Image is of Assad's presidential palace in 2013. There's more images of it in this article, though the words in it aren't worth reading.
Here is Assad's version of events. I like to imagine he's making one of those Youtuber apology videos where they sigh at the start and talk in a chastised yet somewhat defensive tone of voice.
As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday 7th December 2024, questions arose about the president's fate and whereabouts. This occurred amidst a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.
At such a critical juncture in the nation’s history, where truth must take precedence, it is essential to address these distortions. Unfortunately, the prevailing circumstances at the time, including a total communication blackout for security reasons, delayed the release of this statement. This does not replace a detailed account of the events that unfolded, which will be provided when the opportunity allows.
First, my departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday 8th December 2024. As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in co-ordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations. Upon arrival at the Hmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen. As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes.
With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December. This took place a day after the fall of Damascus following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.
At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.
I reaffirm that the person who, from the very first day of the war, refused to barter the salvation of his nation for personal gain, or to compromise his people in exchange for numerous offers and enticements is the same person who stood alongside the officers and soldiers of the army on the front lines, just metres from terrorists in the most dangerous and intense battlefields. He is the same person who, during the darkest years of the war, did not leave but remained with his family alongside his people, confronting terrorism under bombardment and the recurring threats of terrorist incursions into the capital over 14 years of war. Furthermore, the person who has never abandoned the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, nor betrayed his allies who stood by him, cannot possibly be the same person who would forsake his own people or betray the army and nation to which he belongs.
I have never sought positions for personal gain but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, supported by the faith of the Syrian people, who believed in its vision. I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment.
When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless. This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people – a bond that remains unshaken by any position or circumstance. It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent.
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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 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.
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.
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.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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.
Chocolate Prices Soar Amid Exploitation and Climate Change
Cocoa prices have skyrocketed by 80% since September, reaching EUR 9,876 per ton last week. This surge is fueled by rising global demand, climate change, and exploitative farming practices that are squeezing crop yields.
Belgian chocolate producer Leonidas reports stagnant sales as consumers, already squeezed by the ongoing cost of living crisis, cut back on chocolate purchases due to soaring costs.
In the Global South, poverty-stricken cocoa farmers are forced to adopt unsustainable practices, planting monocultures in direct sunlight to boost yields. While this accelerates growth, it leaves trees—naturally healthier when grown in shaded, biodiverse environments—more vulnerable to drought, disease, and climate-related failures. These methods worsen the already severe impact of climate change on cocoa production.
Meanwhile, growing demand from countries like China has further strained global cocoa supplies. Experts predict prices will continue to rise, potentially exceeding €12,000 per ton. For Western consumers, accustomed to cheap chocolate, the treat may soon return to being a luxury item.
I hope more African countries assert their sovreignity over goods like cocoa and coffee. these are HUGE treat economies that literally cannot be grown in Europe and North America. I know one or two West African countries have made some moves, but the Swiss and French are still making 10000% markup on what they pay for this stuff
That would be a positive step towards national autonomy and breaking another chain of imperialist exploitation from the European powers.
An especially sweet victory, some may say.
Obviously, we are all doomed in the long term, but short-term effects of high inflation in certain treats sectors after Trump takes office (eggs, meat, chocolate) should be fun.
Afaik the Western capitalist have already partially solved this by replacing a lot of the cocoa with sugar. Not sure how easy it is to trace, but would be interesting to compare ingredients lists of the most common treats from a few years ago and now, not to mention in the future.
Our local chocolate capitalist has announced they will not do this sugar replacing and are testing cocoa substitutes like malted rye as well, but this isn't going all that well.
Edit. One more nugget of chocolate info. The reason behind all the different flavoured choholare bars and chocolate bars with bits in them is that by doing this the capitalists can use less cocoa for the products and keep the prices the same.
So that Oreo chocolate bar or a bar with your favourite gingerbreads in it is a part of this grift of elevating cocoa prices affecting the industry. At least where I live the manufacturers now roll out a new flavour bar of a chocolate that used to be just chocolate once every few months.
That sounds like some WWII rationing shit.
It doesn't always work out for them. Back in the noughties I remember them briefly trying to cut the store-brand coffe with roasted barley but they stopped doing it rather quickly. This year they tried to cut store-brand orange juice with sugar water, stealthily renaming it "orange nectar" for legal reasons while keeping everything else on the carton the same but people got mad and after a few months they were back to selling orange juice.
Rather than it returning to a luxury item in the West, all the “chocolate” (however much is actually real anymore anyway) will suddenly not really be chocolate anymore, just a highly artificial shitty version of it. And will become one more thing that over time people, especially younger generations, don’t really know what the real thing is like
Capitalism breeds innovation! (innovation in how to enshittify everything)
Yikes