to release a detained journalist.^AN 29 soldiers were killed by a large group of insurgents.^DW Niger has banned petroleum gas exports to combat a national shortage.^AN

Nigeria's labour unions have suspended their call for a nationwide strike after the government announced some measures to compensate for the rising cost of living.^AN The government opposition is presenting evidence for its court challenge to overturn this year's elections, saying that Tinubu faked his academic credentials.^AN

A covertly captured audio of Rwanda's high commissioner to the United Kingdom has revealed his criticisms of the UK's migration policy.^AN An article on mining in Rwanda, which produces much of the world's tantalum, a key element in military equipment - and the controversies surrounding it.^CD

Senegal is maintaining its TikTok ban, demanding that the company sign an agreement for the creation of a mechanism to remove accounts.^AN

The leader of the main opposition party in the Seychelles has been charged with witchcraft, as he possessed stones, small bottles of liquids, various powders, and documents containing language and symbols described as satanic.^AN

Sierra Leona may lose hundreds of millions of dollars of aid as government activity halts following disputed elections this year.^FT

Somalia is still occupied by US forces on the 30th anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down) without much to show for it.^RS Climate change exacerbates conflict in Somalia between clans, as they fight over grazing lands and water.^Nature

South Africa has culled 7.5 million chickens to try and contain bird flu outbreaks.^AN

South Sudan's president has sacked the central bank governor.^BNE

Another Canadian mining company is claiming conpensation against Tanzania.^Bilaterals

More political prisoners have announced hunger strikes in Tunisia in protest against the mass arrest of critics by President Saied.^MEE An opposition leader in Tunisia has been arrested.^AN

Zimbabwe and a UAE company have signed a $1.5 billion memorandum of understanding; the deal will generate carbon credits and involves the forest protection of 20% of Zimbabwe's landmass.^BNE The government is enacting legislation to fight drug and substance abuse.^TS

North America:

An article on the Canadian wildfires from a communist perspective.^RC Canadian cattle groups are angry at the UK for not accepting their hormone-fed beef.^Bilaterals There's a new centrist party, because all the other options are just so extremist and polarised, you know?^Jacobin An article on how various corporations have turned newspapers and media into propaganda weapons.^CD Some Toronto tenants have been on rent strike for months.^Jacobin

CW: contains several mentions of the r-word, and descriptions of state-sanctioned sexual violence and forced stripping.

An essay on the obscene policies that US prisons have towards women, the 2023 winner of the Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize.

CW ends.

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · 9 months ago

Part 5

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Voters Have the Right to Be Dissatisfied with ‘Bidenomics’

The number of Americans facing a drop in incomes rose to 11.8% in September, from 10.7% in August.^RT The stock markets and Dow Jones were unrattled by the threatened shutdown, because they didn't care and knew that nothing bad would happen to them regardless.^PW Gaetz is attempting to oust McCarthy as House Speaker,^FT and has succeeded,^Advocate which is bad news for Ukraine^NC and is Putin's fault.^RT 80% of retired four-star generals and admirals went on to work in the arms sector as board members, advisers, lobbyists, or consultants.^RS Major US airlines are freaking out as a widely used jet engine may have been committing widespread safety-certification fraud.^RT NASA intends to continue cooperation with Russia.^RT Science agencies are on track for a 25-year funding low.^Nature

The governor of California is replacing Dianne Feinstein's seat with Laphonza Butler, a queer black woman who is a unionist-turned-unionbuster.^Advocate The Mississippi river has reached record lows and saltwater is threatening to contaminate the water supply of New Orleans.^WSWS The Biden adminstration has decided to build Trump's wall after all.^PD

An article on Guantanamo, at which 30 prisoners remain; 16 have been cleared for release but face challenges in actually transfering to other countries.

Latin America:

The Argentinian black market has surged.^MP The first presidential debate between the five contenders for the Argentinian presidency was held without any clear winners.^MP The UK Foreign Secretary is going off to the Falklands to assert their right to self-determination.^MP

Brazil is desperately attempting to stop the water loss from the Amazon Basin, dredging the Madeira and Solimoes waterways which transport goods.^MP China and Brazil have completed a full transanction in local currencies for the first time.^CGTN Brazil reports a record trade surplus in Spetember.^MP Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen by 59%.^TS

Chile has extended its state of emergency in the south of the country due to the "Mapuche conflict" involving indigenous communities, logging companies, and law enforcement.^MP

Why were Cuban citizens tempted by Russian citizenship promises and high monthly salaries working for the Russian military? Those questions are totally irrelevant; Russia is bad and weak.[^FAIR]9https://archive.ph/8HDa4)

Ecuador's presidential frontrunner, Noboa, is engaged in a court battle over the family bananas-to-banking conglomerate that has raised suspicions of potential conflicts of interests should he win the election.^FT

Senior US officials met with Guatemala's president-elect Arevalo in Washington.^Reuters Protests in Guatemala intensify, demanding the resignation of senior prosecutors working to undermine Arevalo.^Reuters

The UN has given the go-ahead to send peacekeepers to Haiti, with Russia and China abstaining.^MP Journalist Kim Ives has denounced this as illegal, that this will just create a huge mess, and that this is "black-face on a US-Canadian effort".^HL Jacobin also agrees.^Jacobin Haiti as Empire’s laboratory.

AMLO has condemned the plan to build a wall on the Texan border, saying it does not address the causes of illegal immigration.^CGTN Tensions rise in the Rio Grande basin as Mexican farmers prevented the delivery of reservoir water to Texas under a 1944 treaty.^ICN

The US has expressed concern to Peru that China is gaining control of critical infrastructure, such as the electricity supply to Lima and a new megaport.^FT

Uruguayan exports have fallen by 9% year-on-year and 18% so far in 2023.^MP Beef exports are down 31% in seven months.^MP Uruguay has sanctioned a Finnish paper company for spilling caustic soda into a watercourse.^MP

The US is to restart deportation flights to Venezuela^DW after the Veneuzulean government decided to accept back their nationals.^TS US Academic Steve Ellner: ‘Venezuela needs more checks and balances to fight corruption and abuse of power’ The government has issued an arrest warrant for Guaido.^MP The PDVSA is replacing pipelines in Lake Maracaibo with Chinese technology, to prevent crude oil leaks and reduce environmental impact.^TS Venezuela and Russia have also strengthened oil co-operation.^TS

War:

Poland and Ukraine have announced that they had agreed to speed up the transit of Ukrainian grain exports through Poland to third countries.^Euractiv Ukraine says that five more ships are on their way to Ukrainian sea ports using the new corridor established by the Ukrainian Navy (they still have a navy?).^CGTN EU foreign ministers have met in Kiev to show support.^Euractiv Ukraine Endgame Accelerates as Congress Denies Any Funding in Stopgap Bill and Fico Wins in Slovakia Vote. Slovakia has suspended military aid to Ukraine.^BNE The EU has passed a multi-year budget that locks in €50 billion for Ukraine until 2027.^BNE Ukraine could receive nearly $200 billion for the seven years after it joins the EU, if it ever does so.^FT Three major Chinese oil and gas conglomerates have been added to a Ukrainian list of "war sponsors", accused of helping Russia.^RT The G7 has restricted Russian diamonds of one carat and above processed by Indian cutters from entering its market, very politely telling India that they are allowed to sell them to other markets (India cuts and polishes 90% of the world's gems.^RT

Russia's deputy PM has announced that another batch of Su-57 fighter jets has been delivered to Russian forces by manufacturers.^TS The UK suggested that they were sending troops directly into Ukraine (albeit to train soldiers there), Medvedev (rightfully) stated that they would be targets for strikes, and now the UK has backtracked.^Euractiv Putin orders regrouping of Wagner for combat missions. Zelensky has named a battalion after Evgeny Konovalets, a fascist sympathizer who led the Ukrainian nationalist insurgency in Poland during the 1920s.^RT Ukraine is trying to become a military production hub, as the obvious choice to place your factories is a country with a vulnerable electrical grid and a place where Russian missiles can hit anywhere with no chance of being stopped; Stalin should have placed all his factories on the German border during WW2.^BNE War Fatigue Complicates West’s Aid to Ukraine. Politico has stated that Europe has given all the military aid they can without endangering their own security (I expect they can be persuaded to give the rest in exchange for some Abrams and F-35 deals).^RT Will Ukraine's effort go bankrupt gradually...then suddenly? Leaked documents revealed an international censorship campaign funded by the British government to redefine "disinformation" to include factual criticism of the US military or NATO and then moderate that criticism using social media and digital market actors.^GZ The UK has warned Ukraine that Russia may attack Ukrainian cargo ships with sea mines, and the United States has sent 1 million rounds of ammunition that was seized from Iran in 2022.^DW A Russian strike has killed 51 people in a Ukrainian village, where soldiers were holding a wake while in the presence of civilians, getting them killed.^Euractiv Putin has claimed that Ukraine has lost 90,000 men since June, as well as nearly 2000 armored vehicles.^RT

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · 9 months ago

Part 6

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China is urging Europe to open up to Chinese electric vehicles and 5G technology.^SCMP China's electric vehicles are so numerous and so affordable that they may leave Europe in the dust, with parallels to 1970s Japan.^FT China and Germany have agreed to expand mutual market access and strengthen co-operation in fiscal and financial areas,^CGTN which sounds a lot like the opposite of decoupling.^CGTN The West probably can't catch up with China in the critical minerals race,^CGS and would require close co-operation with Africa to achieve regardless.^CGS Australia concludes China decoupling is impossible after carrying out series of classified studies.^SCMP While Confucius Institutes Are Being Kicked Out of the Global North, They Remain Popular in the Global South After meeting with the US Guatemala's Arevalo wants to keep its Taipei ties while also seeking better relations with China, which sounds... impossible?^SCMP The US has sanctioned a China-based drug network over fentanyl.^SCMP The US is working to close loopholes on the rules that restrict shipments of semiconductor equipment to China, and further add restrictions.^SCMP The US has added 42 more Chinese companies to its economic blacklist, accusing them of aiding Russia in the war.^SCMP

The UK defense minister announced the finalization of a £4 billion contract to commence work on a new nuclear-powered AUKUS attack submarine.^DW Japan will start purchasing Tomahawk missiles in 2025, a year earlier than planned.^RT The President of the Philippines has said that he is not looking for trouble with China, but has vowed to defend against incursions.^CGS Saudi Arabia and China are to hold joint naval exercises this month.^CGS China exhibition shows latest advances in drone technology, especially for military use.^SCMP The EU has drawn up a list of sensitive technologies to be carefully scrutinized for the risks they pose in rival hands (China, Russia, etc).^DW

Labour:

Quebec public sector workers are getting ready for a general strike.^CD Workers in Manitoba are striking to fight wage repression.^Jacobin An article on scabs, and why they are illegal in British Columbia and Quebec.^LN

Kaiser pharmacy workers in Oregon and Washington begin 21-day strike;^WSWS US labor upsurge grows as 75,000 healthcare workers plan strike.^PW The Illinois Nurses Association and other unions lobby for a state safe staffing law.^PW 300,000 workers are now on pick lines across America.^PW New Jersey nurses are two months into their strike for safe staffing.^LN

University and College Union sabotages UK national higher education strike.^WSWS

Thousands of doctors went on strike across Germany on Monday, complaining of bureaucracy and rising costs.^DW

Left and Right:

Is capitalism in its terminal crisis now?^Jacobin A 1972 novel from a Greek leftist, Chakkas.^Jacobin An article on Bevins' new book "If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution".^SP Beware ideologies that tell you you're better than everyone else.^CA Destroy the gifted kid inside your own head. The priority must be to put Bush, Blair, and Cheney behind bars before Trump.^MPN Hey, don't forget Hillary Clinton! Reparations for Black Americans with William A. Darity.^MR French socialists are doing what socialists do best and splitting up their efforts from other left-wing parties.^Euractiv

Conservative postliberalism is a complete dead end.^Jacobin For the Australian far right, aboriginal rights have always been synonymous with communism.^Jacobin

LGBTQIA:

Content Warning - this section is not usually good news.

Olivia Hill has become the first out transgender elected official in Tennessee.^Advocate Florida's transgender bathroom ban has been challenged by a group of activists.^Advocate Providing gender-affirming care to youth in Oklahoma is now a felony.^Advocate Wisconsin's governor has vowed to veto anti-trans legislation.^Advocate

Uganda's constitutional court is set to begin hearing three petitions challenging the anti-homosexuality law enacted in May.^AN The Mauritius Supreme Court has decriminalized gay sex.[^Advocate](https://archive.ph/VOGsQ0 Hundreds of Muslims and conservative Christians in Kenya rallied against the Supreme Court to protest their decision to reaffirm the LGBTQIA+ community's right of association.^AN

Pope Francis's stance on LGBTQIA+ people is being challenged by a group of five cardinals.^Advocate Pope Francis has indicated openness to blessing same-sex relationships, though has said these blessings should not become the norm and these unions should not be considered equivalent to marriage.^Advocate

Climate:

Climate change has displaced 43 million children in 6 years.^AN

Europe has just launched the world's first carbon tariff, in which foreign companies must now report all the greenhouse gas emissions associated with goods like cement, iron, steel, aluminium, fertilizers, hydrogen fuel, and electricity, and they will face an additional fee if they don't meet the emissions target; China and Russia are quite angry at this. In the US, there is some bipartisan support for a similar thing, though purely to spite China and not out of any environmental concern.^ICN The IMF has said that developing countries need $2 trillion in annual climate investments, and that the majority must come from the private sector.^EN

September was world's hottest on record by an 'extraordinary' margin.^EN Ozone hole over Antarctica grows to one of the largest on record.^ABC

Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG plant has been in an unusually long testing phase, prompting suspicion that it is using it to sell LNG on the spot market for a much higher price than if the plant was fully operational.^DS

In Nepal, vulture colonies seen to hold stable amid old and new threats.^MB Scores of Amazonian dolphins have died in the severe drought and heat.^DW 2 in 5 amphibians are still in trouble from habitat loss and climate change.^SCMP Desert bats are under severe threat, with disease killing millions of bats in the US and wind turbines killing half a million every year.^ICN

Architect of India’s Green Revolution, agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan passes away.^MB

How damaged are coral reefs? I dive to investigate climate change. Researchers warn against solely measuring the worth of a forest by its carbon content, and instead putting some focus on increasing biodiversity for ecosystem restoration.^ICN Rock organic carbon oxidation CO2 release offsets silicate weathering sink.^Nature

Public inquiry into foreign interference in elections should target Big Oil. Cop28 boss’ appeal to raise climate targets met with total indifference.^CCN Insurance companies are still backing US coal mines despite promising not to.^DS But they promised! Well, there's nothing more we can do; forcing them to stop doing it would be flagrant authoritarianism. Much of the pushback to wind turbines come from white, wealthy residents.^ICN

An article on the history of the Amazon rainforest, and its use as a release valve for governments to exploit instead of doing any actual reform.^Resumen Global warming has increased day-to-day rainfall variability in tropical and mid-latitude regions over the past 40 years.^Nature

Pope Francis has blamed irresponsible Western lifestyles for climate change. I mean, yes, but we saw during the lockdowns that even massive, global changes in lifestyles barely mattered in reducing carbon emissions; it's the corporations that are doing it.^ICN

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] · 9 months ago

Part 7

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Science and Technology:

Grape DNA reveals the true origins of wine. How women’s bodies evolved.^Nature Nobel Prize awarded to pioneering mRNA scientists who helped develop COVID vaccines.^WSWS

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded for studies into electrons.^DW Huge new satellite outshines nearly every star in the sky, with more bright satellites to come.^Nature

We have another case of fusion generating more energy than the lasers required.^Science

A good, scientific, and comprehensive article on the Fukushima water release, putting the radioactivity into (much-needed) context.^Science

Miscellaneous Analysis:

Economic analysis by Michael Roberts, this time on shadow banks.

What Pressure Produces: The Generative Aspects of Pressure amidst Urban Displacement in Dakar

The Yield on 10-Year Treasury Notes Hits a 16-Year High; Stocks Lose Ground in 8 of Last 10 Sessions; Treasury Announces Buybacks of Its Own Debt

Dipshittery and Cope:

Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin.

To tackle Putin’s dark oil fleet, enforcement needs to be stepped up.

How to lock in support for Ukraine for the long haul.

Global carbon pricing has a bright future.

IMF likely overestimating China’s economic growth prospects, US analyst says; growth above 3% is unlikely for China into the medium term and beyond.^SCMP

Why the ‘Global South’ isn’t running the IMF. Have you considered that it's actually YOUR fault for being in massive, crushing debt that we deliberately saddled you with after destroying your economies?

I Love My Trans Comrades!

Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him] · 9 months ago

The leader of the main opposition party in the Seychelles has been charged with witchcraft, as he possessed stones, small bottles of liquids, various powders, and documents containing language and symbols described as satanic.AN

I want a satanic witch for an opposition leader.

Bulletins and News Discussion from October 9th to October 15th, 2023 - There Were Two Reigns of Terror - COTW: Palestine

Bulletins and News Discussion from October 9th to October 15th, 2023 - There Were Two Reigns of Terror - COTW: Palestine

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I Love My Trans Comrades!