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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net to c/news@hexbear.net

Image is of container ships waiting outside the canal. While there is usually some number of ships waiting for passage, the number has increased significantly lately.


In order to move ships through the Panama Canal, water is needed to fill the locks. The water comes from freshwater lakes, which are replenished by rainfall. This rainfall hasn't been coming, and Lake Gatun, the largest one, is at near record low levels.

Hundreds of ships are now in a maritime traffic jam, unable to cross the canal quickly. Panama is attempting to conserve water and have reduced the number of transits by 20% per day, among other measures. The Canal's adminstrators have warned that these drought conditions will remain for at least 10 months.

It is unlikely that global supply chains will be catastrophically affected, at least this year. Costs may increase for consumers in the coming months, especially for Christmas, but by and large goods will continue to flow, around South America if need be. Nonetheless, projecting trends over the coming years and decades, you can imagine how this is yet another nudge by climate change towards dramatic economic, environmental, and political impacts on the world at large. It also might prompt discussions inside various governments about nearshoring, and the general vulnerability of global supply chains - especially as the United States tries, bafflingly, to go to war with China.


After some discussion in the last megathread about building knowledge of geopolitics, some of us thought it might be an interesting idea to have a Country of the Week - essentially, I/we choose a country and then people can come in here and chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants, related to that country. More detail in this comment.

Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Okay, look, I got a little carried away. Monday's update usually covers the preceding Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I went ahead and did all of last week. If people like a more weekly structure then I might try that instead, if not, then I'll go back to the Mon-Wed-Fri schedule.

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.


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[-] CDommunist@hexbear.net 53 points 1 year ago

claims to be anti NATO

Hasn't converted to Russian eastern orthodox Christianity

very-smart Typical western "leftists"

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[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 52 points 1 year ago

So the British media and police has been on a non-stop manhunt for "terror suspect" Daniel Khalife for the last week, who escaped from prison by clinging to the bottom of a truck in a chef's outfit.

Anyone know anything about what Khalife is or did? The media have been exceptionally cagey about it, all they've said is that at some point he allegedly planted fake bombs in a military base and supplied classified information to a "enemy of the UK".

Apparently they finally caught him roughly an hour ago. I don't know what to make of it because I have no idea what he's done, what country he gave info to and what his goals were.

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[-] gregheffley@hexbear.net 52 points 1 year ago

I just got called “Russian on the inside” as a response for calling someone a Nazi for enjoying watching soldiers die and NOT being a Russian.

Please, I prefer to be called “Soviet on the inside”.

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[-] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 50 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So Guatemala actually succeeded in getting a center- leftist (which is as radical as our candidates ever get like Arbenz) elected and our corrupt America worshipping congress has pulled the CIA playbook of crying voter fraud and delegitimizing the party. Surprisingly, the US has sanctioned one of the prosecutors pulling this bullshit. The supreme court is packed with right-wing Evangelicals pleasing their gringo masters, so we'll see if this election victory goes anywhere.

Bolivia, Ecuador, and Honduras under Zelaya should have been lessons that a more militant approach is absolutely necessary because the right-wing will pull out everything to secure their dominance.

Edit: Should add that he's like that dumbass Boric in Chile by badmouthing Nicaragua and Venezuela, also pulling the "Russia bad" card and suspending deals with them. This could be why the US is willing to support him. He's promising some stuff that's radical by our standards but unfortunately lacking the teeth that a country like Honduras is currently offering.

[-] MoreAmphibians@hexbear.net 50 points 1 year ago

Somebody asked me for a video of a Ukrainian de-conscripting himself by hitting a recruiter with a rock. I finally found it. It's short but sweet.

https://leftypol.org/edu/src/1693955002688-3.mp4

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[-] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 50 points 1 year ago

I've noticed that it's mostly office workers that spend hours and years of their life obsessing over Ukraine on Reddit. I work in trades and most of our conversations are about videogames, trips, personal life, and topics related to what we do. I hang out with a bunch of office workers every now and then. They talk about politics a lot more and geopolitical shit as well. Must be nice to have that much free time simping for a country you probably made fun of less than a decade ago.

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[-] spectre@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago

So... Nobody wants to talk about "Elon mode" on here?

I guess a few days ago he went on Livestream and put the car in "Elon mode" which disables all the safety features. Now the NHTSA or whoever is scrambling to figure out wtf is up with that. "Elon mode" tried to drive him into traffic on stream btw, so he had to slam on the brakes.

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[-] SimulatedLiberalism@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago

Russia has successfully launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles from Su-34s, no longer requiring the use of MiG-31 platforms:

Russia Launches First Ever Ballistic Missile Attack From Su-34 Strike Fighter: Kinzhal Provides New Capabilities

The Russian Air Force has for the first time employed Su-34 strike fighters to launch ballistic missiles, which was a previously unknown capability that could transform the way the aircraft are used. This development follows a reported surge in production of the missile in question, the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, which from late 2017 was integrated onto modified MiG-31 interceptors which were designated MiG-31K and, for later variants, MiG-31I. While only approximately 30-35 MiG-31K/Is are currently in service, however, the Su-34 is the most widely fielded fighter class in the Russian Air Force with over 120 having entered service. The discrepancy in numbers is further exacerbated by the fact that the Su-34 requires significantly less maintenance and has higher availability rates and lower operational costs than the MiG-31, which makes it an optimal aircraft to deploy Kinzhal missiles. The integration of the Kinzhal onto the Su-34 has significant implications across multiple theatres where the aircraft are deployed, from the Arctic and Far East to the Ukrainian and Syrian theatres. The Su-34 is the longest ranged tactical combat jet in service anywhere in the world, and second only to the MiG-31 for the position of the world’s largest. As a much more modern aircraft with a more efficient design it can carry much heavier payloads over longer distances.

continued:

Russian state media outlets notably mistakenly initially reported that it was the lighter Su-35 fighter which had been used to carry the Kinzhal missile, while also mislabelling pictures of the Su-34 as ‘Su-35.’ The Su-35’s design as an air superiority fighter, and its much lower carrying capacity and range and higher cost than the Su-34, raised questions from the outset regarding the plausibility of these reports. A defence official speaking anonymously reported on September 4 regarding the first Kinzhal missile strike from a Su-34: "The Su-34 fighter jet used the Kinzhal hypersonic missile in the special military operation. The first crew who successfully accomplished such a task will receive state awards.” Kinzhal missiles have been employed extensively in the Ukrainian theatre, with one of their most significant achievements being the reported destruction of newly delivered Patriot missile batteries in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in May when fired from MiG-31K strike fighters. The missiles are highly manoeuvrable and difficult to track, which combined with their terminal speeds approaching Mach 9 makes them very difficult to intercept. The can carry a variety of warhead types, and are produced on the same production lines as 9M723 missiles for the Iskander-M ground based system which have seen productive capacity increase manifold over the past year. The unique capabilities of Russian air launched cruise and ballistic missiles integrated onto its fighters had provided a key means of compensating for shortcomings elsewhere in its defence sector such as the serious delays faced in fielding stealth fighters when compared to rival Chinese and American programs.

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[-] SoyViking@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago

Just a thought completely unrelated to any current news: Western European nations maintains absurd terminologies such as "third generation immigrant" as a way of denying that they have gained domestic ethnic minorities and casting these minorities as alien.

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[-] companero@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago

https://nitter.net/SatimMonitoring/status/1699033904244535646

Looking past the Ukrainian assertions that Russia is "strapping tires to its planes" in a desperate attempt to mitigate damage, whatever Russia is doing appears to be some kind of sensor camouflage.

My understanding is that some drones/missiles rely on preloaded (radar-based?) images of the target in order to home in on it. By disrupting the appearance of the planes, that type of targeting wouldn't work, I guess?

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[-] MoreAmphibians@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The very first Challenger 2 got destroyed near Robotyne. Likely to be from the 82nd Brigade.

https://twitter.com/squatsons/status/1698874543090335841

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[-] BynarsAreOk@hexbear.net 48 points 1 year ago

Two opinion polls about the mood in Russia at the moment.

The first is by Levada Centar, a western funded organisation located in Estonia.

50% of Russians are for peace negotiations, 38% believe military operations should continue no matter what. But only 20% believe that for the sake of peace and the end of the NWO, it is possible to make concessions to Ukraine. 71% believe that there is no need to make concessions.

Most Russians are ready for the sake of peace to agree to exchange of prisoners of war (82% are totally in favour, another 10% find it acceptable).

-55% consider an immediate ceasefire preferable, another 17% acceptable, although here we have a significant 21% who are categorically against it).

But Russians do not agree under any circumstances that Ukraine will be able to join NATO (categorically against - 76%) or returning new territories to Ukraine (76% are categorically against the return of the LPR and DPR, 68% are categorically against the return of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions).

Compared to the same poll in February of this year, more Russians consider it unacceptable to return the New Territories to Ukraine. The position on Ukraine in NATO has not changed at all since last year.

70% say they support the actions of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. In July it was 75%, in June 73%.

In another, by VTsIOM, a large russian institute, 67% of Russians support shifting the priorities in its relations from Europe and US to Eastern countries. 11% are against, 15% say they don't care, 7% find it difficult to answer. Young people are more likely to be indifferent, but not to be against it.

TL;DR Putin's declared objection to Ukraine joining NATO is still a position supported by the vast majority(76%!) of population. Likewise there is no sign Russians believe in general to be in a losing position i.e no concessions and no returning gained territories(Kherson, Zapo, DPR, LPR).

For any lib out there thinking Putin is some unpopular dictator and where the Russians are just waiting anxiously for the opportunity for some regime change because something something democracy.

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[-] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 48 points 1 year ago

Nicaragua Announces Its Intention to Join the BRICS

"BRICS is where the most powerful countries come together with the most impoverished countries because they join forces to fight poverty and hunger," Ortega said.

On Monday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced his nation's interest in joining the BRICS, the group of emerging economies led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"We are knocking on the door because that is the multipolar world," the leader of the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN) said during a ceremony on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the constitution of the Nicaraguan Army.

"BRICS is where the most powerful countries come together with the most impoverished countries because they join forces to fight poverty and hunger," he added.

"Over there the agenda is not defined in function of war as it happens in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, headed by the United States," Ortega pointed out.

"BRICS is making its way in the world and the earth's empires are trying to avoid integration between the nations that want to cooperate not to invade or bomb another country but to strengthen economic and social relations in the fight for peace," he added.

"Nicaragua recognizes in the BRICS a powerful initiative that will allow us to strengthen the multipolar world and change the unfair, colonialist, and imperialist economic model," the Nicaraguan government said on August 24, when it greeted the entry of Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran to the BRICS.

These six countries will become full members of the BRICS from January 1, 2024. The expansion of the group is part of its plan to gain influence and be able to reshape global governance towards a multipolar world order, which places the voices of the South Global at the center of the world's political agenda.

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[-] edge@hexbear.net 48 points 1 year ago

Blinken is in Kiev. Putin has the opportunity to do something funny.

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[-] emizeko@hexbear.net 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

you know that discredited line about no two countries with a McDonald's going to war? I wonder if during the Triple Entente there were shitlibs pooh-poohing a World War with some similar maxim

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[-] Dull_Juice@hexbear.net 48 points 1 year ago

Saw this from SCMP While under US sanctions, where did Huawei get the advanced chips for its latest Mate 60 Pro smartphone?

This was also in the Washington post: New phone sparks worry China has found a way around U.S. tech limits

U.S. sanctions were intended to slow China’s progress in emerging fields like artificial intelligence and big data by cutting off its ability to buy or build advanced semiconductors, which are the brains of these systems. The unveiling of a domestically produced seven-nanometer chip suggests that has not happened.

Industry experts cautioned that it’s still too early to tell how competitive China’s chipmaking operations will become. But what is clear is that China is still in the game.

Willy Shih, an economist at Harvard Business School, said Huawei’s breakthrough was evocative of what happened with Global Positioning System technology, now commonly known as GPS. The U.S. Defense Department developed the technology and restricted its export, wary of it in the hands of rivals. But the export restrictions pushed Moscow and other governments to develop their own versions, Shih said.

“So it went from a situation where the U.S. really dominated that technology and everyone would come to the U.S. to buy it, to now there are all these different alternatives,” he said. “And you have to wonder if the same thing is happening now with Huawei.”

Miller says a considerable gap remains between SMIC’s capabilities and those of TSMC, the industry leader that produces the newest chips for companies like Apple. It also remains unclear if SMIC can produce advanced chips at a scale and cost that will make its products globally competitive.

Shih said that regardless if SMIC can reach the cutting edge, the foundry will certainly be able to produce older-generation chips at scale, possibly pushing down prices of chips worldwide. “We will see price pressure and commoditization pressure,” he said.

U.S. companies like Intel and Qualcomm have already lost significant sales in China, the world’s second-largest economy, due to the U.S. sanctions, crimping their research and development budgets. U.S. executives fear this could weigh on their long-term strength, in an industry where only a few of the strongest, fastest companies tend to survive.

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[-] grazing7264@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What is the difference between the liberal universalist definition of ideology and Marxist (or Zizek's)?

I'm helping a baby Marxist study for a class and the class is trying to flatten Marxism and Fascism into the same thing, treating ideology like a religion and saying that the reason people die in the third world (revolutions, resistance and otherwise) is because silly people believe in things too hard.

Like in 9/11

smuglord blob-on-fire

✈️ eleven-nine second-plane

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[-] SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Weekly Update from August 28th to September 4th


It's time to report the GOD DAMN news! COLD HARD FACTS!


Part 1: Afghanistan to Ethiopia

expand

Afghanistan:

China has expressed its willingness to support Afghanistan as it transitions to stability.^GT^

Algeria:

China has proposed (and Algeria has accepted) a project in which they will construct 6000 kilometers of railways.^AN^

Argentina:

Will Argentina receive a BRICS bailout?^NC^ Sierra Grande has started pubic hearings for a controversial shipping terminal to export from the world's second largest shale gas reserve.^CCN^ Argentina and Brazil have agreed to finance imports worth $600 million.^MP^ Milei's victory in the primary election was actually much closer than thought, with all three big parties within 3% of eachother.^MP^

The Financial Times has written an article on how dollarisation would not really fix anything in Argentina. :heartbreaking: ^FT^

Armenia:

The leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, Harutyunyan, has resigned, connected to demonstrations in the de facto capital of Stepanakeri.^EN^

Australia:

Australians will vote next month on whether to amend the consitution to recognize Aborginal and Torres Strait Islander people.^AM^

Bahamas:

The Bahamas could be the fifth Latin American country to legalize marijuana, for medical, research, and religious/cultural purposes.^TS^

Bahrain:

Israel's foreign minister has gone to Bahrain for official talks, as speculation about a Saudi-Israel normalisation deal grows.^MEE^

Benin:

Benin's President has had a four day visit to Beijing, to deepen ties and attend the global summit for the service trade fair.^AN^

Bosnia-Herzegovina:

The secessionist Bosnian Serb leader Dodik has said that Bosnia-Herzergovina should join BRICS rather than the EU.^Euractiv^

Brazil:

Lula has launched an ambitious plan to eliminate food insecurity, stating that the problem isn't a lack of food, it's that people cannot afford to buy it.^Resumen^ Right wing think tankers align with agribusiness to seek a path back to power.^DeSmog^ Chinese investment in Brazil has hit a 13-year low , partially due to regulatory hurdles, and partially due to the economic slowdown.^SCMP^ Lula has left many of Bolsonaro's pro-Israel policies in place for whatever reason, though is also growing ties with Iran.^MEE^ Brazil's oil production has hit a record level,^MP^ as has soybean exports.^MP^

Bulgaria:

Bulgaria is starting negotiations with military production companies for new radars.^Euractiv^

Canada:

Canada's mining sector raked in a record $177 billion in revenues in 2022, with many firms in the sector committing horrific human rights abuses.^CD^ An excerpt from a book on food insecurity in the north, and how it has colonial origins.^CD^ An article on Pierre Poilevre's rhetoric, doing the typical thing of appealing to the working classes while also being a fascist who attacks unions, etc.^CD^ Canada's GDP fell by 0.2% in Q2.^CGTN^

Chad:

Hundreds of thousands of people fled from Sudan to Chad in the wake of the civil war, and their camps in Chad are running low on basically everything.^AN^

Chile:

The government is looking for people who disappeared during Pinochet's dictatorship.^Resumen^

China:

Gao Yunxiang has released a book, Arise Africa! Roar, China!: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century.^PW^

China's manufacturing PMI has edged upwards for the third straight month, now at 49.7 - so, just barely contracting.^CGTN^ First Canadian minister (the Environment one) visits China in 4 years.^GT^ An Australian delegation is visiting China for the first time in 3 years.^GT^ The US Commerce Secretary has also gone to China as America's bizarre strategy of trying to be friends and also piss China off simultaneously continues.^GT^ China has removed pre-entry coronavirus testing.^GT^ China rolls out forceful policy mix to spur economy in push to meet growth goals.^GT^ Beijing, Shanghai easing of mortgage condition sends positive signal, more cities to follow suit.^GT^ Prosperity in Xinjiang speaks louder than ‘UN report’;^GT^ Xinjiang develops seawater aquafarming for fish, prawn, lobsters, etc.^SCMP^ The government has called on urban retirees and veterans to return to their rural roots in an effort to revitalize the countryside.^SCMP^

Typhoon Saola weakens after landfall in China; Shenzhen resumes transportation, business^GT^ China's "giant rice" hybrid, which grows twice as tall as typical, experienced a bumper harvest this month, encouraging for future wider use.^SCMP^ Chinese semiconductor scientists have unveiled new 12-inch wafers that are one atom thick.^SCMP^ China has launched a roadmap to explore the solar system, with asteroid and planetary resource extraction by 2100.^SCMP^ China's coal power plant approval/construction spree continues, with over 300 new plants in the pipeline.^SCMP^ China has used "smart drilling" in the Tarim Basin to boost oil and gas extracton.^SCMP^

The UK Parliament has termed Taiwan an "independent country", amid the UK Foreign Secretary's visit to China, an obvious violation of the One China policy. ^AM^ Foxconn founder and billionaire Terry Gou is running independently for president after being rejected for candidancy by the KMT.^AM^ Typhoon Haikui is hitting Taiwan, with thousands being evacuated.^AM^

Colombia:

President Petro has denounced the right-wing opposition and big businessmen that he claims are planning to overthrow him (very probably true).^TS^

Cuba:

An article on Cuba's international role, helping countries throughout Africa with medical and weaponry in their fights for independence.^Resumen^ Xi vows to support Cuba's defense of its sovereignty after meeting with Diaz-Canel.^MR^

Denmark:

The foreign minister has emphasized that his party's (Moderate) position is that a diesel tax is unavoidable if they are to reach climate targets by 2025.^Euractiv^

DRC:

Victims of a protest-turned-clash in Goma are being treated, with a death toll of at least 40.^AN^

Dominican Republic:

The government has requested that Haiti stop the construction of a canal which would divert water from the Masacre River; Ariel Henry has affirmed that the project is not governmental.^TS^

DPRK:

An article by the Valdai Club (Russian bougie analysis) on the DPRK and the reconstruction of Moscow-Pyongyang-Beijing ties.^VC^ The government has decried that the South Korea-US-Japan summit is creating an Asian version of NATO.^ANN^

Ecuador:

Ecuador's oil drilling ban is good, folks.^CD^ All the car bombings and prison riots that are accelerating are much less good.^TS^

Egypt:

Egypt is to build 35 more natural gas wells over the next 2 years.^AM^

Ethiopia:

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is very happy about the country's soon-to-be membership in BRICS,^AN^ and it is hoped that it will boost economic growth, foreign investment, productivity, etc.^PD^

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[-] SoyViking@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago

Breaking NATO military news!

In a move that will delight short kings — and queens — Denmark's royal guard is abolishing it's height requirement, citing liberal ideals of inclusivity as well as fears that the current height requirement for women is illegal gender discrimination as it is above the average height for women. All parties in parliament, excluding two of the three fascist parties, back the movement, dispelling fears that "it will look weird if they put a very short soldier next to a verytall one" with reassurances that "the royal guard is good at placing people". The royal guard is a regiment of the Danish army that receives ordinary military training in addition to performing ceremonial guard duties at royal palaces dressed in 19th century costume to the delight of tourists and chuds alike.

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[-] tuga@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Statement from the Cuban ministry of foreign affairs about cuban mercenaries in ukraine:

The Ministry of the Interior has detected and it is working to neutralize and dismantle a human trafficking network that operates from Russia in order to incorporate Cuban citizens living there and even some living in Cuba, into the military forces that participate in military operations in Ukraine. Attempts of this nature have been neutralized and criminal proceedings have been initiated against those involved in these activities.

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[-] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago

Cuba Arrests People Linked to Russian-Based Mercenary Network

Fourteen of them joined the operation by individual decision in exchange for residence in Russia.

On Thursday, Cuban authorities arrested 17 people related to a network that recruited mercenaries to fight for Russia.

Three of these people belonged to the recruitment scheme within the island, while the other fourteen have confessed to having joined the operation by individual decision in exchange for residence in Russia and a substantial monetary remuneration.

The Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the dismantling of the network after several media reported the presence of Cuban mercenaries fighting on the Russian side in the Ukrainian conflict.

Based on confessions from those arrested and wiretapping, Cuban authorities determined that the network's recruiters were looking for individuals with criminal records and from dysfunctional families.

Although at the moment the crimes for which the detainees are being investigated have not been revealed, the digital media Cubadebate highlighted that the new penal code establishes severe penalties for crimes related to human trafficking and mercenarism.

Jose Luis Reyes, the chief prosecutor of the Supervision Department of the Directorate of Criminal Proceedings of the Attorney General's Office, explained that "in the investigations the attributable crime will be determined for each case, in correspondence with the actions and will of those involved."

The Foreign Ministry stressed that "Cuba is not part of the war conflict in Ukraine," and that Cuba "is acting and will act vigorously" against anyone who "participates in any form of human trafficking for purposes of recruitment or mercenarism so that Cuban citizens do use of weapons against any country".

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[-] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 46 points 1 year ago

Russian President calls Ukraine's summer counteroffensive a "failure"

Russian president Vladimir Putin labels Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive, which has been underway since June, a "failure". The comments come despite Ukraine claiming to have made further gains on its southern front and near Bakhmut.

[-] VILenin@hexbear.net 49 points 1 year ago

Are westerners aware that there is more to war than painting the map a different color? Like, if you lose 70,000 troops to capture a single cottage, that’s not winning. That’s called a complete and utter humiliating defeat. Westerners must know this, right? Or do they think once Ukraine gets enough territory points they automatically win the war and annex all of Russia?

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[-] Parsani@hexbear.net 46 points 1 year ago

BREAKING: New US election polling data shows run away victory for surprise candidate

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[-] Tervell@hexbear.net 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Americans realize that maybe making your tank weigh 65 tons isn't such a good idea

The U.S. Army is scrapping its current upgrade plans for the Abrams main battle tank and pursuing a more significant modernization effort to increase its mobility and survivability on the battlefield

“We must optimize the Abrams’ mobility and survivability” ... Weight is a major inhibitor of mobility, Norman said last fall. “We are consistently looking at ways to drive down the main battle tank’s weight to increase our operational mobility.”


American equipment in storage turns out to have been improperly maintained

Equipment drawn from the U.S. Army’s Kuwait-based pre-positioned stock bound for Ukraine was not ready for combat operations, the Pentagon’s inspector general has found.

All six of the M777 howitzers and 25 of 29 M1167 High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles were not “mission ready” and required repairs before U.S. European Command could send the equipment to Ukraine

issues with poor maintenance and lax oversight of the [APS] equipment could result in future delays for equipment support provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the report read. “In addition, if U.S. forces needed this equipment, they would have encountered the same challenges.”

When the team arrived at Camp Arifjan in March 2022, the contractor provided a howitzer that it said was fully mission capable. But the weapon system was not maintained according to the standard technical manual, per the mobile repair team, and “ ‘would have killed somebody [the operator],’ in its current condition,” the report stated.

the commander stated the contractor “is not contractually obligated or appropriately resourced to maintain [APS] equipment” at standards laid out in the technical manual the inspector general followed to make determinations regarding mission-capable readiness of the equipment.

lol what the fuck? how can someone who's been hired to maintain your shit not be obligated to follow the manual for maintaining said shit? also imagine leaving the maintenance of your military equipment to fucking private contractors, truly capitalism is the most rational system

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[-] wtypstanaccount04@hexbear.net 46 points 1 year ago
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[-] gregheffley@hexbear.net 45 points 1 year ago

Where are we in thinking that the Ukranian banning of leftists parties was genuine fear that they would drum up popular support and eventually seek a peaceful rapprochement with Russia and western Ukraine? By rapprochement, of course, I mean genuine prosecution and purging of fascist elements from ‘within’ Ukraine?

It doesn’t take some oracle to know that war is bad and that the foreseeable future would be bad for Ukraine, so I’m under the assumption that the Ukrainians banned opposition so early in the war as to curtail popular dissent. Is this analysis anywhere in the realm of being realistic?

[-] Alaskaball@hexbear.net 44 points 1 year ago

As far as I'm aware, the Post-Maidan Ukrainian government chased the Communist Party of Ukraine underground out of rabid anticommunism born from their Banderite National myth forgering of Ukrainian history, otherizing them as political puppets of Russia to portray them as foreign agents that don't hold the Nation's interests at heart, and scapegoated them as the cause of all of Ukraine's woes both real and fake regardless of whether or not the communists were at fault or even involved. Of course for more tangible reasons its because the Communists saw the writing on the wall during the 2014 coup and began organizing for regional autonomy in the oblasts they had the strongest presences in to try and create breathing room in the form of autonomous regions to avoid direct rule by the U.S handpicked fascist government.

TL;DR - Ukraine banned the opposition (The Communists) because the opposition was "galvanizing the Ukrainian people to revolt against their own government on the behalf of the Russia"

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[-] VILenin@hexbear.net 44 points 1 year ago

Ukraine’s Spring Counteroffensive has been a roaring success!

The Summer Counteroffensive is steamrolling the Russians!

Fall Counteroffensive triumph! 100 million Russians dead!

The Winter Counteroffensive an extreme success, Ukrainian troops mere kilometers from Russian defenses!

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this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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