Well, Iran and their allies' response may happen sometime this week and apparently they aren't talking to the US in order to negotiate how and where they will hit Israel (and Shoigu arrived in Tehran rather auspiciously), the Bangladeshi government just fell, F16s have been given to Ukraine, there are fascist riots in the UK, and Japan just had its worst stock fall since 1987 and seems to be taking several other countries/corporations with it. I don't really know where to look right now.
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.
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
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.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
So what's the deal with Bangladesh
People keep asking this question because nobody has the answers
I think there are many parallels that can be drawn with 2013 taper tantrum which fucked over many developing countries.
In India it lead to a rise in inflation and Modi getting into power.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/09/ilargi-fed-kills-emerging-markets-profit.html
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/12/goodbye-price-stability-hello-exchange-rate-volatility.html
This is pretty much where I lie with things.
my understanding of the situation is:
the president that just got forced out, Hasina, was a developmentalist who relied to a lesser and greater extent throughout her presidency on foreign markets and investment to raise the standard of living in Bangladesh, with all the problems that usually causes. she was strongly opposed to Pakistan (whom they fought for their independence against in mid-century) and was allied with India under Modi, presumably for geopolitical reasons (this stance will probably be continued by the newcomers). She had decent relations with China and Russia. She had her own esoteric understanding of what socialism is and claimed to be doing it, but that is very debatable. while things were gradually improving over the years and decades in Bangladesh, it was slow, the poverty was miserable, and the environmental impact of development was quite bad. also, the same issues with inflation and cost of living which everybody has been and currently is facing, Bangladesh has not been spared from.
she was in power for several consecutive terms, meaning she fits the western definition of the typical Bad Words: authoritarian, regime, dictator, etc. the opposition increasingly refused to run against her out of protest for the system. the last election was early this year and the opposition refused to take part.
these student protests were, at least to begin with, in opposition to a law which dictated that 30% of government jobs would be reserved for veterans of their war of independence. this was seen by students who would soon be looking for jobs as deeply unfair and biased against them and towards the army, and so they protested. things quickly escalated, with the internet - not just social media - completely cut off throughout the country (the claim is that the government did it, and cable companies have said that too), and severe curfews. the bodies are still being counted but the number of dead civilians must be in the hundreds at a minimum, and the figures for the injured reach into the thousands. she catastrophically fucked up. this is like if Tiananmen Square happened but as the liberal fantasy of it, rather than how it actually happened.
Hasina escaped the country yesterday, going into exile in India. there is now a power vacuum, and it appears that American intelligence is getting all up in it. it is still unknown, to me at least, whether this was a colour revolution from the very beginning or if the CIA saw an opportunity when things got bad and took it. it's also unclear to what extent the protestors are going to be happy with whatever government comes in next - were many of them stooges? were they desperate for any change from the status quo? it's only been a day or so since the government fell, so we shall see in due time.