Extremely long Twitter thread on the history of Yemen: https://nitter.cz/Aldanmarki/status/1736550356132180228

It's Groundhog Day again at the UN. ~~This news is ~5m old...~~ Lying CNN - it's more like ~30m old.

Negotiations underway at UN ahead of vote on resolution calling for halt in hostilities in Gaza | CNN Politics

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Edit

I think Bernie is finally starting to realize he could tarnish his reputation being on the wrong side of history when it comes to the Gaza war.

Senator Bernie Sanders calls on US to ‘not veto a reasonable resolution’

The progressive US politician made the appeal shortly before a vote on a draft UN Security Council resolution was again delayed.

“The whole world is watching the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. The UN Security Council is now meeting to consider a resolution to stop the bloodshed,” Sanders wrote on X.

“The US must not veto a reasonable resolution to stop the hostilities & get in the massive humanitarian aid needed,” he said.

Sanders has faced pressure from progressive activists and members of the Democratic Party to support a comprehensive ceasefire. However, in recent days, he has become increasingly critical of US aid to Israel.

He also has pushed for a clearer accounting of the Biden administration’s assessment of Israel’s actions in Gaza, including whether they constitute violations of international humanitarian law.

- Al Jazeera

Ninja edit: Al Jazeera didn't give a link and I couldn't find the tweet. I don't get it. He quickly deleted it???

Try to read less news these days Hexbearinos

The weekly update is here on the website.

The Country of the Week is Yemen!

As mentioned in the preamble, feel free to post or recommend any material related to Yemen, whether from a thousand years ago or yesterday. You can post it anywhere in the thread, but you can also reply to this comment if you wish.

If you're feeling particularly ambitious and want homework, you could take on any or all of these questions (no reward, but I'll be very proud of you):

• Who are the main political actors? Are they compradors, nationalists, international socialists, something else?
• What are the most salient domestic political issues; those issues that repeatedly shape elections over the last 10, 20 years. Every country has its quirks that complicate analysis - for example, Brexit in the UK.
• What is the country's history? You don't have to go back a thousand years if that's not relevant, and I'm counting "history" as basically anything that has happened over a year ago.
• What factions exist, historically and currently? If there is an electoral system, what are the major parties and their demographic bases? Are there any minor parties with large amounts of influence? Independence movements? Religious groups?
• How socially progressive or conservative are they? Is there equality for different ethnic groups, or are some persecuted? Do they have LGBTQIA+ rights? Have they improved over time, or gotten worse?
• What role do foreign powers play in the country’s politics and economy? Is there a particular country nearby or far away that is nearly inseparable from them, for good or bad reasons? Is their trade dominated by exports/imports to one place? Are they exploited, exploiters, or something in between?
• If applicable, what is the influence of former colonial relationships on the modern economy and politics?
• Is the country generally stable? Do you think there will be a coup at some point in the future, and if so, what faction might replace them?

The previous country was Canada.

This is our Geopolitics Reading List so far! Please chime in with suggestions!

General Theory:

• Super Imperialism, by Michael Hudson.
• Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis, by John Smith.
• Superexploitation and the Imperialist Drive of Capitalism: How Marini's 'Dialectics of Dependency' Goes beyond Marx's 'Capital', by Andy Higginbottom.
• Capital Volume 3 Lecture Series, 32 videos, 10-15 minutes each, by Andy Higginbottom.
• World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction, by Immanuel Wallerstein.
• Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire, by Radhika Desai.
• Capitalism, Coronavirus and War: A Geopolitical Economy, by Radhika Desai.

Canada:

• Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination, by Tyler Shipley.

Chile:

• 1000 Days of Revolution: Chilean Communists on the Lessons of Popular Unity (I cannot personally find an online version).
• Santiago Boys Podcast, analyzing Allende's government and Cybersyn.

Lebanon:

• A History of Modern Lebanon, by Fawwaz Traboulsi.

United States:

• Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narcotrafficking in US and Mexican Culture, by Oswaldo Zavala.

Venezuela:

• Objective Conditions in Venezuela: Maduro’s Defensive Strategy and Contradictions Among the People, a longform article by Steve Ellner.

An article in the Financial Times, the contents of which aren't terribly important beyond the fact that the bourgeois media are directly stating that Netanyahu should be gotten rid of, which is pretty notable.

Biden’s mounting self-harm on Israel

The US president should do whatever it takes to evict Netanyahu.

The train wreck has been a long time coming. Alas, it will take still more needless and costly weeks before it happens. Benjamin Netanyahu is running a policy that is directly at odds with the explicit priorities of his chief benefactor, Joe Biden, and is repeatedly giving him the middle finger. What puzzles me, and vexes many people in the Biden administration, is why the president does not bring forward that inevitable split by doing things that events will force him to do anyway.

That would mean imposing — rather than hinting politely at — conditions on US aid to Israel. It means insisting that Netanyahu endorse the two-state solution and take steps to prepare for “day after” talks with a rebooted Palestinian Authority. It means withholding aid while settlers in the West Bank continue to radicalise the Palestinian population with continued evictions, shootings and settlement expansions. Hamas’s ratings have continued to grow in the West Bank, where a helpless local population is saddled with a toothless Palestinian Authority that is unable to defend their rights. This has been Netanyahu’s policy for 15 years. It helped to create the conditions for the barbarous Hamas slaughter on October 7. Yet he is not changing course.

I understand that Biden has a deep place in his heart for Israel. Unfortunately, sentimentalism often gets in the way of clear thinking. In Biden’s case, it is the source of a severe mental block. At a fundraiser in Washington this week, Biden finally warned Israel that it was on a dangerous course. That is something, but he should have gone much further. Israel is on a self-defeating course, which will breed more instability and less security in the coming decades. As his own secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, said last week: “The centre of gravity is the civilian population and if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”

Saab is free.

Venezuela expected to release up to 36 people, including Americans, in prisoner swap

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro plans to release up to 36 people, including up to 12 Americans, in exchange for the U.S. government's release of a Maduro ally, two Venezuelan sources said on Wednesday.

The Maduro ally is Colombian businessman Alex Saab, one of the sources said. U.S. prosecutors have accused Saab of siphoning off some $350 million from Venezuela via the U.S. in a scheme that involved bribing Venezuelan government officials. He denies the charge.

Six Venezuelan activists have already been freed, according to their lawyer and the wife of one of them. The long-time education campaigners were convicted on conspiracy charges earlier this year and sentenced to 16 years, but have proclaimed their innocence.

The White House has said in recent weeks that it expected to see progress on prisoner releases in order to continue with sanctions relief for Caracas, which were unveiled in October in response to an agreement by the Venezuelan government to hold fair elections in 2024.

Although the releases could be seen as a step by Maduro to comply with U.S. demands, the return of Saab would mark a victory for Maduro. Saab has not yet been convicted and his return to Venezuela was previously seen as unlikely.

Washington had given the Venezuelan government until Nov. 30 to make progress on removing public office bans on opposition candidates and start releasing political prisoners and "wrongfully detained" Americans in order to avoid a reinstatement of sanctions.

Venezuela is allowing opposition candidates to appeal their bans, but it had not made much progress on prisoner releases before Wednesday.

Biden, asked about the possibility of a prisoner exchange, told reporters traveling with him in Wisconsin that the situation "looks good."

He added: "It looks like Maduro, so far, is keeping his commitment on a free election. It ain't done yet. Got a long way to go. But it's good so far."

QATAR MEDIATION

The prisoner swap talks were "mediated" by Qatar, which was asked by both sides to help improve relations between the United States and Venezuela, according to a person briefed on the agreement. Qatar's chief negotiator met Maduro last week.

"We want to make sure that our fellow Americans are released," said Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, at a press briefing. "We are also focused on political prisoners in Venezuela and trying to ensure their release. We hope to have some good news to share probably later today."

The Associated Press reported that the U.S. has already released Saab.

A lawyer for Saab declined to comment. Saab has pleaded not guilty, and his trial date had not yet been set.

Those expected to be freed include opposition-linked Venezuelans who have been in jail for some time, the sources said.

Others involved either with the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado or the organization of the opposition's October primary would be freed or their arrest orders withdrawn.

Reuters could not immediately determine the identities of the Americans who would be released.

U.S. citizens who have been classed by the U.S. government as "wrongfully detained" include Eyvin Hernandez, Jerrel Kenemore, Joseph Ryan Cristella and Savoi Wright.

Hernandez and Kenemore were arrested near Venezuela's border with Colombia in March 2022, while Cristella was arrested in July last year. The three men were accused of trying to enter the country illegally.

Other Americans in prison in the South American country include former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were jailed for their participation in a failed armed incursion in 2020.

After a bizarrely intense december rainstorm, many rivers in NJ are overflowing. This morning, the Passaic River reached 19.7 feet. The Rockaway river is expected to hit 6.9 feet. The Hackensack River was at 7.9 feet this morning (when the article I'm reading was published) but I can tell you for a fact that it is much higher now. The majority of crossings are underwater and many suburban stroads have turned into a parking lots. This has been your New Jersey weather and traffic update.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2023/12/18/nj-flooding-issues-remain-due-to-when-rivers-will-crest/71960223007/

Also, A+ to whichever photojournalist recorded this video (still provided) of a duck bathing in forsaken traffic on River Street, Paterson:

This seems like a “big if true” sort of thing, but I’m highly skeptical, and the post doesn’t have many comments, so wanted to see what people thought here. Regarding zionists supposedly planning to pull ground troops from Gaza: https://hexbear.net/post/1421172

Feel like this would be every front page headline right now if there were anything official or confirmed.

Having Chinese food on Christmas in solidarity with Israel.

10 people killed in a mass shooting in downtown Prague

A mass shooting in downtown Prague killed 10 people and injured about 30 others, and the person who opened fire also is dead, Czech police and the city’s rescue service said Thursday.

Police gave no details about the victims or the circumstances of the gunfire in the Czech Republic’s capital. They said officers were deployed due to a shooting at a school in Jan Palach Square.

The philosophy department of Charles University, which is located in the square, was evacuated, Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda said.

The police department said the square has been sealed off. It urged people to leave the surrounding streets and stay inside.

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said no other assailant was at the scene, but he urged people to cooperate with police.

Prague’s rescue service confirmed that 11 people had died, including the shooter. It said about 30 others suffered various injuries, including nine with serious ones.

Pavel Nedoma, the director of Rudolfinum Gallery, which also is located in the square, told Czech public television he saw from a window a person who was shooting from a gun toward the nearby Manes bridge across the Vltava River.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala canceled his scheduled events and was heading for Prague.

Protests against Argentine President Javier Milei and economic measures that raise food and transportation prices are taking place in several cities across the country. It is estimated that the number of demonstrators on the streets is close to 1 million.

Police attack demonstrators protesting against the government in Córdoba, Argentina. People are injured.

Imagine if Morocco didn't have a shitty normalizing monarchy: https://nitter.cz/IranObserver0/status/1738519538507935997

Interesting. An oil tanker that was attacked in the Red Sea was initially claimed to be India-flagged by the US before the Indian Navy had to say it was actually Gabon-flagged with Indian sailors. Honest mistake or something more sinister?

https://aljazeera.co.in/politics/houthi-attack-navy-denies-us-claim-says-mv-saibaba-tank-not-india-flagged-adds-all-25-indian-crew-members-safe/