Image is of President Hakainde Hichilema and President Xi Jinping on September 15th, from this article.
Zambia is a country of 20 million people, located in southern Africa. Breaking free from British rule in the 1960s, the new government was a one party state ruled by the socialist UNIP party with its leader Kenneth Kaunda, who was a strong supporter of the Non-Aligned Movement (and was its chairman from 1970-73). Its economy has been and remains characterised by copper exports - it is the second-largest copper exporter in Africa - and the economy deeply struggled in the 1970s due to the price of copper plunging. After the fall of the USSR, and due to violent protests, Kaunda stepped down and instituted a multiparty democracy, which has been maintained without (successful) coups to this day, though there are warnings by the leader that some are plotting a coup, given the trend right now.^AA^
Earlier this year, in June, Zambia struck a deal to restructure the $6.3 billion in debt that they are burdened with, of which China is the single largest creditor.^Reuters^ Though he has typically been more West-friendly, last week, President Hichilema traveled to China for two days, meeting with various companies, and Xi Jinping himself. They elevated their relationship to that of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.^Xinhua^ He and Xi have agreed to the increased use of local currencies in trade.^BB^
Hichilema said Zambia thanks China for supporting the African Union's entry into the G20 and China's positive role in resolving the Zambian debt issue. The Zambian side abides by the one-China principle, highly appreciates the guiding philosophy and principles of Chinese modernization, and hopes to learn from China's development experience.
Hichilema has also said:^AN^
"We can do more, faster, because the needs are tremendous in Zambia. I heard some of the solutions are here. All we need to do is to combine the two together."
Check out @Othello@hexbear.net's discussion of The Wretched of the Earth!
The Country of the Week is Singapore! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
The news summary for last week is here!
Links and Stuff
The bulletins site is down.
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can.
Resources For Understanding The War
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.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
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
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.
Last week's discussion post.
Part 4
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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^
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^
Part 5
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The West:
Antony Blinken and the diplomacy deficit: His remarks to students this week shows how much American exceptionalism and Great Power competition have taken over the craft.^RS^
Air Force misses recruitment goal for first time since 1999.^RS^
How the UK’s arms trade funnels public cash into private pockets.^OD^
Labour:
Kaiser Permanente workers have voted to authorize strike action to fight for safe staffing and fair wages.^WSWS^ Auto Workers Strike Plants at All Three of the Big 3.^LN^ ‘No Justice, No Jeeps!’ Scenes from the Auto Workers Strike.^LN^ ‘We’re looking for the means of production’: Bakehouse workers in Chicago fight for independent union.^RNN^
New Zealand doctors hold second strike.^WSWS^ Sri Lankan railway union calls off drivers strike, after government threats and bogus promises.^WSWS^ Sri Lankan government begins looting workers’ pension funds.^WSWS^
Don’t Do the Boss Any Favors.^LN^
Australian billionaire real estate developer Tim Gurner has said that unemployment needs to rise "40 to 50%" to discipline workers into working again, saying that “people decided they didn’t really want to work so much anymore through COVID, and that has had a massive effect on productivity.”^PW^
Left and Right:
Beneath the polycrisis is the singular dilemma of humanity called capitalism: The Thirty-Seventh Newsletter (2023)^MR^
The Black Working Class Can No Longer Be Ignored.^Jacobin^
Nazis Swarm Florida But Whew At Least No Trans Kids In Sight^CD^
Argentina shuts down Nazi and antisemitic publisher.^DW^
Far-right AfD's Björn Höcke faces trial over Nazi slogan.^DW^
LGBTQIA:
Content Warning - this section is not usually good news.
Florida City Declares Itself LGBTQ+ Sanctuary.^Advocate^ Judge Won't Block Florida's Restrictions on Care for Trans Adults.^Advocate^ Who could have possibly seen this coming? GOP Sen. John Kennedy Reads Queer Sex Excerpts at Cringe-Worthy Senate Hearing^Advocate^ Alabama Families Continue to Appeal to Block Transgender Care Ban.^Advocate^ Olivia Hill of Nashville Council Is First Trans Person Elected in Tennessee.^Advocate^ California Becomes First State to Declare Transgender History Month.^Advocate^
Mausoleum for Trans Women Inaugurated in Mexico City.^Advocate^ Czech companies urge PM to ensure equal rights to LGBT+ people.^BNE^ Rwanda: Activists want trans and intersex legal rights.^DW^
‘Standing up for trans people is self-defense for every worker’^MR^
Climate:
New Documents Show Exxon Executives Cast Doubt on Climate Science to Protect Profits.^CD^ New Research Exposes 5 Global North Countries Responsible for 51% of Planned Oil and Gas Expansion Through 2050.^CD^ Revealed: How Big Dairy Is Milking Net Zero.^DS^ ‘There is nothing green about economic growth in high-income countries’.^MR^ Only 11 countries are reducing emissions and all will miss Paris targets.^BNE^
Hundreds of Scientists Endorse Demands of March to End Fossil Fuels.^CD^ 400+ Actions to End Fossil Fuels Planned Around the World.^CD^ Latin America, most dangerous region for environment defenders, Global Witness report.^MP^ Electric vehicles aren't enough.^Ecologist^
Small islands slam ‘endless’ climate talks at landmark maritime court hearing.^CCN^
Overshoot Commission calls for research into solar geoengineering.^CCN^ All planetary boundaries mapped out for the first time, six of nine crossed.^MR^
Stop calling people ‘climate refugees’.^CCN^
Highly invasive fire ant reaches Europe, scientists call for urgent action.^Euractiv^
Miscellaneous Analysis:
FDIC Releases a New Problem Bank List: It’s an Exercise in Fantasy^WSoP^
Financial Statecraft and its Limits in the Semi-Periphery.^DE^
Maha Hilal on Innocent Until Proven Muslim.^FAIR^
IIPPE 2023 Part Two – China, profitability and financialisation, Michael Roberts.^MR^
Dipshittery and Cope:
The Left's Electoral Strategy Is Working. Let's Keep Building It.^Jacobin^
Together, we can combine and amplify our struggles, and enhance solidarity. Together, we can crush strikes across America, as well as cry after voting for reactionary policies.
I Love My Trans Comrades!