Wait, sudan is still doing their weird military vs military civil war

Sino-Indian proxy war time?

2 maps of rail lines in the Levant, one in the early 1900s and one in 2023. The establishment of the Zionist entity basically severed connection between Egypt, Iraq, and the Gulf states: https://nitter.cz/political_aya__/status/1732124435694374951

Gotta keep the genocide / ethnic cleansing machine going at top speed.

US State Department to bypass congressional review period to send Israel thousands of munitions, source says - cnn.com

The US State Department transmitted an emergency declaration to lawmakers late Friday night for the sale of thousands of munitions to Israel, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN. The move bypasses the standard 20-day period that congressional committees are typically afforded to review such a sale.

The declaration followed a request by the State Department earlier in the week for Congress to approve the sale of 45,000 shells to Israel for its Merkava tanks. The source added that the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which have oversight over military sales, had been under “pressure” from the State Department to approve the request quickly amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

The committees typically have 20 days to review foreign military sales, allowing lawmakers to raise questions about a transaction and delay it if needed. But late Friday night, the State Department transmitted an emergency declaration to the committees for 13,000 of the tank shells, worth about $106 million, for immediate delivery to Israel, the source said Saturday.

“Effective immediately, the items can be transferred,” the source said. “No further information, details or assurances were provided.”

The administration’s move to transfer some of the munitions comes as the US is under growing domestic and international pressure to support a ceasefire in Gaza, and place conditions on some of the weapons it is providing to Israel.

“As a matter of policy, we do not confirm or comment on proposed defense transfers or sales until they have been formally notified to Congress,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN when asked about the request.

Reuters first reported the initial administration request for 45,000 shells.

Ukro-nazis, while whining about how short-changed and poor they are, waste more money to remove more statues of communist heroes and liberators.

This time they targeted, his rank would be in English, Lieutenant General Mykola Shchors for his role in liberating Ukraine from the fascists of Symon Petliura's Ukrainian "People's Republic", the perfidious Polish reactionaries, and marauding murderous divisions of the imperialist Kraut Kaiserreich during the Civil War.

Rest in power, comrade Shchors

Death to the fascists.

Neo-Guaido (María Corina Machado) defends Venezuela's position:

"Now, in my opinion, the country must "present an impeccable defense" of "the rights" it has over the territory in question before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared itself competent to rule on the case this year, with a team made up of the "best specialists" to "demonstrate that the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela".

Giora Eiland, retired Israeli general and former national security advisor, writing today in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot:

"The State of Gaza's weakness is its lack of resources. It has no energy, no food and not even water. As such, it can be easily defeated by means of an economic blockade. Hamas is pleased to see its subjects getting killed by IDF fire. But it is afraid of hundreds of thousands of starving and hopeless civilians rising up in rebellion. That is an outcome that can be achieved by creating a severe shortage in medical treatment, food, cooking gas and fuel."

No comment necessary

Nitter

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/10/hong-kong-holds-patriot-only-election-after-shutting-out-opposition

Patriots are in control

https://nitter.net/dana916/status/1732186124343292296

Updates on the actions of the Venezuelan government as a result of the Esequiba referendum.

I don't think there will be an invasion, per se. I think it will be a soft annexation. Venezuela will start doing government-y things there like building roads and providing aid to the people living there. If Guyana tries to stop them, Venezuela may retaliate.

That's my theory, anyway.

The president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali gives an exclusive interview to Globo:

"We expect Brazil to play a leading role, a significant role in ensuring that this region remains... What Guyana wants, Guyana's only ambition is for this region to remain a region of peace and stability, where we can all coexist in harmony," said the Guyanese president.

Ali says he sees Brazil's support for Guyana and classifies the Brazilian government's response to the impasse as "very mature" - on Sunday (3), President Lula (Workers' Party) said he hoped both sides would have "common sense".

"As you know, before the referendum I had a conversation with President Lula. President Lula and the Brazilian government sent a team of envoys to Venezuela to talk to President Maduro. We see the Brazilian government taking measures to secure its territory."

The fact that Brazil has a good relationship with Venezuela is not a cause for concern for Guyana, says the president.

"Brazil has a good relationship with us too and we expect Venezuela to act with principle. We spoke with President Lula and the foreign minister (Mauro Vieira) and they both assured us that Venezuela will be on the right side of the law ... So we have confidence that Brazil will act responsibly, in a way that befits a country that shows maturity and leadership."

'Venezuela is very unpredictable'

Asked about a possible military invasion by the Venezuelans, Irfaan Ali said that "Venezuela is very unpredictable".

The Guyanese president recalled that the plebiscite on the annexation of Guyana's territory took place despite a ban by the International Court of Justice.

"They sent a message to the International Court of Justice that they are not concerned about an international order and the order of the Court. When dealing with a state like that, you have to ensure that you are on the side of caution, you have to ensure that you have all the systems in place for any eventuality, because there is no rationality, there is no rational behavior," argued Irfaan Ali.

Lots of second guessing of actually existing socialist states. 🤔

The Empire Aims to Deprive Us of Our Land: President Maduro

"The U.S. empire, the remnants of the British empire, and the right-wing aim to deprive us of our land," he denounced.

On Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced that forces opposed to the Bolivarian nation are trying to strip his country of the Guayana Esequiba territory.

"This land was not gifted to us by the U.S. empire. On the contrary, the U.S. empire, the remnants of the British empire, and the right-wing aim to deprive us of our land," he said during an event in which the Great Venezuela Housing Mission handed over the 4.8 millionth house.

Referring to statements made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Maduro warned that his words reflect "a discourse against Venezuela by supporting the 1899 Arbitral Award, which they imposed with the British empire."

"The U.S. government is biased against Venezuela... They aim to dismember the country into 20 pieces and steal the wealth that belongs to Venezuelan men and women."

The Bolivarian leader also announced that his administration will honor the Guayana Esequiba communities with the construction of 120 houses in San Martin de Turumban, on the edge of the Cuyuni River.

Meanwhile, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez urged Guyana's President Irfaan Ali to desist from his illicit and illegitimate actions, comply with the 1966 Geneva Agreement, and respect the results of the Essequibo referendum held on December 3.

She recalled that Venezuela does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the resolution of the Essequibo territorial controversy, highlighting that Venezuelan diplomacy's historical stance was unanimously supported by the people in the consultative.

On Thursday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez rejected the conduct of U.S. military exercises in Guyana.

"This unfortunate provocation by the United States in favor of ExxonMobil's praetorians in Guyana is another step in the wrong direction. We warn that they will not divert us from our future actions for the recovery of the Essequibo," he said.

German service union negotiated an atrocious contract for employees of federal states (like Bavaria). This is 4 years in a row it went like that. Wage gains are far below inflation.

Your Thursday Briefing

Sweden and the US have signed their first ever defense cooperation agreement.

Italy has terminated its participation in the Belt and Road agreement, set for official expiration in March 2024. More than half of the EU's members are still part of the Belt and Road.

An audit on Volkswagen's jointly owned plant in Xinjiang has found no indications of forced labour. The audit found that employees were qualified, had worked for the company for years, had a low work intensity, and are paid above the region average.

Russian oil revenues are now higher than they were before the Ukraine War began. Far from the sanctions curtailing Russian oil exports, they have instead provided the impetus for the creation of an alternative financial architecture of the oil and maritime trade in a way that is probably irreversible, in the typical mythical sense of "trying to prevent something happening only makes it happen faster."

A freighter collided with a floating bridge in the Suez Canal, but unfortunately has not disrupted maritime traffic.

Japan's PM, Kishida, is stepping down as the chief of his faction, Kochikai, in the ruling LDP amid a growing scandal.

The former leader of the “armed wing” of the US and French-backed coalition which drove President Aristide from power in 2004, Guy Philippe, was returned to Haiti on a U. Department of Homeland Security-chartered flight to Port-au-Prince in November; he has bitterly denounced President Henry's government as "US tools", proposing that instead of foreign intervention, Haitians should organize themselves alongside the police and army to reestablish security.

Ukraine's Defense Minister, Umerov, has met with Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon to discuss the long term vision of Ukraine and the future of aid packages from the US.

All of the V-22 Ospreys in Japan have been grounded for a week for investigations after a CV-22 crashed off the coast of Japan, killing 8 American airmen.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MarxistCulture/comments/189xky9/cuban_comrades_in_donbass/

Cubans in donbass

Would trump being re-elected actually be good for Palestine vis-à-vis American liberals doing orange man bad discourse enough to convince themselves that his support of i****l is bad and wrong?

Venezuelan Govt. Congratulates Citizens on Referendum Results

The consultative referendum constituted "a great victory of national unity, in which there are no winners or losers, but an extraordinary triumph of Venezuela," said the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor's Office in a statement.

The All Venezuela campaign command congratulated on Monday the Venezuelan people for the results achieved in Sunday's consultative referendum, in a day it considered extraordinary, different and atypical.

Héctor Rodríguez, responsible for broad alliances and micro-campaigns of the group, highlighted in a press conference that the popular consultation culminated yesterday in "an extraordinary day of national unity" and thanked the more than 10 million 500 thousand Venezuelans who turned out to vote.

The sovereignty of the country won because we gave "a clear message of national unity for the defense of integrity" and remarked that the campaign taught "much more about our history, rights, geography, territory and integrity."

The governor of the state of Miranda pointed out that now the obligation of all citizens and institutions is to "absolutely obey" the mandate given by the Venezuelan people yesterday.

Furthermore, the secretary of spokesperson and social networks of the Venezuela Toda campaign command, Génesis Garvett, signified the message of "unity and peace" given to the world with the results of the referendum, the seventh since the arrival of the Revolution.

A statement issued by the Public Ministry, read on Monday by the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, pointed out that the consultative referendum constituted "a great victory of national unity, in which there are no winners or losers, but an extraordinary triumph of Venezuela."

He stressed that this Sunday's electoral act "opens a new era" and constitutes a transcendental event for the western hemisphere, and also highlighted its "civility and neatness."

Moreover, in an official statement last night before a crowd at the National Stadium in Providence, the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, said that no propaganda or "lie will put fear in my heart or the hearts of Guyanese" and assured that the people "will not allow themselves to be trampled."

The President urged to "honor the order" of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of last week, in which the UN tribunal asked both parties to refrain from any action that could "aggravate or widen the territorial dispute" over Essequiba Guyana.

In its resolution, approved unanimously by the judges, the ICJ also notified that Caracas "shall refrain from taking any action that could modify the situation currently prevailing in the disputed territory" and that "Guyana administers and exercises control over that area."

Venezuela reiterated in a communiqué that it will firmly maintain its unwavering defense of international legality and of the Geneva Agreement as "the only legal instrument" that allows for reaching a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties, through friendly, political and peaceful negotiations.

Peruvians, Let's Keep the Flame of Hope Alive: Pedro Castillo

"Persevere in our struggle to free our homeland from the criminal claws threatening our future," the former president said.

On Thursday, former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo demanded his immediate release and reinstatement, marking one year since his provisional detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy.

On Dec. 7, 2022, Castillo announced the dissolution of Congress and the establishment of a government to rule by decree. This move received no support from any party or the military.

Subsequently, he was removed by the Legislature and arrested while heading to the Mexican embassy. Castillo was later sent to prison with a provisional detention valid up to 2025.

Since then, his defense lawyer has filed five habeas corpus petitions with the Constitutional Court in an attempt to achieve his release.

During a public hearing on Dec. 4, Castillo requested the nullification of the proceedings against him. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on the petitions filed by his lawyers.

Castillo emphasized that he never took up arms and his actions were not coordinated with anyone. He also asserted that his removal resulted from a conspiracy between the Congress and the Prosecutor's Office, which was investigating him for alleged corruption.

"A year ago, Peru witnessed the kidnapping I suffered at the hands of criminal groups that now exercise corrupt control over our country. They usurped my people's will by snatching away their votes. These groups massacred the people when they rose in protest."

"Peruvians, let's keep the flame of hope alive, persevere in our struggle to free our homeland from the criminal claws threatening our future. Here, no one gives up! Freedom and reinstatement!" Castillo posted on social media.

On Thursday, hundreds of Peruvians took to the streets to protest against President Dina Boluarte, who was appointed a year ago by Congress after Castillo's removal.

Lima and other cities in the southern part of the country witnessed protest marches, occurring one day after the release of former dictator Alberto Fujimori and the suspension of Prosecutor Patricia Benavides.

Bolivia joined Mercosur today