Summary for October 7th

Events

Globally: Heads of government haven't been invited to attend Cop15 in Canada, the biodiversity summit, prompting fears that it isn't attracting enough attention. The World Bank has spent almost $15 billion on fossil fuel projects since the Paris climate accord, funding through intermediaries rather than directly (which they pledged to end). The UN, with the support/abstention of Muslim-majority countries, has rejected a debate on the treatment of the Uyghurs, with the West and its organisations seething and coping. China and Russia are opposed to a public discussion on the DPRK after they fired a missile over Japan, after the US wanted a meeting with the Security Council on Wednesday.

Europe: EU finance ministers are going to raise $20 billion from the carbon market to support the transition away from Russian energy, part of a $300 billion plan last May to speed up Europe's energy transition. The Mississippi river is facing much depleted river levels, causing severe impacts to navigation and transportation - which will reduce exports to Europe. While European countries that already have nuclear energy are engaging more in it, those who are giving it up are, at most, delaying the closure of nuclear plants, rather than doing a U-turn and proposing building more. Hungary and Turkey are the last two countries that haven't signed on to let Sweden and Finland join NATO - and while Turkey's issues are known, Hungary appears to be outwardly for it, though Orban is putting hurdles in the way of it passing through parliament with no end in sight.

Zelensky's bid to join NATO has been met with a solid "Well... no." by most in the bloc. The US and Russia are making progress in talks over resuming mutual nuclear inspections within the new START treaty (though, tbh, I think the US just wants to figure out how the Sarmat missile works). The EU has sanctioned Kherson and Zaporozhye oblasts, giving de facto, but no de jure, recognition to them as belonging to Russia. Russia and Iran have agreed to swap supplies of oil and gas. The inflation rate in Russia has fallen from a high of 17% in April to 13.5% in September, while inflation in European nations continues to rise. The yuan has become the most traded foreign currency on the Russian exchange, beating the dollar. Private Russian companies have started donating supplies of fertilizer to poor countries while Europe continues to block Russian fertilizer from being shipped to those countries (presumably because it would make Russia look good, and Europe does not consider people living outside the imperial core to actually be people, let alone worthy of food). Macron and Truss have made friends again in Prague after Truss earlier responded ambiguously as to whether France was a friend or foe. The UK mini-budget disaster has cost the UK economy £300 billion. Child hunger is escalating in UK schools, with some children not having eaten since lunch the day before, while others eat erasers to ease hunger pains, leaving teachers needing to buy toasters and bread to feed children on their own budget. The UK could face 3-hour power cuts this winter. UK train drivers have launched more strikes across the country. Liverpool dockworkers could strike again in mid-October. The Scottish government has simplified how transgender people can update their birth certificates, has removed the need for a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria in favour of self-declaration, has reduced the age at which people can apply for a gender recognition certificate from 18 to 16, and made it so you can apply for it after only three months, rather than two years.

The backlog for Dutch asylum applicants is as high as it was during the 2015 migrant crisis. German MEPs have called for the expulsion of Berlusconi if he chooses to support Meloni and her fascist government in Italy. At least 22 people have died after migrant boats sank in Greek waters. Spain has approved a law banning praise of Franco. Poland has asked if America wants to station nuclear weapons in their country, which America says "Hell fucking no". Meanwhile, Lukashenko has responded to this threat by Poland by discussing the matter with Putin. Habeck, has criticized the US - indirectly, because he's a coward - for charging high gas prices. The number of Germans requiring food banks has doubled from in 2020, to over 2 million - and that was just by mid-July. Germany needs to slash natural gas consumption by at least 20% to avoid a winter emergency (it's too late for that). Norway is expected to earn a record $131 billion from oil and gas in 2023.

East Asia and Oceania: The Thailand-Laos rail project, which will link to the China-Laos railway, is on track for completion in mid-2023. India's rupee has hit an all time low against the dollar. The DPRK has fired two short-range ballistic missiles in Japan's direction yesterday.

Central Asia and the Middle East: Iran has experienced an earthquake on Wednesday that has injured over 1100 people. Israel is essentially using Palestinians as test subjects for AI-powered guns at a checkpoint which has previously experienced many Palestinian protests and deaths, which fire sponge-tipped bullets as a "crowd-dispersal method" (but can also kill or cause serious injuries), before presumably selling this technology on to the West. Saudi Arabia has planted over 12 million trees and shrubs to combat desertification.

Africa: The WHO has launched a suicide-prevention initiative in Africa (6 of the 10 countries with the highest suicide rates are in Africa, and the region has one psychiatrist for every 500,000 people). NGOs have denounced an oil project in Uganda that would construct a 1400-km long pipeline, via the French oil giant TotalEnergies and China's National Offshore Oil Corporation - maybe try helping them with their poverty if you don't want them to destroy their environments? Meanwhile, Ugandan police have brutally arrested anti-pipeline protestors outside the EU embassy in Kampala. And Uganda's President, Museveni, has apologized for his son tweeting threats to seize the capital of Kenya, and his son has since been demoted. Egypt has called for the return of the Rosetta Stone. Thousands of people have been displaced in Ghana after a dam spillage. Kenya's president appears to be perfectly willing to remain subservient to the United States and United Kingdom, despite the brutal repression of the British Empire in living memory of people living there. Kenyan NGOs are protesting the approval of GMO crops, with organizations like Greenpeace calling it too hasty and asking it to be reinstated. There have been demonstrations in the capital of Burkina Faso in support of the new junta leader. South Africa's rail and port workers have gone on strike over wages, while the government submits a $8.5 billion plan for a transition to renewable energy.

United States: The US empire is freaking out after its vassal states, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have agreed to a 2 million barrels-per-day production cut, prompting some politicians to propose a full military withdrawal from the countries as they "side with Russia", of course completing ignoring that the US has been gunning for a price cap on oil. Biden has eyeing alternatives after the OPEC+ cut, which, like - isn't the whole point of OPEC+ that there aren't really alternatives? US jobless claims are going up a bit as the Fed seeks to induce a recession. Texas droughts have wiped out much of the state's cotton harvest. Young Americans generally want to cut the defense budget and end arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia - although less than 60%, generally ("the zoomers will save us" my fucking ass). Biden is pardoning marijuana convictions - or at least is trying to do it - in a very transparent bid to try and ensure the Democrats aren't fucked in the midterms. At least 66 clinics in 15 states have ended abortion care now. The US is screening air passengers from Uganda for ebola. Ontario education support workers have overwhelmingly voted to strike against the government's austerity agenda.

Caribbean and South America: Thousands of Haitians continue to protest and demand the resignation of PM Ariel Henry. Neo-Nazis in the Dominican Republic are fighting against acts of solidarity with Haitian protests, decrying the "globalists", and-- man, Nazis really are the same everywhere, aren't they? How boringly dystopic. Anyway, Cuba and Russia have resumed direct flights, prompting Russian tourists to visit Cuba in droves. The parties that didn't make it through the first round in the Brazil elections are broadly getting behind Lula and against Bolsonaro. A pseudo-left union in Argentina has imposed a sellout contract on tire workers before the workers could vote on it.

Conflict

Putin has amended Russia's constitution to add the four oblasts to Russia. Putin has signed a decree to form a state-owned company to be in charge of managing the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Peskov has said that Russia will wait to resume peace talks or will have to negotiate with a new leader, as Zelensky has banned negotiations with Putin (thus, Russia, unless the West succeeds in regime change). Over 200,000 reservists have already been recruited out of the 300,000, and 70,000 additional volunteers have signed up, meaning that there will be about 370,000 Russian troops heading to Ukraine in the coming weeks and months.