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submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net to c/news@hexbear.net

Image is from this Black Agenda Report article by the Communist Party of Kenya.


In June, large anti-government protests shook Kenya. President Ruto and his parliament were attempting to pass the new Finance Bill 2024, which, among other things, would have hiked taxes on the population, with a 16% sales tax on bread and a 25% duty on cooking oil, as well as new taxes on financial transanctions and vehicle ownership. There would also have been levies on women's sanitary products and digital goods such as phones, among other measures affecting hospitals.

Hundreds of protestors stormed the parliament building and began to tear the place apart. Shortly afterwards, on June 26th, Ruto announced that he was withdrawing the bill, calling the tens of deaths and hundreds of injuries "unfortunate". A couple weeks later, Ruto then fired his entire cabinet (aside from his foreign minister) and communicated his wish to the nation to form a "broad-based government". Funnily enough, in July, it was announced that the majority of positions were to be filled by members of the old cabinet, while other positions were taken by members of the opposition. This has prompted scepticism among the population, including calls to resign, but there haven't (yet) been any major anti-government events to pressure this outcome. The Communist Party of Kenya has been working to get some of their comrades back after they were abducted by the police during the protest period, and have otherwise supported the protests against Ruto.

The measures in the bill were strongly encouraged by the IMF. Kenya's debt is currently around $80 billion, of which about 10% is owed to China for infrastructure projects (such as a railway linking the capital, Nairobi, to the port city of Mombasa, as well as 11,000 kilometers of road throughout the country). The rest is owed to a combination of the US, IMF, World Bank, and Saudi Arabia. More than half of government revenue is going towards repaying the debt - but despite these massive payments, it has only grown. The most recent round of IMF plundering (and the impetus for current events) began in 2021, when they offered a 38-month programme to "help" Kenya, which would involve the usual warfare on the poor and the dismemberment of any useful societal institutions.


The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.

The Country of the Week is Kenya! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

Please check out the HexAtlas!

The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

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. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

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.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

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.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

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 Telegram Channels:

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.


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[-] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Twitter will probably be banned in Brazil soon.

The minister of the Supreme Federal Court, Alexandre de Moraes (Conservative Judge that REALLY hates Bolsonaro and the Far-Right people), summoned via social media "X", formerly Twitter, to inform the name and qualifications of the new legal representative in the country, something that is mandatory. Otherwise, the social network may be taken offline in Brazil.

Alexandre de Moraes subpoenas Elon Musk and threatens to take X offline in 24 hours. Minister Alexadre de Moraes issued a subpoena against Elon Musk, and threatened to take X offline if the company doesn't comply with orders within 24 hours.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), issued a subpoena against the owner of X, Elon Musk. In the document released on Wednesday evening (28/8), the magistrate orders the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours, under penalty of taking the platform offline if the decision is not complied with.

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[-] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 57 points 2 months ago

Houthi-hit ship burning but still no oil spill: EU naval mission

The EU’s Red Sea naval mission Aspides reports that MV Sounion, the ship that was hit by a major Houthi attack, is still on fire but not spilling oil.

It said “multiple fires have been detected in several locations on the main deck of the vessel” but warships in the area have confirmed that “there’s no oil spill, and the ship is still anchored and not drifting.”

The Houthis said yesterday that they had agreed to allow the Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, to be towed away from the area.

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[-] blakeus12@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago

my friend from china uses hello talk, which is a languaga axchange app (basically you tutor each other), and this american dude asked to be tutored by her. the catch is, he doesn't know any chinese at all, and he kept being a weirdo, so she made him praise mao lol. she posted these screenshots on her WeChat moments:

thought i'd share with y'all, just something i found funny

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[-] companero@hexbear.net 57 points 2 months ago

https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/1f5w9ka/ru_pov_iskander_cluster_strike_on_ukrainian/

Large Ukrainian convoy (dozens of what appear to be cargo/troop trucks) hit by multiple missiles in Sumy. Probably on the way to reinforce the Kursk (Cursed) offensive.

Please just give up already yea

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[-] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago

The Brazilian and Colombian governments issued a joint statement saying that they "take notice" of Thursday's Supreme Court ruling (ratifying the electoral results) but that the publication of results broken down by voting center remains key for the "credibility" of the electoral process. Ended the statement by reiterating "total opposition" to ongoing unilateral sanctions against Venezuela

AMLO basically said the same thing. I think AMLO recently also told the US to fuck off, Mexico will continue trade with Cuba, and that the US embargo can't be enforced in Mexico because it's unconstitutional

[-] micnd90@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago

Tulsi is now part of wet boy transition team. I must confess I had believed in her early in the 2020 primary, I thought she is a staunch antiwar candidate, she was pro Medicare for All, she is vegetarian, she supported Bernie in '16 and she hated Hillary. At the time there was an argument that Bernie might be too old for 2 terms, I thought Tulsi would be a decent alternative. I even donated $10 to her early campaign. Obviously, as the primary went on and I saw she didn't have a path to victory, I stopped supporting her and donated my labor to volunteer for Bernie instead.

Fuckin' hell, I didn't know she's part of an insane cult and drank one too many Joe Rogan griftoid alpha brain, now she's an anti-trans, anti-woke, chud.

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[-] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 57 points 2 months ago

Ukraine Will Soon have no other Choice then to retreat behind the River ( to not risk encirclement and to strenghten and shorten their defenses).

That will Propably Finally put Donetsk City out of (tube) Artillery Range and give it and its citizens some degree of Peace..

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[-] jackmarxist@hexbear.net 56 points 2 months ago

Can someone explain what exactly is macron doing by not forming a government?

[-] CarmineCatboy2@hexbear.net 57 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

the simplest explanation is that he's staying in power. the french president is france's elected dictator. macron can do whatever he wants and any obligations or limits on his power is a matter of custom. there is no faction in french parliament with enough power to force him to do anything, so all he needs is an excuse to keep the course.

ultimately since macron is a right-winger he can always just tease the french far right with attention since, ultimately, nothing would fundamentally change between the two. france is being told by the EU to cut spending. that's exactly what all the european fascists want to do: so even macron works with le pen, the main power of parliament is to set the budget and, voilá they all want to set the budget in the same ways.

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[-] jackmarxist@hexbear.net 56 points 3 months ago

Slava Ukrainis now want Ukraine to bomb all Russian Dams and Nuclear Power Plants.

[-] Aru@lemmygrad.ml 56 points 3 months ago

Final mega thread will be crazy yo 😹😹😹

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[-] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 56 points 2 months ago
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[-] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 55 points 3 months ago

Trash taking itself out:
https://xcancel.com/african_stream/status/1828463661611893091

On 26th August, 2024, Denmark announced that it would be shutting down its embassies in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Bamako, Mali. But Copenhagen said it also intends to open three new ones - in Senegal, Rwanda and Tunisia. This is part of its new strategy in Africa, which includes appointing special representatives for the Sahel and the Great Lakes region of the continent. Denmark also wants to strengthen its presence within Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.

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[-] Torenico@hexbear.net 55 points 3 months ago

ukraine attacked Kursk just to have the "Ukrainian Invasion of Russia" entry in some history books

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[-] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 55 points 2 months ago

RIP to all the brazillians leaving twitter, here's the anthem of the communist party of brazil

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[-] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 55 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Kalivka has fallen, opening up the southern road from Donetsk City straight up into Selydowe and Pokrovs (40 minute drive) gving russia the "Inner lines" and me the oportunity to draw a big arrow

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[-] Iwishiwasntthisway@hexbear.net 54 points 2 months ago

Does anybody have any info/takes on free speech in the USSR? Particularly in the lead up to collapse? I was thinking about authoritarian crack downs on things like free speech, the recent thing with the Telegram guy, the arrest of various activists for nothing. And I understand there have always been infringements on these rights, assassinations, and all that. But lately it seems to be getting more blatant, rushed, and inconsistent.

Chud twitter is quating this with communism. On the left this sort of thing seems to be equated with fascism

But like, isn't this just a symptom of a panicked ruling class, narrative loss, and incoming collapse? Did something similar genuinely happen in the USSR, especially toward the end, or was it a complete western invention? This is a difficult thing to research because of course you're going to get propaganda from every angle.

I'm on 4 hours of sleep and 20 mg of gummies so I apologize if this was a stupid question

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[-] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Thank you resistance trench, very cool

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[-] Venat@hexbear.net 54 points 2 months ago

whats going on in the West Bank now?

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[-] SeekTheDeletion@hexbear.net 54 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Ukrainian sources saying that an F16 was shot down by Patriot Missile system friendly fire. The source is Ukrainian MP from Zelenskyy’s party, Mariana Bezuglaya.

She seems to be from the faction that is trying to pass bills to authorize execution of deserters and is constantly attacking Syrsky and other generals for being too weak on Russia.

Not sure if this is just another cope like “it crashed due to pilot error” to avoid giving any credit to Russians

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[-] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 54 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Ukrainian F-16 Is Destroyed in Crash - Wall Street Journal, 29 August 2024

There was speculation that a Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed during the Russian air raids on Monday, here is confirmation from the US. I am unable to archive the article due to the website's bot detection, so I'll post the entirety of it below.

A Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was destroyed in a crash on Monday, according to a U.S. official, just weeks after the first of the American-made aircraft arrived in Ukraine.

Initial reports indicate the jet wasn’t shot down by enemy fire, although the incident occurred during a massive Russian missile barrage across the country on Monday, the official said. Rather, the crash was likely a result of pilot error. 

rest of the article, contains liberal cope

Ukraine used the jets for the first time in combat to shoot down Russian missiles during the strikes this week, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

The Ukrainian Air Force wouldn’t confirm the crash or the status of the pilot. The Pentagon referred questions to the Ukrainian Air Force for comment. 

The news that one of Ukraine’s few F-16s has been destroyed is a major blow to Kyiv, which had pleaded for the jets for months before President Biden finally gave the green light for European countries to transfer the aircraft last year. 

Kyiv hopes the advanced Western aircraft will give its forces an edge on the battlefield, particularly to shoot down incoming Russian missiles and help protect troops on the front lines. But they are also vulnerable to Russian air defense missiles and present a high-value target for Moscow’s forces. 

Zelensky announced on Aug. 4 that the first of 80 promised F-16s had arrived in Ukraine. The Ukrainian air Force didn’t provide numbers, but a second U.S. official said a total of six aircraft had arrived and Ukraine has six pilots trained to fly them.


...

So that's now five F-16s left, and five (or four if the reports of the other F-16 pilot being killed are correct, Russian media reports striking two F-16s in a hangar in Western Ukraine) pilots left for Ukraine at the moment. And this is after just one sortie where the F-16s were used to intercept cruise missiles. The Ukrainian F-16s were not even exposed to enemy fire! I guess the pilots recieved inadequate training and were rushed to the defensive lines. Either that or Russia destroyed it while it was on the ground during the air raids. It was reported that Russia bombed one of the airfields where F-16 aircraft were suspected to be stationed at.

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[-] jackmarxist@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago

The Donbass front is progressing pretty rapidly. Looks like Ukraine has actually taken a lot out of it for their Kursk adventure.

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[-] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 53 points 2 months ago

How are Brazilians taking the Twitter ban? Are they throwing around accusations of communism and saying Lula is a dictator?

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[-] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago

Small 5.3 earthquake in central-south portugal today, I happened to catch it because I woke up at 5:10 to urinate, so far no big damages.

Last big destructive earthquake was an 8 in 1969 and historically everyone learns about the 1755 on in school and some people have kind of a prepper "the next big one is coming" mentality because of it.

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[-] Torenico@hexbear.net 52 points 3 months ago

death to "israel"

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this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
160 points (96.5% liked)

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