111
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks 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.


(page 4) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] [email protected] 45 points 3 weeks ago

Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, chair of the Hague Group, interviewed by Sondos Asem on a MEE's podcast Expert Witness. I believe the interview was recorded in either Feb or March 2025. She is talking about the rational of last week's intervention Joint Statement on the Conclusion of the Emergency Conference on Palestine ( abridged web | full PDF ), which was posted in the News thread at the time.

Choice of links (content is the same): video: MEE, youtube, audio only: spotify. I was unable to find a transcript. The track is about 30 minutes long with no time-wasting chit chat, ads, etc.

short background

Basically it is a commitment on behalf of participating global south countries to prevent the movement of even potentially military good through their territories if they will be used in the genocide of Palestinians. To implement BDS-type policies on their public spending. To arrest any war criminals and facilitate legal proceedings. For details see the Statement linked above. It is short to read.

Nations who have already agreed to immediately adhere were: Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa.


I don't think initiatives like this are full solutions to the problem of Israel. But I can't see any problem with these nations doing what they can with the power they are able to wield. Someone has to start cutting off Israel. Looks like these are the ones who have done it. It draws a line and other nations are even more culpable of their crimes due to the contrast in behavior.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 45 points 3 weeks ago

The statements made by the appointed U.S. ambassador to Argentina, Peter Lamelas, exposes with impunity and impudence the U.S. imperialist action in our country.

"Argentina's problem is... not really a problem. It's just a challenge, a solution. There are 23 provinces and each of them has its own separate government and its own separate government can negotiate with outside forces, with the Chinese or others, to come in and do projects in that particular province. And that can also encourage corruption on the part of the Chinese."

"One of my functions as ambassador would be to travel to all the provinces and maintain a dialog and a real partnership with these governors. Not only with the president, not only with President Milei, but also with Geraldo Werthein, the foreign minister, Luis Caputo, Santiago Caputo and everyone in the Milei government, but my role is also to go to the interior of Argentina and make sure that we eliminate corruption and support Milei and the Milei government in all their efforts to get to the bottom of the AMIA bombing and make sure that Cristina Fernandez Kirchner gets the justice she deserves."

"There is still a movement out there. There's a cristinista (also known as kirchnerista) movement. It's even further to the left, I mean, probably even further to the left than the Peronist movement. And that's something we need to keep an eye on. Argentina has been through some very, very unusual times. They've had several presidencies and we need to continue to support Milei's presidency during the mid-term elections and during the next term so that we can build a better relationship."

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 45 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 45 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Multiple casualties (3-5) reported in an operation in Gaza. Will post a video if it drops in the future

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 45 points 3 weeks ago

reports of 20+ martyrs and 300+ injured from zionist attack on aid seekers in Gaza

[-] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago

Bolsonaro with an Ankle monitor

[-] [email protected] 43 points 3 weeks ago

They should connect the anklet to an iron ball and drop it in the ocean

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago

newsheads, what do you think the most likely conflict is going to be this year?

Nepal vs Bhutan
Ecuador vs Papua New Guinea
Romania vs Albania
Kenya vs Gabon
Tunisia vs Oman

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago

It's not a joke or a meme. Yes, MPs from the Liberal Party (PL, the Far-Right Conservative Party, Bolsonaro's Party) are recording a video with a cardboard replica of Bolsonaro. What a piece of cardboard. Sóstenes Cavalcante's words.

"Our president Bolsonaro... we had to put his replica here, because he can't appear on social networks... This is the most shameful censorship we've ever seen in Brazil, but we parliamentarians, right-wing conservatives who believe in God, country, family and freedom, will never abandon our president."

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago

Useless journalist wasting Abdallah's and everyone else's time with stupid inane questions about his life:
https://xcancel.com/sasa_ghada/status/1949128345020444882

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

On that dam, interesting that the power generated is mostly for export:

It said the project would primarily deliver power for external consumption while also addressing local demand in Tibet.

I struggle with this idea a bit. Triple the capacity of three gorges is a huge amount of power. Is that all supposed to be sold to India? What kind of transmission capacity is there in the area? It seems way more likely that most of the power would be sent to china's west.

Also, as for environmental impacts, I bet with 5 sequential dams that the water will get heated up as it goes through all the turbines. Would that actually matter? Idk but that's a lot of electricity generated so also a lot of heat.

The below article has a bit more info about the style and structure of this system - its run of river and doesn't involve big dams, so there would be pretty minimal impact on water flows. The article also notes that the vast majority of the water in downstream rivers in India comes from catchment in India, so water weaponization is not very possible

https://indianewengland.com/india-maintains-water-advantage-despite-chinas-brahmaputra-dam-push/

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] [email protected] 44 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Forward magazine's ongoing "spot the Nazi" article series seems to be good, at least by their standards. I guess it is not difficult to write up the names of streets and monuments mailed in by your readers.

spoiler

London, Ontario, a city of over 420,000, is home to Max Brose Drive, named for German industrialist Max Brose.

Edmonton has a street honoring Peter Savaryn, a veteran of SS Galizien, a Ukrainian division in the Waffen-SS, which was the military arm of the Nazi Party

Two Nazi collaborator honors in New Jersey have been added to the project. The first is SS Galizien’s divisional insignia on a monument celebrating “Fighters for Ukrainian Freedom” in a cemetery owned by Saint Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Memorial Church in South Bound Brook. It was originally reported on by researcher Moss Robeson on X.

In 2023, a similar monument in Philadelphia was boarded up following a Forward investigation.

The nearby city of New Brunswick has a scout lodge named after Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki, who had championed and enacted numerous antisemitic laws stripping his country’s Jews of their rights, a key prelude on the road to genocide; around 550,000 Hungarian Jews were exterminated during the Holocaust.

Readers have continued contacting the Forward with streets and monuments that had been previously overlooked. One such case is Finland’s monuments to the nation’s SS volunteers. Several years ago, research by Dr. André Swanström resulted in a report concluding it was “very likely” these soldiers murdered Jews.

We’ve also seen Nazi honors removed: In addition to Philadelphia, a second SS Galizien monument in a Toronto suburb was taken down in 2024, while NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently renamed a conference facility that honored an SS officer.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 43 points 3 weeks ago

How Israel Seized South Syria Under Al-Sharaa's Watch

Part 1

spoiler

Since the fall of the former Syrian regime, Israel has gradually begun to realize some of its long-standing ambitions. With the collapse of the modern Syrian state and the disintegration of its army, Israeli forces managed to seize Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh), a first since its liberation in 1973. On the morning of December 8, 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised a glass of champagne in celebration, marking the takeover of Damascus by Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could also hardly hide his satisfaction. In a speech delivered in Ankara, he mocked the collapse of Syria’s Baathist regime and, more broadly, the idea of Arab nationalism. His remarks drew loud applause, and quickly reverberated across the Arab world.

Southern Syria effectively fell under Israeli control, handed to them by al-Sharaa, who used sectarian tension as a pretext to intervene, but walked straight into a trap of his own making.

Over the past eight months, Israel has steadily gained ground.

Politically, al-Sharaa has scrambled to secure a deal with Israel to consolidate his grip on power and meet US conditions. He avoids acknowledging hostile Israeli incursions, and never utters the word “occupation,” choosing instead to emphasize his “desire for peace.”

Socially, Syria’s national identity is unraveling under the pressure of sectarian violence and daily atrocities, affecting Syrians of all sects. Alawites, in particular, became the target of a systematic campaign.

Militarily, the Israeli army pushed deep into southern Syria, thus consolidating its presence in Quneitra, Mount Hermon, and Yarmouk Basin, notably after securing the loyalty of some local Druze and Sunni communities. More than 15 military outposts were established, and infrastructure laid for long-term entrenchment.

But the offensive in Sweida marked a turning point. With it, all of southern Syria effectively fell under Israeli control, handed to them by al-Sharaa, who used sectarian tension as a pretext to intervene, but walked straight into a trap of his own making. By dragging the south into intercommunal violence, he crushed the last hopes of Syrians who longed for an end to years of bloodshed.

The maneuver was so blatant that many now accuse al-Sharaa of deliberately provoking tensions between Sweida’s Druze and Bedouin communities, to give Israeli forces an alibi to intervene, acting in effect on his behalf. This theory is bolstered by reports of a secret understanding reached during the recent Baku summit in Azerbaijan, where al-Sharaa met with Israeli officials, along with his foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaybani, and security envoy Ahmad Dalati. A closer look at al-Sharaa’s inner circle and affiliated media reveals a growing appetite for normalization with Israel.

Adding weight to this theory, a Syrian defense ministry spokesperson said: “What happened today by Israel was contrary to our expectations.” According to this interpretation, al-Sharaa had already informed Israeli officials of his plans to enter Sweida under the pretext of halting the Druze-Bedouin clashes, an operation allegedly agreed upon during Baku talks.

Al-Sharaa hoped that his shared hostility with Israel toward Lebanese and Palestinian resistance groups, and his opposition to the former Syrian regime, would earn him Tel Aviv’s support. He cut Hezbollah’s supply routes to Lebanon, expelled Palestinian fighters from Damascus, courted pro-Israel lobbying groups in Washington, handed over the complete Eli Cohen’s archive, and gave up any Syrian claim to the occupied Golan Heights.


Part 2

spoiler

The fact that Ahmad Dalati personally led the Sweida operation only reinforces suspicions. As the newly appointed security chief for the province, Dalati has effectively shifted roles: from Israeli liaison to battlefield commander. Meanwhile, Israel cannot plausibly claim ignorance of the volatile atmosphere in Sweida, or the near certainty of bloodshed if al-Sharaa’s forces attempted to enter the area. Critics argue that any resulting massacre would rival the atrocities his forces carried out along the Syrian coast.

However, according to the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Israel rejected al-Sharaa’s proposal for a “limited-scope normalization” during the Baku summit. Instead, it demanded tangible security guarantees, continued occupation of the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, and formal recognition of its recent territorial gains. Israeli media reported that the talks also touched on Hezbollah’s weapons, Palestinian factions in Lebanon, the future of displaced Palestinians from Gaza, and the possible opening of an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without formal diplomatic recognition.

Al-Sharaa hoped that his shared hostility with Israel toward Lebanese and Palestinian resistance groups, and his opposition to the former Syrian regime, would earn him Tel Aviv’s support. He cut Hezbollah’s supply routes to Lebanon, expelled Palestinian fighters from Damascus, courted pro-Israel lobbying groups in Washington, handed over the complete Eli Cohen’s archive, and gave up any Syrian claim to the occupied Golan Heights.

But he misread the moment, and he was not alone to do so. US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack was also blindsided. “The Israeli strikes on Damascus were surprising,” he admitted.

Years of collaboration ultimately meant little. Since its formation in 2012, Jabhat al-Nusra and its various offshoots have served as the primary military instrument for the Western-Turkish-Qatari alliance in its campaign to dismantle the former Syrian army. Backed by the “MOC” operations room in Jordan and “MOD” in Turkey, these factions overran air defense systems and strategic bases, most notably in Tell al-Hara, which hosted sophisticated surveillance and electronic warfare systems supplied by China, Russia, and Iran.

Between 2011 and at least 2018, Nusra fighters advanced deep into the Yarmouk Basin, reaching the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan. They executed Syrian soldiers, attacked Druze villages near Mount Hermon, like Hadr, and occasionally raided Sweida. When they massacred Druze civilians in Qalb Loze in Idlib, forcing others to abandon their religious traditions under “Salafi” pressure, Israel said nothing. Instead, it kept offering treatment to Nusra fighters in field hospitals across the occupied Golan and Upper Galilee. This sparked outrage among Druze communities in Syria, Palestine, and within Israel. Israel even arrested Majdal Shams native and former Syrian prisoner Sidqi al-Maqt for filming Israeli soldiers assisting Nusra fighters.

Al-Sharaa’s dilemma is that he has already given Israel everything. Still, Tel Aviv still views him as unfit for any role beyond limited security coordination in southern Syria. In Israel’s way of thinking, even if al-Sharaa were to sign a peace agreement, he still lacks legitimacy and power to implement it. For this reason, Tel Aviv prefers to handle security on its own, through large-scale military deployments.

In parallel, the Israeli government is closely monitoring tensions among various armed factions aligned with al-Sharaa, aware that a conflict between rival jihadist groups is only a matter of time. It is also watching the growing sense of despair felt by Syria’s religious minorities. Iran has withdrawn, Russia is confined to its bases, Thomas Barrack is backpedaling, and Arab states fully endorsed the transitional president.

Al-Sharaa’s dilemma is that he has already given Israel everything. Still, Tel Aviv still views him as unfit for any role beyond limited security coordination in southern Syria. In Israel’s way of thinking, even if al-Sharaa were to sign a peace agreement, he still lacks legitimacy and power to implement it.

There is no doubt that Syria after the Sweida offensive is no longer the same. Al-Sharaa has once again failed, from the coast to the south, squandering the opportunity granted to him by Arab and Western powers, who overlooked his brutality for lack of an alternative. Now, even UN Secretary-General António Guterres is once again invoking Resolution 2254, while al-Sharaa’s hopes on lifting Western sanctions are quickly fading. In fact, new sanctions may soon target his security apparatus, much like the European Union sanctions imposed on factions like the Hamza and Amshat brigades for war crimes.

As sectarian violence intensifies, and retaliatory attacks spread between Druze and Bedouin groups, Israel’s de facto invasion of southern Syria is underway. Al-Sharaa is no longer able to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity. He cannot reclaim the east or the south, rules the coast through repression, and has lost control over both armed and jihadist groups.

Faced with such powerlessness, al-Sharaa may soon realize that his only remaining path to relevance lies outside Syria. He might try to further serve Israeli interests in Lebanon, tighten the screws on Hezbollah, and rebrand himself, yet again, as an ally to Tel Aviv. But this time, he has nothing left to offer


[-] [email protected] 43 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The last 4 US Air Force F-15Es have returned to the UK from Jordan, after being forward deployed there since October 2024. Photographs have emerged of them with similar nose art and kill markings as the previous aircraft.

Source article

An update to the count, previous post here. According to the markings, the squadron of 12x F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft:

  • Shot down 153 one way attack drones using APKWS laser guided rockets (9 aircraft feature kill marks).
  • Executed 74 electronic attacks, lightning bolt symbol (I'm guessing jamming the guidance systems of one way attack drones, same red colour as APKWS markings. )
  • Launched 42 JASSM stealth high altitude subsonic cruise missiles. (11 aircraft feature kill marks).
  • conducted 5 high value electronic attacks, possibly against incoming surface to air missiles or targeting radars tracking the aircraft, black lighting bolts. (2 aircraft) Given the presence of bombs in the nose art of both aircraft, and names not from horror movie characters, my best guess is "home in on jam" JDAM type bombs, homing in on the electromagnetic radiation from radars or other sources. Unique art on the landing gear cover is also present on one of the aircraft, I can read the phrase "shock'em" on one, suggesting some form of electronic warfare. I went through the original source (photographer's social media) and found no other aircraft with artwork on the landing gear covers, only the air brakes for other planes.
  • Dropped over 100 JDAM guided bombs. (Haven't done an exact count)

While there are lots of possibilities about what the red and black lighting bolts represent, from jamming to MALD decoy missiles to CHAMP microwave warhead cruise missiles, it's clear that these planes where heavily involved in shooting down one way attack drones, and launched dozens of JASSMs at targets, likely in Iran, Yemen, or both. And likely dropped hundreds of bombs on Yemen, or Somalia and Syria as part of "anti ISIS/ISIL" operations. The US has been constantly bombing Somalia this year.

[-] [email protected] 43 points 3 weeks 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] 43 points 3 weeks ago

Erdogan Condemns Israeli Strikes in Syria, Vows to Defend Regional Stability - Telesur English

Article

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a forceful condemnation of Israel’s recent military actions in Syria, accusing Tel Aviv of exploiting the Druze minority as a pretext to expand its influence and destabilize the region.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan declared: “We did not allow Syria to be fragmented yesterday, we do not allow it today, and we will not allow it tomorrow,” reaffirming Türkiye’s commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity and multicultural structure.

The remarks follow Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, including hits on the Defense Ministry, General Staff Headquarters, and areas near the presidential compound, which Israel claims were launched to protect Druze communities in Al-Suwayda, where clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes have left dozens dead.

Erdogan described Israel as a “lawless, arrogant, and bloodthirsty terrorist state” and warned that its actions threaten not only Syria but the entire region’s stability.

Türkiye’s presidency confirmed that Erdogan spoke with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, expressing support for Damascus and welcoming a ceasefire agreement reached in Sweida. Sharaa thanked Türkiye for backing Syria’s sovereignty and unity.

In a joint statement issued with 10 Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE, Türkiye condemned foreign interference in Syria and called for full implementation of the ceasefire, protection of civilians, and restoration of government authority across Sweida.

Erdogan emphasized that Türkiye’s foreign policy is rooted in peace and diplomacy, stating: “We bear no ill will toward anyone… we only want peace.” He warned that those relying on oppression and military aggression “will sooner or later realize they have made a major miscalculation”.

The Syrian government has denounced Israel’s strikes as a violation of sovereignty, and officials say the attacks have hindered efforts to locate and destroy chemical weapons stockpiles, delaying inspections by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Israel’s intervention has drawn criticism from China, which joined calls for restraint and respect for Syria’s sovereignty, and from Qatar, which requested an emergency OPCW meeting to address the impact of the strikes on Syria’s disarmament obligations.

Türkiye continues to monitor developments closely and maintains diplomatic communication with regional actors. Erdogan reiterated that a stable Syria is essential for regional peace, warning that “otherwise, everyone will bear the burden of this.”

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago

Thread on the machinations of the DPP in recalling KMT/TPP legislators (CW: that patsoc Chinese rapper who once had an unhinged meltdown over Canadian nudists):
https://xcancel.com/notXiangyu/status/1948738177902280768

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago

Former US Congressman George Santos, son of Brazilian immigrants, known as Kitara Ravache, turns himself in to police in the United States and is arrested. He was convicted of fraud and ideological falsehood.

  • Telegram
load more comments (6 replies)
[-] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago

Not so much news as a question for my news-addicted friends: I'm hearing that a bunch of Canadian troops are being deployed to Latvia in the next few days. Anyone heard about anything happening in Latvia lately? Or is it about positioning near Moscow?

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago

Russian forces made more gains this week, liberating four more settlements in the Donetsk People’s Republic (Belaya Gora, Novotoretskoye, Novoekonomicheskoye and Zverevo): https://tass.com/politics/1994279 (full weekly summary)

SouthFront also has its recent Donbass report with maps and combat footage: https://southfront.press/military-overview-russian-army-secured-strategic-victories-in-donbass/

[-] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago

so is it all still terrible or

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 41 points 3 weeks ago

(fox news link sorry) Dispute over Christian groups' visas to Israel resolved after Huckabee "threat"

In the last thread I mentioned US Ambassador and Evangelical Zionist freak Mike Huckabee and his threat to reciprocate visa issues for Christians. Now the issue is apparently resolved.

"The Evangelical Christian organizations active in Israel, which represent the vast majority of Zionists in the world today, will receive all of the visas they need through a streamlined and efficient application process," he said.

Note that Evangelical Zionists were never fully barred from Israel, they need the labor badly. But the process was humiliating and so the Ambassador stepped in.

"... members of these groups have been denied renewals of their A3 clergy visas and are instead required to complete lengthy questionnaires about their religious beliefs. Huckabee said the status of their applications remains "under investigation."

We can get some clarity into what was causing the visa trouble via a couple unnamed sources:

A source told Fox News Digital that the issue originated with a low-level clerk in Israel’s Interior Ministry who was "not particularly friendly" toward Christian visa applicants. As a result, the visa process for clergy and volunteers had become "increasingly problematic" and filled with "barriers for years."

A second source told Fox News Digital that elements within the Israeli Interior Ministry "are not sympathetic, they don’t appreciate the relationship" with the Christian world.

I think second source is more correct since this has been an ongoing issue and it took the recent pressure on Israel for Huckabee to finally feel that now is the time. One guy isn't just going to hold up everyone's visa process like that.

I wonder what would happen if the Evangelicals realize they are not a real part of the Zionist team. Israel would sooner collapse on its own though. Evangelical Zionists have a slavish devotion to it.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 41 points 3 weeks ago

California Sues Trump Administration After It Pulls High-Speed Rail Funding - Telesur English

Article

Newsom criticized the decision as ‘petty’ and a ‘political retribution,’ calling it a heartless attack on the Central Valley. On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state is suing President Donald Trump’s administration after it rescinded US$4 billion in federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project.

Newsom criticized the decision as “petty” and a “political retribution,” calling it “a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line.” “We’re suing to stop Trump from derailing America’s only high-speed rail actively under construction,” he added.

The move follows Trump’s remarks on social media: “Not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again.” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the termination the same day, calling the rail project “the definition of government incompetence and possibly corruption.”

Newsom then responded on social media, saying, “Won’t be taking advice from the guy who can’t keep planes in the sky,” referencing recent aviation safety issues under Duffy’s leadership.

STATE PUSHES BACK

State officials have repeatedly maintained that the project is on track. The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) highlighted the completion of major infrastructure work, including 35 kilometers of earthworks and 11 bridge structures.

“The authority strongly disagrees with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)’s conclusions, which are misguided and do not reflect the substantial progress made to deliver high-speed rail in California,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Earlier this month, authority officials said in a letter that the Trump administration had pre-decided to revoke funding without a thorough review.

“Canceling these grants without cause isn’t just wrong — it’s illegal,” CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri said in a statement Wednesday. “These are legally binding agreements, and the authority has met every obligation, as confirmed by repeated federal reviews, as recently as February 2025.”

The authority added that 171 miles of the project are currently under active construction and design, with over 15,000 jobs created to date.

However, according to The New York Times, even if a future administration restores funding, it could take years to reissue contracts for critical infrastructure like trains and electrical systems, further delaying completion.

LONG-TROUBLED PROJECT

The California high-speed rail project aims to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles with a train covering the route in about two hours and 40 minutes. A second phase would eventually extend the line to Sacramento and San Diego, according to its official website.

Initially approved by voters in 2008, the project has faced delays, rising costs and repeated revisions. According to the Department of Transportation, the entire project was supposed to be completed by 2020 and cost US$33 billion. The agency then estimated the total cost of the project is now over US$100 billion.

Trump and Duffy both have slammed the project as a “train to nowhere.” “This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Louis Thompson, who previously led the state’s peer review panel for the project, said, “I don’t think we are going to see electric trains running on track from Merced to Bakersfield for a long, long time … not in 10 years with no federal money.”

So far, less than a quarter of the project’s funding has come from the federal government, with the rest sourced mainly from state-issued bonds and California’s cap-and-trade program. But losing federal support could significantly impact progress.

“Having this money taken away could potentially mean that they won’t be able to continue to construct it, at least at anywhere near the pace and scale they’ve been at,” said Ethan Elkind, climate program director at the UC Berkeley School of Law.

Federal officials have questioned the project’s viability. FRA’s acting administrator Drew Feeley, described the effort as “a story of broken promises” in a report last month.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a deputy assistant secretary for research at the Transportation Department during Trump’s first term, said that the system, if it is ever built, had no hope of being profitable and that people were not likely to want to use it. “They prefer driving,” she said.

ESCALATING TENSIONS

The lawsuit marks another chapter in the tensions between the Trump administration and California’s leadership. The rift deepened after January, when Trump clashed with Newsom over deadly wildfires near Los Angeles. He claimed California’s environmental policies were to blame for dry hydrants and later wrote that Newsom should resign.

During his presidency, Trump has challenged several California policies, including its climate regulations, university admissions and transgender protections in sports.

Stanford law professor David Freeman Engstrom told The New York Times that while the political tensions between Trump and Newsom may have influenced the funding decision, it may not be enough to sway a court.

If California argues that the termination is “just an effort to get back at Governor Newsom, an enemy of the administration, I’m not sure that a court’s going to be willing to credit that argument here,” he said.

“By returning to the high-speed rail issue, Trump is once again lifting up a powerful symbol that liberal California is the problem, not the solution,” Engstrom added.

California previously challenged a similar funding cut in 2019 and succeeded in restoring a 929 million-dollar grant after the Joe Biden administration settled the lawsuit in 2021.

[-] [email protected] 41 points 3 weeks ago

The Confederation of the Polish Crown (Polish: Konfederacja Korony Polskiej, KKP), often shortened to The Crown (Korona), is a far-right political party in Poland. The party was founded by Grzegorz Braun as a personal political vehicle. As such, the party and its views largely stem from Braun's own personal positions

It has been described as ultranationalist and traditionalist, and the party advocates for Jesus Christ to be "enthroned" as the "King" of Poland. The party's goals are to "fight for the good of Poland, secure the sovereignty of the Polish State, defend Poland's Catholic faith, ensure that Polish families are prosperous, and help shape social life based on the principles of Latin civilization"

What the fuck is this polish political party and why a million people voted for this shit? Is this just a fake party the conservatives/libs created to launder money?

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 41 points 3 weeks ago
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
111 points (98.3% liked)

news

24233 readers
468 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