Friendly reminder: when commenting about a news event, especially something that just happened, please provide a source of some kind. While ideally this would be on nitter or archived, any source is preferable to none at all given.
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.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis.
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.
The Country of the Week is still Palestine, though we will switch next week to a new country.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
The weekly (biweekly?) update 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.
Update For Both The Week Beginning October 9th and October 16th, Kinda
We're (mostly) back on track after the Israel war derailed me. To keep this manageable, for you and me (this takes me more cumulative hours every week than I would like to admit), I've had to substantially limit my criteria of what to include, and also keep things to headlines for this week. This actually wasn't that hard - I'm not sure if all the journalists covering Israel were usually the really productive ones covering exciting events elsewhere or what, but honestly not a ton has happened in the last two weeks. A few elections here and there, the BRI summit, a broken pipeline, and other such things, but not many flashy events outside of Israel.
I have also substantially cut down on the reporting on Israel in the update. Thankfully the list of sources I've curated is now of sufficient quality that I wasn't wading through endless takes like "Israel might be bad, but Hamas is even worse!" and "Over 1000 Israelis brutally murdered by terrorists, also there's a few thousand deceased Palestinians, but that's not important here and they deserve it actually." While an update consisting of a thousand dipshittery articles would be pretty funny in any other circumstance, I don't want their rotten sewage in my updates in this case. And, honestly, I didn't fancy having like 50 headlines slowly showing the number of dead Palestinian children and destroyed buildings increasing as the days went by. Nonetheless there's still a pretty decent number of pieces there, from October 7th all the way to decades in the future to today.
Part 1
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Global
The transcript of the latest Geopolitical Economy Hour: Multipolarity: China, Russia, Israel, India, and the difficult birth of a new world. Both some hope and doom in there.^MH^
Copper producers warn of lack of mines to meet demand for metal^FT^
China launches Global AI Governance Initiative, offering an open approach in contrast to US blockade^GT^
China elected to UN Human Rights Council as Russia’s bid is rejected^SCMP^
Belt and Road summit: Xi pledges investment, promises to open Chinese markets^PW^
China marks decade of belt and road with white paper declaring redoubled commitment to help developing countries^SCMP^
China to unveil new maritime cooperation initiative at belt and road summit^SCMP^
Financial problems still loom large as IMF downgrades global growth forecast^WSWS^
World Bank controversy sends loss and damage talks into overtime^CCN^
Low, middle income countries have deficits in infrastructure, but high risk of destruction from disasters^MB^
Europe:
US-EU summit yields call for balanced approach to China, urging ‘constructive and stable relations’^SCMP^
No progress made on youth empowerment in Europe since 2018, report finds^Euractiv^
Experts: Stockpiling may be EU’s blind spot in critical raw materials debate^Euractiv^
EU’s Full Gas Storage Doesn’t Eliminate Supply Risks^NC^
Sabotage suspected in Baltic pipeline leak^RT^
Finland says subsea pipeline damage appears to be deliberate^BNE^
Bosnia likely to end deal with Chinese consortium on Tuzla 7 coal plant construction^BNE^
Bulgarian doctors sound alarm as paediatric health care collapses^Euractiv^
Nearly 80% of Czechs do not trust PM: survey^Euractiv^
BarMar hydrogen pipeline project ‘dead on arrival’, French experts say^Euractiv^
Germany headed for deeper recession, IMF says^DW^
Scholz’s coalition suffers defeat in mid-term state elections^Euractiv^
Hungarian banks introduce voluntary rate caps^BNE^
Ireland lays out plans for €100-billion sovereign wealth fund^Euractiv^
Italy to earmark €12 billion for mega Sicily bridge project^Euractiv^
Dutch take measures to reduce grid stress^Euractiv^
Poland’s PiS rocked by top generals resigning days before election^BNE^
Volkswagen and Umicore pick Poland for site of €1.7bn EV battery component factory[^BNE^[(https://archive.ph/dNTvI)
Portuguese PM wants action by European socialists on Slovak election winners^Euractiv^
Slovakia's election result is about declining living standards, not just Ukraine^Jacobin^ String of resignations forces Slovenian PM to rethink strategy^BNE^
French winegrowers protest cheap imports destroy crates at the Spanish border^Euractiv^
Catalonia’s Aragonès calls for ‘Scotland-style’ referendum^Euractiv^
Major Swedish study to search for long-COVID ‘blind spot’^Euractiv^
Ukraine to spend at least 21.6 pct of GDP on defense in 2024^PD^
Ukraine’s grain exports fall by a third, despite rises in seaborne exports^BNE^
Western Asia:
Azerbaijan-Iran normalization on the horizon^EN^
Fears linger in Armenia of Azerbaijani invasion^EN^
Armenia refuses to take part in CIS summit and CSTO military drills in Kyrgyzstan^BNE^
Azerbaijan's president emphasises Georgia's role in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks^BNE^
Georgia's ruling party fails to remove president^EN^
US Breaks Its Deal with Iran… Again^AW^
Iran Confirms End of UN Restrictions on Missile Programs^TS^
Iran begins rationing foreign currency for trade and industry sectors^BNE^
China’s Middle East envoy’s tour of region heightens focus on Beijing’s influence over Iran^SCMP^
Turkish lira hits new all-time low^RT^
Qatar supplies gas to Europe, vying with US to replace Russia supply^Euractiv^
Israel's Western allies have done everything possible to criminalize nonviolent resistance^Jacobin^
Netanyahu’s Humiliating Reality Check: Israel’s ‘Invincible’ Army Falls Short^MPN^
Chris Hedges: Palestinians Speak the Language of Violence Israel Taught Them^MPN^
It’s not a Hamas-Israeli conflict: It’s an Israeli war against every Palestinian^MR^
We must refuse to apologize for Palestinian humanity^RNN^
Here’s What You Need To Know About Gaza’s History (w/ Norman Finkelstein)^SP^
Statement of the PFLP on the Al-Aqsa Flood battle^RC^
Stop the war! End the occupation! Free Palestine
Free Palestine^RC^ The International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity Expresses its Solidarity with the Palestinian People^Resumen^
China’s Two-Pronged Response to War in the Middle East: Officially Stay Neutral, Unofficially Blame U.S./Israel^CGS^
Conflict between Israel and Hamas puts China’s approach to Middle East to the test^SCMP^
Maduro Condemns Israeli Aggression Against Palestine^TS^
French left in turmoil after Mélenchon’s party reacts to Hamas attacks^Euractiv^
Evo in favor of Hamas' actions in Israel^MP^
Communist Party of Israel and Hadash: “Netanyahu’s fascist government bears full responsibility for the dangerous escalation”^MR^
US opposes peace as Israel ethnically cleanses Palestinians, waging war on ‘entire nation’ of Gaza^GPE^
The Palestinian people are already free: The Forty-Second Newsletter (2023)^MR^
Central Asia:
Death toll from earthquakes in Afghanistan rises to 2,445^CGTN^
Afghan caretaker govt to build houses for quake-affected families^CGTN^
U.S. sanctions cast pall over post-quake reconstruction in Afghanistan^PD^
Taliban commission first section of major canal that could threaten water sufficiency of Central Asia neighbours^BNE^
Uzbekistan pursues mediation with Afghanistan over Qosh Tepa canal^EN^
China, Central Asia gear up for in-depth upgraded cooperation riding on BRI boons: expert^GT^
Uzbekistan, China aim to double bilateral trade to $20bn^BNE^
Kazakhstan remains central to Beijing’s plans for belt and road as China sets sights on Europe^SCMP^
Kyrgyzstan: Billions spent on preventing revolutions, says security services chief^BNE^
Pakistan's airline near collapse, heading for privatization^DW^
IMF raises Russian GDP growth forecast by almost 50%^RT^ To 2.2%.
‘All our drones come from China,’ Russian minister says^SCMP^
Russia, Mongolia trade flourishing as Moscow turns east for new markets^BNE^
Russian seaborne oil exports fall to lowest level since September 2022, but oil revenues surge^BNE^
Russian farms take in 133.5mn tonnes of grain, on course for 135mn tonnes total^BNE^
China and Russia supercharge trade with record grain order, bolstering food and energy security as Western pressure persists^SCMP^
India Expected To Reject Russian Demand To Pay For Oil In Chinese Yuan^NC^
Part 2
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Eastern Asia and Oceania:
Chinese commerce minister meets U.S. congressional delegation^CGTN^ Followed by the usual sanctions.
China struggling to wean itself off US dollar assets despite financial de-risking calls^SCMP^
China’s CPI remains flat in September; decline in factory prices narrowed: NBS^GT^
China’s September foreign trade hits new monthly high of 2023 as recovery gathers steam^GT^
China megacity to build US$30 billion hi-tech infrastructure cluster by 2026, and investors will be key^SCMP^
China adopts GM technology for corn, soybeans in major food security manoeuvre^SCMP^
China's bird-like drone breaks world record flight time^CGTN^ Just over 3 hours on one charge.
Promising results as Chinese vaccine trial sees African swine fever fatality rate fall to zero^SCMP^
Taiwan reports 13th straight month of export order decline, world economy blamed^SCMP^ Taiwan’s exports rise for first time in 13 months amid huge AI chip demand, mainland China trade uptick^SCMP^
Taiwan launches first locally made weather satellite with ‘groundbreaking’ navigation system^SCMP^
Taiwan president says ‘peace is the only option’, as Tsai Ing-wen eyes legacy^SCMP^
Samsung profits at 8-year low, but hope is in sight^EN^
Jakarta-Bandung HSR, landmark BRI project, starts official operation^GT^
Russian FM visits DPRK^PD^
China joins mission to test seas, marine life around Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant for radioactive content^SCMP^
Landslide defeat for Labour in New Zealand election^WSWS^
Defeat of Australian Labor’s Voice referendum highlights massive class divide^WSWS^
Myanmar junta accused of deadly attack on refugee camp^DW^
Africa:
Remove trade barriers to increase per capita income, IMF tells African leaders^Bilaterals^
Project to create the largest database on the African genome^AN^
Algeria "postpones" its mediation in Niger^AN^
Cameroon: Toll rises to at least 27 dead and 50 injured in floods^AN^
Chad: Police arrest "around fifty" opposition activists^AN^
Fuel prices surge in Congo amidst protests and economic struggles^AN^
DRC President Inaugurates New Chinese-Built Hydropower Plant^CGS^
China, Ethiopia establish all-weather strategic partnership^CGTN^
Somalia rejects Ethiopia's call for negotiations on Red Sea access^BNE^
Gabon junta leader turns down presidential salary^AN^
Free speech: Is Gambia sliding back into dictatorship?^DW^
Kenya officially joins Pan African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS)^BNE^
Kenyans demand compensation for British army blaze ahead of king's visit^AN^
Liberia: Cost of living and development, big election issues amid voter fatigue^AN^
Liberia's tight election spurs run-off expectations^AN^
Libya: UN concerned by clashes and telecoms blackout in Benghazi^AN^
Namibia to Advance Energy Infrastructure, New Substations^TS^
French army has begun its withdrawal from Niger^AN^
Escape attempt by ousted president Mohamed Bazoum foiled, says military^AN^
France and Nigeria hold joint naval exercises in Gulf of Guinea^AN^
Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosatom offer to help end South Africa energy crisis^BNE^
Hundreds at Nissan South Africa to lose jobs after deal with Russian partner collapses over Ukraine war^BNE^
Sudan: Number of families suffering from hunger almost doubles^AN^
Sudan's economy in limbo, warns IMF^AN^
Uganda: Nile Basin Countries Convene to Address Challenges^TS^
Australia’s IonicRe upbeat over Uganda mining licence approval for Makuutu rare earths project^BNE^
Zimbabwe's main opposition CCC calls for 'revolution' after 15 members expelled from parliament^BNE^
North America:
A pension plan proposal is sparking separatism in Canada^Jacobin^
Biden Announces Huge Hydrogen Investment. How Much Will It Help The Climate?^ICN^
The United States has lost its charm, maybe forever, to China’s brightest students^SCMP^
Latin America:
Argentina election: from peso to dollar?^MR^
Perhaps a little unfair to MMTers, I doubt any of them would object to the historical fact that increasing money printing raises inflation (and they would argue that those economies were/are doing something else wrong I would imagine); nonetheless it is essentially true that the whole premise would only really work if you're a major economy, particularly if you hold the global reserve currency. In the current global system, most countries cannot do MMT.
Blue dollar plummets in Argentina^MP^
China and Argentina to Expand Swap Agreement by 6.5 Billion^TS^
Brazil to unfreeze $700mn for building of major Mozambican dam after seven-year hiatus^BNE^
Amazonian rivers in Brazil hit by severe drought^MP^
Cuban Government Joins Global War on Cash By Banning All Cash Payments for Gasoline^NC^
Protests in Guatemala Continue for Ninth Consecutive Day^TS^
Guyana Incited by US to Enter into Conflict with Venezuela^Resumen^
US to ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports on promise of freer presidential election^BNE^
OFAC Announces Venezuela Sanctions Relief^Resumen^
Panamanians To Protest Against Mining Contract^TS^
Drought hitting Chaco region concerns Paraguayan authorities^MP^
Kenya court puts Haiti deployment on temporary hold^AN^
The UN is Blessing the U.S. Using Kenyan Black-Face to Disguise its Illegal Intervention into Haiti^HL^
The UN-Blessed MSS Could be the First Step Toward a Decade-Long U.S. Military Occupation of Haiti^HL^
UN Security Council renews Haiti sanctions regime^CGTN^
Part 3
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War:
Russia, China Unite Against US Empire^NC^
Biden demands $100 billion for wars in Ukraine, Israel and planned conflict with Iran and China^WSWS^
US to deploy additional air defense systems near Israel^RT^
US has enough weapons for both Israel and Ukraine – Pentagon^RT^ Are you sure about that?
EU facing ‘huge shortage’ of ammunition – media^RT^
Ukrainian forces on defensive as “counteroffensive” ends in failure, mass casualties^WSWS^
Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks to shore up western support for Ukraine amid Israel-Hamas war^FT^
Zelensky visits NATO headquarters to secure military assistance^GT^
Training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets underway: report^PD^
Chinese and Saudi navies launch joint counterterrorism exercise against backdrop of Israel-Hamas war^SCMP^
China PLA stationed up to 6 warships in Middle East over past week amid rising tensions from Israel-Gaza war: reports^SCMP^
China will have over 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030, exceeding US predictions, Pentagon report on PLA expansion says^SCMP^
Could China surprise enemies with weapon that lies in wait on the seabed?^SCMP^
China drives away Philippine navy ship in waters near Huangyan Island^CGTN^
US secures Marshall Islands military deal, keeps China at bay in strategically vital Pacific region^SCMP^
Oil sanctions are a spent cannon^BNE^
US imposes first punishments for ignoring Russian oil price cap sanctions^BNE^
Russia and Kyrgyzstan Set up Joint Air Defense System^TS^
Labour:
Australian dairy industry workers strike across multiple companies and sites^WSWS^
Record-Setting Strike Moves Kaiser the Old-Fashioned Way^LN^
500,000 Quebec public sector workers vote massively in favor of unlimited, province-wide strike^WSWS^
Left and Right:
The World in Economic Depression: A Marxist Analysis of Crisis^TC^
So, Global or International Development: Why Not Both? Marx in the Field, Planetary Immanent Development, and Centering Political Economy in Development Studies^DE^
Why Haven’t the Protest Movements of Our Time Succeeded?^CA^
How rich nations continue to systematically exploit the Global South^GL^
The fight against apartheid was an international struggle^Jacobin^
The global socialist planning of Baghdad^Jacobin^
French Communists want alternative to Mélenchon-driven left coalition^Euractiv^
lmfao.
LGBTQIA:
Content Warning - this section is not usually good news.
Philadelphia Becomes Sanctuary City for Gender-Affirming Care^Advocate^
California Judge Halts School Policy Outing Trans Students for Now^Advocate^
Ron DeSantis's Anti-LGBTQ+ Crusade Fails Again as Florida Can't Enforce Drag Ban^Advocate^
LGBTQ+ Groups Denied Registration Even After Supreme Court Decision in Eswatini^Advocate^
Uganda's anti-gay law jeopardises progress in the fight against AIDS^AN^
Climate:
In New Zealand, Increasingly Severe Crackdowns on Environmental Protesters Fail to Deter Climate Activists^ICN^
Research by Public Health Experts Shows ‘Damning’ Evidence on the Harms of Fracking^ICN^
Nearly half of all plants threatened with extinction, says new report^AN^
One million coal jobs face the axe globally by 2050^CCN^
Saudi Arabia, Russia urge World Bank to keep funding fossil fuels^CCN^
Vessel Strikes on Whales Are Increasing With Warming. Can the Shipping Industry Slow Down to Spare Them?^ICN^
Glacial lake outburst floods are a growing threat to hydropower plants^MB^
World may have crossed solar power 'tipping point', says study^BNE^ In a good way.
How capitalism killed nutrition^MR^
I Love My Trans Comrades!
His chain of comments is linked at the bottom of the post text, but yeah I think it could be more prominent.
Maybe we need to find a way to automate running articles through ChatGPT to summarize.