93
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

Image (source here) is of a section of the Yarlung Zangbo river, which forms the deepest canyon on the planet.


The idea of doing any sort of general preamble for China is a little absurd given how ubiquitous they are in economics and politics, so I'm just going to hop right in to a recent news item of interest: China is working on the construction of an enormous new hydropower project in Tibet (@[email protected] had brought this up just before the last news mega ended).

This project (consisting of, I believe, five dams) will be overall three times larger than the Three Gorges Dam, will cost $167 billion, and will supply 70 GW (by itself more power than several significant countries generate). There are, of course, meaningful concerns regarding concerning environmental damage, but helping to avert catastrophic climate change seems worth it. The news coming out of the clean energy sector of China has getting only more encouraging over the last few years, even as the fully neoliberalized Europe and America descend into climate skepticism and refuse to adequately fund projects that could avert the worst of climate change.

Geopolitically, given recent India-China tensions (for example, sending Pakistan the equipment to shoot down Indian jets, as well as run-of-the-mill border tensions) one expects India to not receive the news very well, as the river upon which the dam is being constructed proceeds to flow into Arunachal Pradesh. But from what I understand of the Indian hydrological situation (which is, admittedly, not much), I don't think enough of the water in India comes from the river for China to hypothetically cause any kind of water shortages in India - the monsoons seem to supply plenty of freshwater all by themselves. Nonetheless, as with all Chinese news, wild fearmongering abounds.


Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

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 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.
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.

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.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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.


top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] [email protected] 34 points 5 hours ago

President Lula withdraws Brazil from International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Lula did not state the reasons for leaving the organization, which was created in the 1990s to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

  • Telegram
[-] [email protected] 17 points 4 hours ago

U.S.-Canada trade talks back underway as Trump’s wish list, from oil to DEI, keeps growing - National Post

Article

The reasons Trump might have wanted to derail the negotiations — and what other surprises he might have in store

Trade talks are reportedly continuing between Canada and the U.S., with formal meetings having taken place since U.S. President Donald Trump revealed more threats and demands last week, a source close to the White House said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that he expected U.S. tariffs would likely be part of any future deal. “There is not much evidence at the moment — from the deals, agreements and negotiations with the Americans, for any country or any jurisdiction — to get a deal without tariffs,” Carney said. He also said he expected trade talks to “intensify” in the next few weeks.

Washington and Ottawa have been engaged in tempestuous trade talks for months. Carney’s team is desperate to end tariffs imposed by Trump on Canadian steel and aluminum exports and keep tariff exemptions for goods covered by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade deal (USMCA).

After Carney’s election in April, things appeared to be going well for awhile: Carney visited the White House, he seemingly got Trump to drop his talk of making Canada a “51st state,” and the prime minister quickly gave in when the president threatened to end talks if Canada didn’t scrap its digital services tax (DST) on U.S. tech firms. Carney also pledged last month to increase defence expenditures dramatically to meet a higher NATO spending target by 2035, a priority of Trump’s. It looked like negotiations could lead to a new U.S.-Canada deal before the July 21 deadline the two of them had set for themselves.

Then came the letter. Trump wrote an open letter to the prime minister last week, threatening to impose 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods starting Aug. 1, vaguely citing as reasons Ottawa’s trade deficit, counter tariffs, dairy trade restrictions, and failure to halt fentanyl from crossing the border. What Trump didn’t do — as he had done with the DST — was outline exactly what Carney needed to do to get things back on track.

National Post looks at the reasons Trump might have wanted to derail the negotiations — and what other surprises the White House might have in store.

Trump is under pressure

Trump “likes to keep us in suspense,” says Andrew Hale, a senior policy analyst at Heritage Foundation. But there is a timing issue at play here that goes beyond the negotiations. “Basically, they have a window of time to use these ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs,” he says, referring to Trump’s sweeping new international tariff regime unveiled in April. Hale said there is significant legal pushback facing the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that ostensibly gives the president power to circumvent Congress to impose tariffs in urgent situations.

So far, there have been a few court rulings against Trump’s use of IEEPA tariffs. Oral arguments in the U.S. Court of Appeals are scheduled to begin for one of those rulings on July 31, with another court set to hear two other tariff-related cases in September.

To use IEEPA, a genuine emergency needs to be declared. What Trump did was declare emergencies based on trade deficits, drug trafficking, and immigration. Well, “we’ve been running trade deficits for decades,” says Hale. U.S. judges have ruled that there is no direct connection between the national emergency declared over fentanyl and illegal migration.

The court rulings could still go either way. “(Trump’s team is) concerned that they will no longer be able to weaponize these (tariffs) in trade negotiations,” Hale adds.

“By simply heaping on the pressure and saying, ‘Bam, you get these tariffs, you’re getting increased tariffs and the rest of it,’ they’re trying to get as many concessions as possible whilst they can still use them.”

If Trump’s emergency tariffs lose in court, he’d be left with the less-powerful weapon to restrict imports deemed a national security threat, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

“I do know that Plan B is to use the 232 tariffs as an alternative more aggressively,” Hale said. But he notes that they are product-specific and do not allow for across-the-board tariffs.

Tori Smith, a senior vice president at Forbes Tate Partners, a government-relations consultancy in Washington, points out that Trump’s Aug. 1 deadline doesn’t seem random given the appeal hearing against emergency tariffs set to start on July 31.

She also notes that the review scheduled of the USMCA, as part of its original terms, begins in October. Trump’s letter, Smith said, was probably meant to “create leverage for the United States in advance of the USMCA review.”

Smith said the “long-game strategy” for the White House is to put it in the “strongest position for (the USMCA) negotiations.”

White House revenge

There may also be something more personal going on, according to a source close to the administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The NAFTA negotiations in Trump’s first term that led to the USMCA were headed by United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, who had a cordial relationship with Canada’s then-foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland. In the process, Lighthizer reportedly neutralized Peter Navarro, then director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, a fierce protectionist and Trump loyalist, who is now a senior adviser to the president on trade.

“He’s never really forgiven Lighthizer for that,” the source said. (Lighthizer has since returned to private life.)

While the USMCA was once touted by U.S. officials as the “gold standard” of trade deals, possibly the reason the administration has talked of ripping it up “was because Navarro sees that as Lighthizer’s golden legacy, and he has reasons … personal bitterness, to rip it up.”

David Boling, a former deputy assistant USTR for Japan, said he never witnessed the two men in meetings together and couldn’t comment on their working relationship. But they had very different styles, he recalled.

“Lighthizer skillfully renegotiated NAFTA by building up trust with Capitol Hill Democrats. Coalition-building, however, is not Navarro’s strong suit,” said Boling, who now works at the political-risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

Navarro recently said he didn’t like negotiating with Canada, while Mexico’s negotiators were a “pure joy to deal with.”

“You know, they (Mexicans) were tough negotiators, but they were reasonable, fair negotiators. The Canadians were very, very difficult, and they’ve always been very difficult,” he said in a television interview last week.

Little downside for Trump

It seems that the more Trump has pushed for concessions from Canada — on defence, on digital taxes, on fentanyl crackdowns — the more he’s been able to get.

Sources say his senior economic team feels they have to sell the president on deal structures, but that Trump often feels he can press for more.

“I think that this can be demonstrated pretty obviously by the Vietnam announcement,” says Smith, noting how Vietnam’s team thought they would be getting a lower tariff rate than 20 per cent, but then Trump “put out a different rate than had been negotiated or talked about by his team.”

Trump mentioned Canada’s highly restricted market for dairy in his open letter to Carney. But he might also start pushing for Canada to commit to more things beyond trade, as he has with fentanyl and defence.

“The Trump administration has also leveraged tariffs in matters that go well beyond trade policy with a number of countries,” said Hale. In March, the president warned countries buying Venezuelan oil they would be punished with tariffs on all U.S. exports; in the last two weeks, he’s threatened “severe tariffs” on Russia if it didn’t make peace with Ukraine, and tariffs on BRICS-aligned countries (meaning Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as well as Iran and Indonesia) because he said they wanted to undermine the U.S. dollar.

So he may want to wield economic pressure to try getting Carney to commit to helping restart a new Canada-U.S. oil pipeline after Keystone XL was killed by the last American president, the source close to the White House said. “They want the Keystone XL pipeline big time,” the source said.

Trump has never stopped wanting that pipeline since he approved it in his first term, and has raised it repeatedly since his re-election, noted Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the Heritage Foundation.

“Everybody knows that Prime Minister Carney has a focus on the environment, rather than fossil fuel production, so I imagine that it might be a sticking point,” she added. So would the fact that, right now, there is no company proposing that project, since the former proponent, TC Energy, abandoned it.

Apparently, the White House also wants Carney to loosen up on Liberal social objectives, like ESG (environment, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), that have in recent years complicated regulation in Canada, including for American companies that do business here. Trump has been aggressive about deregulating away from social and climate rules in the U.S. since he took office.

But Carney is “religious” about ESG, said the Washington source, which could be a “real barrier to these things getting forward.” Yet, if Carney got rid of net-zero targets and environmental impediments, “I think there’d be a massive love-in,” the source added.

How many of these new lines of negotiation — dairy, defence, oil, DEI,

[-] [email protected] 8 points 4 hours ago
[-] [email protected] 34 points 6 hours ago
[-] [email protected] 20 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

It's a bit wordy to get the jist quickly, here's a summary of what seemed most relevant: (I realize now it's really not much more brief than the actual order, the highlighted screenshots Sebrof posted are good)

The main point in the first section "policy and purpose" is this:

The overwhelming majority of [homeless] individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both. Nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having regularly used hard drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine, or opioids in their lifetimes. An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.

Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order.

They will do this by increasing funds to states to do their own crackdowns, but it also has language that indicates they could possibly use federal resources to enforce anti-homeless policies in states or cities they see as lacking sufficient enforcement, which would probably be similar to the anti-immigration campaign with raids on encampments and neighborhoods by federal troops and new facilities built to hold the detainees. The wording seems to leave open the ability to detain any homeless person in whatever facilities they are able to.

They go on to describe plans to "require the recipients of Federal funding for homelessness assistance to collect health-related information" and "to share such data with law enforcement authorities...and to use the collected health data to provide appropriate medical care to individuals with mental health diagnoses or to connect individuals to public health resources."

This section makes me worried about the potential for trans people, they also describe developing new treatment plans and research on mental illness, which they could classify people with based on whatever criteria they make up.

A more brief summary:

[-] [email protected] 14 points 3 hours ago

Thanks for the rundown! And I agree with your comment at the vagueness around "mental health"

[-] [email protected] 16 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Ah, ~~the~~ another Hitler order

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 hours ago

Some screenshots

[-] [email protected] 14 points 4 hours ago

I read part of that and not sure if I even want to be sober to finish it.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 5 hours ago

PREVENTING WOKE AI IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - White House Website

Article

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. Artificial intelligence (AI) will play a critical role in how Americans of all ages learn new skills, consume information, and navigate their daily lives. Americans will require reliable outputs from AI, but when ideological biases or social agendas are built into AI models, they can distort the quality and accuracy of the output.

One of the most pervasive and destructive of these ideologies is so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI). In the AI context, DEI includes the suppression or distortion of factual information about race or sex; manipulation of racial or sexual representation in model outputs; incorporation of concepts like critical race theory, transgenderism, unconscious bias, intersectionality, and systemic racism; and discrimination on the basis of race or sex. DEI displaces the commitment to truth in favor of preferred outcomes and, as recent history illustrates, poses an existential threat to reliable AI.

For example, one major AI model changed the race or sex of historical figures — including the Pope, the Founding Fathers, and Vikings — when prompted for images because it was trained to prioritize DEI requirements at the cost of accuracy. Another AI model refused to produce images celebrating the achievements of white people, even while complying with the same request for people of other races. In yet another case, an AI model asserted that a user should not “misgender” another person even if necessary to stop a nuclear apocalypse.

While the Federal Government should be hesitant to regulate the functionality of AI models in the private marketplace, in the context of Federal procurement, it has the obligation not to procure models that sacrifice truthfulness and accuracy to ideological agendas. Building on Executive Order 13960 of December 3, 2020 (Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government), this order helps fulfill that obligation in the context of large language models.

Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this order:

(a) The term “agency” means an executive department, a military department, or any independent establishment within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 101, 102, and 104(1), respectively, and any wholly owned Government corporation within the meaning of 31 U.S.C. 9101.

(b) The term “agency head” means the highest-ranking

official or officials of an agency, such as the Secretary, Administrator, Chairman, Director, Commissioners, or Board of Directors.

(c) The term “LLM” means a large language model, which is a generative AI model trained on vast, diverse datasets that enable the model to generate natural-language responses to user prompts.

(d) The term “national security system” has the same meaning as in 44 U.S.C. 3552(b)(6).

Sec. 3. Unbiased AI Principles. It is the policy of the United States to promote the innovation and use of trustworthy AI. To advance that policy, agency heads shall, consistent with applicable law and in consideration of guidance issued pursuant to section 4 of this order, procure only those LLMs developed in accordance with the following two principles (Unbiased AI Principles):

(a) Truth-seeking. LLMs shall be truthful in responding to user prompts seeking factual information or analysis. LLMs shall prioritize historical accuracy, scientific inquiry, and objectivity, and shall acknowledge uncertainty where reliable information is incomplete or contradictory.

(b) Ideological Neutrality. LLMs shall be neutral, nonpartisan tools that do not manipulate responses in favor of ideological dogmas such as DEI. Developers shall not intentionally encode partisan or ideological judgments into an LLM’s outputs unless those judgments are prompted by or otherwise readily accessible to the end user.

Sec. 4. Implementation. (a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, the Administrator of General Services, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall issue guidance to agencies to implement section 3 of this order. That guidance shall:

(i) account for technical limitations in complying with this order;

(ii) permit vendors to comply with the requirement in the second Unbiased AI Principle to be transparent about ideological judgments through disclosure of the LLM’s system prompt, specifications, evaluations, or other relevant documentation, and avoid requiring disclosure of specific model weights or other sensitive technical data where practicable;

(iii) avoid over-prescription and afford latitude for vendors to comply with the Unbiased AI Principles and take different approaches to innovation;

(iv) specify factors for agency heads to consider in determining whether to apply the Unbiased AI Principles to LLMs developed by the agencies and to AI models other than LLMs; and

(v) make exceptions as appropriate for the use of LLMs in national security systems.

(b) Each agency head shall, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law:

(i) include in each Federal contract for an LLM entered into following the date of the OMB guidance issued under subsection (a) of this section terms requiring that the procured LLM comply with the Unbiased AI Principles and providing that decommissioning costs shall be charged to the vendor in the event of termination by the agency for the vendor’s noncompliance with the contract following a reasonable period to cure;

(ii) to the extent practicable and consistent with contract terms, revise existing contracts for LLMs to include the terms specified in subsection (b)(i) of this section; and

(iii) within 90 days of the OMB guidance issued under subsection (a) of this section, adopt procedures to ensure that LLMs procured by the agency comply with the Unbiased AI Principles.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the General Services Administration.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 23, 2025.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 hour ago

Oops, all mecha hitlers

[-] [email protected] 20 points 5 hours ago

For example, one major AI model changed the race or sex of historical figures — including the Pope, the Founding Fathers, and Vikings — when prompted for images because it was trained to prioritize DEI requirements at the cost of accuracy. Another AI model refused to produce images celebrating the achievements of white people, even while complying with the same request for people of other races. In yet another case, an AI model asserted that a user should not “misgender” another person even if necessary to stop a nuclear apocalypse.

The Pope? What??? Why would you need to misgender someone to stop a nuclear apocalypse? Who even gives a shit about this?

[-] [email protected] 16 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I really wonder how much steering the companies training these models can actually do. They're ingesting literally the entire internet to the extent that CSAM has been found in open datasets. So if they're not filtering for CSAM I doubt they're filtering for other content. For sure the system prompts are putting some guardrails on the models but I bet to some extent this is just what you get when you feed the internet into the text extruder.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 hour ago

Yeah, I think that imroved filtering and weighting of data must be really desirable for these companies. The more that companies building these models know about their data (e.g., where it came from; potential bias; authorship; etc.), the more they can finetune their model outputs and avoid catastrophic outcomes like "MechaHitler" while still satisfying their ideological goals.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 3 hours ago

It requires massive datasets but you can do it. The "MechaHitler" Grok was trained on 4chan and similar shitholes, so it came out sounding like a /pol/ edgelord, but you can imagine creating broad comprehensive data sets to train a model towards promoting ideologies that are more sensible sounding but still nefarious, and maybe even promote falsehoods. So far, xAI is the only company that has publicly tried to do this to spectacular failure but I wouldn't be surprised if more competent projects to help spread falsehoods for the government aren't under development at other companies.

The examples in this order though are ridiculous NY Post type shit and probably debunkable if they provided any source.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Every AI is biased by its input data, and data scientists can tinker with practically every variable to steer the output.

Grok has been a notoriously cringeworthy attempt at it, but I remember DeepSeek received criticism for its 'censorship'.

I haven't used DeepSeek in a while, but it seemed to have a clear bias in favour of China (and to be clear, i don't think that's bad). Sometimes it would show up subtly, mainly by the lack of orientalist cynicism you get from "Western" LLM's. In some conversations, it would simply tell you that it cannot respond to your prompt or that it is outside its scope (e.g., if the response it would produce would be critical of the CPC).

[-] [email protected] 29 points 7 hours ago

"True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine. I will make this solemn announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next September."

"The urgent need today is for the war in Gaza to end and for the civilian population to be rescued. Peace is possible. We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. We must also guarantee the demilitarization of Hamas, and secure and rebuild Gaza."

"Finally, we must build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and ensure that by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative."

"The French want peace in the Middle East. It is up to us, the French, along with the Israelis, the Palestinians, and our European and international partners, to demonstrate that it is possible. In light of the commitments the President of the Palestinian Authority made to me, I wrote to him expressing my determination to move forward. Confidence, clarity, and commitment. We will win the peace."

[-] [email protected] 16 points 3 hours ago

There is no Gaza left in next September at this point. Also, it mentions the demilitarization of Hamas as a condition

So this is just France parading the carcass of the 2 states solution again

[-] [email protected] 21 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Fuck him. Why should the Palestinian state demilitarize when they're right next to a warmongering, racist, apartheid, land-stealing rogue state. Thats insane.

Theyre trying to pretend to be humanitarian because the disaster is too much to ignore at this point but them throwing out this shit proves they're not actually serious about peace.

Also, what about the West Bank? What about pre-1967 borders?

[-] [email protected] 28 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East

Ahahahahahaa

Damn that's funny

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 hours ago

All the social-chauvinists are committed to "peace in the Middle East" (don't laugh!)

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

Macron is the embodiment of liberalism with fascistic tendencies. He's not a social-chauvinist the guy hates social democracy.

He has spent all his time in power destroying the social safety nets in France, ramping up islamophobia and giving enormous tax breaks to companies and the wealthy.

His family has deep ties with most of France billionaires.

This statement is just theater to try (unsuccessfully) to boost his approval for the coming local elections in 2026 (and maybe for a future new dissolution). He's also desperate to be remembered as a great leader who marked history. One of his nckname in France is Jupiter as he's such a megalomaniac.

[-] [email protected] 24 points 7 hours ago

The US Embassy in Brazil attacks Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and defends Bolsonaro, claiming that the Justice restricts freedom of expression in the US. There is no US ambassador in Brazil, Trump hasn't appointed anyone since he took office earlier this year. Experts assess the issue as diplomatic disregard for Brazil and a deliberate attempt to diminish its capacity for negotiation and dialogue.

"Minister Moraes is the beating heart of the persecution and censorship complex against Jair Bolsonaro, which in turn has restricted freedom of expression in the US. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rubio, we are paying attention and taking appropriate action."

[-] [email protected] 50 points 10 hours ago

Armenia to cede control of Zangezur Corridor to US: Report

Control of the strategic corridor would give the US a military foothold on Iran's border

Nikol Pashinyan is the biggest fucking cuck in the history of mankind

[-] [email protected] 15 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

The US has many more pokers to put in the fire they've built around Russia and for that matter in the way of China's B&R. This is just the start of a grab for central Asia to further box in and isolate Russia, to do the same with Iran (and ultimately bring that state down), and to use this access plus hegemony over the middle east to have a complete land blockade over any possible path for the Chinese belt and road through to Africa and Europe (save through Russia but given the furthest east EU members are the most deranged anti-Russia fascists they'll hold the line in blocking entry from there). That locked down the US and NATO navies and air forces need only hold strategic transit points in global waterways to effectively blockade China. Diego Garcia, control of the Suez via regional proxies and the US fleet nearby and zionist regime support, seizing control of Panama, locking Greenland and the arctic states into a NATO alliance so they can block northernly routes. This is setting up a chessboard for the showdown which will not be confined to the SCS but leave China the option of fighting a world war against a well entrenched, well resourced, established logistics having, force multipliers via many vassal states NATO led by the US or being relegated to being an east Asian regional power at best while the west locks the rest of the world in with it and its markets. That's the plan. I don't see the small actors doing anything but acquiescing to the US saber-rattling and China isn't going to act until it's forced to.

[-] [email protected] 30 points 9 hours ago

My heart breaks for the future of the Armenian people under this fucking imbecile.

[-] [email protected] 24 points 9 hours ago

It's amazing. Azerbaijan fucked the Armenians over Nagorno Karabakh, apparently the parliament has had some shit for wanting to join or not join the EU, and they are still bending over to the West by rejecting russian aid.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 8 hours ago

Damn, that's a pretty big deal

[-] [email protected] 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

And a lot of it is happening because of the recent rift in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, which started with Russia shooting down an Azerbaijani civilian airliner on Christmas last year and issuing a non apology. Then the person in the Russian military in charge of the Pantsir S1 system that shot down the airliner sent a hand written note to the investigation team confessing it, then there was mutual police raids in Azerbaijan and Russia, and how the leader of Azerbaijan is publicly supporting Ukraine, and the Azerbaijani embassy in Ukraine got bombed. As far as geopolitical own goals go, this is a big one. Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia were never great, but now Azerbaijan has abandoned all pretenses and is fully in the pro western camp.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 36 points 10 hours ago

A Brazilian Intelligence agency (ABIN/Brazil's CIA) source tells veteran journalist Jamil Chade he believes that Eduardo Bolsonaro's recent aggressiveness towards the Federal Police and Trump's words and actions are clear signs that the CIA is working to destabilize the Brazilian government.

"It’s a typical script prepared by the CIA, backing national actors to justify foreign strategic interests," said the agent. "The script contains the needed ingredients for action," writes Chade. " Supposed "exiles" like Eduardo Bolsonaro, and Paulo Figueiredo , an "unjustly treated, beloved" figure (Jair Bolsonaro) and a supposedly dictatorial regime, embodied by Alexandre de Moraes and Lula."

[-] [email protected] 40 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Sure, some may say that Trump saying he will lower drug prices by 1000% might show that he doesn't know what numbers mean.

But I like to think it's proof that he's advancing from privatised healthcare to not merely socialised healthcare but parasocial healthcare. You get a prescription and a couple of your buddies also get some.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 27 points 10 hours ago

Russia Signals Progress and Proposes Humanitarian Ceasefires After Third Round of Ukraine Negotiations in Istanbul - Telesur English

Article

During the third round of talks in Istanbul, Russia reports fulfillment of humanitarian agreements, proposes short-term ceasefires, and agrees on another prisoner exchange with Ukraine, emphasizing dialogue for peace.

On Wednesday, July 23, in Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace, the Russian delegation delivered a positive assessment of the ongoing diplomatic talks with Ukraine, marking an important step towards peaceful conflict resolution in Eastern Europe.

Vladimir Medinski, head of the Russian delegation and presidential aide, highlighted that Russia has returned over 7,000 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen and anticipates continuing prisoner exchanges and discussions on short-term ceasefires to facilitate evacuation of the wounded and recovery of the fallen.

Medinski announced that Russia suggested the establishment of three working groups focused on political, humanitarian, and military issues, reflecting Moscow’s commitment to systematic and pragmatic dialogue.

Additionally, Russia offered to implement ceasefires of 24 to 48 hours to aid casualty evacuation and prisoner exchanges, underscoring the Kremlin’s dedication to the humanitarian aspects of the conflict, in stark contrast to the ongoing military escalation supported by Western powers.

Despite progress, Medinski condemned Ukraine for violating parts of prior agreements, noting that 30 residents from Kursk remain detained by Kyiv,a glaring humanitarian issue demanding immediate resolution. Russia also called on Ukraine to return Russian children relocated abroad, a sensitive matter raised repeatedly by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin during the talks.

This third round builds upon previous talks held in Istanbul in May and June, where substantial steps were taken towards prisoner exchanges and preliminary frameworks for ceasefire discussions emerged.

The Russian delegation, including high-ranking officials such as Medinski and Galuzin, continues to advocate for a negotiated solution that respects national sovereignty and peoples’ rights,a stance opposed to the Western-imposed sanctions and blockades that exacerbate regional suffering.

These negotiations are not merely bilateral disputes but urgent humanitarian matters warranting the international community’s sober attention and respect for sovereignty. The process stands as a necessary counterpoint to destabilization efforts by external forces intent on prolonging conflict and misery.

The latest Istanbul talks reinforce Russia’s readiness to cooperate in good faith by fulfilling humanitarian commitments and proposing practical measures such as working groups and temporary ceasefires.

Confronted by continued Ukrainian obstructions, Russia sustains its push for dialogue as the foundation for a lasting ceasefire and eventual reconciliation,an essential pathway toward stable peace in the region.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 6 hours ago

A ceasefire before the fall of Siversk? That's a straight up a Russian defeat

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

No it's not if it's the Istanbul 2025 agreement, which would be total Russian political victory. All formally annexed territory would need to be withdrawn from by Ukraine as a condition of this agreement. How is Ukraine surrendering all Russian annexed territory and withdrawing and agreeing to all Russian strategic demands a loss?

[-] [email protected] 1 points 34 minutes ago

The Ukrainians will never surrender those territories thru negotiations and historically the capitulationist tendencies have firmly been monopolized by the Russian side, as the past Minsk agreements and Putin's entire poltical career demonstrate

So until I see evidence the Ukrainians and their European neocon allies have retreated from their maximalist positions, I'm gonna assume it's the Russians who are bowing their head

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

short-term ceasefires to facilitate evacuation of the wounded and recovery of the fallen

[-] [email protected] 1 points 32 minutes ago

Every short-term ceasefire has resulted in a total freeze of Russian momentum for weeks after, so either the Russians don't care about holding the initiative or there is no momentum

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
93 points (97.9% liked)

news

24187 readers
834 users here now

Welcome to c/news! Please read the Hexbear Code of Conduct and remember... we're all comrades here.

Rules:

-- PLEASE KEEP POST TITLES INFORMATIVE --

-- Overly editorialized titles, particularly if they link to opinion pieces, may get your post removed. --

-- All posts must include a link to their source. Screenshots are fine IF you include the link in the post body. --

-- If you are citing a twitter post as news please include not just the twitter.com in your links but also nitter.net (or another Nitter instance). There is also a Firefox extension that can redirect Twitter links to a Nitter instance: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/ or archive them as you would any other reactionary source using e.g. https://archive.today/ . Twitter screenshots still need to be sourced or they will be removed --

-- Mass tagging comm moderators across multiple posts like a broken markov chain bot will result in a comm ban--

-- Repeated consecutive posting of reactionary sources, fake news, misleading / outdated news, false alarms over ghoul deaths, and/or shitposts will result in a comm ban.--

-- Neglecting to use content warnings or NSFW when dealing with disturbing content will be removed until in compliance. Users who are consecutively reported due to failing to use content warnings or NSFW tags when commenting on or posting disturbing content will result in the user being banned. --

-- Using April 1st as an excuse to post fake headlines, like the resurrection of Kissinger while he is still fortunately dead, will result in the poster being thrown in the gamer gulag and be sentenced to play and beat trashy mobile games like 'Raid: Shadow Legends' in order to be rehabilitated back into general society. --

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS